“I’m not even sure if I am,” Rowan told Alfie.
“But youwon’tbe sad if youare,” Alfie’s said, his voice knowing.
Rowan didn’t reply, but his brother was not wrong…
“Maybe, but just in case maybe baby becomes an actual baby, what can I expect?” Ro knew what signs there were when he treated cis women and trans men, but his was kind of out of this world. “Like, what signs and symptoms should I keep an eye out for to know if I’m, you know…”
“Pregnant?” Alfie supplied.
Rowan grunted. “Right. Also, when you start feeling them?”
“Well, I was well sick at first, although, of course, it was times two because, well, Seb and Cal… I’m pretty sure it’s the same as every other pregnant person… pukey, tired, sore nipples.”
“Great! All the fun things to look forward to,” Ro mumbled.
“It’s not that bad. Especially when you feel them move. Like, I never thought about it because, you know, why would I? But it’s amazing, Ro. Plus, like, I could eat whatever I wanted. That was fun.”
“I bet,” Ro chuckled.
“I don’t know. I guess the biggest thing for me was, it didn’t seem real until it was, you know?”
Rowan caught himself touching his stomach and then looking down at it. He swallowed the lump in his throat. Maybe fate was real… and she did know him more than he knew himself.
“Rowan.” Alfie sounded like that wasn’t the first time he’d said his name.
“Sorry, I got distracted.”
“A bit early for pregnancy brain,” Alfie teased, laughing. “Anyway, I was asking if you’d talked to your mate?”
“He’s not my mate.” Ro’s response was automatic.
“If maybe baby becomes actual baby, then he is. Chi told me that shifters can’t get non-shifters who are not their mates pregnant… cosmic balance and all that.”
“Makes sense. Would be hard to stay hidden if every split condom with a guy ended up in a baby…”
“Exactly,” Alfie replied.
“Maybe I should never have slept with him.” Since he wasn’t ready to mate, then he should have kept his cock under control.
“You let yourself feel for the first time in a long time, Ro, and that’s not a bad thing.”
“Maybe.” Ro needed his bed, and maybe he could pretend for a while that all this wasn’t happening. Maybe all the questions he’d asked Alfie wouldn’t matter because he was only maybe pregnant… Right?
Only none of that happened. Rowan got out of his car after sitting in it for over an hour debating whether or not he should go home or go back to Mikhail. He was surprised when go back to Mikhail won out.
Eighteen
Mikhail
Mik sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands and sighed. He wasn’t sure what to do next. Time felt like it was crawling since Rowan left. He groaned and got to his feet. It was no use sitting back in the hotel wallowing in self-pity. This was not how the day should have gone.
It had taken everything in him not to chase after Rowan, but even now, he questioned that.
Mik decided to get out of the hotel and see if he could get his mind off Rowan, and, in the meantime, if he happened by Boots or Superdrug—heck, even a Tesco Express—maybe he would pick up a pregnancy test. It was something they would need eventually.
He left the hotel and walked in the direction of the Arndale Shopping Centre, and as soon as he walked into the mall, to his left, there were a couple of benches. On one of them was a man bouncing a baby on his lap, and the baby was laughing and doing his best to clap.
Mik smiled. He could see himself doing that. Maybe following Rowan to the mall and then going off to change their child while his mate shopped.
