Chapter 2

Bryce's smile froze. "You have parents? Why have you never mentioned them before?"

Well, it was because my parents weren't human. I came from a family of seahorse beastmen. In our society, the male seahorses were the ones who gave birth. So, when I announced that I was going to marry a human and have a child with him, my parents kicked me out without mercy. They believed that I was committing an atrocious act.

I replied, "I have too many siblings, so my parents usually just let us be. So, it's not necessary to split our expenses since I have parents too, right?"

Bryce said to me, "Linny, I don't want money to cause any unhappiness between us in the future. I think splitting our expenses is still the better choice. Let's stick to that."

And so, I pondered for a moment and suggested, "That's fine too, but verbal agreements don't hold any significance. We should put this in black and white."

Bryce grabbed some paper and a pen and wrote down the details of our agreement swiftly. He seemed to be afraid that I would change my mind judging from how fast he wrote.

Five minutes later, he handed me the paper.

After reading it, I asked him, "You only wrote about the expenses and the housework. Where's the part about having a child?"

Bryce was confused. "We'll split the costs of having a child equally, including your prenatal check-ups and any surgeries. Don't worry, I'll make sure you won't get the losing end of the deal."

"It's not just about the costs. Do you realize how much having a child can harm my body?" I questioned.

Bryce's expression shifted upon hearing that. "You don't expect me to pay for everything, do you? The child isn't just mine."

"Well, the child isn't just mine either. Why should I carry the baby for ten months and possibly go under the knife while you get to have an easy time? Shouldn't I carry the baby for five months and you do it for five months in turn?"

Bryce was stunned for a few seconds. Then, he suddenly burst into raucous laughter. "If I could carry a child, I would definitely carry it for five months for you."

I urged, "Alright, then write it into the agreement. I'll carry the baby for five months, and you carry it for five months."

Bryce assumed that I was just having mood swings due to pregnancy hormones. So, he wrote that line at the very end of our agreement. Once he was done writing, we both signed it.

I was delighted to see his signature on the piece of paper. The next moment, I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Dear, I'll take good care of you when you're pregnant in the future."

Bryce laughed heartily. "You're being silly, Linny. How could a man get pregnant?"

Why couldn't he?

The seahorse clan had evolved to the point where our bodies could change according to our will. We could get ourselves pregnant, make men pregnant, or even transfer a half-developed baby from our body into a man's.

Since we were supposed to split everything evenly, we might as well go all the way.

After signing the agreement, Bryce began calculating the cost of tonight's dinner with me.

"We had the empanadas I brought back from my mom's for dinner tonight. You ate four of them. They cost two dollars each, so that's eight dollars. Venmo me that amount."

In my past life, Bryce was like this too. He calculated every expense down to the decimal point. Even if his mother came over and cooked for us, he would still charge me for the meal.

Of course, I felt somewhat upset about this deep in my heart. But then, I decided that I should just put up with it since I had agreed to live this way.

As I considered his actions from a different perspective now, I saw how petty of a man Bryce was. The way he noted the number of empanadas I ate showed how calculative and stingy he was.

Without a word, I transferred the money to Bryce. The moment he heard the ping on his phone, he beamed with joy. "I'll go wash the dishes. Linny, you take out the trash."

"Wait a minute," I spoke up.

Bryce looked at me in confusion.

I chuckled. "You've calculated your share, but we haven't calculated mine yet. Sure, your mom made the empanadas, but when you brought them back, they were raw. I cooked them. Shouldn't the labor cost be taken into account too? That'll be ten dollars.

"As for the cucumber salad you ate, the cucumber costs three dollars. The apple cider vinegar would be roughly three dimes, and the onion is half a dollar. I didn't eat any of it. Plus, I washed your socks just now. That's another ten dollars for labor.

"So, altogether it's $23.80. Venmo me that amount, please."