Chapter Thirty-Two
Griffin and Beau sat in the waiting room. The alpha had stayed by his side through the battery of tests Doctor Mackenzie had wanted to run. And now they were playing the waiting game. Damien had gone outside for a walk around, promising not to go far. Quinn, who’d insisted they needed another pair of hands just in case, had gone with him.
“She didn’t say much,” Beau commented.
He was right. Doctor Mac had been reluctant to answer questions as they went along, saying she needed all the information before she made any judgments on what they were dealing with. It had been especially hard to have her keep silent during the ultrasound, but she’d warned them that they were unlikely to see much of anything so early anyway. Griffin thought maybe it was for the best, it wouldn’t do to get attached to an improbability.
“Doctor Mac is nothing if not a professional. She doesn’t like to do half-measures. Once she has the rest of the test results, I’m sure she’ll give us a clear explanation of what she thinks is going on.”
It was another hour of sitting and pacing and doing a crossword puzzle to distract themselves before the doctor returned. She promised to speak to Damien after she talked to them, insisting on privacy with her patient first and foremost. Griffin was glad for that. It was hard enough holding himself together. Even though he did everything he could to prepare himself for the worst, he wasn’t confident he could keep his emotions under lock and key. And then there was Beau. How would the alpha react to whatever news she was about to give them?
They sat down in her office, their seats pushed close together, Beau’s hand at his elbow. There for support if Griffin needed it.
“The tests have confirmed my suspicions. You have a condition called an accelerated pregnancy. It’s rare. I’ve only seen one other case and there have been maybe two dozen more in the country over the past decade.”
“Accelerated pregnancy?” Griffin had never heard the phrase. “What is it? What does it mean?”
“It’s a condition that only happens in omega who’ve been… altered like you have.”
Griffin’s hand went self-consciously to the back of his neck as if to shield his scars. Doctor Mac caught the movement, her eyes full of sympathy.
“Sometimes, the surgery can be… overwritten. It usually happens in a situation just like yours, where an omega meets a compatible alpha, the alpha goes into rut and the two do what comes naturally. For most omegas in that position, it makes no difference. Their bodies can’t react to the pheromones that the alpha’s body is producing. In a tiny number of cases, the body does, prompting a regeneration of those mating glands that had been destroyed.”
“But… but that’s a good thing, isn’t it? It means I can mate, I can have a child.” It would change so much. But why did Doctor Mac look so grave?
“The regeneration causes a huge surge in mating hormones. In you, because it caused a pregnancy, those hormones have continued to be produced at high levels. Much higher than normal. It is, in effect, fast-tracking your pregnancy. You said Beau’s rut ended a week ago?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, the pregnancy is measuring closer to four weeks. It’s also a twin pregnancy, which complicates things further. Neither your body nor those embryos can cope with the speed of what’s happening.”
“Isn’t there any way to slow it down?”
He pressed a hand to his stomach, everything becoming very real all of a sudden.
“There are options, but you need to know now that all of them are experimental and none has a high success rate.”
“What do you recommend?”
“As always, my instinct is to protect my patient. In this case, that would mean ending the pregnancy.”
Griffin felt himself go tense at her words.
“My next recommendation is to do nothing and let nature take its course, which it invariably will. But if you want to try to hold onto this pregnancy, the best option is to take a high dose of hormones blockers. It may be enough to simply… settle your system down.”
“What are the chances of that working?”
She gave him a sad smile. “We don’t know enough to even guess at that. I will say there’s a chance because it has worked in one previous case. There are some side effects, uncomfortable more so than dangerous.”
She went into that in a little more detail, then at Griffin’s request, explained what would happen if they did nothing or if they took steps to end the pregnancy. Finally, she got to her feet.
“Why don’t I give the two of you some space to talk this through?”
“Thank you, Doctor Mac.”
She left the room, and Griffin turned to Beau. The frown on the alpha’s face said it all. So much to take in, to think about.
“I’m behind you, whatever choice you make,” Beau said firmly.
“I want…” He swallowed hard and tried again, a tremble in his voice. “I want to give them a chance.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Everyone deserves a chance.”
Beau nodded. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
They let Doctor Mac know their decision, and she gave Griffin his first injection of the hormone-blocker. “You’ll need to take a second one tonight and a third first thing tomorrow.”
“How long until we know if it’s worked?”
“Come back in a week, and I’ll do another scan.” She paused. “Before you go, would you like to see them? There’s not much to see but it might help you to hold onto them.”
He nodded eagerly and lay down on the exam bed again, Beau moving to stand by his side. This time, she pushed the screen around so they could see it.
“Here we go.”
To Griffin, it looks like a haze of static on an old TV screen.
“There, do you see that little flutter…”
She leaned in and pointed to the screen as both he and Beau craned to see what she was pointing at.
“That’s the heartbeat?”
“That’s one. And here…” She angled the probe a little, “that makes two.”
They really were tiny. Almost nothing. And yet there was no denying they were there, hearts beating, bodies straining to grow.
He glanced over at Beau, finding the alpha’s gaze transfixed on the screen, on their babies. There was so much emotion on his face, and it sparked fear in Griffin.
“We shouldn’t get our hopes up,” he murmured, catching hold of Beau’s hand.
“I’m holding my hopes as high as I can,” Beau said in reply, squeezing Griffin’s hand in return. “Those little guys need everything we can give them.”
His eyes were full of emotion, and Griffin found himself blinking back tears. He wasn’t sure either of them could bear the disappointment, even though both of them were under no illusion that it was coming.
“You should head home,” Doctor Mac said, wiping the gel from Griffin’s stomach and switching off the machine. “Plenty of rest for the next few days. Call me if anything concerning happens.”
“We will. Thanks, Doctor Mac,” Beau said, helping Griffin up.
“You do understand everything I’ve said? The chances of this being a successful pregnancy are… very small.”
“We understand,” Griffin said. “But it can’t do any harm to hold onto hope for a little longer, right?”
“No,” she agreed with a quiet smile. “It can’t.”