Page 44 of Duke's Baby Deal
Duke could only watch helplessly—though there was no reason to feel helpless; Bram didn’t need assistance to get undressed—while Bram wiggled the cloth out of the way. Bram squeaked when the doctor squirted the rounded curve of his belly with the clear gel.
“Yes, sorry,” the human said absently. He already had some part of the machine pressed against Bram’s belly, moving it back and forth while he watched the images flicker on a small screen. “It’s never as warm as the room for some reason.” He paused, focusing on one spot. “Do you want to see?”
“Yes!” Bram craned his head, and Duke bent down beside him, helping lift him high enough to see the image. “Wow!”
The reality hit Duke with a crash. This was Bram’s baby. Their baby.
“So that’s one,” the doctor said. “And here’s the other.” He moved the image, and another baby-like blob slid onto the screen. “Adelaide was right. You’re having twins.” He gave them a few moments to take it in.
“Two,” Bram whispered, and Duke wondered if he was the only one who heard the fear in Bram’s voice.
“Hey, I’m here,” he whispered back. “We’ll be fine. I’ve got you, and you’ve got this.”
Bram tilted his head back to stare up at him with a strained expression. Duke smiled at him in reassurance and, when that didn’t work, impulsively bent to kiss him quickly on the lips.
Even that brief contact lit Bram’s eyes, and he settled into Duke’s arms, if not with excitement and anticipation, then with at least a little more confidence.
The doctor was watching them with a contented look on his face. “This is my favorite part, other then the actual births,” he told them. “It never gets old, watching people’s faces when they see their baby for the first time.” He pointed out the arms and legs. “And, if you’re going to have twins, these are the safest kind to have.”
“What do you mean?” Duke asked.
“They’ve each got their own amniotic sac, and their own placenta. No risk of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, where one twin gets a better blood supply than the other, with all the problems you can imagine in that. No risk of the cords getting tangled, because they’re each in their own little sac. Like having their own room at the inn,” he said in a joking tone.
“Can you tell if they’re boys are girls?” Bram asked. He squeezed Duke’s hand and pulled him closer.
“Not yet. You’ll need…” Stambourg tipped his head to one side and stared blindly at the wall opposite. “I’d say at about twelve or thirteen weeks, we should be able to see. You’ll probably feel something at that point too.”
“Oh,” Bram said softly, and his free hand cupped the curve of his belly where the gel was absent.
Stambourg glanced up at Duke with a grin. “Another best part. You’ll be there for that, Dad.”
Duke twitched and Bram looked up at him, his expression worried.
The doctor patted Bram’s arm. “Don’t mind him. You’re already used to the idea that there’s a couple of little people in there. This is usually when it hits the dads.”
“Yeah,” Duke said and smiled down at Bram’s still anxious face. “Kind of crazy.” He turned back to the image again. “They’re gorgeous. Like their bearer.”
Bram laid his cheek against Duke’s hand and smiled.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
I didn’t even look where I was going as we walked out of the exam room. The doctor had printed off a couple of pictures of the babies from his ultrasound machine, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them. Two little heads, two sets of legs, two sets of arms. He said they looked healthy, if a little small.
Abel stood when we got to the waiting room. “Everything fine?”
Duke held up the pile of papers the doctor had given us. “Lots of reading, but so far, so good. He gave us a couple of prescriptions to fill, and we have to come back in a month.” He fished out his wallet. “I’ll go pay.”
Abel grinned. “Just the start of what they cost you.” But he didn’t seem to mind whatever his pups cost him. For sure, I’d seen him at Supplies often enough, either with Bax or alone, looking for clothing or toys or books. He didn’t mind that most of his pups weren’t actually his, but Bax’s by another alpha. Maybe Duke really didn’t mind that they weren’t biologically his. He seemed excited enough now.
It wasn’t until I had that thought that I realized how huge a worry that had been, running in the back of my mind, sucking the joy out of the day. Despite his assurances. I wanted Duke not to feel slighted, or put upon. And watching him walk back from the desk after he paid, his eyes still slightly muzzy with wonder, I thought maybe he really was okay with it.
Duke took my hand and smiled at me. “Ready to go get that hamburger?”
“You know it.” I squeezed his hand, a little too conscious of the eyes on us and the whispers filling the air to kiss him, though I wanted to. How sad was this, that I was completely and utterly in love with my mate, and my body was completely and utterly a slave to a man I hated? I couldn’t wait for my next heat—damn my finer feelings, I was going to ambush Duke, even if it was in the middle of the park. He must have seen something in my expression, because he pulled me close, then did his own furtive glance around the room.
“Let’s go,” he said.
We were going straight home as soon as we’d picked up some of the drugs the doctor recommended for my morning sickness, and with my future mealtimes shining like the full moon in front of me, I gobbled a couple of pills and begged for a hamburger. And chicken nuggets. And ice cream. My mouth watered just thinking about them.
