GRANT AND NAOMI FORM A POWER COUPLE.

09:52am Sunny Day Mall. Floor 6. Head Office of Wet “N” Antics Corporation.

Back Office Conference Room.

Grant and Naomi sat next to each other on a sofa in a back-office conference room, the fluorescent bulbs from the ceiling casting a soft light on the couple. They were collecting themselves after their frantic copulation.

When the office had descended into a fuck-for-all, Grant had surprised himself by not immediately jumping to the next pussy target with his Breeding Pass. Instead, he had felt an overwhelming and entirely unexpected intimacy for Naomi. He had taken her by the hand and quietly led her away from the madness. They were tidied up now. Their corporate attire was back in place as best they could, although Naomi’s shirt had been completely divested of buttons so now on her top-half she wore her black office jacket done up, over her bra.

But now a different sort of disarray lingered—contemplations of the future.

Naomi glanced at the 'Breeding Pass' she had picked up on the way out of the Main Office. It was a copy of the one Grant had playfully laid in her hand earlier. For her it was a symbol of the bond they now, willingly or not, had together.

She was going to have his baby. The words seemed almost overwhelming.

"I'm pregnant, Grant," she said, restating the enormity of the Breeding Pass her voice steady and clear, even as she held his gaze with an unwavering solemnity. Grant's reaction was a pause, a falter in his typically casual and confident demeanour. His usual cavalier smile was absent, replaced by a genuine softness that rarely surfaced.

"Naomi, I—.” He cut himself off, unsure of the right words. Grant wasn't a man who planned his personal life for the future; His relationships were about the chase, the win, an ever-revolving door of office, gym and coffeeshop romances. But there was something about the quiet strength of the lovely raven-haired Japanese women beside him that had taken a hold on his heart.

And of course there was their unborn child, that he knew with certainty would be carried healthily to term. How did he know that though, he wondered? His eyes were drawn to the Breeding Pass. It had a power on him. Whatever had happened, his breeding of Naomi had stirred a fatherly instinct he hadn't known was there.

"You are my baby-momma Naomi,” he said finally. Naomi rolled her eyes at his casual words, “baby-momma, so trashy!” she said.

No, I’m serious Naomi,” said Grant seeing the look on her face. He turned in the sofa to face her more head on. “I want to be a part of this. Part of the baby's life, whether you stay in the States or return to Japan,” Grant said, the certainty in his voice more profound than any declaration he had ever made.

Naomi observed him closely, looking for the usual signs of the raconteur, searching for any trace of insincerity. Grant, sensing her scrutiny, extended one of his large hands—offering her his vulnerability. It was a gesture that spoke volumes, a silent pledge from a man known for his easy words.

She took his hand, acknowledging the shift in their world. Naomi wasn't a woman who expected grand displays of emotion. Her sensibilities were far too grounded. Yet the truth in Grant's eyes was enough to carve through her reservations. For the first time, it seemed they were truly seeing each other—not as the playboy or the acerbic Brand Manager, but as co-creators of a new life.

She nodded solemnly, bringing his hand to her stomach. "We're in this," she found herself saying—a succinct affirmation of their shared path forward.

Naomi's features turned to a scowl as her practical side surfaced. "What about work, Grant?” Grant’s expression turned glum, his position as a Regional Accounts Lead in the United States was very lucrative but English was his only language.

"I don't speak Japanese, Naomi. My prospects in Tokyo…" He didn't have to complete the sentence; they both understood the implications. “I know you still have your job, and family waiting for you back in Tokyo. Say the word and I will come with you,” he said, “whatever is best for the three of us.”

“No Grant, I'm tied to you now," Naomi said resolutely. "I will stay with you in the States. You've—claimed me." There was an instinctual, primal acknowledgment in her voice that resonated within Grant, an affirmation of the fierce, masculine pull he exerted over her by planting his seed. At that moment Grant felt his manhood stirring. He was on the verge of opening her jacket again and…

Grant groaned as he remembered that there was of course another issue. He had joined Wet “N” Antics just over two years ago as a lead-in replacement for Cassie Lindor who was the official Regional Accounts Lead in the United States. Of course! She would be coming back from Japan and his position would be on the line.

“Naomi,” he said, but as he started to voice his concerns, Naomi cut in with a practical tone virtually reading his thoughts, “I am surprised you hadn’t heard. Cassie isn’t returning. She’s staying in Tokyo. She’s fluent in Japanese remember and she’s taken to it there. She’s built a great team and apparently Mr Nakamura thinks she’s brilliant and they like her. The higher-ups have decided to keep her on.”

Grant's worry lines eased into relief. “That’s... great news. I mean, not just for me, but it sounds like it worked out for Cassie too,” he said, feeling the weight lift off his shoulders. This meant stability—at least in one aspect of their rapidly changing lives.

