Chapter 16 Camden
Camden
“Just reach out through our bond, and I’ll come and get you. All right?”
“Absolutely,” I told Maxwell. Without any hesitation, he leaned down and gave me a kiss.
We were in the waiting area of Dr. Bennett’s clinic, but I was here to see Dr. Braun, who was Castiel’s mate.
I needed to discuss the torment that my mother had put me and my brothers through for so long and how to work through my feelings of guilt for being very low contact with her.
“We promise we’ll take very good care of him,” Henry said. I smiled at the older wolf shifter and couldn’t help but wonder if he and Owen would be good friends. They were a lot alike from what I’d been able to ascertain.
“I know you will,” Maxwell said with a warm smile. “I’m going to go back and see Drew since he’s due in two days, and he’s become frustrated that he’s not showing any signs of going into labor soon.”
“Poor Drew,” I said. I’d seen the cheetah shifter twice now with Maxwell, and he was so sweet.
He was full of spunk though, which was probably a good thing.
His mate was a warlock too. Hmm…there seemed to be quite a few of those around, now that I thought about it.
“Let me know if you need me to come back,” I told him.
It was my job to help at the clinic. I couldn’t do that if I was here at the other clinic.
“I will, but I’m pretty sure this is just a quick checkup. According to Sebastian, Drew’s omega line is still just slightly pink.”
“Oh, that poor young man,” Owen said.
“What poor young man?” Garin asked as he joined us. “What have I missed?” He looked directly at me. “Sorry I’m a bit behind. Otto is teething and being super fussy and was not interested in Castiel.”
I grinned up at the dragon shifter. “Apparently, your little guy. But they were talking about Drew.”
Maxwell leaned down and kissed me again. “I have to go, or I’ll be late. Reach out if you need me.” Maxwell handed me a tube of something and then disappeared.
“I should be used to that by now,” Garin said.
I shrugged. “I live with the guy, and I’m still getting used to it.” I smiled and held out the tube to the dragon shifter. “I do believe this is for you. Or actually, for your little guy,” I said as we walked down the hallway.
“What is?” Garin asked. He glanced at my hand, and his eyes went wide. “I didn’t even think to ask you to bring some. It’s been a rough night, and none of us have gotten very much sleep. Castiel was going to see if one of us could get up to your clinic to get some.”
I smiled. “Well, apparently, Maxwell knew just what you needed,” I said. “Where’s Otto now?”
“He’s actually with Geoffrey, who is in my office, holding him. He was willing to go to Grandpapa, and he’s trying super hard to fall asleep, but every time he does, his cheek has pressure on it.”
I winced. “Did you want me to look at him? Is it just teething or something else, do you think?” Immediately, I was in doctor mode myself.
Nobody liked to see a toddler suffer. They often couldn’t tell us what hurt the most and where, and when you had a fussy little gargoyle baby, you knew he was in some serious pain.
“I won’t say no to you checking him out really quick. But we’re here for you to see me, not the other way around.”
I shrugged. There was a baby in need. I wasn’t going to not see him.
I followed Garin to his office, and when he poked his head inside, there was a somewhat quiet, trying-not-to-fuss baby Otto being sung to by who I had to assume was Geoffrey.
It was over once Garin came into view. Little Otto wanted nothing to do with his grandfather and only wanted Daddy.
“It doesn’t matter who holds him, but since I don’t have anything with me, I’ll need him by a source of light so I can try and look in his mouth.”
“We have a light,” Garin said. He took Otto from Geoffrey and introduced us. “Papa, this is Camden. He’s one of the doctors for the council. He works up on the mountain.”
“Oh, so you deliver the babies?”
I smiled while nodding. “Yes. And take care of the little ones and their daddies before and after they deliver them.” I reached out and touched Otto’s hand, and he immediately reached for me.
Garin looked at me with wide eyes, but I chuckled as I pulled the toddler into my arms. “Hello there, Otto. Does your mouth hurt, buddy? I can help with that,” I told him.
I knew he didn’t completely understand me.
In fact, he probably didn’t understand most of what I’d said, except for his name.
He continued to fuss, and when Garin handed me the penlight, I passed the baby back to his daddy.
It made it so much easier to look in Otto’s mouth.
Immediately, I was able to discover why he was so fussy.
“Yep, he’s teething,” I said. “He recently turned two?”
