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“No kidding,” I agreed.
I was reluctant to do so, but after another few moments, I started to feel…relieved. I knew I wasn’t out of the woods completely, but I also knew I was more likely to be able to deal with ten or twenty minutes of agony a lot better than a full hour.
“I miss Noah,” I said as the serum started to dwindle in the bag. “I feel like we’ve been so busy lately that we only get to really spend time with him when we’re putting him to bed or getting him to do his homework. I hope we can go do things together soon. I hope we can be done with the constant disasters soon.”
“We will be,” Cole said with certainty. “And tonight, we’ll stay at the beach house to get some hard-earned privacy and make sure we’re close to the hospital if anything goes wrong tonight.”
“We haven’t stayed at the beach house in a while,” I said. “It will be nice to hear the ocean waves outside while we’re sleeping.”
“Do you miss it? Having our own separate home?”
“Sometimes,” I said. “But it also feels a little empty when we stay away from headquarters, and I wind up missing it a lot. The people we’ve started taking in…it really feels like a giant family.”
Cole smiled. “It does. Which can be both a bane and a boon.”
“I dunno. Coming from a smaller family, getting disowned by them…it’s nice to have a surplus for once.”
“Well, if you’re happy, I’m happy.”
“I am,” I said, leaning over a bit to kiss him.
He met me halfway, this kiss a little more quick and chaste than the last.
Just as we broke from the kiss, the door to the room opened once again, and the doctor stepped through. “Everything going smoothly?” he asked. “Any discomfort?”
“Shockingly, no,” I said. “After the needle, everything has been smooth sailing.”
“Good! That’s fantastic. Normally, the first injection comes with some nausea and fatigue, maybe some aches if the reaction is particularly strong, but it seems like you’re doing well.” He glanced at the IV bag. “The bag is almost finished, so I figured I would come and talk to you both about some potential scenarios tonight and over the next week or so while your body acclimates to its new DNA additions.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
He took us through the details. About how I might feel like I’d been in a car wreck with the muscle soreness, fatigue, nausea, maybe a fever. He mentioned there might be some increase in appetite as my body prepared to make the changes to my physique to make shifting possible.
“There is one more thing you should know,” the doctor said. “It’s not uncommon that someone going through gene therapy will experience an increase in their libido.”
“What?” I asked blankly.
“You may find that you’re more keen to have intercourse, especially since you’ve already been claimed as a mate by Cole. At least, if I understood that correctly from what you two have told me on other visits.”
“It is correct,” I said. “I’m just…surprised that that’s a side effect. I mean…is it still safe if we…”
“Oh, absolutely!” the doctor said. “In fact, intercourse has proven to be a great way for mates to support each other through the more painful aspects of this therapy. The oxytocin helps with some of the pain and discomfort. But no pressure to do anything you wouldn’t want to, of course. Just wanted to make you both aware.”
“Alrighty, then,” I said, looking at Cole.
He gave me a sly smile, and I could only hope he wouldn’t say what he was thinking because I could tell just what he wanted to say.
We got our things together and finally made our way out of the clinic and into the car.
“So, off to get Noah?” I asked as I buckled into the passenger seat.
“That depends,” Cole teased.
“Depends on what?”
“On if you can keep your hands off me between now and then.”
“You’re terrible,” I said, rolling my eyes.
