Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 61468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
“Oh, um…” Now I’m feeling extremely awkward. I can tell Logan is too.
“I can leave,” he offers.
“No, stay.” Dr. Elizabeth urges him. “I believe it’s important for the father to be as involved as possible. Especially if he’s an Alpha—as you clearly are.”
This is almost as weird as her calling the baby a “pup “but I’m too freaked out by the impending ultrasound to say anything about it.
Dr. Elizabeth has me go behind a curtain to take off my jeans and panties. She hands me a sheet to wrap around my waist and then gets me settled in the stirrups. I’m covered by the sheet, but I can’t get over the embarrassment of having Logan in the room while I’m lying there with my legs propped up and spread wide like this.
He’s still sitting in his chair by the door but Dr. Elizabeth beckons him forward.
“Come here and hold your wife’s hand so you can watch the monitor together,” she tells him. “I’m going to have to push with the wand from side to side and it might cause some discomfort,” she adds, talking to me.
“Um…okay,” I say uncertainly as Logan takes my hand. Despite the sheet, I feel incredibly naked and vulnerable but he doesn’t say anything, just squeezes my fingers reassuringly.
“Let’s see now…” She squirts gel on the end of the wand and then pushes it under the sheet, between my legs. I bite my lip as I feel it sliding into me. The gel is cold and the wand feels bulky and strange inside me.
It’s incredibly awkward to be lying here in the dim room, holding hands with Logan while this is going on. But my brother-in-law just squeezes my fingers more firmly and asks,
“Are you okay, Poppy? Does it hurt?”
“No.” I shake my head and then wince because Dr. Elizabeth wasn’t lying—she really is pressing hard.
“Squeeze my hand if you need to, kitten,” he urges, a concerned look on his face.
I do and then Dr. Elizabeth says,
“There’s the heartbeat!”
We both stared at the screen and I saw what looks like a tiny bean with four little lumps wiggling all over the place.
“My—this little one is feeling active today!” Dr. Elizabeth beams. “Look at all that activity. Looks like a healthy, happy little pup.”
This time I can’t let it go.
“Er…pup?” I ask uncertainly. “Is that a medical term?”
“More like a Were term,” she says, smiling at me. “I’m afraid it’s too early to tell the sex so we just say ‘pup’ since it can be either a male or a female.”
I’m still confused but I don’t like to ask anymore. She keeps talking as she’s making measurements.
“Now, I understand you just found out you were pregnant yesterday, after you had a dizzy spell and passed out at work?”
“Well…pretty much.” I nod. “I kind of suspected before but I wasn’t sure,” I add.
“Dizziness isn’t uncommon with Were pregnancies,” she says.
“Excuse me,” I interrupt her. “But you keep saying ‘where.’ Where, what? I’m sorry, I’m confused.”
Dr. Elizabeth frowns. Then she does the oddest thing—she leans over and sniffs me. I don’t mean under the sheet—that would be awful. I’m talking near my neck—she inhales and then her frown deepens as she looks at Logan.
“Your wife is at least half Were, isn’t she? That’s what her scent tells me, anyway.”
“Yes, but I believe she was raised in the human world,” he replies.
The human world? What are they talking about? I look back and forth between them. It’s like they both know some secret language or they’re members of the same secret club and I’m excluded.
“What are you two talking about?” I asked. “Of course I was raised in the ‘human world’—we all were. We’re all human!”
Dr. Elizabeth and Logan exchange another look and she takes out the wand.
“You can sit up—I think we’re done here for today,” she says and goes over to flip on the lights. “Go ahead and get dressed. The front desk will give you a list of approved foods and I’m going to want to schedule a follow up appointment soon.” She consults a calendar on the wall. “Hmm…how about Monday of next week? There’s a full moon this weekend—that should give you time to explain,” she adds, speaking to Logan.
Now I’m thoroughly confused. Why are we scheduling my next doctor’s appointment around the full moon? What does that have to do with anything?
“I don’t understand,” I say, shaking my head.
“Your husband will explain.” Dr. Elizabeth offers me a bright smile. “I’ll see you soon for more tests and another consultation but for now, congratulations—your baby seems to be healthy.”
Then she leaves.
8
POPPY
I go behind the screen and use the sheet to clean the ultrasound gel off me and out of me, but I’m full of questions. When I get dressed and come back around to see him, Logan has an unreadable look on his face.