Chapter Seven

When I came to my body ached. I tried to move but was quickly held down. Tony’s hands were on my shoulders. I’d recognize his touch anywhere. “Stay still,” he said. “You're in an ambulance. We’re on our way to the hospital.”

That explained the intense sterile smell, the noise and jostling. “What? Why? What happened? Were we in an accident?”

He grabbed my hand and held it. “You fainted.”

“I hurt…” I said.

Tony sucked in a breath. “Where, what hurts?”

“I don't know. Just my body. Achy.”

One of the EMTs said something to Tony, but I didn't quite catch what it was. I realized that I hadn't even opened my eyes yet to see anything. It didn't feel like it was worth the effort. I wanted to sleep. So, I let myself drift.

The next time I woke up, I was less tired and less achy. I felt well rested actually. My eyes opened. I was in a hospital room at Vale Valley General Hospital, not that I recognized the room, I just knew that it was the only hospital in Vale Valley. It was an expansive campus of buildings with state-of-the-art technology and doctors to treat the variety of individuals that called Vale Valley home.

The question was, what building was I in? How serious was my condition?

I pushed myself up on the bed and looked around.

“Tony?” I said. I found him asleep in the chair next to me. It was dark outside from what I could tell through the small window in the corner of the room.

How long had it been? I looked down at my watch, which wasn't there. They must have taken it off me when I got hooked up to the IV.

“Tony,” I said a little louder this time.

He startled awake and bolted out of the chair. “Are you okay? Is everything okay? How do you feel?”

“Fine.” I said. “A lot better. What happened?”

He let out a sigh of relief. “You were overtired and dehydrated. I should have been better about making you drink water today.” His face was overcome with anguish.

“It's not your fault. I'm an adult. I should have made sure that I was drinking. I was just so sick this morning that I didn't think about the fact that I'd be on my feet all day.” I swallowed, my throat was desert dry. “Can I have some water?”

“Yeah.” He handed me a cup with a straw.

I took a long drink.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.” I relaxed against the pillow and took another sip of water.

“That scared me. A lot.” Tony’s voice shook as he spoke.

“I'm so sorry. I didn't expect that to happen. It's never happened to me before.”

The nurse came in the room and smiled at the two of us. I recognized him from around town. “I’m Lucas, I’m filling in this evening. It’s good to see that you're awake. We've got your results back.”

Tony squeeze my hand tighter and I looked at him. “Everything's fine. I'm sure that everything's fine.” I looked back at Lucas. “Right?”

“Yes,” he said. “And thankfully, there's a logical explanation for why you're so tired and why you passed out.”

“Sure. I was on my feet all day. I didn't drink any water. Kind of makes sense. I just need to be better about taking care of myself, I guess.”

The nurse nodded. “Yes to all of that. But also, you're pregnant.”

“Come again?” I said.

“You're pregnant. Just barely. The hormone levels are low, but you’re test results came back positive. We’ll want to get you on prenatal vitamins right away and you’ll need to follow up with an omega pregnancy specialist.”

“Oh, shit,” I said. Thank God my dads weren't in the room. I assumed they must be somewhere in the hospital. I looked at Tony and his eyes were wide. “Tony, can you say something?”

His jaw moved, but no words came out.

I turned back to the doctor. “Can you give us a minute?”

He nodded and stepped out.

“Tony. Tony, look at me.” I put my hands on the sides of his face and forced him to look at me. “Tony?”

“We're going to be fathers,” he said. “Holy shit.”

I laughed nervously. “Yeah, we are.” Oh, damn. It started to sink in for me as well. I looked at my stomach as if expecting it to be larger, rounded with child already. “Oh my God. We're going to be fathers.”

Tony climbed onto the bed and pulled me into his arms. “This is amazing,” he said.

