14. Gideon

“Gideon.” Kai’s voice cracked, his emotions so close to the surface. “I need you. The baby’s in trouble.”

I already had my keys in my hand the second he said he needed me and was out the door by the time he gave me the address. I raced to the office, grateful that the lights were in my favor and I didn’t pass any patrolmen, considering my speed was not quite within the limits.

I didn’t know why he chose to call me instead of Dante. It didn’t really matter. All I knew was my mate was in trouble, and I was the one he reached out to.

When I arrived, I looked around the waiting area, hoping to spot him. Instead, it was filled with happy omegas and their mates. How I wished that Kai was one of those just sitting there with joy on his face.

I was out of breath, having just run faster than I ever had before up multiple flights of stairs to get to my mate, unwilling to wait for the elevator.

“I’m here for Kai.” I spoke in no more than a whisper, unsure if he wanted the entire group of people sitting in the waiting room to recognize that it really was the Kai who had been sharing the space with them earlier. It probably wouldn’t matter to him, not with our baby at risk, but also, maybe it did. I wasn’t going to chance it.

It didn’t go unnoticed that I slipped and thought “our baby,” instead of “his” or “their.” Being “our baby” was jumping six steps ahead of where we were in our relationship. But at this moment, all I could think about was “our baby.”

“Oh, yes. He’s been waiting for you. Let me take you to him.”

She led me straight to an ultrasound room where he sat on the table, tears falling over his cheeks, his hands on his belly. He was all alone. They left him all fucking alone.

“Oh, honey, what’s going on?”

He hopped off the table and ran into my arms, holding me tightly.

“They think the baby isn’t the right size. They’re too small.” He looked up at me. “They’re too small.”

I just held him tightly, unsure how to comfort him other than giving him my love, my affection, and my compassion.

“I have to do a test now. But they had to wait until I had enough water in me.”

I half remembered that ultrasounds needed water.

“And do you now? Have enough water, I mean?”

“Oh yeah.” He forced a chuckle. He didn’t need to be brave, I was here now. “I have so much water in me that I’m about to burst.” He pointed to the empty jug on the counter beside him. He hadn’t been exaggerating. That was enough water for an entire dinner table’s worth of people.

A woman came in a few minutes later. “Your midwife sent me in to measure your baby.”

“Yeah.” He sniffled and went back to the table. I helped him up. He didn’t need it, but I wanted to show him I was here for him, even with the little things.

She explained what she was going to do and then had him lie back. She lifted his shirt, squeezed on some jelly-type goop, and placed the wand on his middle. The room filled with the echo of the baby’s heartbeat. I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to sound like, but it was quick, strong, and steady. Those all seemed like good qualities to me.

She didn’t say a word, moving the wand from place to place, tapping on her keyboard and clicking her mouse. Nothing on the screen made sense to me, and her silence was making my anxiety ten thousand times worse. I had to be strong for Kai, though, so I pushed it down as much as I could.

And I wasn’t sure exactly what she was seeing, but as I watched her face, nothing about her looked worried or frightened. But then again, she did this every day. She wouldn’t give anything away.

“Okay, I’m gonna go give this to the doctor, and she’ll be here in a few moments.”

“Doctor? Not the midwife?” Kai pulled his shirt down and rested his hand on his belly.

“The doctor needs to be involved in cases like this.”

“Cases like this?” My stomach fell.

“Those that require extra tests,” she clarified. It didn’t make me feel much better. But before I could ask another question, she left, closing the door behind her.

It was barely shut before an apology flew from my mate’s mouth. “I shouldn’t have called you.”

“No, you should have. I always want you to feel like I’m only a call away. I’m glad you called me.”

He seemed to take me at my word, and a couple minutes later, minutes that felt like hours, the doctor walked in.

“Well, hello, Dads.” Neither one of us corrected her. “It looks like your baby’s just sitting very oddly. He’s exactly the right size for what he should be. Your little one was just playing tricks on the midwife. Everything’s good.”

Relief flooded through me.

“There’s nothing wrong with my baby?”

“No, there’s nothing wrong. We’re just going to have to not use the old-fashioned methods of measuring you anymore. Because, apparently, your wee one is playing hide-and-seek already. He’s got himself worked into a hidden spot.”

After Kai booked his next appointment, I walked him out. “Thank you for coming.”

“Don’t you need a ride home?”

“I was going to take the subway.”

“Well, I brought my car. I can drive you.”

“I’d like that.”

We walked to the parking garage, and I drove him straight back to his place. He still hadn’t heard from Dante, which had him worrying about a whole different matter than he had been focused on an hour earlier. When we got up and into the apartment, Dante was there with a ziplock baggie in his hand, his phone inside and very wet.

“Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here.” He was talking to me, but there was no anger in his voice. It was just a fact.

“I didn’t expect it either.”

Kai told him all about the midwife’s appointment and how it spiraled into an emergency ultrasound and how I got to be there.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there for you, too.”

Too, not instead of.

“My phone fell in the toilet at work. I think it’s well beyond being rice salvageable at this point.”

“I’ll let you guys get back to talking about…” I wasn’t sure what, but I didn’t want to intrude.

Dante came right over and hugged me tightly. It felt good being there in his arms. A little too good. “Thank you. Thank you for being there for our mate when I couldn’t be. Thank you for being the mate he needed. Thank you for being Kai’s mate.”

And then, suddenly, it was no longer a goodbye hug. It was so much more… and I liked it.