Page 223 of The Heart of Winter

Then unexpectedly, he glanced at Winter, his brows furrowed.

"Did you fuck my son?"

Winter seemed stunned by the directness. And I gaped my mouth. From all possible reactions, this one was the most bizarre!

"Well, I wouldn’t call it fucking. It was… making love," Winter responded calmly.

But I was far from being calm. "What the hell, Fa! You were just told you will have two grandkids and…"

"I’m very happy about the grandkids, don’t worry about it," he cut it short and turned around, heading toward his desk.

"And aren’t you even the least bit surprised that I can get pregnant, Fa?" I blurted out.

Father leaned against the edge of the desk, and directed his gaze at me, "Do you think I’m stupid, son?"

I fell silent, swallowing hard.

"When you were born, Doctor Wilson said we should genetically test both our children because I’m a gamma. We had those tests done discreetly, without telling the family, as we didn’t want you to grow up thinking you were different…"

"And yet, I still felt different…" I muttered.

"That was for other reasons. Doctor Wilson told us that sigma genetics were poorly understood—more of a theory—and their births were basically urban legends. His knowledge didn’t allow him to predict exactly how your development would go. But he did mention that there was a high chance you’d be a hermaphrodite like me."

"Why didn’t you tell me about this?"

Father folded his arms across his chest.

"When you had your first heat, you went straight to Blue. I knew my brother could help you, maybe better than I could. By the way, Doctor Wilson was Blue’s direct subordinate, so I kept my finger on the pulse. He passed away last year, unfortunately. But I have to admit, it was disappointing that you didn’t tell us, your parents, first about what you discovered."

I grimaced. "Don’t put it on me! I still think you should have told me first! You’re my sire!"

"Doctor Wilson said that you might never reveal the hermaphroditism, it wasn’t certain. Remember, I didn’t know I was a gamma for years. If you hadn’t been born, I would never have known. I didn’t want to disrupt your life without being sure whether being a hermaphrodite would truly affect it."

Raising my head straight, I stepped toward him.

"But it has. I’m pregnant. You’ll have two grandkids at once."

My father tilted his head slightly, then made one step toward me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Son, even if you don’t think I’m the best father… I’ll try to be the best grandfather I can be. I promise you that. I’m really happy that my family is growing." He made an abrupt turn to Winter, eyeing him inquisitively.

"The surname… I’d like you to keep ours and give it to the kids. I hope that’s not a problem?"

Winter looked a bit stunned.

"Of course not," he replied, surprisingly calm. "Or we could always add a little hyphen in between…" He smiled slyly.

My father winced slightly but didn’t say anything. He darted me a glance and slowly nodded.

"So, after all, you were right. You’ve managed to surprise me, Sariel and… these are great surprises," he added, placing one hand on my shoulder but the other on Winter’s. "All that’s left for me is to congratulate you both. I’m happy for you!"

"Thank you, I appreciate it, Jacob," Winter said solemnly.

Then, suddenly, Father furrowed his brows. "But you’re not planning to take time off for the pregnancy, are you? We’re starting The Strong Start project next month. I need you in charge of that."

Winter blinked and replied, "But I quit my job…"

"Nonsense! I never accepted your resignation, you ran away so quickly. And you didn’t take my call, which is unacceptable."

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