Page 37 of Saved By the Selkie

“I … I don’t know,” Aramis replies. He sounds far away, murky.

“Dammit, I told you, he’d better not be sick! He’d better not croak, not before we can get back to—”

I practically convulse, and before I can even think about roaring with the pain of it, there’s a sticky white pup rolling around near my flukes, flailing his little flippers. He seems just as shocked by this turn of events as the rest of us.

I grunt and roll onto my belly, twisting to investigate the pup with my snout, sniffing him like he could belong to anyone else. He whines at me, then touches my nose with his own.

I melt. I regret every bad thing I ever thought about having pups. This is the single most magical, most wonderful—

I nose over my pup, inhaling his scent, ignoring his complaints about being snuffled. I love him too much to stop, and he needs to know it.

Finally, he gets a little cranky, I guess, because he tries to bite me with his toothless gums. I pull away, then roll back onto my side.

Instantly, the pup nudges against my belly, looking for a nipple. Oh. I guess he’s hungry.

I mean, I would be too, if I’d just been born. I lift my head and twist to look down at him.

One of the humans clears their throats, and I remember our audience. I turn back to find both Johan and Aramis staring at me, eyes wide.

“Did you just …”

“I didn’t know you were pregnant,” Aramis says, and the words twist like a knife. Of course he didn’t—I didn’t have the chance to tell him before I took off.

“Isn’t he male?” Johan asks sharply, turning to Aramis.

“I don’t really understand how it works,” Aramis replies weakly.

Johan turns his gaze back on me and my pup. “Well,” he says, “I suppose that’s all right.” A wicked grin crosses his face. “I just got two selkies for the price of one.”

Bile climbs my throat. I resist the urge to roll over on top of my pup, hiding him. I might crush him if I do that.

The pup whines at me, oblivious to the danger we’re in. I’m too tense; he’s not getting any milk, despite his vigorous efforts. He looks up at me with big, pleading eyes, silently imploring me to relax.

I settle back down, watching both humans. I will myself to relax as much as possible, hoping it triggers the let-down reflex.

A few seconds later, my pup gurgles happily, so I guess it worked.

The pup practically sings while he nurses, which relaxes me further. It’s hard to feel tense while my baby is nestled against me, making such happy noises. I tear my gaze away from the humans so I can look at my pup instead.

He stops his fervent suckling, then rolls onto his back, twisting his head around a bit, his flippers flailing as he looks up at me with big, adoring eyes and a little smile on his face. Oh, he’s so cute. I want to snuggle him forever.

I lift my flipper, and he wriggles up my body, tucking himself close to me. I close both flippers over him, pleased to hold him against me. He’s warm and lively and breathing. That’s good. I dip my nose into his soft baby fur, snuffing at him again. He smells good.

Johan and Aramis are still watching us, Johan with avarice plain on his face. Aramis’s expression is harder to read, a mix of confusion and hurt and worry.

Guilt nips at the back of my throat. Of course Aramis is confused and hurt. He didn’t know I was pregnant. He’s probably wondering how long I was pregnant—and whether I was pregnant before or after we mated.

I glance down at my pup—our pup again. I want to tell him, but that would require shifting.

I guess I could, now that the pup has been born. But the pup needs to nurse, almost non-stop, and I’m not sure what will happen if I’m in humanoid form and he’s in seal form.

Better to stay like this, even if it means I can’t tell Aramis that this is his son.

I’m not sure how to tell him either—the fluffy, roly-poly pup looks nothing like the human. Will Aramis believe me? Even if he does, what will he think?

I’m scared, suddenly, that Aramis will reject our pup, deny that the pup is his. I want to tell him, badly, but even if I could, I’m not sure I could find the words.

The wind dies down at last, leaving swirling snow and deep drifts. The air is bitter cold and biting, and when we venture out of the cave, the pup shivers violently. I cuddle close to him, wishing I could do more to keep him warm. He needs to nurse, I know, so he can develop a layer of blubber to keep him warm, even in the freezing ocean waters.