"Someone got flowers," Brand's receptionist, Sarah sang as he came back from lunch. Brand knew immediately they were for him. Today was his and Carter's fourth month-iversary. He picked the card from the center of the arrangement, his grin already stretching the muscles of his face. Even though Carter insisted on dropping him off and picking him up every day, that wasn't enough for his alpha.

I'm sorry you weren't feeling well this morning, I hope the rest of your day goes better! I'm sworn to secrecy, but Jax is planning something special for dinner, so make sure none of your patients go into labor today. — Carter

Brand's job had interrupted a few family events, but both Carter and Jax had been more than understanding. Jax was developing a real interest in the technicalities of birth, though there were definitely some things… a lot of things… that Brand wasn't comfortable talking about with an eight year old.

A sudden wave of nausea made Brand gag. "Sorry," he gasped, leaving the flowers with Vera as he ran for the bathroom. The nausea had been threatening all morning, but this was the first time today it had actually made him throw up. He'd hoped that by getting rid of whatever was causing his digestive tract such issues, it would calm down, but no such luck.

He flushed the toilet, washed his hands, and opened the door, squeaking in surprise at the sight awaiting him. Every single one of his staff was waiting for him.

"Did you all… ah… have to use the bathroom?"

The group exchanged glances before Helen, one of his nurses, spoke up. "Dr. Delaney… you haven't been feeling well for a bit. And you've been really tired and not interested in food. You're newly mated. And well… we were wondering… is it possible you could be pregnant?"

Brand opened his mouth to reject the idea, then snapped his mouth shut. He opened it again, and then gaped like a fish. Helen held out a pregnancy test and he turned mutely back to the bathroom and locked the door behind him.

Two minutes later, he had his answer.

Pregnant.

A complicated swirl of excitement and terror and longing swirled inside him. He knew everyone was waiting on him, but he wanted to keep this moment to himself for a little while.

This had always been a possibility, but with all of Brand's recent good fortune, he scarcely dared hope for this so soon. He tried to imagine Carter's response. Would he be quietly happy? Loudly exuberant? And what would Jax think about being a big brother? They hadn't talked to him about the idea yet.

The world felt so full of possibilities in this tiny moment, recognizing that growing within him was a tiny being that could grow up to be anything as far as Brand knew, but even now, as tiny as it was, the elements of his or her personality were being coded into his baby's genes. Alpha, beta, omega; sassy or sweet; bold or cautious.

It was insanely tempting to run down the hall and give himself an ultrasound to see the baby, but he wanted the first time he saw their child to be with Carter.

He finally stood up and opened the door. Everyone was still waiting anxiously.

He looked at each one of them, their collective breath held in anticipation. He couldn't tell them before he told Carter, but no matter what he said, they'd know.

"I have to tell Carter first."

Everyone burst out in cheers, wrapping him in a giant group hug. Brand couldn't help the small smile as he protested. "I don't know why you're all attacking me. I haven't told you anything."

From somewhere in the dog pile, someone asked, "Are you going to go home early?"

The prospect hadn't even entered his mind, but he was extremely tempted now. He shook his head, however. "We've got a full schedule, this afternoon people. Tomorrow is soon enough for me to make things official. Now back to work."

They all faded away, most stopping for a personal hug and congratulations. Helen was last, and Brand discreetly asked her if she would mind drawing his blood. They slipped away and within seconds, she'd taken a vial of his blood and prepped it to process. It would be complete before he went home. He wanted to be able to give Carter an accurate due date, and the quantitative blood test could give him an estimate of how far along he was.

Brand sighed as he made his way back to his office. He knew it would be irresponsible of him to skip work, but it would be nearly equally irresponsible to not get his brain back on track. He was here for other people's babies, not his.

Yet.

* * *

When he arrived home, Carter was just pulling dinner out of the oven. Brand waited until Carter set the hot casserole dish safely down and divested himself of his cooking mitts before pressing a kiss against his lips. His excitement couldn't help but sneak into his movements, and the kiss turned steamy quickly, Brand pressing Carter's back against the cabinets as his hands buried themselves in Carter's hair. The broke apart only at the sound of Jax pounding down the stairs.

