Page 17 of Bunny Be Mine
“We really should visit the doctor.” Arley laid his head on my chest. “We need to make sure everything is okay.”
“I am sure everything is just fine, but we will go to the medical center tomorrow. The doctor visit can wait a day.” I held my mate close, a swarm of emotions trailing through our mate bond between the two of us. “For now, we concentrate on feeding you and relaxing. Tomorrow, we go to the doctor.”
“Are you sure?” Arley asked, his voice soft and low.
“No. I’m not sure.” I kissed his nose, hoping the touch would calm him. “But I think we should just relax first before rushing to the doctor. Take a moment to settle into the idea that we are about to become parents. And figure out how we are going to tell everyone.”
“Will your parents be mad?” Arley looked up at me, meeting my eyes. “Will they care that you haven’t finished school yet and that we just met?”
“They are going to be overjoyed, Arley. Trust me. Mom and Dad will probably try to move out here now that there’s a baby coming. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Get ready to be spoiled by them. As the papa to their grandbaby, I bet they will now love you more than they even love me.”
“God, I wish my parents were here, Fen. They would have loved to be grandparents.”
“I know, baby.” I squeezed him a bit harder and let go just as the elevator doors opened. “Now let’s head home. I can’t wait to eat your muffins.”
“You know”—Arley winked and led me out of the elevator, already in a better mood—“I think there is a better treat I would rather eat. Come on, alpha. Your omega has plans for the rest of our night.”
Arley
“Um…Excuse me?” Anxiety bubbled in my stomach. I had to have heard the doctor incorrectly. “Can you repeat that, Doctor Adams?” The past couple of days had been a whirlwind of activity. After their home-cooked meal together, Fen suggested calling the doctor to set up an appointment. Which was great and all. Except for the information I was trying to process just then. I couldn’t have heard the nice doctor correctly. We weren’t ready for that kind of news.
“I know it can be quite a shock.” Doctor Adams turned the ultrasound monitor so it was fully facing me, pointing out one of the several blobs on the screen. Several blobs, yes, my anxiety was climbing higher. “They all are developing well and measuring exactly where they need to be for a three-week gestation.”
“Wait.” He did not just say that, did he? I reached back into my memories for something important my omega parent told me before he passed. “My papa told me that rabbit shifters only have a twenty-eight-to-thirty-five-day gestational period. But those guys look too small to be born so soon. Will they be okay?” As if I didn’t have enough on my anxiety plate. Was the count off? Was there something else wrong?
Doctor Adams chuckled, and that noise did not settle my nerves. “Since your mate is a wolf shifter, which usually has a sixty-two-day gestation, you are looking at a bit longer than a typical rabbit. But it will still only be around forty-five days. They will be growing much faster in the last half of your pregnancy, but you also must consider that multiples tend to have lower birth weights than singletons.” There was a mention of several blobs again. I was only going to worry about one thing at a time. Not the fact that there were several blobs floating around in my tummy. “We will need to monitor you twice a week until birth in order to ensure that they continue to grow evenly and healthily.”
I turned and looked at my mate, hoping his grounding preservation would lend itself to me as well. Fen didn’t look like much help as his mouth was slack and his eyes huge. Apparently I was the only one who had mini freak-out sessions internally. I reached out and brushed the top of his hand. “Fen?” His hand jerked under mine, yet he didn’t move hardly at all. “Are you okay?” I knew that was a redundant question to ask, but it was my only thought at that moment. Were they going to be okay?
Shaking his head, Fen readjusted his focus and stared at me, a slow upturn of his lips transforming his face. “I’ve never been happier.” His eyes shone with love as I was flooded with it through our bond. He wasn’t worried or anxious as I was; he was shocked. In a good way. I heaved in a deep breath and let my anxiety go for now, although I knew it would be back with so many blobs on the screen.
“Well, that’s the kind of thing we love to hear on these occasions.” Doctor Adams swiped the ultrasound wand around a few more times and typed in a few notes. “Do you two have any questions for me? I know it’s a shock and the office does have on-call doctors and nurses available twenty-four seven to address any concerns, but if you have anything you want to ask now, I’m here to provide the answers.”
I knew I’d have several questions, but the only thing I wanted to do just then was head home and bask in the comfort and love of my mate’s arms. “Can we get any pictures?” I motioned to the monitor. Doctor Adams happily agreed and printed a few, after highlighting separate blobs on the screen. Several blobs. How was that even possible? It looked like I was going to have a talk with my wolf mate about knocking me up with a litter. That mate of mine might be rich, but six babies? How in the world were we going to handle that many at once? I looked over at my mate, the pure joy written all over his face. It wouldn’t matter if it was one or twelve—please don’t let it ever be twelve—I knew we would make it work.
Chapter Nine
Fen
“IfoundArleysittingat the kitchen table at three a.m., crying.” Neal sat down next to me in physics class and unpacked his notebook and pen. “I didn’t know if I should talk to him or not, so I just backed out of the room and went back to bed.”
“You did?” I hadn’t even noticed he’d left the bed. What kind of a mate did that make me? “He didn’t say anything this morning, just went to class at eight a.m.” I felt horrible not knowing that my mate was struggling. After coming home from the doctor’s office yesterday, we cooked another meal together, baked some cookies, and snuggled in bed until we passed out from exertion. Was that too much on my mate? I thought we were both excited. Yet how could I even compare what I was feeling when my mate was the one carrying our extra load on top of classes and all the changes that had been happening. I should have made certain Arley was perfectly happy before we split for classes. Why didn’t I pick up on it?
“What’s going on?” Neal asked in a hushed voice, leaning in conspiratorially.
We hadn’t talked about not telling anyone, and Neal would find out soon enough; they already knew Arley was pregnant, just not the surprise number that went with it. Was he breaking any rules by telling first? “We found out that we are having more than one baby.”
“Twins? That’s awesome.” Neal sounded a bit envious, and I knew one day he’d find his mate.
“Times that by three.” Oh, just saying it out loud made me a little queasy. No wonder Arley was struggling. Any normal omega would. That was a lot of extras to add to a family all at once.
“Wait. What?” His eyes bugged out of his head, brows disappearing into his hairline, jaw slacked, mouth hanging open as if he didn’t hear when I knew very well he had.
“Yep. We are having a little squad of babies, Neal.” My own little squad of babies. I hoped they were all like Arley. It would be so cute to have mini Arley’s running around.
“Yeah, I would be crying at the kitchen table at three a.m. too.” Neal shifted in his seat suddenly nervous. “You aren’t leaving the house, right?” The urgency in Neal’s voice had me doing a double take.
“Oh, ah, no.” I shook my head. “We were hoping you guys would be okay with us staying for a while.” At least, that had been a little bit of the plan. The house was close enough to classes, and it made sense. While they could afford something by themselves, they weren’t ready yet.
