20. Leonardo
Leonardo
“Ihave news for both of you, and of course, the ultrasound,” Rio said as we sat in the office. “I’m surprised that Sandro didn’t do the ultrasound already.”
I grinned. “He has. He did one with the machine over there, but Abel and Mazzi both said I need to experience a magical one.” I shrugged.
“I still got to see the baby, and Sandro said everything looked wonderful with our little one, but he couldn’t get the speaker to work, so I didn’t get to hear the heartbeat. That was a sad moment.”
Rio’s attention shifted to Sandro. “Really?”
“I did try. I even unplugged the machine and plugged everything back in. I’m not sure what is going on with it.
The transducer and screen were working. The speakers weren’t.
I couldn’t tell you the last time it was used though, so maybe it needs calibrated or an update or something.
I kept trying, but Leo saw how frustrated I was becoming, and he said it was no big deal.
We saw the baby, and he was happy with that. ”
“I was. But I can hear the baby now though? You can do that, right? Sandro said the baby is developing as everything should and the progress is where it should also be.”
“Of course,” Rio said. “Have Sandro help you get up on the exam table and get comfortable.”
Rio went over to the ultrasound machine that Sandro had used and turned it on. Rio started tapping on the wand thingy that Sandro had put on my stomach, and he pushed several keys on the keyboard until he finally sent a little green ball of magic into the system and shook his head.
“I’m not sure what was wrong with it,” he said to us.
“It’s working now, but I agree, there was some issue with the speakers.
A loose wire inside or something of the sort.
” Rio smiled at me. “Do you wish for an ultrasound with the machine now?” he asked, pointing to the machine.
“Or the magical kind? You mentioned that the others said you needed to experience the magical ultrasound, so I thought to ask. It is a bit more comfortable because there is no gel to cool, nor do you need to lift your shirt.”
“Oh, that would be nice,” I said. I looked over at Sandro.
“I liked it when you did the ultrasound too though. It was such a sweet moment between us. We got our first look at the baby together, just the two of us.” I smiled at my mate, hoping he wasn’t upset with me for wanting the magical ultrasound.
Abel and Mazzi both recommended it. They said it was so much more realistic than the machine, which made sense since it was, in fact, a form of magic.
“I’m not upset with you at all, mio amato. I, too, am excited about seeing our little one in the magical sense.”
“All right. Are we finding out what you’re having? I’m asking now before I let anything slip.”
I shrugged. “I’m happy either way. I want to know, but I also wouldn’t be upset if I couldn’t find out because the baby is hiding things.” I knew deep down, Sandro wanted to know. “If the baby is obviously showing things, can you let us know?”
Rio grinned at me. “Sure, but I already know what you’re having. Both the gender and the species.”
I blinked at Rio. “Seriously?” I looked up at Sandro. “Do you want to know?” I knew he did; the question was, would he say so?
“Only if you do. I’m happy as long as you are.”
I sighed. Of course he was going to be like that. “Okay. Tell us what we’re having,” I said.
Rio grinned. “You are having a little vampire, and it is going to be another boy for the coven, leaving poor Luci the only girl still.”
I felt the breath leave my body. A boy. We were having a little boy. I was going to give Sandro a son. My happiness was fleeting, though, as another thought snuck in. What if my grandfather found out? What if he somehow was able to kidnap the baby?
I reached for Sandro, and I felt his arms wrap around me. I heard him talking to Rio, but I couldn’t make out what was being said. Why was I suddenly underwater? Why did it sound like they were so far away?
“Leo?” I blinked several times and tried to catch my breath, but it didn’t seem to want to come to me. I heard more talking, and then I felt my entire body getting heavy. Things seemed to be closing in on me, and then things went dark.
I woke to a darkened room, and I was now in our bed in our suite. I turned my head toward the dim light and found Sandro sitting there, scowling.
“Are you mad at me?”
“Why would I ever be upset with you? Did you do something stupid and put yourself or our baby in danger?” Sandro asked as he got up from the chair and came to sit beside me on the bed.
“I ruined our ultrasound.”
“No you didn’t. Rio will be here to do it for you whenever you would like. I need to let him know when you wake up, and he’ll come check on you.”
I took a deep breath and sighed. It felt wonderful to do so. “What happened?”
