20. Carlton

"Can we bring the kittens?"

The four furry little ones were doing their best to trip me up as I wandered from the bedroom into the living room. They loved snuggling against my belly and meowed when the baby kicked. I wondered if they "talked" to the baby, but that upset my bear who grumbled and huffed that not even he could talk to our little one.

"No, babe. No furry creatures are allowed in the clinic."

I'll be there, and I'm furry.

But no one can see you.

Theo had been reluctant for me to have an ultrasound, fearing I'd have a tiny bear nestled inside me. "At best the technician will faint, and at worst, they'll haul you away to be prodded, poked, and studied by scientists."

No amount of reassurance convinced him that our baby, whether a shifter or human, wouldn't appear any different than any other little one. "Two arms, two legs, maybe a snout!"

My so-called joke was met with a glowering look. If I hadn't been pregnant my snark would have earned me a cushion tossed at my head.

"It's not funny." My poor mate had gnawed his nails until there was little left, so I called my cousin. He had two little ones and got the name of a shifter midwife who performed ultrasounds.

"It's outside the city, so we can make a day of it. Take a picnic." I was getting close to my last shift before the baby arrived, and my bear was looking forward to the outing.

My mate clutched a cushion and nibbled his bottom lip. "Is it in… you know… a house?"

"I guess. Probably a wooden cabin."

Theo let out a deep breath. "Okay."

I sat on the couch and put my feet up, and the kittens bounded onto my lap, not that I had much of one with my expanding belly. "If you'd prefer a clinic in a big shiny office building, we'd have to find one here in the city."

"No." His voice was higher than usual, and he was studying his nails.

"Theo. What is it?"

He cleared his throat, still looking anywhere but at me. "Don't laugh, but…" He twisted his hair, and Socks sauntered over to him, and sat on his feet. He stroked the furry kitty. "I thought a bear-shifter midwife might live in a den, as in a cave. A big dark, dank cave with bats and rats."

Sometimes I forgot that while I'd grown up in a den, lived around shifters my whole life, and had a bear inside me, Theo was introduced to the shifter world less than a year ago. He often asked me questions that I assumed he knew the answers to, and yet if I'd given it some thought, how could he?

"Bit hard to trundle the ultrasound machine into a cave, love." I beckoned him, and he slid over the couch until our thighs touched.

"You're laughing at me." He nudged me and grinned. If I hadn't been pregnant, he probably would have tickled me, so I silently thanked the baby for saving me.

"I'm not. I'm trying to see shifter life from your perspective, and I'm so proud of you for not freaking out." He side-eyed me. "Okay, not freaking out too much." If our roles have been reversed, I might have run screaming into the night. "Perhaps we should take flares with us just in case!" I slapped a hand over my mouth, but it was too late to stifle my giggle.

Carlton! Stop!

"Carlton! Stop!"

That was weird. "Are you communicating with my bear?" There was nothing in shifter history about humans and their mate's animal having a direct connection, but anything was possible.

"No. Is that a thing? Can we gossip about you without you knowing? Where's the popcorn? Can your animal drink when you're pregnant?" He tee-heed and it was my turn to scowl. Served me right for winding him up about caves.

"Doubt it. I'm being an ass, and you're both telling me to shut it."

My mate high-fived the air. "Well done, bear."

Theo convinced me to leave the kittens at home, saying they might gnaw at the scanner cables at the midwife's. "They'll be happier here with food, toys, water, and…" He turned on the TV, and they all ran and sat on the bed in front. "The cartoon channel."

"If we come back and they're re-enacting a battle, it's on you."

"Would it be any different to their usual behavior?"

He had a point.

My mate drove, and when we pulled up in front of the midwife's home slash office, it was a two-story house with a wraparound porch and a huge garden. My cousin had told me the guy grew a lot of herbs that he used in treatments for his patients.

"This is not what I expected." Theo helped me out of the car, and we strolled up a zigzagging path to the front door.

"I'm out back. Come around the side." We were greeted with the midwife, Jack, on hands and knees weeding a garden bed. "Do you like tomatoes and coriander?"

My mate and I shared a glance. Was this a trick question? Perhaps those ingredients were bad for pregnant omegas or perhaps the opposite?

"We're huge tomato fans," Theo gushed.

Were we? We liked them, but I'd never asked one for an autograph.

"Great. I'll send some home with you. They make a great salad when combined with cucumber."

Jake led us into the house, with him washing his hands in the mudroom and taking off his shoes. We sat in the living room for five minutes while he showered, and he led us into his office. The switch from shabby-chic decor in the house to a professional medical environment had my head swiveling back the way we'd come, making sure it was the same house.

"This is impressive." Theo gazed at the wall, lined with Jack's degrees and diplomas. He shivered as the room was freezing, but the baby increased my body temperature, and I was glad because I'd been sweating in the garden.

"Did you expect something more cavelike?" He grinned.

Theo swung on his heel, his eyes narrowed at me. "Did you say something?"

I hadn't, and Jack caught my eye. "It's common among humans mated to shifters. I've had clients arrive prepared for an expedition into the wild."

"Guilty." Theo laughed, and Jack and I joined him.

Jack asked the usual questions about me and my pregnancy and tapped at his computer. When he was done, he pointed to the exam table. "Ready to see your baby?" He quickly added, "And no, it won't be a bear, Theo."

"It's like you've been inside my head."

"No, I've been doing this a long time." Jack picked up a bottle of gel that all the pregnancy blogs and books talked about, saying it was cold. "Don't worry, I've warmed it for you."

I lifted up my paternity shirt, and he squirted gel on my belly. Theo and I giggled at the disgusting sound. If the kittens had been here, they'd have been in fight mode. Theo held my hand. I hadn't given much thought to the actual ultrasound, my attention had been on soothing Theo's worries about dens and bears in my belly.

Now that we were about to see our baby, my heart sped up. "Wait!"

What? No, I want to see the baby. My bear wasn't interested in my state of mind.

Jack paused, the wand in one hand. "Do you need me to step out?"

I glanced at Theo who spoke to me, ignoring the midwife by holding up his hand. "We don't have to do this. You're doing it for me."

"We do. I wasn't prepared, but this isn't something to fear." All the horror stories on blogs and social media told me the late nights, crying, and teething that were to come were mountains we'd have to climb. The ultrasound was the build-up, the exciting part, only second to the pregnancy reveal.

"Let's do this." Theo grinned, his eyes on the screen.

The grainy image we'd read about appeared as we waited for a heartbeat. My heart thudded so loudly, I whispered an apology to the baby for drowning out theirs.

But a sudden burst of sound echoed around the room. A thump, followed by another and another.

"Is that?—?"

"Your baby, yes." Jack showed us the head, spine, and limbs. Other than a few blobs, the only thing I could make out was the backbone. But I didn't care. Our baby had a strong heartbeat, and after measuring our little one, Jack informed us our baby was bigger than average.

On the way, I clutched the black-and-white image Jack had given us, alternately hugging it to my chest and staring at it, trying to make out which blob was a leg and which was an arm.

"I can't wait to meet our little one," I told my mate as we walked into the apartment.

"I wonder how the kittens will react to the baby."

It wouldn't be long before we found out.