Chapter 38 #2
I’d spoken to Gemma again just before we left, and she told me they’d had a group at the bar, and the totally hot drummer had asked her on a date, and instead of being happy for her and talking clothes and asking questions, I mumbled something about hoping they had a good time and said I had to go.
I felt like I was turning into a green monster, and not the Marvel superhero kind.
Had I given Gemma a chance, she would’ve called me a bitch. And she would have been right.
We even had to drive around to the back door, like it was something shameful, and I knew I was being unreasonable, so I kept my lips firmly closed with difficulty.
We were at least ushered into a cool welcoming space by a friendly assistant that nodded respectfully at Phoenix and treated me like I was normal.
If that was the right word? And yes, by the time I’d been poked and prodded, my blood-pressure taken, and peed into a cup, I discovered Tracey was human, but her father was a hybrid married to a human woman.
He could shift, and by this time, I’d relaxed enough to ask what sort of shifter he was.
She grinned. “He’s a cat.”
I blinked, images of ginger tabbies curled up on sofas filling my mind. Phoenix chuckled, relaxing as well. “Darren’s a panther shifter, and while he chooses not to live in a pack, he’s very supportive.”
In another minute, we were shown into a different room, and Phoenix helped me onto the bed. Well, he lifted me. He had to lift me. Then the doctor came in, and shook our hands, introducing himself as Doctor Coughran.
“I normally get my pregnant moms to drink as much water as they can, but your insides are already restricted, so we don’t need to worry about that.
” He used his stethoscope first, then the wand, as he referred to it as, covering my bump with some gel, before reaching over and turning the volume and screen on.
It flickered once, and a rapid beat seemed to take over the room.
I clutched Phoenix’s hand so tight he would probably be bruised and gazed at the screen.
Doctor Coughran was silent for a moment, and just as I got worried, his first question was, “Do you want to know if you’re having a boy or a girl? ”
“Yes,” I blurted out because he wouldn’t know we already knew.
“A baby girl. All ten fingers and toes.” He seemed very relaxed and took measurements and pointed out her head and her arms and legs.
I just managed not to blurt out any ridiculous questions like where’s her tail and let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
I glanced over at Phoenix, who was gazing at the screen in awe.
The doc obligingly printed a shot that looked for all the world like she was sucking her thumb, and then stood, turning off the machine. Tracy wiped the gel off me and helped me sit up. Then, of course, I had to go pee, but after a few minutes, we were sitting in Doctor Coughran’s office.
He smiled at me. “How much do you know about male omega pregnancies?”
I laughed shortly. Phoenix had told me not to mention I was technically barely two months pregnant or the silver-skins. “Nothing.”
He nodded. “It’s rare, as I’m sure you’re aware, but basically omegas have a thin membrane that only separates and then widens similar to a female as they labor.
I won’t go into technical details, but because of the position of the baby, C-section would be immensely problematic and not something I could do without a full team.
Who’s going to be there for you to deliver the baby? ”
I glanced at Phoenix and realized that apart from the mechanics of the actual delivery, I hadn’t thought about it. “We have both a healer and two she-wolves that have experience,” Phoenix said.
“With male omegas?”
Phoenix hesitated but shook his head.
He passed a card over with his number. “Then please get your healer to contact me. I, of course, can be called upon and will do my very best to assist.” He hesitated. “In the interests of transparency, I’ve never seen a male omega give birth either.”
Wonderful. And my previous confidence with this whole set-up vanished like smoke.
He looked at me. “What you have to understand is that shifters have been doing this expertly for centuries with little modern intervention.”
“But I’m not a shifter,” I wailed, on the verge of tears.
“But your daughter is.”
Which gave me pause. That was true. She was also the daughter of a very powerful alpha, and I suddenly felt a ton better. Well, still cranky, but better.
“Now, what I want to talk to you about most is your health,” he continued, as if he hadn’t just delivered a revelation. “You’re not drinking enough water, and I can imagine why, but going into your last month—”
“What?” I almost shouted.
“Your last month,” he repeated. “Your baby is just about out of room. Male omega pregnancies are considerably shorter because you don’t have a uterus, and the sac your baby is in is struggling to expand any further.
” He held up a hand as Phoenix opened his mouth.
“You’re both fine. As I said, this is normal for male omegas, but you need to prepare for giving birth anytime in the next three to four weeks.
” He stood, and Phoenix—who looked as shell-shocked as me—shook his outstretched hand and steered me out and to the truck.
I barely heard anything anyone else said.
Four weeks? Four flipping weeks. I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or have hysterics for the first time in my entire life.
Maybe all three.