The mattress had slid down to the floor, and they lay on it in a very disorganized way. Perry lay with his head on SarahBeth's stomach, leaning on her breast. Daphne lay next to Perry, her head resting on his shoulder, his arm around her. SarahBeth's hand was on Daphne's belly.
Daphne took SarahBeth's hand in hers and held it against her. "SarahBeth?" she said, and they both jumped a little. It was the first word they had ever heard her speak.
"Mmmmm," SarahBeth said, her eyes rolling back in her head.
"Do you like my belly?"
"Mmmmm," SarahBeth murmured. "Yes. Pregnant women are sexy as hell, I said that before."
"So, you want one of your own?"
"Hmm?" She opened her eyes. "What do you mean? I'm not fat."
"I noticed you're not taking precautions."
SarahBeth raised her head a little, then let it drop back again. "Why bring that up when I'm feeling so nice?" she asked. "I'd be really pissed, if I had the energy. Besides, how do you know I'm not on the pill?"
Daphne sniffed a few times. "I rely on my nose. Dogs do that. You're not taking any precautions. Do you really want to end up where I am?"
SarahBeth tried again to raise her head. "Hey," she said, poking Perry, "defend me here."
"Well, I was thinking the same thing. I'm not ready to be a father, so I'm hoping we can start doing something about this."
"Oh, God," she said, her eyes still half-closed. "Remind me to get pissed when I'm up to it." She poked Perry again. "Why aren't you a girl? If you were a girl, we wouldn't even have to think about this."
He took her hand in his and kissed it. "You didn't win me in a raffle, my dear one. You had a pretty good idea I was male when you broke into my house."
There was a knock at the door and SarahBeth called, "Come on in and get nekkid with us!"
The door opened and Katherine came in. She stopped and looked at the scene in front of her for a moment as Perry scrambled to find a corner of the sheet to cover his crotch.
taking advantage