“Huh.”
My pulse jumped. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It turned its head and looked at me. Maybe it senses heat or vibrations, but I’ve never had one do that.” Milly moved the wand around again. “Is the father a Shifter?”
I worried my lip.
The Relic frowned at my reaction, the wrinkles on her face deepening. “Does it hurt?”
“No, it’s not painful. I’m just… nervous.”
“Try not to be. Like I said, babies pick up on that, and you don’t want a nervous baby. All the wrong hormones could give you a fussy little insomniac.” She resumed her examination. “This is why I like bringing kids to my clinic from a young age.They get used to all the equipment and aren’t scared of it. Taking in adults who haven’t been exposed to a medical environment is another story. I had one patient with a bullet lodged in his thigh come in to have it removed. As soon as he saw the X-ray machine, he shifted. His bear busted up my machine.” She squinted at the monitor. “Do you want to know the gender?”
Do I? Maybe it’s best if I don’t.
“No, I’d rather not. Are you positive it’s alive?”
She chuckled. “Strong heartbeat.”
Still disbelieving, I lifted my head to see. “But I haven’t felt it kicking or moving.”
“Not even a flutter?”
“Well, it’s hard to tell if it’s gas.”
“When a baby stands on your bladder, you’ll know.” She focused on the screen again. “The amniotic fluid plays a role in activity. Some babies are less active than others. All bodies are built differently, but you’ll feel it soon enough.”
A loud crash in the hallway made me jump out of my skin.
“Sorry!” Mercy called out. “Don’t you worry none. I’ll clean everything up.”
Milly shook her head. Then her small eyes widened, and her eyebrows drew together. She leaned forward to study the screen while moving the ultrasound wand across my belly. “Impossible,” she whispered.
A swell of terror washed over me. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Lie still, girl. Let me have a look.” She stared at the screen, her silence drowning my thoughts. “NowI see why you haven’t felt the baby kicking.”
I reached out and pulled the cart, but Milly helped by tilting the screen toward me. While staring at the grainy black-and-grey image moving around, I blinked away tears. It was difficultto make out exactlywhatI was seeing. “It’s smaller than I thought it would be.”
Milly moved the wand. “Look closer.”
When I saw the misshapen face and legs, I burst into tears. “What’s wrong with it?”
With an unwavering gaze, she watched the infant with rapt interest. “That, my dear, is a healthy young wolf.”
My blood ran cold. “That’s… that’s impossible!”
“Exactly. And yet… here we are. A few seconds ago, I was looking at a healthy fetus. But when your friend knocked something over, it scared your baby into shifting. Right inside you, it shifted. I’ve never seen anything like this. Not one case of a child Shifter, let alone a baby in utero. It’s not to say it’s never happened.” She set the wand aside. “The animal’s smaller than its human counterpart. If you’ve been stressed out lately, it might have been staying in animal form out of instinct. That’s why you haven’t felt anything but maybe a few flutters that could be mistaken for gas.”
I forced myself up and stared at my glistening belly. When my fingers glided over the surface, an overwhelming sense of relief washed over me.
“You’re alive,” I whispered.
Milly handed me a towel. Then she rolled a stool over and sat down. “Mind telling me more about the father?”
I wiped my stomach in silence.
“Everything you say is confidential,” she assured me. “This is what my family’s been doing for generations. If you want me to help you through this pregnancy, the more information I have, the better. Otherwise, you’re setting me up for the unexpected. You can trust me. If I couldn’t hold a secret, I wouldn’t be this old.”
