“Gestation is between sixty to seventy days give or take a day, correct?” Evie double-checked with me.
“Yes,” I nodded.
“And you started your mating moon?”
“The night of the murders,” Eran said.
“But Eran had a rut after that, and we were locked inside for like two weeks because it sort of just bled into our matingmoon,” I added on.
“So about… Hmm…” she said, not giving us any real information.
“Everything okay, Evie?” Eran asked.
“Mathing,” she said without looking up.
“How long did his rut last?” Evie asked me.
“It’s hard to guess because he kept following me around and stuff. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Just… The babies are a bit bigger than I expected. I’m wondering if you got itrightthe first time.”
“I wasn’t pregnant when I got here!” I said automatically.
“I know. Remember I saw you that day. If you were pregnant then, I’d have smelled it. Even now, you smell pregnant. Maybe if I apply housecat gestation and call sixty days full term it makes more sense. I think you probably got it right the first time,” she said. “And… Hmmm… That’s it! They’re not all puppies!” Hereyes lit up. “I’ve only ever read about pregnancies like this! I mean it happens a lot in mixed species couples but we usually don’t know until the children are born, but I think you’re having kittens and puppies and they’re in their little forms.” Evie’s eyes glistened. Whether because she was going to be an aunt or because she’d never seen kittens and puppies share a womb before.
“Are we going to get to see our babies?” Eran asked.
“Hold on. I’m doing measurements. There’s more to an ultrasound than just looking,” she said, her voice losing the professional edge when she talked to her little brother.
I squeezed Eran’s hand. I had enough patience to share but couldn’t resist a funny line.
“So, tell me, doc, do I have enough nipples?” I quipped and she giggled.
“I think so,” she nodded and I could almost see the measurements dancing through her pupils. “You might even be able to rotate them unless they pick favorite nipples.”
“How many, Evie?” Eran asked.
“Four,” she said, turning the little monitor screen around to face us.
Four was very manageable. We had four hands between us. In an emergency, if I was stuck in dog form, Eran could carry me and four of them. It wouldn’t even be that difficult for him. I mean, I could run on my own if I had to.
“One, two, three, four,” Eran counted them off checking his sister’s math.
“The ones I’ve circled are kittens,” she said as I took the monitor from her for a closer look. I’d seen plenty of Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever ultrasounds in my life. I turned the screen upside down and motioned for the wand.
“Okay,” Evie blinked. “You have to go back to the scanning program. That’s just a snapshot—”
I already had it back on the appropriate screen and pressed the wand to my belly. I easily found the two kittens and two puppies she located but after wiggling around for a bit I got the fifth one that I barely spotted before onto the screen.
“Another puppy,” Evie said, peering over the top of the little monitor.
I nodded but I wasn’t finished. I hadn’t spotted anyone else in her snapshot, but I wasn’t taking any chances. So, I poked and prodded around for another few minutes until I was sure there were only five. One was smaller than the others. The runt of the litter wasn’t just a myth. There wasn’t always one but when there was, they required special attention. I’d need to make sure Eran knew how to bottle feed a newborn puppy if he couldn’t latch or the rest of our babies were milk bullies. I might have to pick someone else to know how to do it as well. Probably Evie since she likely already acquired the skill in her training.
“Are you guys going to hire a beta aide?” Evie asked.
“Probably not,” I shook my head. “I mean we might need help, but it’ll be contingent on who my dog will put up with. Might be nobody except Eran.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to make sure he knows how to vaccinate the babies and give the vitamin shots,” Evie said,making a note on her phone. “It’s really easy. It’s routine in most places.”
