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PART FOUR

Trapped.

Jensen was trapped.

Jared’s mother was talking at him, his brother was throwing unreadable looks his way, and Jared was nowhere to be seen.

Jensen wasn’t interested in which dietary supplements he should be taking before, during and after pregnancy. He wasn’t interested in knowing how difficult her pregnancies had been. He wasn’t interested in baby advice at all. Wouldn’t have taken it from his own mother, let alone Jared’s over eager parent whose opening gambit had been to ask him whether he and Jared were doing it often enough.

What. The. Fuck?

Sharon Padalecki was a diminutive woman, but she had a huge presence. How the hell she’d birthed the giants her sons had turned out to be was certainly one of the greatest mysteries of biology … one that Jensen really didn’t want to think about. I mean, the incredible size of Padalecki babies wasn’t something he ever wanted to become familiar with.

He wasn’t interested in babies at all, and yet here she was, refusing to take his silence as a hint. She gave him recommendations for cribs and nanny agencies. Even schools. Jensen couldn’t get through to her that he wasn’t interested in being an active participant in the Padalecki procreation plan, even though it was obvious to everyone that he was a key player. Maybe the key player.

The party had been a bad idea. The assembled crowd of Jared’s nearest and dearest, who looked his way, but were considerate enough not to approach unless Jared was next to him, was impossible to tune out. He knew they were intrigued, curious. Some of the comments he overheard were curiously compassionate, though more were exceptionally lewd.

He’d learned that he was the only breeder in the family. He was an oddity … and he loathed being the centre of attention.

The only thing that would’ve made it worse was if his own family had accepted their invitations … and thank God they’d had enough sense to decline. Oh, it had meant Jensen had to agree to visit his parents the following weekend, but that was a small price to pay to avoid them witnessing this kind of humiliation.

The expensively catered buffet sat at the side of the room looking like some kind of colorful work of art, but Jensen was not in the least interested. In fact, whenever he approached the table his stomach would flip with rebellion. He just wasn’t used to the richness of the feast laid out by Jared’s parents. He had simpler tastes.

Whenever his mom threw a party she would never hire in a caterer, she’d have been the one in the kitchen. His mom was a fantastic cook and Jensen missed those days. The days when he still lived with his parents, when assignment deadlines and exam results had been his greatest worry. When the prospect of asking the prettiest girl in school out for their first date had been the only thing that terrified him.

Jared chose that moment to reappear, arm wrapped firmly round Jensen’s waist while his other hand held a plate, a mountain of food balanced on top. “I trust you’re being nice, mama?”

Mrs Padalecki looked perplexed, “As if I’d be anything else.”

Jared laughed, helping himself to something pink on his plate. “This food is great. Did you get Miguel to cater?”

“Of course, nothing but the best for you. You know that.”

Jared smirked, taking another mouthful when Jensen’s stomach suddenly decided that whatever was inside it needed to rejoin the outside world.

He felt hot and cold…

… and clammy…

… and light headed…

… and heavy eyed and …

…and…

…everything started graying out, sliding into black.

He wasn’t sure what was being said around him, didn’t care. He felt himself being lifted, being carried, and then he didn’t feel anything at all.

Jared wasn’t going back to work while Jensen was feeling so sick. Pregnancy had been confirmed and Jared wanted to be happy about it, shout it from the rooftops, but Jensen was completely miserable – and it wasn’t just the morning (afternoon and evening) sickness. Jared had been told that nausea and vomiting were only dangerous if Jensen were to become badly dehydrated. The attempted reassurance wasn’t enough to stop Jared from worrying – I mean, what was ‘badly’ exactly? Jensen was barely eating, was hardly keeping down any of what he was managing to consume and Jared wasn’t prepared to leave his ‘pregnant’ mate unattended – even if the constant supervision was making Jensen even more quiet than usual.

Pregnant! Damn, Jared liked that word. He liked it a lot. So okay, he would be happy, just not around Jensen. He’d discuss names with his mom. He’d start buying extras for the nursery… but he’d be circumspect. Stealthy… Sneaky…

Jensen refused to talk about the child growing within his body. It was as if he believed that if he ignored it, it wouldn’t be there. It wasn’t healthy, but it was the way he was coping and Jared needed him to cope. There’d be time enough for him to accept the truth. He wouldn’t be able to deny it when his stomach was so big he couldn’t see his own feet, when his tits were leaking and his back ached, when the baby kicked or when he went into labor. He wouldn’t be able to deny the truth no matter how much he wanted to.

He rubbed Jensen’s back as he heaved, his stomach muscles no doubt aching from the repeated assault.

“I’m taking you to the doctor. If nothing else he may be able to devise a diet for you that you can keep down.”

Jensen blinked watery eyes back at him, but didn’t respond.

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