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Each bite was better than the last. By the time I finished the sandwich, I had melted as much as the cheese had on the stove. I could hardly move a muscle with the way Liam was handling my feet. My eyelids grew heavy. My mouth slacked open.
Several minutes later, I was fast asleep, dreaming of itsy bitsy wolves prancing on my protruding stomach.
Chapter 13 - Liam
Stork’shad more visitors on a Wednesday afternoon than I would have expected. Sure, it wasn’t really something I knew much about, but I didn’t thinkthatmany people were searching for surrogates. Winter must have brought out the familial desires from underneath the Christmas tree.
Anita sat snugly next to me in a plush chair as she watched the people around us. My heightened scent told me there were more shifters than humans. Only two of the seven people in here were human, and one was Anita. The other was a red-haired woman with a large belly and one toddler at her side.
Anxiety crackled next to me. That would be Anita again, worrying for the umpteenth time about the pregnancy test.
I patted her hand. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Of course it’s going to be okay.” She gave me what I knew to be a phony smile. “Everything is just fine. It’s going to be fine.I’llbe fine.”
The door next to the front desk opened and Patricia appeared. She greeted us with a familiar smile and a wave of her hand. Anita practically jetted across the room, which everyone noticed, although no one acknowledged it.
Thankfully.
I knew her nerves were getting to her. Two days ago when I made this appointment, she had been a bundle of emotions on the couch, crying about a grilled cheese. From what I knew about pregnant people, hormones played a huge factor in mood swings. I hoped that the grilled cheese sobbing incident was a sign the procedure had worked.
Patricia closed the door behind us and ushered us toward the same exam room where the procedure had occurred. Anita plopped onto the medical table as I took the seat next to it.
Just as Patricia shut the door, she held up her clipboard. “Now, it hasn’t been long enough yet, but sometimes, miracles happen.” She shot me a knowing look.
Translation: shifters have potent semen.
She set her clipboard down and sanitized her hands before focusing on Anita. The metal tray next to the exam table held a few empty vials as well as needles. My stomach turned at the sight of those syringes. Weirdly enough, that wasn’t something that had ever creeped me out.
I took that to be Anita’s emotions. She was pale now, much paler than she’d been when she fainted, and I bit the inside of my cheek. “Ani, did you eat enough before you got here?”
“Yeah, I had a few protein bars with my chicken sandwich.”
Patricia chortled. “Are you getting cravings?”
“So much, wow.” Anita laughed while rolling up the sleeve of her navy-blue long-sleeve dress. “I think about chocolate and cheese a lot.”
“Any funny dreams?”
I looked between the two women.Funny dreams? What does that have to do with anything?
Anita appeared thoughtful for a second. She ultimately nodded. “The past few nights, I keep seeing these little chibi wolves dancing on my tummy.”
Patricia wrapped a purple ribbon—what I assumed was gauze tape—around Anita’s upper arm. She swiped the inside of Anita’s elbow with an alcohol square. Anita teetered slightly.
I jumped to my feet and caught her shoulder. “Easy, soldier.”
Anita wrinkled her nose as she turned away. “Sorry, I don’t like needles.”
“I could tell.” I held her steady. “It’s alright. I’m here.”
Patricia frowned sympathetically. “Oh dear, I should have asked first. My apologies, Anita.”
Anita took a shaky breath. “That’s okay. Can you do it quickly?”
“Of course. It’ll be over in a flash.”
Patricia quietly collected a blood sample in a small vial and then applied a cotton swab to the wound. She placed a piece of gauze tape over the cotton ball and removed the other tape from Anita’s upper arm.