"If I'd known that was the kind of hello I was going to get, I wouldn't have yelled for Jax to come down for dinner. What's gotten into you?"

Brand was bursting to tell Carter, but he wanted to keep the first moment between just him and Carter. He wanted to see every nuance of reaction in his alpha's face. He knew that this wasn't Carter's first time learning he was a dad, but it was Brand's, and he was going to savor every minute of it. He couldn't wait for Jax's reaction as well, but that was a completely different kind of anticipation.

His anticipation seemed to transfer to the other two as they ate dinner, and they were all goofy and cheerful, teasing each other and bouncing off each other's comments in a melding they'd never before experienced. Brand felt tears of joy pricking at the corners of his eyes and he did his best to blink them away without drawing attention to them.

Dinner passed both quickly, because of how much fun they were having, and slowly, as every five minutes Brand found himself on the verge of blurting out his secret to them both. But finally, it ended, and Brand volunteered to clean up while Carter and Jax worked on some homework before Jax's bedtime.

After Brand turned the dishwasher on, he tried to read, but when he found himself reading the same page over and over again, he realized that was a futile pursuit. Jax was brushing his teeth, which meant soon Brand would have Carter all to himself. He snuggled in on the couch and found himself browsing nursery ideas on his phone. That topic engrossed his mind so thoroughly, he nearly jumped out of his skin when Carter came up behind him and pressed a kiss to his head.

"What's got you so wound up tonight?" Carter asked. "I don't think I've seen you so… energetic before." He slid next to Brand on the couch.

Instead of leaning back against Carter like normal, Brand twisted to face him. He could finally tell Carter! Damn it, the tears were already turning, and he hadn't even said anything.

"I have something to tell you," Brand said, his voice starting to break as his throat swelled with repressed emotion.

Immediately, Carter was all concern. "What's wrong? Whatever it is, it's okay. We'll handle it."

"It's good!" Brand choked out, the tears wetting his cheeks now. "We're going to have a baby!"

It took Carter a moment to process Brand's words, but as he moved from worry to elation, his face morphed into a beatific glow. Instead of saying anything, he lifted Brand's hands and pressed a kiss to each palm, his eyes as wet as Brand's.

"We're going to be dads?" he said, and Brand nodded. Carter pulled him in for a tender kiss. "I just… For a while, I thought Jax was it. I always wanted… I love you so much, Brand. I can't wait to raise a child with you. I hope he has your chin."

Brand laughed. "I hope she has your eyes."

"It's a girl?"

Brand couldn't tell if Carter was excited or surprised. "It's actually too early to know. I'm about eleven weeks along now."

"How long have you known?" Carter asked, a hint of shock in his voice.

"I just found out this morning," Brand assured him. When Carter and Aaron had finally gotten pregnant with Jax, they’d been testing as soon as possible, a few weeks after each possible conception. Carter had been waiting anxiously for each result; there had been no chances for surprises.

"You haven't been showing many signs, have you? Unless I've missed them?" Carter seemed stricken by the idea that he wasn't that aware of Brand's state.

"Only in the last week or so, and I thought I was just coming down with something. It was my staff who told me I needed to take the test." Brand smiled. "I told them I had to tell you first, but they all unofficially know. Helen is the only one who knows for sure, because she handled my blood work."

Carter pulled him close, and Brand leaned his back against his alpha, luxuriating in the protection of his arms.

"It just blows my mind how quickly we got pregnant. It doesn't seem real."

"It's so very real," Brand assured him. "I know what would make it more real, though…"

"Oh?"

"Would you like to come down to the office tomorrow for a sonogram? The baby won't be much more than a blob, but we might see some waving blobby bits."

Carter's answer was a fierce kiss that made Brand go weak in the knees.

"I take it that's a yes?"

"That's a hell yes."