Page 43 of Duke's Baby Deal
Duke put an arm around my shoulder and swung me into my seat. “I know that look on your face. This isn’t home,” he whispered. “Out here, we have to be careful. You did great with the nurse—don’t blow it with the other patients.”
I slumped in the chair and, yes, I sulked. Duke looked at Abel and sighed, then pulled out his phone and started playing Alpha Hunt. Abel smirked. I had to laugh, and Duke and I shared a glance that wiped away all the bad feelings.
“Bram Mercy Hills?” came a voice from the other end of the room.
I looked up, scared once more.
Duke took my hand. “It’s okay. You’re not alone.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Duke was proud of how well Bram was handling his first trip outside walls. It was scary, to suddenly realize that you were at the mercy of a species that was terrified of you for no good reason. One wrong move, and they could be explaining themselves to the police. Or worse. But Bram was doing better than some of the other young shifters when they’d been introduced to the human world. Especially given the circumstances.
Bram perched on top of a table that closely resembled the one in Adelaide’s office. Duke had been surprised to be invited along for the meeting, but it appeared that, as Bram’s mate, they all assumed he’d want to be there. The doctor hadn’t been in yet, but the nurse—a different one this time—who’d shown them down to the room, had remembered Adelaide and they’d had a short, friendly conversation with her. A kind of catching-up, so to speak. She didn’t seem nearly as unnerved by them as the rest of the office did.
“I have to pee,” Bram complained.
“You can’t,” Duke reminded him.
“I know.” It wasn’t quite snapped, but Bram’s tone was sharper than before. “I just hope I don’t have an accident.” He squirmed in place.
“I’m sure they won’t be long,” Duke said. He hoped.
Bram sighed, but before he could say anything, the door opened on a slightly-shorter-than-average brown-haired man. “Hello, I’m Dr. Stambourg. You must be Bram.” He held out a hand for Bram to shake, then turned to Duke. “And you are?”
“His mate. Duke.”
They shook hands, then the doctor turned back to the file in his other hand. “Adelaide did an internship here with us while she finished her program. Excellent medical professional, and so pleasant to work with. If I’d had more shifter patients, I would have offered her a job. I might still, if she ever gets a hankering for city living.”
“I let her know, though I don’t think she’d ever leave the pack.”
“Too bad, but family first, hm?”
This was a different human from most of them. Even the ones who meant well were so uneducated about shifters; to find one who understood what pack meant and could toss that knowledge in so carefully was worth taking note of. “She’s very loyal.”
“Well, my loss is your gain.” Stambourg grinned ruefully and turned to Bram. “So, I’ve been reviewing all my notes on omegas, what there is of them, for the last couple of days. I understand your cycles are similar to those of female shifters, correct?”
Bram blushed, and glanced at Duke.
“Yes, they are,” Duke said, stepping into the breach, though not without his own blush.
“Then you probably have a pretty good idea when you got pregnant.”
“Um, yeah,” Bram muttered. “November seventeenth.”
Duke clenched one hand into a fist, then forced himself to relax it.
“And a hundred and eighty three days for full-term gestation,” the doctor said, almost to himself. “So that puts you at about seven weeks along. A little more than a quarter of the way through.” He made a note on the chart. “Your blood pressure is pretty good for now, maybe a bit elevated. We’ll keep an eye on that.” He raised his eyes from his folder and gazed at Bram with a look on his face that made Duke’s hackles rise.
He’s not a rival for your mate. He’s human.And apparently delighted to get his medical instruments on an omega shifter. A growl settled itself at the back of Duke’s throat, waiting for the moment it was needed.
The doctor set his folder aside. “All right, I’ll get some measurements and a blood sample, and then I’ll get you to lie down here.” He he patted the table with one hand while he pulled a measuring tape out of a drawer with the other.
A few moments later, some more numbers had been written down in the folder, and two red-topped test tubes had been tucked safely away on the counter, waiting to spill Bram’s secrets to the doctor. Duke helped Bram stretch out on the table. “How you doing?” he whispered.
“I’m fine.” Bram’s fingers flexed in his. “Nervous. I really need to pee.”
“Nothing to be nervous about,” Stambourg said cheerily. “I’m going to do a quick ultrasound to check everything’s okay in there. Adelaide mentioned it might be twins, and given your measurements now, I’d say she’s probably right. Can you pull your jeans down a bit farther, please? I don’t want to get this gel on them.”
