Chapter Twenty-Two
Kirk
I’d come around to not wanting to bite Doctor Dreala’s scaley hands off every time she touched my mate by the ‘big’ ultrasound appointment. It was around the time she rushed into the hospital to meet Chasten in the middle of the night. It was hard even for my wolf to see the doctor as a threat to our mate or pup after that. Excitement tingled down my spine as I helped Chasten up onto the table and he settled in, baring his belly before the doctor even arrived.
“What are you hoping for?” he asked me while rubbing circles over his belly.
“A baby.”
“Well, I’m not giving birth to a truck.”
“That would be scary. Though, you sort of are. I mean, we’re going to look at another one after this appointment.”
“That doesn’t mean someone is pregnant with the truck,” he laughed and rolled his eyes at my bad joke. “Really, though.”
“A baby,” I said again. “Aren’t we passed all the hoping for one set of sex organs or another. I get this is the ‘big’ ultrasound but are you going to like the kid less when you find out what’ll be in their diaper?”
“No, but I think most people have a preference for their first born.”
“A wolf,” I shrugged. “That’s my preference.”
“Well, unless you’re hiding a tiger or something in your genetics, you’ll get your wish.”
“Not that I know of,” I laughed. “Does it matter to you?”
“No,” he shook his head. “Boys pee everywhere, though, when you change their diapers.”
“Rude,” I laughed. “So you want a girl?”
“Yes. I mean, if they’re a girl. I just want my baby out.”
“Me too,” I said, leaning over his stomach and kissing it. “You hear that. We’re ready to meet you. We’d prefer not to be peed on but I don’t think we remembered to put that in your contract.”
Chasten laughed as Doctor Dreala knocked on the door before entering the room. She wore a bright smile and coconut scented pheromone blocker spray.
“You two are in good moods today. How’s the leg holding up, Kirk?”
“Better than ever.”
“And how’s your wolf’s temper?”
“In general, or about this?” I teased her and she shot me a look that said she wasn’t here to play around.
“He’s not angry. Territorial, yeah, but if he wasn’t I’d worry.”
“That’s good to hear,” she nodded. “Now are you going to move aside and let me see Chasten or will I be performing the ultrasound through you and hoping for the best?”
My wolf growled at her smartassery. Okay, so his temper wasn’t the best right now. I moved out of her way and took up my usual spot on the stool next to the table. Chasten took my hand in his as he and the doctor exchanged the usual small talk and symptom checking. She checked his ankles and legs and asked about his blood sugar.
“I feel as if I’m running out of fingertips. Sorta hurts to draw some days,” he admitted, holding his palms out toward her as proof.
“After you have the baby, we’ll probably be able to ease off checking it so frequently,” she reassured him after a quick glance at his fingers.
“I hope so. Soon, he’ll be pricking my bones,” Chasten said and scrunched up his nose.
“Not much longer now,” I said.
“Probably three weeks but let’s grab some measurements before we get down to business,” Doctor Dreala said.
She worked in silence recording the results on her clipboard. Her brows moved as if she were talking to herself with each scribble she wrote down.
“And you’re doing the stretches at home?” she asked.
“Yes,” Chasten nodded and glanced at me. “He makes me do them every morning and every evening.”
“That’s the doctor’s orders,” I laughed.
“You’ll be grateful come time to push.”
“What about my home birth?” Chasten asked as he did each time we visited Doctor Dreala.
“Probably,” she nodded. “And I’d say probably a little less than three weeks. On the safe side, I’d go ahead and prepare a birthing room at home. I’ll double check it for safety issues the week before the pup is due.”
Chasten scrunched up his nose. Over the last week or so, he’d stopped wanting to have anyone over to the house and even insisted I meet the food delivery person at the edge of the driveway.
“It’s part of a home birth these days,” Doctor Dreala said, pressing her lips together.
“I’m the territorial one. My wolf isn’t keen on having anyone inside the den.”
“Well, tell him unless he wants to give birth in a makeshift den at the hospital, I’m coming in.”
Chasten grumbled and I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. He’d let her in of course because he wanted to give birth at home. We’d already bought a birthing pool and installed it. I didn’t blame him at all for not wanting to be at a hospital at the mercy of so many staff members for one of the most painful and beautiful experiences of his life.
“Ready?” Doctor Dreala asked Chasten, holding up the handheld machine.
“Peer inside me, oh mighty doctor,” he said, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.
As soon as the machine came on, I couldn’t look away from the monitor. There our baby was in almost real-life color – little fists curled up and toes stretched out as if they might take off and swim any second now. The wand moved revealing that if Chasten’s statistics were correct our probability of being peed on while we changed diapers were drastically lower than it might’ve otherwise been.
“A little girl!” Chasten announced, his eyes shining with happy tears.
His scent burst into joy at seeing her there on the screen. I squeezed his hand and kissed it. Then I kissed his forehead or at least tried to but he dodged to keep watching the monitor.
“Delanie?” he asked me.
I thought about it for a long second before I said anything. We didn’t know the Delanie who went through her door after the accident. We’d never know if she’d find us using her name flattering or theft. She was beyond all that now if all the lore and modern stories about the Other World were to be believed. Still, she was the one who reminded us how important each tiny second was in our lives no matter how insignificant they felt in the moment.
“Delanie,” I nodded.
“Delanie Hope,” Chasten said.
“I like it,” Doctor Dreala chimed in. “You can take all the time you need. I’m going to print out your sonograms and update your file. I’ll email you an appointment date for when I’ll swing by to check out the birthing room. I’ll do my best to do it in time for you guys to have time to make any changes that might be needed. Keep doing your stretches, please and thank you.”
“I don’t know how she says all that without taking a breath,” Chasten laughed once we were alone.
“She’s a dragon. Probably doesn’t have to breathe all that often,” I laughed and stole a kiss.
“She’s beautiful – Delanie Hope.”
“The most beautiful girl in the world,” I said and stole another kiss.
“If you keep kissing me she’s gonna get a roommate.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” I laughed.
“Well, I think it might,” he teased and reached down and grabbed my ass.
We shared a long, slow kiss before he righted his clothes and sat up.
“I can’t wait to find out who our baby is. I feel an ache here,” he said, tapping at the hollow of his chest. “I miss her even though I’ve never met her. I didn’t even know that was possible.”
“She’ll be here before you know it.”
“She better, but if she has my sense of timing she might run late.”
“Well, we’ll just have to wait for her then, huh?” I smirked.