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“Avelyn,” said Max. “It’s my turn now. You’ve nothing to be sorry about. I was the one who lied to you, who didn’t have the courage to tell you the truth. I was so afraid you’d leave that I couldn’t think straight. I should have trusted your judgment and told you about Sabine. You would have understood, I know that now, and none of this would have ever happened. But, listen to me, it’s not that…” his voice cracked. “It’s not that we won’t be able to have children…”
“We? No, no… you can still have children. With another bride. I’d never hold it against you.”
“Avelyn, no. Let me…” He let go of her hand and ran his fingers through his black, disheveled hair. “I can’t. I just can’t. Doctor, please…”
The doctor took a step forward. “Miss Avelyn, I’ve always dreaded giving bad news, but here I am. I’m going to be direct: you’re pregnant.”
A long moment of silence. Avelyn forgot to blink and breathe, and it seemed like everyone in the room had the same problem. It was like they were all caught in a time bubble. Nothing moved. That word, that single word which stopped time, threw it off its axis, made everything which a second ago had seemed real and logical plummet into dark, unforgiving chaos.
“What?” Her own voice sounded weird to her ears. “That’s not… that’s not possible. I… what? Say it again. Say it again, doctor.” Maybe she had heard him wrong. She hoped to God she had heard him wrong. But then, why was everyone so still?
“You’re pregnant, Miss Avelyn. Two weeks pregnant. Normally, it would be hard to tell so early, but, let’s face it. This is not a normal pregnancy. Shape-shifter fetuses develop twice as fast as human fetuses.”
“No…” Avelyn jerked away when Max reached for her hand. She didn’t look at him, but she somehow felt his confusion. She needed time to process the information. She glanced up at Christine, and her blue eyes met the old woman’s green orbs. She wasn’t sure what she saw in them. Sadness? Compassion? “This is not possible. Christine, tell them this can’t be. It’s a mistake, doctor. You’ve made a mistake.”
Max was utterly confused now, and Jocelyn moved away from the door and took a couple of steps towards the bed, eyebrows raised in curiosity.
“What’s Christine have to do with this?” asked Max.
“Everything!” Avelyn almost screamed. She didn’t look away from the old she-wolf, and her stomach sank when Christine gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod.
“Avelyn, baby, come here.” Max was trying to make her lean back on her pillow, seeing that she was now supporting her weight on her left arm. “You’re not feeling well. This was a shock to all of us. When the doctor told me, I couldn’t believe it. I was overjoyed. But… you see… this is not…”
Somewhat tired of all the drama, the doctor decided to get it all over with. He had only accepted this whole family gathering, or whatever it was, because Max Blackmane had babbled something about “no more lies” and “I have to tell her myself”, but he saw now what an unfortunate mistake that had been. He wasn’t an insensitive man by any means, but he liked everything to be straightforward. No drama, no unnecessary delays, especially when it came to bad news. “Miss Avelyn, the real problem is that you will lose the baby the moment you turn for the first time.”
Avelyn stopped struggling in Max’s gentle arms. This was worse than she could have ever imagined. One blow after the other.
“As Mr. Blackmane said, the first changes will be small and merely unpleasant, but the metamorphosis itself is going to be very painful the first couple of times. Your body will be pushed to the limits, and there’s no way we can make this part easier for you. There are 98% chances that you will lose the baby, and if you don’t, there are no guarantees that it will be… healthy.”
Avelyn let Max set her back on the pillow and arrange the covers over her trembling body. She looked at her hands, incapable of saying anything. She didn’t know what to say. In fact, she didn’t know what to think. A minute ago, she couldn’t believe she was pregnant, and didn’t know if she should be angry at the doctor because he had made such a horrible, unprofessional mistake and put everyone on edge for nothing, or at Christine, because she had lied to her. There it was again. That dreadful feeling that she couldn’t trust anyone. Now, her world had been turned upside down again. She had no idea how she should feel about it. She was pregnant, but she was going to lose the baby. Should she… ignore it? Should she cry about it? Should she feel relieved or devastated? She needed time. Now, more than ever, she needed time to think and sort out her feelings. Her hands went instinctively to her belly, and she closed her eyes, trying to feel if there was a new life there, inside her. Max touched her shoulder, but she didn’t react.
“I’m sorry,” said the doctor and stepped away from the bed.
Avelyn didn’t look up, but she was mildly aware that Jocelyn had opened the door for him and let him out. She stayed like that, in silence, for long minutes, the tips of her fingers pressing lightly on her own belly, as if they were looking for something, waiting for a sign. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Her vision was foggy for a moment, and she blinked the blur away, trying to get the room back into focus. Jocelyn was sitting on the sofa, her left elbow on the armrest. Christine was still at the foot of the bed, silent and unmoving. Max was slowly combing her hair with his fingers.
“I was supposed to be the one to tell you, but it seems I couldn’t,” he said. “I didn’t want to let a stranger give you such news.”
Avelyn looked at him, but she didn’t quite see him. Her gaze went back to the old woman. “How could you?”
Max’s fingers froze in her curls. He turned to Christine and noticed there was something in her posture, something that screamed regret and exhaustion. He knew that Sabine’s escape and the fact that she had hurt Avelyn had taken a toll on her, but there was something else, too. Something he couldn’t pinpoint.
“I did it for a reason,” said Christine. Her voice was small, but it didn’t quiver.
“Okay, what’s happening here?” Max stood up and moved his gaze from one to the other. This was insane. The bad news just kept coming, didn’t it? When it rained, it poured.
“I want to be alone,” said Avelyn. The impatience in his voice had reminded her she was not alone with Christine, and maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to have this discussion with her now. No, she had no intention of lying to him again, but she had to know the whole story first. Christine and her herbal mixtures and teas. How could she have been so blind, so naïve? How could she have trusted Chri
stine? A stranger. She had never been her friend.
“Avelyn, no,” said Max. “There is something wrong here, and I want to know what. What is happening between the two of you?”
Avelyn gave a deep sigh and looked up at him. She saw how tired and distressed he was. She contemplated telling him everything in a single breath and get it over with, but she simply didn’t have the power. All her energy had left her, and she just wanted to curl up under the covers and sleep. Sleep until it all faded away and the time passed. Sleep until all the problems got solved by pure inertia and she could wake up to a different world, a world void of worry, mysteries, and lies.
“Christine can tell you,” she finally said. She couldn’t do this anymore. She wanted to be left alone, in her own hell. “I can’t right now. I don’t… I don’t have the energy. I just want to sleep.”
Max wanted to say something, but stopped himself when he saw the plea in her tired eyes. She wasn’t lying. She wasn’t dodging the confrontation because she wanted to keep whatever was between her and Christine from him. He thought back to how insanely happy he had been when the doctor had told him about the pregnancy, and how his world crashed when he had continued with the bad news. The impact on Avelyn must have been tenfold. She was the mother, after all. Or, she was supposed to be the mother. He couldn’t imagine what was in her heart. One moment, she knew she would have a baby, the next, it was gone. She’d never have the chance to hold it in her arms, to see it grow. And what topped it all was the fact that she’d carry it for a month, only to lose it the moment her body broke and turned under the power of the full moon. This whole thing was so messed up in the worst way possible, and he realized there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that could be more devastating than what had just been set in motion by a single werewolf bite.
“All right,” he said. He leaned down and captured her chapped lips in a delicate kiss. He kept his mouth pressed to hers for a long minute, then caressed her cheek and looked deep into her eyes. “I understand. We’ll talk later. I’m sorry… for all this. I promise I’ll do everything in my power to find a solution.”
