Page 21 of Unruly Omega

“We’ll love them either way,” I said, scooting over to put my legs on either side of him and wrap my arms around his middle, laying my hands under his belly.

“Yes. We will. But what if…”

Turning my head to press my face against his back, I shushed him. We’d both been overthinking lately. The what-ifs and maybes had plagued us ever since we found out Kellan was expecting. The things the humans had done to me plus the things they did to him, well, we didn’t know if our offspring would inherit some of that damage. There could be splices or damage to our DNA that would only show up in the baby.

The scientists hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about everything they did to us.

“Let’s take this step by step, mate. We go in a few minutes to see Markus, and he will ease our minds a bit. You and I both know we’ll love this child no matter what. Right?”

“Of course.” His hands joined mine and then rubbed his belly in circles. Sometimes I thought he was trying to infuse thebaby with good luck with all the rubbing he did. “I love them already. I can’t wait to be their daddy.”

“You’ll be fantastic. You already love me more than I deserve.”

He stood up and turned to face me. “Don’t say that. Markus says not to say bad things about ourselves or let others do it. You deserve all the love I have to give and more.”

“Okay. I’ll work on that.” I chuckled and gripped his hips. “Let’s get dressed. We have a baby to see.”

When the sanctuary first opened, we had an ultrasound machine donated to us. We thought we’d only use it for broken bones. None of us were mated then and the chances of that happening seemed like a dream. We were all messed up and scarred in ways not visible to the eye.

I knew that finding Kellan would give hope to the others, and everyone here could use a dose of that.

“That sounds good. But I’m still nervous.”

We got dressed and skipped breakfast. One thing I’d learned about my omega was that when he was upset, eating was the last thing he wanted to do. He’d passed the point where morning sickness was an issue—thank goodness. Seeing him be so sick was saddening.

Markus had a big grin on his face when we arrived. He was the healer and therapist, but he’d always wanted to practice his skills at birthing and ultrasounding something other than our broken bones and organs. “I’m glad you’re early. How are things going, Kellan?”

“They are going fine. I’m eating more and I can feel the baby move around now.”

“That’s fantastic. How are your energy levels?”

“Better,” I answered for my omega. “Much better than before.”

“Good. I know the two of you, or the three of us, are concerned about the baby and the possible trickle of trauma that might affect them. We’re going to monitor you very closely once we get close to the birth, okay?”

Kellan nodded and eyed the ultrasound machine. He got twitchy around all machines and who the hell could blame him.

Not me.

“It turns on and makes a humming sound,” Markus said, reading the room. “I’ll explain everything. Each step.”

“Thank you,” Kellan whispered. His hands were pressed against his belly, protecting our child from whatever may come.

Markus had him get onto the exam table, and spoke to Kellan gently. “We’re going to put this blue gel on your belly. It helps the ultrasound glide along and the sound waves transmit through your skin. None of it does any harm to you or the baby but it’s going to be cold.”

Kellan nodded and reached out to hold my hand while pulling up his shirt with the other one.

Markus applied the blue gel and then rolled the wand over Kellan’s belly. In seconds, we saw some blobs on the screen. “This is your baby. We’re about six weeks along but bears gestate a lot faster. So you’ll have a five- to six-month time period before birth. Oh, they’re a big one.”

He showed us everything he could. Developing heart. The beginning of arms and legs.

But he danced around the main issue. “Can you tell if anything’s wrong, Markus?” I asked, not able to take the suspense anymore.

“There’s nothing physical that I can see. I’d like to take some blood and some other samples to give us a better idea, but what happens after birth and as the child grows will tell us more. There’s only so much I can foretell. We hope for the best, right?”

“We do.” Kellan answered the way we did in group sessions.

“Is there anything you want to talk about? Any other concerns?”

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