With Thomas and Maria.

Maria was wearing the same sweater dress as last night since it didn’t look out of place like the girls’ prom dresses. Thomas was wearing the same pants he wore to prom, but with a white t-shirt instead of the full suit. He had likely worn that under his shirt last night.

“Um… Do we call them over or not?” Noelle asked, and it was a good question.

Wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to be alone, so calling them over would be like forcing them to spend time with us, but then again… “They could’ve stayed in their room if they wanted to be alone, right?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” Diana said, calmly sipping tea.

I got what she meant by that the moment they noticed us. Maria’s eyes landed on us and she grinned excitedly. She pulled on Thomas’ sleeve and pointed toward us. The big guy mirrored his girlfriend’s grin and the two immediately made their way to our table.

“Would we be a bother?” Thomas asked us.

“Yeah, so shoo. Go away,” I told him, gesturing with my hands.

“See? See!? You’re super mean to him!” Mila told me, laughing.

“Right? I don’t know what I did to deserve this treatment,” Thomas said in fake offense.

I scoffed, but just a moment later we were fist-bumping.

“Don’t listen to him, you two. Grab a table and bring it here,” Diana told them.

Maria laughed. “Ouch. Already overruling him? It’s like you’re married already.”

“She was just saying she might want a baby soon and she’s already his mom’s favorite,” Alice told them. “How can we even compete?”

“Um… Dude?” Thomas raised an eyebrow at me.

I shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do.”

“I’m pretty sure there is.”

I got up and helped Thomas bring over a table and two chairs. We set it against ours and now Maria sat next to Mila while Thomas sat across from her and next to me.

“Just the other day she was all flustered talking about kids with Holly, and now she says she’s ready?” Maria chuckled.

Again, Diana calmly sipped some tea. “And you two are sure you didn’t beat us to the punch last night?”

Their faces went pale for a moment before turning beet red in a matter of seconds. They went quiet, but Mila, Grace, Sarah and Alice all went ‘oooooh,’ all while wincing and laughing at the same time.

“That’s a brutal reversal…” Noelle said. “And I think she hit a bit close to home.”

“So? What happened?” Grace asked, smirking. “Took some risks last night?”

Thomas swallowed hard. “W-Well, not exactly, but…”

“Technically speaking, it shouldn’t be a risk, ahaha…” Even Maria laughed awkwardly.

They ditched the condom. Got it.

“There’s a drugstore two blocks away,” Diana told them. “I don’t know why you’d need one, but I thought I’d let you know.”

“I… need to make a quick trip. Be right back,” Maria said, excusing herself with another awkward laugh.

Thomas watched her get up and seemed conflicted on something. Grace and Sarah helped him with that, however.

“What are you waiting for? Go with her!” Sarah told him.

Grace clapped her hands twice to hurry him up. “Move your ass! Go!”

I’m pretty sure he didn’t need to be told twice, but he was anyway. Thomas rose from his seat and quickly followed Maria.

“Is that really necessary?” Noelle asked them. “I mean, won’t they look kind of… weird going together?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Grace said, shrugging. “He was hesitating, so we gave him a push. I’m sure Maria will feel better having him there, anyway. Even if he waits outside.”

Diana nodded. “Better to show her he’s not letting her deal with the situation alone.”

Mila swallowed. “Do you think…?”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Alice said. “Maria said it shouldn’t be a risk, meaning she had her days straight. Still, better safe than sorry.”

Diana grumbled, “Now I feel bad for joking about pregnancies…”

“Same here,” Mila agreed. “It kind of feels more real now, doesn’t it?”

“We’ve been doing it raw since the beginning, and while we’re all on the pill, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some supernatural stuff at play here,” Grace said. “Still, it needs to be said. Even if it’s an accident, it won’t be unwanted.”

The others didn’t say anything, but the atmosphere alone said they agreed with the sentiment.

Should… Should I be rethinking the plans for the new house? In fact, maybe my own willingness to leave it in the hands of fate meant that I was ready to accept whatever came?

Might be an accident, but not unwanted, huh? I suppose I agreed with the sentiment, too.

***

Thomas and Maria returned not long after, looking a lot more relaxed now. We had breakfast together while having seconds and even thirds of most of the available meals. Thomas and Maria were starving, too. Seems we all had a long, active night.

As we were finishing up, the same man as before approached me. He bowed politely and said to me, “The owner is free to see you now, if you wish.”

“Thank you.” I stood up and addressed everyone at the table. “I shouldn’t be long, but if you want to leave…”

“We can wait, right?” Maria said, asking Thomas, too.

“Yeah. Take your time.”

“I’m driving you all back, and you’d better be there to drop the girls off,” Diana told me.

Shit, almost forgot about that. Wouldn’t look great on me to not be there when taking the girls back to their houses after prom.

“I’ll make it short.”

I followed the man out of the restaurant, and while I was mostly familiar with the hotel by then, he led me through a staff-only door. For a moment I thought we were going to the lab, but no. We stopped in front of a fancy wooden door with intricate carvings.

After a knock, I was allowed inside Luke’s office. My plan was simply to thank him for everything, maybe see when I’d be called to work again and then leave. However, things got a little deeper than I expected.

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