Killian seemed almost reluctant to stop touching him, but the Siren eventually stepped back, and then Ender found himself staring up at the stupidly tall Fate.
Cyrus was looking down at him with an amused smile that made him want to smack him, and he likely would have if…he wasn’t already fighting to shove away his urge to demand that Killian come back and keep touching his stomach. Ugh, pregnancy hormones were…such a pain in the ass!
Ender sighed. “I suppose you want to touch too?”
“If you’ll let me.”
“Fine, but neither of you better be touching me all the time!” he snapped, before quickly adding, “Not that you two will be here much longer to do it.”
Real smooth save there, Ender,he thought with self-disgust.
His stomach fluttered a bit when Cyrus’ much larger and very warm hand came to rest on his bump.
“Boys,” Cyrus hummed. “Curious that they both are eggs. I didn’t think?—”
“What? That your superior DNA would lose out?”
“Not how I was planning to word it, but close enough, I suppose.” The Fate chuckled as he pulled his hand back.
Ender had to bite his lip to stop himself from demanding that both of them touch him again, his stomach feeling even colder now at the second loss of touch.
Killian took a deep breath. “How is everything progressing? You said there haven’t been any complications, but sometimes those don’t show up until much later, or not at all until birth. Are you aware?—”
“I am very aware of all the complications that can arise with Sirens, and Gorgons for that matter. But so far…” Dr. Corradetti laughed softly. “Well, I suppose, I can’t say it’s going as normal, when for at least two of you that would be problem-filled. The best way I can put it is that the pregnancy is progressing safely without issues, and both are developing at the same rate.”
“Yep, a damn miracle considering everything,” Ender drawled.
Ruby smiled. “It was a miracle you even managed to conceive with Mr. Neftlem, and more so that nothing has gone wrong,aside from you losing it on everyone. Though, technically, that would be considered a normal reaction in your state.”
“I did not lose it on everyone!”
She snorted. “The people still stuck as stone statues in your coop room would probably beg to differ.”
Killian cleared his throat. “Is there any risk of development deviation?”
The doctor pursed her lips. “It’s a possibility we are watching out for. I am very aware that is one of the specific issues twins in your species face that usually ends in a miscarriage. But I believe we are far enough along that if it hasn’t happened already, then it’s not something we’ll need to worry about.”
Cyrus sat down in one of the chairs against the wall. “How much time is left?”
“If things continue to progress as they have been, he has two months before he lays, followed by a two-month incubation period before the eggs actually hatch.”
“I can list all the complications that can arise this late for my species, but I don’t even have the first clue about Gorgons. What should we be watching out for?” Killian asked.
“We have to keep an eye on the placenta, and watch out for any signs of early detachment. I know it’s an issue for Sirens, but it’s also something Gorgons deal with, so we’ll have to watch out for this with both eggs. But definitely in the one on the right, as that is the one you sired.”
The Siren stiffened slightly. “What can be done if that happens?”
Ruby’s face pinched, her expression grim.
“Nothing,” Ender stated with a sigh. “It would just be a waiting game then, to see if the egg will try to expel or rot for a bit before passing with the other.”
Killian’s eyes widened. “Wouldn’t there be some kind of intervention to…?”
If only. “Do you see that thicker, darker line surrounding both of my eggs?”
The man frowned, eyeing the screen again, before hesitantly saying, “Yes?”
“That is a barrier made of some sort of biological material that has yet to be clearly identified. It has some very stone-like qualities, yet has the flexibility of muscle, and it stands between us and them. It is at the center of the issues my species faces during pregnancy, because currently there is no way to safely breach it without putting the barer’s life in danger. But then, it isn’t as if there are many of us left to test on.”