“You started to hyperventilate. Rio helped you with magic and calmed you down.”
“He put me to sleep.”
Sandro grinned. “Something like that. I mentioned your thoughts to him because he had never experienced someone hyperventilating after getting the news that they were having a son.”
I winced. “I didn’t mean for my brain to go there.”
Sandro leaned down and gently touched his lips to mine.
After a long moment, he pushed up and smiled down at me.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he told me as he trailed a finger across my cheek.
“Your brain went somewhere that mine hadn’t yet, but it was actually quite important that it had.
Master Vincent has been told of your worries, and he’s taking them into consideration. ”
“What do you mean? Consideration for what? For allowing me to continue living here?” Where would I go? What would I do to hide my condition? I was showing. I could hide my stomach for a little longer under bigger clothing, but I didn’t have much money.
Sandro sighed. “Enough, little kitten.”
My thoughts stopped, and I immediately glared up at my mate. “I don’t like it when you call me that.”
“No, and I don’t like the fact that your thoughts would be that you are about to be banished from the coven. This is your home. You live here now. With me. And soon enough, with our son as well.”
“You said he was taking it into consideration. What does that even mean?”
“It’s a long story, and one I will certainly share. But for the moment, I need to let Rio know you are awake and ready for your ultrasound. Unless you aren’t?”
I wasn’t exactly sure, to be honest. “I don’t know. Am I? What if my grandfather finds out about the baby? What if he somehow gets hold of him?”
“He won’t because we won’t allow for that to happen,” Sandro said.
“We can discuss that more later. Right now, I think it would do you a world of good for you to see our little one. We’re having a boy, and you are going to have to start thinking about baby names and start spending some of the money in the accounts.
You should also get some larger shirts unless you are happy with the few you have now. ”
I knew that was a bit of a sore spot for Sandro.
He’d tried to get me to go shopping, and I had.
But I’d only picked out a few items. It wasn’t every day that an omega went from scrubbing floors on their hands and knees to suddenly having access to more funds than they would ever be able to spend.
And Sandro definitely had more money than I would ever be able to figure out how to spend.
Especially with the bills all being paid by the coven.
I was sure there were funds that were pooled to pay for everything, but really, what bills did we have living here?
None that I was aware of. Unless Sandro paid them and I just didn’t know?
“I’m ready, I guess,” I said finally. I knew he was still worried about me, and rightly so, most likely.
Sandro stared at me for a long moment before he tilted his head to the side. “If you’re not, it can wait.”
“How long was I out for?”
“Not very. At most, ten to fifteen minutes. Rio gave you enough magic to calm you down and nothing more.”
I groaned. “Why am I like this? I was never so emotional before.”
“Because you are pregnant, and pregnancy can wreak havoc on one’s emotions.
Your hormones are not what they normally would be, and that is causing issues for you.
It is what it is, but it’s nothing to be overly concerned about.
You aren’t acting in any way out of what would be considered normal for a pregnant omega. ”
I guess that was at least good to hear. I wasn’t too much of a mess, I guess. “I’m ready for the ultrasound. But maybe we should go do it in the office?”
“Only if you are uncomfortable with Rio doing it here. He will most likely deliver our baby here in this room, but it is completely up to you.”
“Oh.” I relaxed back onto the bed. I’d not thought about much when it came to…well, anything with the delivery. “Then here is fine, I guess. I just thought, since it’s our bedroom, the baby would be born elsewhere.”
“If you would like for the baby to be born in the office, that can be arranged. But I think it’s fairly normal for them to be born in the parents’ bedrooms. Especially since they shouldn’t be born in a human hospital.”
That made sense. “Yeah. Here is good.” I was being dumb. I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths. When I reopened my eyes, I found Sandro staring at me. “What?”
“Are you certain you’re ready? And you are never dumb, so stop that thinking now. You are stressed, and understandably so.”
“That doesn’t mean I like it,” I said.
“That may be, but it’s how things are. We can discuss that with Rio as well.”
I closed my eyes again, just waiting at this point. I knew I needed to talk to Rio about how I was feeling. I didn’t know if there was anything that he could do to help me, but I needed to at least ask.
“He’ll be here in just a moment. I’ll go answer the door for him and be right back. Are you all right here?”