Naomi, snorted slightly, her acerbic nature returning. “Great for her but I wonder what it will mean for Peter.” Grant smirked. He had met Cassie’s husband Peter once at the Christmas Party just prior to the transfer. He remembered the weaselly man indulging heavily on the complimentary Hibiki whiskey and being handsy with the office girls even as his beautiful redheaded wife’s cheeks turned beet at his behaviour.

Grant supposed that Peter Lindor probably thought he had hit the jackpot by getting a girl like Cassie pregnant when she was eighteen. Cassie had stayed with him ever since and against the odds had built a fantastic career, but she rarely spoke of him with admiration. From what he understood he was rarely employed and often sponged off his successful parents even into his forties. Grant considered the man a grade-A asshole and loser to boot.

“Well,” Grant said, not wanting to think too much more about the man, “I think he’ll need to follow Cassie’s lead.”

Naomi pursed her lips and curled in closer to Grant, loving the safe feeling of his broad biceps and chest, “a husband should lead, a wife commands.”

“Should we get married do you think?” said Grant, assuming that was her implication.

“No.” Naomi said simply.

Grant gave her a sharp look.

“Not until I give birth anyway,” said Naomi seeing his disquiet, “I don’t want you breaking marriage vows while I am pregnant.”

“I would never-, “Grant protested, looking down at his women “his mate!” shocked that she would think he would hurt her. But Naomi touched his lips and closed his protest down. “Grant, let us be practical. There are three considerations. First, soon enough I will start showing as pregnant. I was wrong what I said in the office. Pregnancy can be a difficult nine months for women and I don’t know how often I will want to have sex, maybe I’ll have a high sex drive as some women do but maybe not.

And secondly, I may not even be attractive to you so that you want to have sex with me. Maybe you’ll discover a pregnancy fetish or maybe not.

Thirdly, let us be real about the context here Grant. You are the office playboy, sleeping with a new woman every night. We were thrown together by some strange magic or fate or alien tech! You didn’t even intend for the Breeding Pass to work! You had no responsibility to me or me to you. There is a saying, “as flowers are cherry blossoms, a man is a warrior,” I cannot expect you to suddenly decide to switch your libido off.”

She continued softly but firmly, “I know you’ll stay with me and protect me and the baby. But I also know you travel a lot for work. You will be travelling the country and I will not have you feeling resentful when you feel denied you weren’t able to indulge in a meaningless release with some skirt, just as I don’t want to be at home knowing you have broken an oath to me. So don’t make the oath. Not yet anyway.”

“Naomi, your practicality and consideration is ridiculously hot right now,” was all he could say.

“Well, have your fun over the next nine months because once the baby is born, I will have a lot of fun teaching you to be faithful to me!” she said and Grant wasn’t sure whether this was a come-on or a threat! Grant could only laugh in reply “Yes mam!” “It’s a little old fashioned but I take my honour very seriously,” she said and Grant believed it.

“Talking of which,” Naomi straightened her improvised outfit, her expression morphing into the familiar sharpness that defined her professional demeanour, "I was the first in the office to be bred during this entire absurd day and to all appearances I went willingly. And we all know that Wet “N” Antics has a regressive attitude to pregnant women. I am at a definite risk of being sidelined, not to mention having to endure the gossip of other women. For my honour, and our family’s wellbeing we can't let that stand."

Grant raised an eyebrow, his mind briefly veering away from the tangles of their personal predicament. "You want to make sure everyone is in the same boat?” he surmised, a lust for competition lighting his features.

Naomi nodded, her eyes glinting with a competitive zest that mirrored Grant's own. "Precisely. Every unfertilised woman in this office must be bred before the end of the day. And since we are team Grant and Naomi now, it's us against them."

A smirking concession flickered at the corners of Grant's mouth, "For the honour of Team GraNomi!” he announced, a little aroused at beginning the familiar thrill of the chase—though this time, collaborating with his new found life-mate.

“Speed and surprise are key. It'll require stealth... and teamwork," he continued standing and towering over his woman, the adrenaline of the hunt beginning to pump through his veins once again. "Then let's get moving. I’ll present the Breeding Passes—you direct me. You know these halls and these people better than anyone!"

She was proud of her man’s bold spirit but she needed to focus his enthusiasm, "One moment my daring,” she said, with a slightly predatory smile on her red lips, “we'll also need a high-level strategy. Some of the women will already have been impregnated…”

Grant glanced out at the ongoing sexual carnage in the main open plan office. “Or getting bred right now,” he interrupted, “pheeew! Holy shit, Tyler is absolutely railing Rika!”

“Focus my dear Yanky babby-daddy,” Naomi said touching his crotch to get his attention so that he looked down again to face her, “as I was saying, he must concede that a few of our lovely female colleagues will definitely manage to escape out of the office so we will need a priority list of who to track down and breed first.”