Page 8 of Change the Plan
“Oh?”
“My ancestor was very into science.”
“Who? And in what way?”
“The second High Witch. It was in the time of Galileo — he’s often attributed with the invention of the compound microscope, and I know this because some people in the First like to claim thatsheinvented it, but she didn’t. She owned one of his telescopes, though, and an early microscope from thetime. So the first thing she did with it was fuck a bunch of men from different species and compare the samples she personally collected. I don’t think she collected them in cups either.”
“No.”
“Yeah. She wrote it all out in her grimoire, and it’s become one of those jokes in the Maheras line — you know every family has some weird lore…”
“Have you seen it?”
He nods.
“You’ve read great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granny’s sex diary?” I say, grinning as I count out thegreatson my fingers. Van’s great-grandmother is the current High Witch — essentially the queen of all the werewolves in the First.
“Hey, it was legitimate scientific exploration conducted by one of the most powerful witches that ever lived, alright?” he jokes. “‘Records of Male Output Specimens as Seen Under Miniature Spyglasses’is the translated title. You know I don’t speak the old language, and I wasn’t about to ask any of my uncles anything else about what it says. She drew a lot of diagrams to go with her report, though... So that’s how we know the average lifespan of wolf sperm.”
I nod. “Okay.Go granny. But one sample is hardly?—
“—She had about two hundred were samples in there alone. A handful of shifters…”
“Wow.Shifters as well, and after her mother led the war against them?” I still don’t know much about wolf history, but I do know what makes Van and his siblings so unique — and his parents’ relationship so rare — is the fact that this War of Wolves took place some five hundred odd years ago, displacing many shifters in the First and causing shifter packs to establish themselves here in the Second Realm instead, despite the fact that it meant they had to live as humans under the universal glamour all those years ago.
“Yeah, that surprised me too.” Van’s mouth twitches into the canine version of a grin as he shrugs one hulking shoulder, careful not to jostle me. “She was clearly very dedicated to her studies.”
“Very.Good on her. Unethical by today’s academic standards, but I guess she could get away with it at the time. You’re not just making this up to cheer me up, are you? Because I’ll be even more upset if it turns out I’m just gulli?—”
“I’m not making this up. If we ever go to the First, I’ll take you to view it for yourself. Or better yet, just ask Lacey. She’s got the photos on her phone.”
We pass by the fire pit, Van setting me down on the pavers just outside the house.
“Are you okay?” he asks, dropping to his knees so that we’re the same height, his eyes full of worry.
I nod, even as my vision grows blurry. “I’m just… it’s a shock.”
“I know. There’s Plan B. There’s pharmacies here. If you want to use it you can, and if you don’t… that’s okay too.”
That takes me aback. Not the idea of him suggesting Plan B — it was already on my mind — but the idea that I mightnotwant to use it. That maybe he does actually want kids a little sooner than we’d planned. “What do you want me to do?”
“It’s not about me.”
“Van.”
“It’snot.It’s your body.”
“Yeah, but we’remarried. We’remated. Forlife,” I add, pointing to the scar on my shoulder for emphasis. “It’s a joint decision of when we decide to have children.”
“I’m not going to dictate what you do here, Ellie. You were on birth control?—”
“—You’re not dictating, I’m asking for your opinion. As your partner.”
“My opinion doesn’t?—”
“What doyouwant?!” I demand, aware that I’m losing the plot here. Van’s ears flatten back against his skull, the fur around his ruff standing on end for a moment before easing. “I need to know if you want childrennow.Thisyear,” I say, my voice breaking. “Don’t put the whole thing on me. That’s not fair, because that’s not…Idon’t make this kind of decision without you, okay? That’s not what I want.I want to know.It’s fine if other people want to make this decision on their own, but I’m not them. I’mme. Do you want me to get pregnant right now? Yes or no?”
“No.”
