A Fox Among Wolves

Chapter Twenty

And then there is Quinn, who makes me wince in sympathy just thinking about him. Apparently, I am not the only pregnant hybrid in the house. But his came more as a surprise than mine did because he and Link had been using birth control that Lottie had managed to sneak out of one of the storage rooms in the city hall building. The thing is, though, since we were never taught how to use them, we had to try and figure it out on our own, and apparently, Link and Quinn had been using them wrong.

So, Quinn has been spending most mornings in the bathroom, grumbling about his mate but still insisting on cuddles from Link. Luckily, Link is just as affectionate, even if he pretends not to be. Quinn has him wrapped around his finger. While this has its benefits, it also means that Link is hovering just as badly as Braeden. It will be interesting to see how they will be as the pregnancy progresses since Quinn is only eight weeks along.

Alex has been doing better, though, which is great. He has gained weight, so he doesn't look like he is just skin and bones. He is still pretty lean, but it looks like that is just how his body is, and he has been happier. The kava has helped him immensely, and now we have started the process of spanning it out, so he doesn't have to rely on it regularly.

The thing that threw me for a loop, though, was when he was so surprised about me being pregnant. It took me a minute to remember that human males couldn't get pregnant, only the females. The whole thing just inspired a lot of questions from him, which I happily answered. So many things I hadn't even thought about as weird became objects of wonder to Alex. Things like why we have genders if both of us can get pregnant, which I explained was because of our outside characteristics. Then he asked how females could get other females pregnant, and I told him he had to ask Lena or Lottie if he wanted to know so badly. Apparently he had, too, because Lena had come downstairs blushing like mad, and pinched my ear in retribution.

He has gotten better, though, now just going about like everything is normal, which is good but a little surprising. Things have almost been too normal, but we are not about to be ungrateful for it. No more mutated hybrids have shown up, and I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary at the clinic, which has allowed my nightmares to slip away and for me to finally be able to sleep peacefully through the night.

"Henley?" a familiar voice questions, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Looking up, I see Braeden standing in front of me, a concerned look on his face. "Are you alright?" he asks, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me close to his side.

Smiling, I tilt my head up, asking for a kiss, which Braeden happily gives me. "I'm fine, stop your worrying. Now let's go see our baby."

A grin spreads across Braeden's face, and he quickly nods his head, allowing for me to lead us in the direction of the patient room Dr. Greene is waiting in. My mentor looks up from the computer when we walk into the room.

"Ah, glad you could make it, Braeden," she says, gesturing for him to sit down and for me to get on the padded table. "Now let's do some of the basics before we get to the exciting part."

She methodically goes through taking my stats: taking my temperature, measuring my weight, listening to my heart and lungs, massaging my stomach, and taking a vial of blood that she sends off to the lab.

"Alright, Henley, go ahead and lie back and lift up your shirt." Carefully, I do what she says, finding it a little bit hard to lower myself down while being pregnant. Braeden grabs my hand once I am situated, giving it a comforting squeeze while we both look at the screen.

The gel is warm from the hot water Dr. Greene had it sitting in, so it isn't too uncomfortable. She flips on the screen before pressing the wand against my belly, moving it through the gel in order to see the baby. She sits there quietly for a few minutes, moving the wand around and clicking some keys on the computer.

"Alright, do you two want to know the gender?" she asks, looking over at us. Braeden and I exchanged excited smiles before nodding our heads. "Well, it looks like the two of you will be having a girl. I can't tell if she is going to be a fox or a wolf yet, but we can always check for that later."

She clicks come more keys on the keyboard, taking some pictures before removing the wand and handing me a paper towel to wipe off the gel.

She sits back into her chair and swivels over so that she is looking at us. "Everything looks good. The baby is growing on schedule and your bloodwork came back normal. Just keep doing what you are doing and you will be fine." She sets her chart down on her lap. "Do you know how you want to have the baby yet? It is alright if you don't, we can always discuss this later."

Shaking my head, I pull myself up so that I am sitting once again. "I think I want to try the natural route but with some pain medicine."

Dr. Greene nods her head while jotting down my answer. "Alright, either way has its benefits and drawbacks." She sits back in her chair. "If we go the natural route, we are still going to have to make a small incision when labor starts so that your cervix can properly dilate. As you know, the scrotum will draw back into the body during labor, allowing us to make the small incision. As long as baby is positioned properly, there shouldn't be any problems. But if there are, are you alright with having a cesarean section? I don't want you to be surprised or feel any guilt if we have to go that route."

My head shakes and Braeden squeezes my hand again. "Which ever way gets her here safely, I am alright with."

A proud smile spreads across Dr. Greene's face, and she jots down one last thing before clicking her pen and standing up. "Alright, that is what I like to hear. Go ahead and schedule an appointment four weeks from now, and then head home. You were here late last night and came in early this morning, so go home and get some much-needed rest."

"Thank you, Dr. Greene," I say, and she gives me a smile before leaving the room.

Braeden helps me to stand up, putting on his jacket that he carried in before reaching down to hold my hand and walk with me out of the room.

My head falls against his shoulder and I can't help the smile spreading across my face. "A girl, Braeden, we're having a girl."

"I hope she will look exactly like you," he says, kissing the top of my head.

"No," I say, shaking my head. "I hope she looks like you."

Before Braeden has a chance to make a rebuttal, one of the nurses calls my name from where she is sitting at the nurses' station.

"Dr. Greene told me to have you pick up those before you left," she says, nodding her head over at the pile of books sitting on top of the counter.

"Thanks," I say, going over to pick them up, but Braeden scoops them up before I even have a chance.

Rolling my eyes, I trail behind him as we walk over to the employee area so that I can change back into my clothes. "I can carry some books, you know."

"Well, you don't have to when I am here," is all he says, a satisfied smile on his face.

"You're lucky I love you," I say, opening my locker to pull out my clothes. It is only when I have thrown my scrubs into the laundry basket that I realize what I said. My eyes widen and I look over at Braeden quickly, who has the widest smile I have ever seen on his face.

"I love you too," he says, making his way over to me. He uses his finger to tilt my chin up, setting a soft kiss on my lips.

A blush spreads across my face, and I allow Braeden to pull me against his side. This feels more intimate than when we had sex for the first time, and I can't help the happiness bubbling inside me.

"Now, let's get home before Quinn eats all of my ice cream," I say, and Braeden just laughs, allowing me to pull him to the car so that we can go home.