“Yes. Last month.”
“So the bottom molars always cause more pain for some reason. He has three bright white spots there,” I said.
“Two on his left and one on his right.” I ducked down and tried to get a look at his upper teeth and smiled.
“The one on the top right is just breaking through. The one on the left is still white, so the tooth is just under the gums.” I reached out and ran my fingers through his dark hair.
“Poor little guy. Daddy has some gel that is going to make you feel so much better.” I offered Garin a sympathetic smile.
“Seriously? Five molars?”
I nodded. “Yeah. He wants to get them done and over with, apparently. The gel will really help. Put it on up to four times a day. It’ll numb his gums for four to six hours and should provide relief.
Also, try teething biscuits. They’re messy, but they’re hard, and the pressure from chewing on them can also provide relief. ”
“Where do we get these teething biscuits?” Geoffrey asked.
“We might still have some,” Garin said. “But they have them at the store. I can ask Castiel to go and get some.”
I held up my finger. “Maxwell? Do you think you can do that magic thing and get us some teething biscuits? Poor little Otto actually has five molars coming in.”
“Done. They’re out front with Henry. Drew is probably going to give birth in the next day or two. Sebastian said the omega line is barely pink, but when I examined him, it’s already turning red around the line.”
“Maxwell said the biscuits are up front with Henry,” I told them.
“I’ll go and get them for the little guy. Hopefully, we can get him some relief and a nap,” Geoffrey said.
“Thank you, sweetie. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to come back. And fingers crossed for Drew.”
Garin stood Otto on his desk, and after he put some of the gel on his finger, he rubbed it on his son’s gums.
“Please tell Maxwell thank you for all of this.”
“I will. But it’s nothing out of the ordinary. It’s what we’re there for.”
“We were going to try for another soon, but I’m second-guessing myself right now.”
I chuckled at that. “I can understand that. I’m the youngest of eight. I’m not sure how or why my parents had so many, but they did. Ma is a fox shifter though, and her gestation is short like mine.”
Almost immediately, Otto’s fussing quieted. “It works so fast. He didn’t really cry too much with the fronts, but these molars are causing fits.”
“I think it’s more that he’s decided that five need to come in all at once.”
“I have the biscuits,” Geoffrey said as he came rushing back into the office. He stopped and seemed surprised. “He does not need them?”
“The gel is a miracle,” Garin said. He picked up Otto, gave him a kiss on the forehead, and handed him over to Geoffrey. “But I really need to get to my appointment with Camden. He’s here to see me, not him here to see Otto.”
I shrugged. “We can do both. It works out that way sometimes.”
Garin kissed the side of Geoffrey’s head and pulled me out of the office.
“It was nice to meet you, Geoffrey,” I said as I was tugged out of the office.
“You as well,” he called out.
Garin led me to another room, this one set up for seeing patients. “We’re using Hawthorne’s office today because he’s not here, and we were forced to bring Otto with us today because he’s not been feeling well at all.”
“You should call Maxwell on the weekend next time. We weren’t doing much of anything,” I told him.
Garin blinked at me and shook his head. “I must already be pregnant or something because that honestly didn’t even cross my mind.”
I laughed, and Garin joined. He gestured to the couch, and I sat, sinking into it a lot more than expected. “Oh, I hope I can get out,” I said, rubbing my belly.
“I’ll help. Let’s start wherever you want. But I do want to ask how the pregnancy is going? Are you overly emotional that you’ve noticed?”
I sighed and shook my head. “Not that I’ve noticed. I had zero pregnancy sickness, and I honestly didn’t feel pregnant for the first month. Maxwell had to tell me I was pregnant for me to realize I had caught.” Garin nodded slowly. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“How is your relationship with your siblings. You said you’re the youngest.”
“Yeah. And the only omega. I’m sure that has some contributing factor in how overly involved in my life she has been.
I have a good relationship with all of my brothers, but I’m the closest with Cameron.
He’s only a year older than I am, and I think that’s part of the reason why we were so close growing up,” I told him.
“Then there’s Chris, who is three years older than Cameron.
The next oldest are Carson and Carter. They’re the only twins, and they’re five years older than Chris.
We all think that Chris, Cameron, and I were surprises because we’re so much younger than the others. ”
“Even with them being older, do you have what you would say is a good relationship with your brothers?”