Page 20 of Dreaming of an Omega Christmas
To my surprise, he broke into a wide smile. “Ever since we mentioned kids, I've been thinking about adopting, but we could… we could have our own baby? Like Traviel and Elarian?”
“We could.”
“That's crazy! That’s wonderful!”
“So, you're not opposed to the idea?”
“No, not at all. I think that's amazing.” He turned and started rummaging through a cupboard. When I heard him under his breath say “We could have our own baby” I put a hand over my stomach and thought of the positive pregnancy test at the bottom of the trash.
I smiled and almost blurted out that I was already pregnant. Suddenly, I had a better idea. “Why don't I get started on those cookies?” I offered. “I can bring them to you after they're done baking.”
“Thank you. That would be great. I'm afraid I'm on a bit of a roll in my work.”
He headed to his office and I got started baking. Once they were in the oven I scraped a bunch of the dough away from the side of the bowl with a spoon. It was an inch from my mouth before I stopped. I probably shouldn't eat raw dough while I was pregnant. I put it back in the bowl, somewhat reluctantly and frowned. In fact, I wasn't sure what I should do. Other than the week I spent taking care of Elarian, I had no idea what I was or was not supposed to do while pregnant. I supposed I'd have to make an appointment with the doctor. They'd probably confirm it for me and well, Travis wasn't going to be coming out anytime soon.
I pulled out my cell phone and called Vale Valley General Hospital to make an appointment for myself with the OB there. They gave me my choice of doctor and I told them whoever was available soonest, but made a mental note to check with Elarian and find out who he saw, as I remembered him being rather fond of his physician.
With that somewhat nerve-wracking phone call out of the way I paced the kitchen, waiting for the cookies to finish. As I did, I started trying to come up with the best way to surprise Travis with news of the pregnancy. Assuming he didn't start to suspect now that he knew I was capable of getting pregnant. I knew the when and I knew the where, by the time the cookies were cool enough to eat, I was quite confident about the how.
Somehow, as far as I knew, I managed to keep Travis from becoming suspicious. Maybe it was because my morning sickness wasn't all that bad. I didn't throw up again. Or maybe it was thanks to some of my bulkier winter sweaters covering up my stomach, that absolutely was starting to get big. My pants weredefinitelygetting a little tighter. And I was starting to think I should go ask Elarian if he had any leftover maternity pants.
~~~***~~~
Before I knew it, it was December 23rdand my appointment.
I was filled with nervous excitement as I sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office. At last, they pulled me back to do some sort of procedure. Bloodwork had already confirmed what the pregnancy test said. And now they were doing something else to check things out.
As I lifted my shirt, and tried to get comfortable on the table, I found myself wishing that Travis was here with me. Even though it was my choice to leave him out of the first appointment. I thought of Elarian and how freaked out he must have been to be forced to do this without Traviel by his side. I felt a little bit better. If Elarian could get through this by himself, with all of the uncertainty that waited for him at home ,then surely I could manage, knowing that my mate was waiting for me and hadn’t vanished into thin air.
“Okay,” the doctor said. “This might be a little cold.”
I nodded and she pressed the device against my stomach and started moving it around. It was a little cold, but nothing too horrible.
“You’re a wood elf?” she asked, as the sound of static filled the air.
I almost corrected her by saying wandering elf, but caught myself and grinned broadly.
“Yes,” I said in satisfaction.
“And the alpha?”
“Half-elf. Well, mostly human.”
She nodded. And then sudden thumping, like a galloping horse filled the air.
“Ah, there we go!” she said. “A nice, strong heartbeat.”
I was surprised when my eyes filled with tears at the sound of it. “That's the baby's heartbeat?” I murmured in wonder.
“That's right.”
Chapter Eight
Travis
Christmas morning started off in a way that I imagine most family Christmas mornings did. I woke up first and put some cinnamon rolls in the oven, which I vaguely remembered my mother doing when I was young. Falkanar came downstairs while I was getting a fire started.
“Oh, this is cozy,” he said when he spotted the tray of cinnamon buns and fresh coffee.
