“Of course it’s a human child,” she blurted. Then her expression changed to one of anger. “Oh! Human, as in not yours.” She put her hands on her hips. Candy licked her lips. “No damned way. I was so careful. I told you that I had only had sex with one person for the longest time and even that was few and far between. We always used a condom. It had been months since we last – you know – before coming here.” She lifted her eyes in thought. “I’d say close on three months. You are the only person I’ve ever had unprotected sex with.” She was half yelling at him. “As in ever. The only one.”

“Okay.” He hooked an arm around her. “I had to ask. We have to… get to the bottom of this.” She was still tense. “I’m sorry.” He cupped her jaw and forced her to look at him. “I’m sorry.”

She finally gave a nod. “How do we find out? Can I pee on a stick or something?”

What? He must have heard wrong. “Humans pee on sticks to find out if they are pregnant?” Humans were strange creatures. He wouldn’t tell Candy that, of course. He valued his life. “I don’t see how peeing on a stick would…”

She laughed. “No, silly. Not real sticks. Devices that contain chemicals that change color or, never mind, it’s not important.”

It was his turn to pace. He ran a hand through his hair and massaged the back of his neck. There was a knot forming. His muscles were wound tight. “I have no clue about any of this. I planned on researching it all when the time came.” He huffed out a breath. “Okay. I have a plan.”

“Good! What is it?”

“Sky.” He already felt better. “There’s no one who knows more about pregnancy than her.”

“Aside from women who have actually given birth?” She raised her brows. “Not that I have anything against Sky. I love Sky, she’s my bestie.”

“Let me rephrase that, there’s no one who knows more than Sky about pregnancy that we can trust to keep this quiet.”

Candy nodded. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

It had to be something else. In fact, he was sure that there was a perfectly good explanation. The more he thought about it, the more it made perfect sense. Disappointment welled up in him.

Chapter 26

There was no other explanation. None. In fact, now that she finally realized it, she wondered how she could have ever missed the signs.