"What the heck's NVP?" Julia asked.
"Nausea and vomiting with pregnancy," Diana explained. "It's not something you're likely to meet in your veterinarian training."
"Morning sickness? You're saying Sveta's pregnant?" Julia asked.
"In the balance of probabilities, it is a definite possibility." Diana put an arm around Sveta and hugged her. "Could you be pregnant?"
Sveta swallowed. Yes, it was possible. She nodded.
"Do you know who the father is?" Julia asked.
Sveta's head shot up. "How dare you . . ."
"I'll take that as a yes, then. Next question, is it Jabe?"
Sveta glared at Julia. She, like the other two girls, knew Jabe was the man she loved. But Julia's face only showed sympathy. She ducked her head. "No."
"If Jabe's not the father, then who is?" Julia asked.
Sveta kept her head bowed. She didn't want to admit anything about that night.
"Come on, it has to be someone," Janie muttered. "Oh, hell . . ."
Sveta met Janie's eyes. Why was she looking at her like that?
"Puss?" Janie choked out.
"Puss? You think Sveta did it with Puss?" Julia demanded.
"You did it with Puss? Why?" Janie asked Sveta. "You told us you barely know him."
"After the wedding. I was upset, and John escorted me home."
"And you made love with Puss?" Julia demanded. "Even though you were in love with another man? How could you do that to him?"
Sveta didn't like the accusing looks being sent her way. "He was the one who took advantage of me. I didn't know what I was doing." She all but shouted the last sentence.
"Are you feeling better now?" Diana asked.
The voice of reason penetrated, and Sveta relaxed. She did feel better. "Yes."
"Then I suggest we move this little discussion to somewhere other than right outside Cora's."
That was an exaggeration, they were actually in the alleyway beside the cafe that was the gossip capital of Grantville, but Diana's point was well made. Sveta knew there was going to be enough talk about how she bolted after putting one foot across the threshold. "Where?"
"Lacking the other interested party, I think we should drop in on Auntie Sue," Janie said.
"John's mother?" Sveta shuddered. Frau Trelli knew her story. She knew that being escorted to Jabe's wedding by John had been a face-saving exercise. What was she going to think of her?
Janie nodded. "His mom and dad are going to have to be told at some stage, unless you intend getting a termination . . ."
It took a few seconds for Sveta to mentally translate the meaning of the English word. She looked at Janie aghast. "I'm not a baby killer."
"Then we go to Auntie Sue's."
Sveta slumped, defeated. "Very well."
"Hey, it's not as if you're going to your funeral. It's just bad luck that you got pregnant. You must be a real Fertile Myrtle to conceive first time," Julia said.
"Julia!" both Diana and Janie cried.
"Well, it is unlucky," Julia protested.
Sveta made eye contact with Janie for a moment, then dropped her head. It was if the other girl was reading her innermost secrets.
"On the other hand, if they did it more than once, without contraception, they were playing with fire," Janie said.
Sveta ran her tongue over suddenly dry lips. She couldn't bring herself to say the words, so she gave a single nod.
"Was he any good?" Julia asked.
The eager curiosity in Julia's voice shocked Sveta. How could she ask such a question at a time like this?
"Julia O'Reilly, how could you ask such a question?" Janie demanded.
"You want to know if he learned anything from Donetta, just as much as I do."
"Still, you shouldn't ask Sveta a question like that!"
"All right then, how would you ask her?"
Sveta stared at the squabbling girls. Who was Donetta, and what was her relationship to John?
On the Saxon Plain, somewhere near Zwenkau
Puss was feeling particularly unloved. His patrol had been assigned to directing incoming troops to their forming up areas for the battle everyone knew would happen tomorrow. It had been a long and dusty day as thousands of men and horses kicked up the dust as they walked past his checkpoint.
He stepped away to let a wagon proceed and fumbled for his water bottle. He shook it gently as he pulled it from his belt webbing-about a third full.
The first mouthful was used to rinse away the dust. Then he drained the bottle. He wiped the moisture from his lips with the sleeve of his combat jacket while he fumbled the canteen back into its pouch. "What a lousy day."
"Just think of what tomorrow'll be like, Sarge," Corporal Lenhard Poppler said.
Puss scanned the landscape. If it wasn't for the crushed grain, trampled down by thousands of men and horses, it would be a beautiful scene. By this time tomorrow it would be completely different.
Grantville
"Surely I should wait until I'm sure?" Sveta protested as Julia hammered on the door of John's parents' home.
"You've showing the same symptoms Alice and Judy did when they were at about the same stages of their pregnancies," Janie said, naming her sister and sister-in-law.
"Besides, Diana says you're pregnant," Julia said.
Sveta was about to question the logic behind that statement when the door opened.
"Hello, girls. What brings you round this way?" Suzanne Trelli asked.
A strong hand grabbed Sveta's wrist and dragged her up the steps. "Sveta's got something to tell you, Auntie Sue," Julia said.
"Then you'd better all come in. I'll just put the kettle on."
"No coffee," Julia called out to Suzanne's back.
"No coffee it is," Suzanne called over her shoulder before hurrying off.
"Why did you have to say that?" Sveta demanded of Julia.
"Do you want a repeat of what happened at Cora's?" Julia asked. "You know, throwing up at the smell of coffee."
She shuddered at that memory. "No, but what is Frau Trelli going to think?" Sveta asked, wringing her hands.
"Under the circumstances, Sveta, I think Auntie Sue might just think that you're pregnant," Janie said.
"You really should thank Julia for preparing the ground for you," Diana added.
She was hustled into the house and along to the kitchen where she was seated between Julia and Janie.
Suzanne placed a plate of dry crackers in front of Sveta. "Try some of these, you might find that they help."
Sveta stared blankly at Frau Trelli. How were dry crackers supposed to help her? She glanced around at her friends. As she made eye contact with them, each in turn smiled and nodded. Unfortunately, Sveta had no idea what message they were trying to communicate to her.
"I'll make it easy for you. You, or at least our budding doctors, think you're pregnant."
Sveta swallowed. Guilt had her starting to blush. She dropped her head in shame.
Suzanne lifted Sveta's head so their eyes met. "And the reason you want to tell me you're pregnant is because John is the father, yes?"
She didn't actually want to tell Frau Trelli that, it was more a matter of having to.
"Oh, you poor thing." Suzanne reached down and pulled Sveta into her arms. "And John so far away when you need him."
It was too much. Sveta burst into tears in Frau Trelli's arms. Later, when she emerged from her crying jag, she discovered she'd been abandoned by her friends.
"I sent them home. It's not as if you need their moral support anymore."
Sveta dipped her head back into Frau Trelli's shoulder. This time she felt the damp and backed away. "Oh, I've made you all wet."
"I won't rust," Suzanne said, pulling Sveta back into her arms. "Let's make ourselves a nice cup of catnip tea and find somewhere comfortable to sit and chat."