Page 25 of Matched in Mayhem

“You better come with me. I don’t want to be alone right now,” I frowned.

“That’s what I wanted to do but I know being pregnant is a lot to process and…” Bennie said.

“Yeah. Yeah. If you were pregnant you’d need time to think,” I teased him and patted his abs. “Though, if I got you pregnant, I’d need time to think of how we’re going to explain it to the doctors.”

“I think every doctor I’ve seen would have some explaining to do on how I grew an organ that could house a baby,” he laughed.

“You know when Frost and Juda first unleashed the alpha/omega gene here I bet men were freaking out. Women alphas too. Like…” I started to laugh but had to run to the bathroom. Before I had loved the spiral staircase but as I dashed into the downstairs bathroom I wasn’t so sure about it. Walking up all those steps felt like a punishment right now. Just thinking about it felt like a punishment. Maybe I’d sleep on the sofa. Maybe I’d sleep under the sink. Maybe… My brain kept swirling with maybes as I got sick again.

That was the night from hell. No matter how much ginger ale I drank or how many of those orange morning sickness gummies I devoured, I couldn’t stop throwing up. I did my best to keep it off of the family and group links as Bennie took care of me. Following me from room to room because nowhere was comfortable and I kept getting sick. Over and over, I begged him not to call my grandpa or anyone else. It was just pregnancy.

One of the times I dozed off, I woke up around three in the morning with a thermometer poking into my ear. I jerked away and batted at Bennie’s hand. Only that wasn’t Bennie’s hand. It didn’t have enough hair on it.

“Who’s there?” I asked, sniffing, but couldn’t smell anything beyond my pillow.

“Me,” Grandpa Clyde’s voice reached my ears.

“Asshole! Told you to leave him alone!” I growled and put my head under the pillow.

“And I told him to call me if you needed anything,” Grandpa said.

“Gonna bite his…” I stopped myself because Grandpa was there but was pretty sure Bennie heard the threat over our mating link.

“Well, you have to wait until you feel better before you can take those as a trophy,” Grandpa said, having caught the threat over the family link. He was so tuned into me right now.

“Grandpa!” I groaned under the pillow.

“I’m going to start an IV for fluids, Alby. I think you’re dehydrated. I’ll give you some baby safe medicine through it for your stomach too,” he said. “We’ll get you all set up to feel better.”

“He put all the babies we’re going to have into me,” I groaned, holding out my arm and accidentally whacking it into Grandpa’s head.

He laughed and laid it down on the bed next to me.

“It was either I came or your carrier did,” he said, wiping my arm with an alcohol wipe. “I figured you’d prefer me.”

“You hate people dating,” I said.

“You’re not dating Bennie. He’s your true-mate,” he said.

“I know but…” I said.

“But what?” Grandpa asked.

“Do you think someone wants to kill Bennie?” I asked.

“No, I think you’re dehydrated and rambling. Which is okay. You can ramble all you need to. This will make you feel better.”

“Where’s Bennie at?” I asked, sniffing.

“I sent him to the store to pick up a few things.”

“Do you think I’m dying?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “You most certainly aren’t dying. Your blood tests say you’re pregnant. According to the antibody tests, you’re pregnant with tiger cubs. That probably explains why you’re having such a violent reaction. It’ll calm down soon. Your body is just figuring out how to house and protect them.”

“How many? Is it like one hundred?” I groaned as the IV needle pierced my skin.

“No, sweetheart. Not one hundred. I don’t know how many but not that many,” he said, his voice even like I had asked a perfectly logical question. “We won’t know until you’re able to tolerate an ultrasound.”