The doctor chuckles as the last of my tension slips from my shoulders. “Want me to hold your hand?” I ask Rose, moving closer to her.
She nods and extends her hand. “I would love that.”
I take it. “Squeeze as hard as you need to.”
“Dr. Hoffman said that the morning sickness stopping doesn’t mean something bad has happened,” Rose explains as he moves to the bottom of the examination table and picks up a thin, white wand from a rolling tray covered with blue disposable paper.
“All pregnancies are different,” he says. “I’ve had some patients go their entire pregnancy without a hint of morning sickness.”
“Lucky for some,” Rose mutters.
Dr. Hoffman glances at me, then at Rose. “This probe is just for us to ease Rose’s anxieties. The gel will be cold, so be ready.”
“I’m ready,” Rose says.
She sucks in a breath and squeezes my hand.
Concerned, I squeeze back.
“It’s okay,” she reassures me, smiling slightly. “It’s just cold.”
I was the one meant to do the reassuring, not the other way around.
Beside us, on the monitor, the small dark screen flickers from black to a hazy, slightly blurry dark gray.
“A transvaginal ultrasound uses sound waves to create images projected onto the screen,” Dr. Hoffman explains, watching the screen. “They might not make much sense to you, but they tell a story.”
For several minutes, nothing happens. Occasionally, Rose squeezes my hand, and I assume he’s moving the probe, but she doesn’t look in pain.
The grainy black-and-white image on the screen is a mystery to me, but the doctor makes approving sounds. “The fetus is in the right position, and I’d say it’s about six weeks.” He studies it for several more seconds, then turns to smile at Rose. “I’m not seeing anything of concern with the fetus or with you. If youget dressed, we can discuss prenatal care, vitamins, and when to schedule your next scan.”
Rose lets out a sigh of relief. “But everything is okay?”
“Everything is exactly as it should be,” Dr. Hoffman confirms.
Chapter 20
Rose
Sitting on the back-porch steps with my arms wrapped around my knees, I soak up the last of the afternoon sun warming my bare shoulders.
My toes curl in the soft, warm grass, and I smile as Joel chases Ben across the backyard. Ben shrieks with laughter when Joel catches him and tickles him mercilessly.
I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling since I left the doctor’s office.
Although I was anxious about my appointment, Ben was never forgotten. Murph kept him happy, entertained, and distracted until I finished at the doctor’s office. Afterward, I picked up a prescription for prenatal vitamins from the pharmacy before going to get Ben, who would have happily stayed with Murph for the rest of the day if I’d let him.
On our way home, we dropped Win at the diner, and Joel found us in the backyard, gave me a sweet kiss hello, and promptly started a game of tag with Ben that will hopefully burn off more of his energy before dinner.
I grew up learning how a pack bonds. About alphas who are drawn to submissive omegas, enough to share them with other alphas, and scentless betas who are sometimes part of a packand sometimes not. But living through a pack bonding is not the same as hearing about it. There’s a magic to it that’s so special and warming; no one could have explained it to me.
“I’d warn you that your face will stick like that,” a gruff voice says from behind me, “but I’m not sure I’d mind if it did.”
I look at Murph as he settles beside me, his face tired and worn. He’s in his customary blue jeans and flannel shirt, but he must have taken his boots off at the front door because he’s barefoot.
Ben is a lot of work. In a new environment, soon after inhaling a chocolate shake, he was probably bouncing off the walls.
“Thanks for today,” I say. “Ben is my heart, and I didn’t have to worry at all when he was with you.”
