Page 160 of As The Shifter World Turns

“He said you can have ice cream but you’re not getting a dog.” I stood up, slipping the phone in my pocket.

“He always says that about the dog.” He pouted and went to the door. “Maybe he’ll be cool with a brother. They’re fun too.”

I didn’t respond to that. There were no words I could say that wouldn’t make things more awkward and potentially get me into trouble with Martin. Soinstead I enacted one of my favorite techniques while coaching: Divert. Divert. Divert.

“I was thinking about getting one of those things where they make the vanilla soft serve,” I grabbed my keys from the counter, “and you put candy in it, but they mix it up like a shake and you eat it with a spoon. How about you?”

I opened the door and we stepped out.

“I love those, especially with the tiny gummy bears. They get extra chewy.”

Crisis averted.

At least for now.

And the scary part was that I wasn’t even sure what upset me more. Fumbling my words and not explaining it right, the fact that Martin and I hadn’t even discussed mating, Toby’s desire for a sibling, or my nerves over the necessity of having this conversation with Martin.

And if mating and siblings were anything at all like puppies, ignoring it was not an option.

65

CHOICES

Ivor

We’d made this journey before. From Sunshine Manor to the clinic. But this time was different. We’d gone back and forth on finding out if the baby was a boy or girl. On the one hand we wanted it to be a surprise but on the other, there’d been so many upheavals in our lives recently, I wanted some certainty.

And so we decided today was the day. It was exciting and scary but I decided that was adult life. There were always bumps in the road and I had mixed emotions going forward which was kinda silly. I blamed it on hormones as I did most things during my pregnancy.

“Here we are again,” Ryder announced. There was an edge to his voice.

I took his hand and squeezed. “We don’t have to do this.”

“You mean we can run off and order pizza and ice cream instead? Take the day off? Tell the boss we’re sick?”

“No. And besides, you are the boss, remember?” I too had a boss and it wasn't my mate. We’d put the discussion to bed regarding me going back to my old job. At least I hoped we had. Ryder had been disappointed but it was best for us.

“Oh right. It slipped my mind.”

He was more agitated than I expected and I had to give him an out. “If you’ve decided against finding out if we’re having a boy or girl, that’s fine. We can wait until the baby’s born. It’s not a big deal.”

“No. We decided and I’m fine with that.” He helped me out of the car, the bump making it more difficult to heave myself up. “Remember the first time we came here. Youwere terrified.”

“Gee thanks for reminding me. You know how to make your mate feel good.” Before that initial visit I’d gone over all the worse-case scenarios. It felt as though if I did that, then they wouldn’t happen. Like many parents-to-be, I worried the baby, as small as they were at the time of the first scan, wouldn’t be growing as they should or the heartbeat was irregular. None of which turned out to be the case.

“Sorry. Well, now it’s my turn. I know you have a baby in your belly. Of course, I do. But finding out that the little one is a son or a daughter. That’s unreal.”

“The bump keeps it real for me.” He placed his hand on my belly and the baby kicked. “There you are. Our little one is telling you they’re okay.”

“Yeah.” He took a deep breath.

The technician, a different one than on our first visit, greeted us and we did the gel on my belly and all the usual things. The grainy black and white images appeared and the reassuring heartbeat that slowed my racing pulse. Even though I’d been trying to calm my mate, I was also tense but that pounding had me whispering to the baby, “Good job.” I hoped hearing the heartbeat was having the same soothing effect on Ryder.

The technician did all the clicky clicky things while we stared at the screen. She pointed out the baby’s head and legs and then asked if we wanted to know if it was a boy or girl. We both nodded and she explained it wasn’t an exact science but was determined by whether she could see a penis or not.

“Okay,” I said as I peered at the screen, uncertain if what I was looking at was an arm.

“I’m pretty sure your baby is a girl.”

---