Page 26 of Matched in Mayhem

“Ugh!” I groaned. “One hundred babies.”

“Probably two or three babies,” Grandpa contradicted me. “Probably twins because they’re more common than tiger triplets.”

“What if it’s five?” I groaned.

“Well, then, maybe we’ll have to come stay with you and help out,” Grandpa chuckled. “But I don’t think it’s five.”

“How pregnant am I?” I asked.

“You mean like how long have you been pregnant?”

“Yeah. That,” I nodded as the medicine started to enter my veins. My stomach was almost instantly calm but I was still tired and felt like a grape dropped in the backyard at high noon. Shriveled and gnawed on by ants.

“Your blood work says about three weeks,” he said. “Which makes sense. You met Bennie a month ago give or take a handful of days. Since you’re a wolf and he’s a tiger, the pregnancy should be between three and four months. We’ll be able to estimate better after an ultrasound. If you’ll agree, I’ll have a midwife from the local hospital stop by later this afternoon for a well omega exam.”

A protest danced on the tip of my tongue. It tangoed there on my tongue, tasting acrid, because the last thing I wanted was anyone’s hands all over me. I only grunted my agreement because I knew being this sick for so many hours wasn’t exactly normal.

“Thanks for being a good patient. If you’re feeling better by then, they’ll be able to perform the ultrasound too,” he smiled and patted my shoulder.

“Thank you for coming in the middle of the night,” I said as the front door opened.

“Alpha’s home,” my wolf mumbled inside his inner sanctum.

“Anytime, kiddo. I meant it when I said to call me if you needed anything. Your first pregnancy will likely be the most difficult and the most nerve-wracking for both of you” he said. “But it’s definitely worth it. Even with how crazy things were when I first met your Grandpa Ashley, I wouldn’t trade any of my kids for the world.”

“I’m glad. I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad you… You saved him,” I yawn, feeling sleepy. Had Grandpa drugged me or was my brain just shutting down now that I wasn’t consumed with the all-encompassing urge to vomit.

I dozed on and off, listening to Grandpa and Bennie talk. At first, they only talked about me and my pregnancy. Plans for the midwife to come and what the ultrasound might show. Then they talked about Chad Boston. Then they moved on to talking about the Sanctuary, the temples, and everything else under the sun.

“I’m glad they’re getting along. Grandpa Clyde needs more friends who don’t want to eat the world,” my wolf murmured.

Only I wasn’t sure Bennie wouldn’t eat the world if he had to. When I finally fell solidly and deeply asleep on the sofa, I dreamt that I was surrounded by tiger cubs and more and more kept coming into the room. They fell from the ceiling and in through the windows. They crawled out of the vents and burst through the floorboards. The onslaught didn’t stop until I burst out of my sleep, sitting straight up, panting with one hand on my chest. My heart thudded against my ribs like it intended to crack them and escape for the impending tigergeddon. The IV was still leaking fluids into my arm but the house smelled like Grandpa had been gone awhile.

I started to swing my feet off the couch but before they fully reached the floor, fur tickled my toes. Bennie was asleep on the floor by the couch. He was stretched out on his back in tiger form, legs sprawled and tail stretched out. He looked so adorable and content that I decided that I didn’t want to wake him up. That sitting there and watching him sleep was my small reward for surviving the night. If I hadn’t been hooked up to an IV bag, I’d have laid down on top of him just to listen to his heartbeat. So, instead of getting up, I curled my legs up onto the sofa with me and watched him sleep. The rise and fall of his furry chest soothed something deep inside me.

Eventually, I spotted a can of ginger ale on the end table. It was still icy to the touch when I picked it up. Grandpa must’ve left it out right before he left. I tried to crack it open slowly but the sound still made Bennie open one eye. I smiled sheepishly at him as he yawned. His eye drifted closed again, but I wasn’t sure if he was just resting now or if he’d fallen back to sleep until he spoke softly, sleepily into my thoughts.

“How are you feeling, mate?”

“Better than last night,” I admitted. “Not perfect, but better. I just hope I don’t have to live hooked up to this bag for the next few months.”

“You shouldn’t have to. Clyde said that once you finish the course of medicine, your body will have learned or coded or whatever what to do for tiger cubs. I’m sorry my being a tiger made you sick.”

“No, my being a wolf made me sick,” I countered because the last thing I wanted him to feel bad for was getting me pregnant because sick or not, I was happy to be pregnant. Happy to be carrying our children. Pregnancies were unpredictable. So was morning sickness or all-day sickness or night sickness. Life was full of variables that couldn’t be accounted for until their result had you worshipping the porcelain throne or something worse.

“I’m sorry that you’re sick either way,” he said.

“Me too, but everything has its price. If the price of having our babies is that I’m sick for a couple of days, I think I can handle that.”

“I’m sorry you have to handle it,” he said.

“Don’t make me come down there and stop you from beating yourself up,” I teased him.

“I’m not,” he said. “But I am sorry you’re sick. I hate that you feel bad. I hate that I had to call your grandpa when you didn’t want me to. It made me feel like a traitor.”

“No, you made the right call. I was so out of it and didn’t want to bother him. Grandpa Clyde is the guy everyone calls for everything and I don’t want to be one of those people.”

“He wants you to be. I know guys like him. They won’t say it but it hurts their feelings if you don’t ask for help.”