“Yeah,” I said. But my mind was not going down that path exactly. I was shocked, scared, wondering what the fuck I was going to do. How I was going to raise a child on my own. Tony and I hadn't made any promises to one another and I never wanted to trap him in a relationship. Not with a child. Not in any way.

“Oh, wow,” he said. “I can't believe it.”

“Yeah, me neither. Do we have to tell my dads?” I asked.

He looked at me, brow furrowed. “Well, of course we do. I mean, it doesn't necessarily have to be today. But we should tell them.”

“Okay,” I said. I picked at the edge of my blanket and fiddled with the corner of it. I wanted to shift into my cat and curl up some place where I could ignore this new development, just for a little while. I was excited, but damn, I was terrified as well.

“I know we haven't really talked about it and I tried to get you to understand the other night when were went out, but I don't think I was very clear. I want to stay here, Eric. With you. Forever. I don't care if we travel or if we just have our own little adventures here in Vale Valley. I love you. I think I've always loved you. It just took me a little while to be ready and when I was, that's how I was able to get here. The magic of Vale Valley brought me to you and I'm staying,” Tony said.

“Really?” I said tentatively. “You think you could be happy here? I don't want to force you.”

Tony shook his head. “You're not forcing me to do anything. If anything, I'm starting to feel like you're trying to push me away and I don't want that. I'm not going let that happen. I know you love me. I know you want me here with you.” He placed his hand on my chest, over my heart. “I can feel it. I can feel the magic between us. Just like I can feel the magic in this town. We were meant for each other. We're mates.”

Tears slipped out of the corners of my eyes. “I feel it, too. I was scared and didn't want to admit it. I didn't want to lose you. I don't know how I can compete with the outside world. I don't know—”

Tony kissed my lips and broke off my rambling. “There's nothing to compete with. You are my whole world.”

The fear that held me back from welcoming Tony into my life as a permanent fixture slipped away. I grinned. “You’re mine, too. Let’s do this. Stay with me, forever.”

“You couldn’t get rid of me if you wanted to.”

***

My dads came to see me, and somehow Tony and I managed to keep our mouths shut. We had a lot of talking to do before we could tell my dads the news. Plus, it would be nice to keep it to ourselves for a while.

The doctor came in, and insisted that I stay the night, just to be on the safe side. Tony wholeheartedly agreed, though I wished I could return home and sleep in my own bed. Tony promised not to leave my side.

My dads and the doctor left the room and Tony settled onto the bed next to me.

“I have a million things to do,” I said. “I need to transfer all the images, organize them, and start editing.”

“All of those things can wait until tomorrow,” he said. “We might just contact everyone and tell them the pictures will be a bit late.”

“No,” I said adamantly. “We can't do that to them. The purpose of this whole session was to get my name out there and establish a client base. I can't be backing out on deadlines now. That won't look good.”

He held my hand and kissed my knuckles. “It won't look good if you pass out while you're editing either. We've got our child to think about, you know.”

My cat let out a growl. “I am thinking of our child, and I will be well rested after today. Editing, though hard work and time consuming, will still be restful, because I’ll be sitting on my butt. So there.” I stuck my tongue out at him.

He chuckled. “All right, fine. Why don't we try and get some sleep?”

“Yeah, okay.” My eyelids already felt heavy even though moments ago, I felt well rested. The exhaustion was catching back up to me. Was this how the entire pregnancy was going to be? Because that wasn't going to fly.

Tony returned to the chair next to the bed and he pulled a blanket over himself. His eyes were already closed.

I laid my head down on the pillow and rested one hand over my abdomen. “Did I ever tell you that cat shifters tend to have multiples?”

“What?” His eyes snapped over.

“Yeah. My alpha dad is a triplet. My dad is a twin. It's pretty rare to have a single birth. I’m a twin.”

“Oh Christ,” Tony said.

It was my turn to laugh. “Don't worry, we'll be all right.”

“If you say so,” he said.

This time when he laid back down, his eyes were wide open, and he started at the ceiling.