Chapter Fifteen

“Let’s deal with your physical symptoms first, shall we? Ness, I need you to lie up on the bed. You can stay, Cyrus, but I swear if I see your teeth coming anywhere near me, I’ll knock them out of your head.”

Doc got up, going over to the examination table, that looked remarkably comfortable. “I want to check your insides, I’ll use the ultrasound machine. It’s something we’ll use if and when you do get pregnant, but for now it will work to give me a benchmark on what your insides look like. That way we can rule out anything physical that might be causing the aches you’re describing.”

“This should be interesting.” Cyrus helped his mate get settled, making sure Ness was focused on him. “I have to say I’ve never seen the insides of another person before, at least when those insides are still inside. Body organs and stuff like that are usually just messy if they’ve been pulled outside of the body they were intended to be in.”

“Is that your idea of a joke?” Ness asked, the confusion he was going through still showing in his eyes.

“You’re smiling, so it must be.” Cyrus widened his grin, and then he quickly covered his teeth again. “Can’t let the doc see my teeth,” he mocked whispered to Ness. “Can you imagine a gummy shark? I’d never live it down.”

Ness chuckled and Cyrus took that as the win it was.

“Just scoot your top up please, Ness.” Doc grabbed hold of a trolley that had a large square machine on it and rolled it closer to the bed. “And then show me the area of your belly where the ache is the most intense.”

The pink on Ness’s cheeks was like shark-nip to Cyrus as he hurriedly did what the doc was asking. “It’s more here,” he said, indicating his lower belly, pushing down the waistband of his trousers. “There’s no lump or pain or anything, just a dull ache.”

“And it get’s worse after orgasm?” Doc was fiddling with his machine and applying a gel to a wand device that was attached to the same machine.

“Just keep focusing on me,” Cyrus said as the wand touched Ness’s stomach. Cyrus bit the inside of his gum, tasting blood. The doc’s hands were too damn close to Ness’s bits. “When do you feel the aches the worst, darlin’?”

“After we’ve finished.” There was that sadness again, Cyrus could feel it through their bond. “It’s not anything you’re doing or not doing, Cy, it’s just me.”

“Hey, hey. Did you forget who you’re mated to? I know how close we are, even if you struggle to feel it sometimes. I don’t want you to worry about my ego. I can smell how happy I make you every time we’re touching each other.”

“I’m not seeing anything in your insides that shouldn’t be there, so that’s another worry off your list.” Doc broke into what should’ve been a perfect moment as far as Cyrus was concerned, but the words were welcome in terms of content. “No lumps, bumps, or growths. Everything looks perfectly normal. You can wipe yourself off and cover up again.”

He handed out some white tissues that Cyrus took before Ness could get them, wiping over Ness’s belly, making sure his fingers were trailing over any parts where Doc’s scent might have transferred itself onto his mate. Doc snorted and turned away, wiping off his equipment, but Cyrus wasn’t going to be embarrassed. Shifters didn’t like their mates smelling of anyone else but them.

After helping Ness sit upright, Cyrus perched his butt on the side of the bed next to him. “So what’s your verdict, Doc? Is this ache caused by something missing in our bond, or is this just Ness’s beastie’s way of letting us know they want more?”

“There’s still so much about the impact our animal sides have on our lives we need to learn,” Doc said. “Unfortunately, it’s not an exact science. I should point out, I never suggest that a couple should have children before they’re ready. That is a foolhardy thing for anyone to do.

“I should also point out, purely from a scientific standpoint, that even if you do engage in anal sex there’s no guarantee you’ll get pregnant – either one of you – at least not right away. But hoping you won’t get pregnant while you’re doing the very act designed to create new life is not a foolproof contraception method.

“Basically, when it comes to shifters there is no such thing as a foolproof contraception method beyond what you’re doing now.”

“Which isn’t working for either one of us.” Cyrus held onto Ness’s hand.

Doc was silent for a moment, and then he said, “Ness, I got the impression that one of the reasons you’re concerned about getting pregnant at all is that you’re worried about what your baby might shift into and concerns about the length of pregnancy and things like that. Would that be right?”

Ness swallowed hard enough for Cyrus to hear and nodded.

“And, I’m just guessing from this visit and our previous conversations, that reaching out to your family for more information wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“My parents grabbed hold of the puritan lifestyle when it first became a movement and never let it go.” Ness sighed. “I guess we just have to work this out for ourselves.”

Cyrus didn’t like hearing the defeatist attitude in his mate’s tone. That was not how a mating should be. “You do a lot of good, financing other people’s innovations and helping bring new technologies to the human world. If we accept that whatever will happen will happen, think of the good you could do for the shifter medical profession, for researchers who study near extinct beings…” Cyrus trailed off, looking to Doc for assistance.

“Oh, my goodness, yes, Ness.” Doc looked positively animated for the first time since they’d entered his office. “To actually have a documented case of a male shifter pregnancy from a species so rare we don’t have a name for you would be so beneficial to anyone else in a similar situation.

“And with regards to worrying about your care and how long you could be pregnant for, if it makes it easier for you, we can start taking measurements with the ultrasound from the first week your animal lets you know you’re carrying. The growth is likely going to be minute from week to week if yours proves to be a long pregnancy, but after about a month to six weeks’ worth of growth recorded, I will be able to give you an expectation of how long your pregnancy might be.”

“We don’t live in the Middle Ages, that I was born into,” Cyrus added. “You already have a doc who’s skilled and has decades of experience looking after shifters. There’re equipment and tools that can make things so much easier…” Cyrus was winging it, but Ness was looking more hopeful.

“I know you’re concerned about what your baby might shift into as well, but that really doesn’t matter,” Doc said. “In every hybrid baby birth I’ve attended, when it comes down to it, they are babies. They need love, warmth, food, and shelter. I worried myself sick, terrified the people in town would find out about my Komodo dragon when my little ones were born, and it turns out the townspeople knew and didn’t care. And can you think of any weirder combination than a dragon like mine and a bull shifter?

“There are so many hybrid babies in Arrowtown, of all types. They are all loved, and no one gives a shit about what they shift into, and they don’t care if the baby can’t shift at all. Mrs. Hooper from the store said it best when she said we were building a new breed of shifter or paranormal in this town – children who were accepted for who they are. I agree with that woman one hundred percent.”

“From what Levi, who would be my step-grandson I think you’d call it, but what he told me when Blade got pregnant, my son honestly thought he’d end up a stomach full of baby sharks who would all eat one another until one emerged the victor and ate his way out of Blade’s stomach.” Cyrus grinned as he nudged Ness’s shoulder. “I don’t think we’ll be that bad.”

“See, there’s a thought,” Doc nodded. “That boy will be graduated soon and working here full time as well, so any possible pregnancy will be a family affair. Levi has a good head on his shoulders.”

“I’ve been silly, haven’t I?” Ness glanced at Cyrus, his smile shy. “I’ve always told myself to live in the moment, and here I am fretting about things that haven’t happened yet.”

“It never hurts to plan or prepare for things, darlin’.” Cyrus quickly kissed Ness’s forehead. “Let’s leave Doc to spend some time with his family and go and find some dinner. Then you can take me out to your place, and we’ll take each moment as it comes. How does that sound?”

“I’ve got food at the house. I can show you around town tomorrow.”

And yep, there were times when Ness had their connection wide open, and Cyrus was filled with a want that wasn’t all his own.

“Nice to meet you, Doc. I’m sure we’ll see you again real soon,” he said, grabbing Ness’s hand, jumping off the bed and power walking out of the office. Ness still beat him to the car.