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"All right Miss Norah, are you ready to see your little baby?" Christie, the ultrasound technician, helped Norah lie back on the room’s small medical examination bed, the she pulled up Norah’s shirt so her belly would show. "First things first, I’m going to put a little gel on your stomach. Be prepared for it to feel very cold, but that will help the wand glide over your tummy so that we can see the little guy or gal that you've got growing inside of you." Norah smiled at the pretty redhead. She was excited about her baby, but nervous too.
Based on what Lukyan told her, she would grow a little boy and a little wolf in her stomach. A stray thought struck her. What if the baby was in wolf form right now? Norah felt a little sick at the thought. Why hadn’t she discussed this with Lukyan before hand? How would they play off the fact that she had a little canine in her stomach?
Christie squeezed the cold gel on Norah’s exposed skin. She jumped at the contact and gave the young woman a wan smile. Lukyan grabbed Norah’s hand to calm her. He squeezed it reassuringly.
“Ahem.” Lukyan cleared his throat and waited until he had the technician’s full attention before he began to speak. "Before you do this Christie, I would like to ensure that since we’re paying in cash this will not be recorded in our medical records."
The redhead gave him a quizzical look. "Sir, I can't promise you that. Any medical activity or service that we provide in our office has to be recorded, even if you’re self-pay."
Lukyan looked at Norah and then back to Christie. "Christie, you want to do as I say. You do not want to record the activities of today's meeting." He sat back waiting. Norah looked from her mate to the assistant. Was Lukyan trying to compel the girl to do as he wished? Was this his plan for not revealing their secret?
The pretty redhead blinked a few times at Lukyan but then shook her head as if clearing a bad memory from her mind. "Sir, I'm not sure what it is that you don't want to have recorded in the medical records, but I cannot do this unless we're allowed to keep a report of it." She looked at Norah and then back to Lukyan. "I will give you two a few minutes to talk about this. You can decide if you want to have this ultrasound, or not, it really doesn't matter to me. That said, I will not perform it unless I can maintain proper medical records of the treatment that I give you today." She reached over and squeeze Norah's hand gently while looking her directly in the eye. Norah felt a kinship with this woman. She was so sweet and kind, and Norah couldn't blame her for not wanting to do her job. Christie stood up and excused herself gently closing the door behind her.
"What was that, Lukyan?" Norah was flustered. She had been experiencing extreme nausea and sickness for the last five months. Finally, she was going to have some joy from the pregnancy by seeing the little bean.
Lukyan ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Norah. We should have talked about this before. As you know, your pregnancy is quite long because you're growing, essentially, two babies inside of you. The human baby takes about nine months to form, and the wolf baby takes three months to form."
"That's only twelve months, Lukyan. You're forgetting that I'm supposed to be pregnant for fourteen months." Norah rolled her eyes. She had heard the explanation before, but she felt it imperative that he explain all fourteen months that she was going to have to be with child.
Lukyan ran his hands through his hair again. Norah couldn't help but smile at his disheveled look. He was normally so neat and pulled together. "You know that the additional two months are to allow for the magic to grow so that the child can go back and forth between wolf and human. I've explained this to you. What I didn't explain was that it's anyone's guess as to which child forms first in your body. So today during the ultrasound we might see a wolf and not a human baby. At five months, we should be clear. If the wolf formed first, the human baby would appear to be approximately two months along. If the human formed first, it would appear to be about five months along. But what if the magic formed in the middle, not the end? What if the ultrasound shows a wolf, not a human? I don't want any record of that.
“Normally shifters don't have an ultrasound done for that very reason. Some are lucky enough to have a shifter in the medical world and they go to that person to have their ultrasound done. We don’t have that luxury. There are no local shifters with easy access to an ultrasound machine.” He was beginning to get worked up, so Norah reached over and patted his leg. Her gentle touch seemed to calm him. After a brief pause and a deep breath, he continued.
“I thought that I could compel this woman. Normally I can compel most humans, but some individuals are too strong-willed. It seems our little ultrasound technician is among the stubborn group."
"So instead of seeing a human baby, we might see a wolf on the ultrasound?" Lukyan nodded.
"Yes. I'm sure you can understand why it is vitally important that no medical records be kept that pertain to this child. We cannot risk our safety or our child’s safety. If I can’t compel Christie we cannot have this done. We'll have to schedule with someone else and try to find another technician somewhere that is more readily swayed." Norah patted his knee again. He was tense and worried, which was very unlike him. Usually he was the one comforting her.
