Chapter 35
Vatten
Canton Valley Farm
Nashen’s kitten was born the day we made it back to the GGB Territory.
We headed to the farm instead of our apartment to make sure he and Bernard really didn’t need anything.
Our house wasn’t ready yet, but it also wasn’t a surprise anymore since Jondi overheard me speaking with Canton.
I had worried Eran would be mad at me for changing my mind at the last second, but I couldn’t stop myself.
After seeing how Jondi looked at Eran and chased along after me, I knew he needed us closer.
Maybe I was a softy now that I had a belly full of pups but I knew if that little otter was surrounded by adults he trusted, he’d be okay in the end and that’s the best thing we could hope for with any kid.
“Plus, we’re closer to Gooseberry too,” my dog chimed in to my thoughts as we neared the farm.
That made sense too because I probably wouldn’t travel as much to see patients once I had five puppies to raise.
“Two cat-puppies,” my dog chimed into my thoughts again. “Everyone keeps saying puppies. They’re not all puppies!”
Sure, I probably would opt not to have litters as often as my parents but five were still a lot of kids to raise and love.
Kids took time and effort and needed room to grow.
Up north the world was vaster and more open and maybe even safer to explore.
After all, I’d never seen the corpse of someone murdered by a ghost until I moved here. Then I saw three straight away.
A small crowd gathered on Bernard and Nashen’s porch, awaiting the news of the safe delivery of the baby.
We joined them and Eran introduced me to people whose names felt like it would take me years to learn and remember.
Inside, Nashen hissed and the sound sank into my pores.
Cats, dogs, bears. It didn’t matter. Labor noises always cut me to the bone.
I’d seen enough births to know nature usually works itself out alright but it makes the laboring carrier fight for their life before it turns out that way.
If I knew Nashen better I would’ve charged into the house to help.
After all, I’d helped deliver babies back home. Almost every omega had.
Through my mating link with Eran I vaguely understood all the hissing. Nashen was going to disembowel everyone and everything in the house. He was going to floss his teeth with Ferrick’s insides and summon his sister to scratch her eyes out. He was going to---
“Vatten?” Eran asked.
“Huh?” I said sheepishly. I hadn’t been paying attention to what everyone else was talking about. “Sorry was thinking.”
“Zee was asking if you wanted something to drink,” Eran said.
“No thanks. I don’t imbibe while I’m pregnant,” I said automatically.
“You don’t drink tea or lemonade while you’re pregnant?” the harpy’s eyebrows shot up high on his head.
“Oh. Sorry. Thought you were breaking out the hard stuff. That’s what alphas do back home.
Gotta sedate the inner beasts to survive the roars of labor.
Alphas aren’t made for it. Their nerves are flimsy when it comes to childbirth,” I said and everyone stared at me.
For a second, I thought I really messed up.
Sometimes I didn’t know when I should keep the thoughts inside my head to myself. Then someone laughed.
“Yeah. If they had to squeeze something the size of a melon out, they’d all faint as soon as they found out that’s what was going to happen,” someone said.
“Well not all of them,” Evie said, walking up the steps. “Women alphas do exist.”
“Some of them might faint too,” the other person said.
What was their name? I was about to apologize and ask it again, but the door swung open.
“It’s a boy!” The healer announced and Zee picked him up and swung him around in a circle before kissing him.
I glanced away when the harpy’s tongue dashed into his mate’s mouth.
I wasn’t shy but if too many people started kissing, I was going to drag Eran back to the truck for some fun of our own.
He took my hand and pulled me over to give me a quick kiss.
Eran went inside to congratulate Bernard, but I stayed outside, not wanting to intrude.
Plus, it gave me a chance to talk to Evie.
I wanted to set up an afternoon to talk through my birthing plan.
Not many of my dog relatives ended up needing c-sections but if I did, it would be up to her to get me and the babies through it.
Most likely, I wouldn’t need her help with anything but if she was going to be on standby, I figured she should know what the plan was.
We set up a time to meet the following week and barely had time to decide that we’d meet at the apartment before Eran was back out.
“Nashen doesn’t want any more visitors,” he said.
“What did you do to him?” I asked.
“Nothing. He said he’s done with people for now. It’s a cat thing,” he shrugged. “They named the baby Brazzen.”
“Very harpy! I like it!” Zee announced before I could say anything.
The crowd dispersed quicker than I thought possible as people headed back to the construction zone or to their own lives.
I considered walking over to the construction area but if I did, I’d want to help.
It was so hard to let someone do something nice for me.
Especially when I possessed the technical knowledge to do it myself.
Instead, we walked over to Jade’s house to make sure he and Jondi had settled back in before we headed back to the apartment.
As we padded across the grass, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if we weren’t moved before I hit the dog mode part of my pregnancy.