21. Cole

"I'm worried about the baby."

Henri stood at the door of the bathroom, a hand on his flat belly.

My stomach dropped, and bile slid up my throat. I raced to him and brought him to the bed. Multiple scenarios sprinted through my mind, the worst being… no, I couldn't put it into words, but I had to get him to a doctor.

With the phone in hand, I said, "Calling an ambulance, now."

But Henri grabbed the device and turned it off. "No, babe. It's not an emergency, though I love how you didn't freak and did the right thing."

I did almost lose it, but I was glad I kept it together.

"I worry the baby's not growing enough. I'm three months along and no bump in sight." The easiest thing would be to tell my mate everyone was different and his belly would expand in time. But I was no medical professional and me being blasé about his concern wouldn't help. His job was to carry the baby, mine was to support.

"I can call the palace doctor." Like the portrait painter, we no longer had a full-time physician living on site but a trusted doctor who attended us here when necessary.

Henri made a face. "I'd prefer a fox shifter midwife, if that's okay."

"Whatever you want, love. I'll make it happen."

I worried about what would happen if the king got wind of us seeking medical treatment outside of those approved by him, but Henri was my mate and the one carrying the baby.

He scrolled through his contacts and made a couple of calls, at one point pausing the conversation to ask if we could meet the midwife at their office. I nodded, willing to do whatever was needed to assure my mate our little one was thriving and to secure our privacy from the palace gossips.

Rather than taking the main stairs, we went to the back of the palace, hoping to leave via the staff entrance. Not that my father would bar us from leaving, but I refused to upset Henri when he was already worried about our child.

But as we reached the exit, Papa emerged from the shadows. Henri gripped his chest and even I was taken aback, not having scented my omega dad.

"Hurry, before the king finds out, or you'll get an hour-long speech about why medical matters should be handled in-house." He added that there was a car and driver waiting. "Your father would love to stage manage this pregnancy of his first grandchild, so go now before he insists on coming with you and taking notes."

I kissed his cheek and steered Henri outside. The car belonged to Molly so didn't have our special RF number plates, and the driver was Molly's assistant. While I hated that nothing was a secret within our walls—and Father was certain to find out—we could escape before he confronted us.

The fox shifter midwife was located outside town, in a small leafy village. The scent of fox permeated the place when we got out, and Henri explained all the cottages belonged to midwives.

"All foxes, all the time in this village."

He headed to one with a red roof that reminded me of the human fairy tales Father insisted I read as a child "to help me understand humans." Those stories terrified me, a bear shifter, and in the days since we'd discovered Henri was pregnant, my beast begged me never to read any to our child or him!

The door opened and a middle-aged woman with a mop of auburn hair greeted us. She introduced herself as Lainey before shutting the door and closing the curtains. If I'd been anywhere else, I'd have been worried, but Henri assured me she was protecting our privacy.

After taking Henri's details plus his blood pressure, she asked what the problem was, and my mate burst into tears. "I'm not doing a good job of protecting our little one, as they're not growing."

"Let me be the judge of that."

My mate lay on the table, and Lainey ran the ultrasound wand over his belly. A distinctive thudding filled the room. Henri and I shared a glance.

"Is that what I think it is?" My mate entwined his fingers with mine.

"That's your baby's heart, a very healthy heartbeat."

Lainey measured our little one, saying they were on the seventieth percentile.

I asked what that was, and she explained our child was bigger than seventy percent of other babies at this stage.

"But I'm so small." Henri looked at me as if asking for support.

"There are so many factors that determine when an omega begins to show," Lainey told us. "I know saying ‘Don't worry' won't help, but call me any time and we can talk whenever you want."

Wow! My human friends who were parents didn't have doctors or midwives who were on call 24/7 during the early days of pregnancy.

We agreed to return once a month for a checkup.

"Has that assured you?" I asked my mate as we were driven back to the palace.

He nodded. "It's silly, I know, but I was so looking forward to having a big belly and flowy shirts and everyone patting my bump."

"What about swollen ankles and cravings?" We'd been reading books and blogs, and Henri had cringed at the pics of puffy ankles.

He giggled. "You got me. I am not looking forward to that."

We passed a convenience store, and my mate asked Alfie, the driver, if we could stop.

"The cravings are starting. I'd love some salt-and-vinegar chips."

Alfie offered to get a packet, and I handed him my debit card.

"Not one packet. A lot. As many as they have, please, Alfie." Henri licked his lips. "I can smell them now, and I'm imagining the salty vinegary flavor on my tongue." He patted my arm. "Sorry, babe. They're not your favorite, I know."

"It's okay. I'll put a peg on my nose whenever you eat them."

He placed his lips on my ear. "Or you could do something else when we get home, perhaps. Something with your tongue…"