"Can I try? I haven't found my gift yet, perhaps I'm able to compel people better than you are." Norah had not yet found her gift. Everyone told her she would discover it soon but it hadn’t happened yet. Cate had told her one that every pack was supposed to have one female that could compel even the most strong-willed of humans. Perhaps that was Norah.
Lukyan let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, I don't see why you shouldn't try as well. You're right, you haven't found your gift and this very well could be it. The key to compelling someone is to phrase the command in such a way that it sounds like something they want to do. Simply say, ‘You want to…’ then follow it up with whatever it is that you want them to do. For instance, you might say, ‘Christie, you want to do as I ask. You do not want to record the medical records that you see here today.’" He squeezed Norah's hand. "Do you think you can do that?"
Norah nodded her head. “Yes, I can do that." She practiced the phrasing in her mind twice before a gentle knock sounded at the door. Before either of them had time to call out,Come in, Christie opened the door and stuck her head in.
"You guys ready for me yet? Have you made a decision?" Christie didn't even bother to look at Lukyan, choosing instead to look directly at Norah for an answer. Norah briefly felt a special kinship with her. It was clear that she wanted Norah to see her baby.
"Yes, Christie, I believe we are ready. But—” Norah licked her lip which suddenly felt dry from nerves— “before we start I just want to reiterate that you do not want to record the events of today's ultrasound. You would like to do as I say. Isn't that right, Christie?"
Christie paused for a second and sat back still looking at Norah the entire time. Norah cast a worried glance to Lukyan. Perhaps it didn’t work. "That's right, Norah. I want to do exactly as you say.” She flashed Norah a genuine grin. Norah felt an immense weight lift from her chest in reaction to the bright smile. “So glad you guys decided to come in today." Norah gave a relieved sigh and she felt Lukyan's hand relax and hers. They would finally get to see the baby, whether in its wolf or human form, and they wouldn't have to worry about pesky human medical records following them or anyone asking questions.
"Okay, Norah, now I will just help you lie back and get comfy.” Christie stood up from her rolling stool, but Lukyan was already guiding Norah back into a lying position. “Alrighty then, is seems your eager boyfriend beat me to it.” She winked at Norah. “I’m just going to put a little more gel on your belly since the first batch is starting to dry." Norah adjusted her shirt and Christie applied a bit more of the very cold gel to her stomach. "Okay are you guys ready to see your little person?" Christie beamed proudly at Norah and Lukyan. "This is always the most exciting part."
Christie turned on the machine and placed the head of the wand on Norah's belly. She moved it in a side to side motion a little bit before she found a heartbeat. Norah’s gaze was immediately transfixed on a little flashing pulse of light dead center on the screen.His heartbeat!
"Oh my, Lukyan, that’s the baby's heart!" Norah’s voice could not contain her excitement. Lukyan could only nod his head. He seemed to be at a loss for words. They held hands and gazed at the little bean’s flashing heart.
“All right.” Christie’s voice broke the spell. “Let’s see if we can get some more views of this little person." Christie moved the applicator slowly around the belly. “See this?” She clicked on the keyboard and an arrow pointed to a location on the baby. “This is the baby’s kidney. And this—” another arrow— “is the baby’s lungs. And here is the baby’s brain." Another arrow went up on the screen. “Everything looks perfectly normal for a fetus that’s five months along.”
Norah was so excited to see her baby and relieved to see that he was his human form. She would have also been happy if he had been in wolf form simply because he was her baby, but to see him in human form — that was a real treat. Her wolf growled inside her head and she mentally reached out to pet it. She loved being a shifter. It was like having a constant mental backup, but she was still pretty new at it. Plus, given that she was always so nauseated from morning sickness, she rarely shifted. It was just too much, physically, for her to contend with. So although she loved her wolf, she hadn’t yet made complete peace with the beast.
"Do you want to know the sex?" Christie looked from Norah to Lukyan and back to Norah. Norah smiled at Lukyan. Of course, they both knew that the baby would be a boy. All wolf shifter children were born as boys, or at least all wolf shifter children had been born as boys for the last many thousands of years. Cate might be the game changer that brought a female shifter child that into the world, but both Lukyan and Norah knew their baby would be a boy. Despite that she still wanted affirmation.
"Yes, Christie, we would love to know the sex of the baby." Christie moved the head of the applicator further around Norah’s belly until she zoned in on one specific body part.
"See this?” She put another arrow on the screen.
