CHAPTER NINE
Kim rolled over in bed, noticing the sunlight peeking through the edges of the makeshift curtains Keith had put up the night before. She felt a pang of sadness waking up with Keith not next to her. She got up out of bed and felt a little unsteady.
She put on her bathrobe and made her way out to the living room. She looked around and saw an empty case of beer next to the futon. She hoped Keith hadn’t been wrecked in her house. He wasn’t like that. Maybe Tony came over to see her and, finding her in bed with a migraine, he and Keith had a few beers. That’s probably what happened.
She looked in the kitchen and found Keith. She wasn’t surprised at all. He was puttering around making her a mushroom omelette. “Hey, good morning! How are you feeling?”
“Better,” Kim replied. “How did you know I loved mushroom omelettes?”
“Eh, wild guess,” he said with a broad grin. “The toast and bacon are just about ready, too. Hope you can keep this down.”
Little did Kim know, Rusty used his magic to help heal her head injury while she slept. He was head shaman after all, so he had a few tricks up his sleeve. He also gave Keith some herbs to use in her omelette. He didn’t bother asking what they were for. He just naturally assumed they were to help ward off another migraine attack, so he put them in.
“Thanks, I’m famished. I really do think I can hold this down. My head isn’t hurting at all today.”
Keith’s smile brightened. “That’s great. Here you go, eat up.” He placed the plate on the table.
The earthy smell of mushrooms punctuated with the salty smell of bacon wafted into her nose. Kim’s mouth began to water at the thought of this delicious breakfast. Keith sat down across from her with his own loaded plate.
“So, last night, Rusty and Tony came by to see how you were feeling. Obviously you were in bed, but they stayed around. We had a few beers, watched baseball on TV and shot the shit while you were out. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Nah. I’m okay with that. I figure I’m safer with all three of you here.”
Keith laughed. “That’s true. They do care an awful lot about you, you know.” He looked at her with love in his eyes.
Kim smiled shyly. They aren’t the only ones, she thought to herself.
She took a sip of orange juice as Keith continued. “Anyway, Betty said you can go to her house tonight to help with the girls. She put it off to let you recover, but she can’t keep putting it off for much longer. Rusty wanted to talk to you about that last night, that’s why he came.”
“Makes sense.” Kim took a bite out of the cheesy mushroom omelette. The texture melted in her mouth, and the combination of Swiss and Gruyere cheeses accented the mushrooms perfectly.
All of a sudden, her phone began to ring. She picked it up and saw the hospital’s number on the call display.
“Hello?” she greeted uncertainly as she answered the phone.
“Hello, is this Kim Smith?” the lady on the other end asked.
“Yes, this is Kim, how can I help you?”
“My name is Doctor Shanahan; I’m the resident obstetrician at St. George hospital. You need to stop taking those narcotics for your head right away.”
Kim’s eyes widened. “Why...do I need to stop taking them?”
“You’re pregnant. It’s still new, you aren’t more than three weeks along, according to the levels in your blood work, but you definitely are pregnant. Congratulations. Hopefully, we can come up with a plan to help treat your head injury and keep you as comfortable as possible during your pregnancy, how about it?”
Kim’s mouth opened and shut in silence, she was completely stunned by the news. Keith looked over at her from across the table, his earnest face creased with worry.
“Umm, thanks, I guess?” Kim stammered
“I do have a monthly clinic in Predator Springs. I hope to see you there? It’s next week.”
“Sure. I’ll definitely be there,” she said in a low monotone voice.
“I’ll get my secretary to write you in then. Have a good day!” the cheerful woman on the other end replied as she hung up.
Kim put her phone down on the table with shaking hands. She reached up and placed her face in her palms and started to shake. Keith got up, walked to her, squatted down and tried to look her in the eye.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he placed his hand on her leg.
“I’m... I’m... pregnant,” she stuttered. “I mean...I can’t believe it.”
Keith’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “You’re... pregnant?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. If she really was pregnant, this changed everything. The choice between Keith and Tony was already made for her if that was the case, since the father of the child was considered her mate for life. He didn’t want to tell her that just yet, though. He figured he would let Rusty tell her that bit of news. The fact that she was pregnant was almost too much for her to take in now.
Kim nodded. “Yeah, the doctor said about three weeks along with the numbers they got on the blood test.”
Keith let out a low whistle. “Well, you’ll need to tell Tony, too, since you slept with both him and me. Either one of us could be the dad.”
Kim nodded sadly. “Yep, I’m not really looking forward to telling him, that’s for sure.”
Keith nodded glumly. He hoped the baby was his. The sad thing is, they wouldn’t be able to find out until the baby was born. By then the autumn equinox would have come and gone, and both Tony and Keith would be cougars forever, and Kim would be left on her own to raise the baby.