Gabriel noticed my line of sight. “What’swrong?”
“What if the baby got hurt in the fall?” Iasked.
He frowned. My question clearly took him by surprise. “Did I fall that hard?” he askedquietly.
I nodded. “Ryu said the only reason you didn’t hit your head is because he caughtyourfall.”
He grimaced. “If that’s true, you definitely shouldn’t have yelled at himlikethat.”
I knew he was right. After the initial shock of fear wore off, I realized I’d been too harsh on my friend. “I’ll apologize to him later. But right now I’m still concerned about the baby. I want to take you to thedoctor,Gabe.”
I thought he’d refuse since he was still fired up from earlier, but at the mention of the baby he noddedsoberly. “Okay.”
* * *
Imadean appointment right away with our family doctor, Dr. Lynden. She was an old, wise dragon - a lindwurm, to be specific - who had delivered Lorenzo and I when we were born. I trusted herdeeply.
“Dante, good to see you,” she said. “And this must be Gabriel. Come inrightaway.”
Dr. Lynden ushered us into her office, which she graciously opened after-hours just for us. I appreciated her immensely for it. Out of all the doctors in the tribe, I trusted herthemost.
“Tell me what happened,” Dr. Lynden said as she propped Gabriel up on thetable.
“I was practicing magic and I overexerted myself,” Gabriel explained. “I ended up passing out, but I don’t reallyrememberit.”
“I see,” Dr. Lynden said. “Did you hityourhead?”
“No, my friend caught him before his head hit the floor,”Isaid.
She nodded. “And you’re worried aboutthebaby?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Gabriel, please lay back for me, dear. I’ll need you to lift yourshirt.”
He did as she told him. Dr. Lynden smeared clear jelly on Gabriel’s exposed stomach, then pressed a machine sensor to his skin. He winced at thecoldness.
Dr. Lynden turned a screen on and gestured toit. “Look.”
Gabe and I both gasped at whatwesaw.
“Is that…?” Gabrielasked.
“Yes,” Dr. Lynden said with a smile. “That’syourbaby.”
It was a strange, black-and-white, vaguely mammal shaped blur on the screen. But it was our baby - and it wasalive.
“The baby seems just fine,” Dr. Lynden assured us. “But I know you’re first time parents, and everything seems stressful.” She cleaned up Gabe’s belly and he pulled his shirt back down. “The best thing is to stay calm and try not to panic, as difficult as it may be.” She grinned at me. “Your alpha-father was a worrier, too, Dante. It must run in thefamily.”
I blushed andgrumbled.
“Go home and get some rest, both of you.” She reached for the counter and pulled out some bottles. “Gabriel, take one of these a day. They’re supplements for the baby. Not mandatory, but helpful - especially since you’re carrying adragon.”
“It can be difficult on the bearer, depending on a number of things,” she explained. “Mostly, we worry about smaller species with large size differences, the health of the omega, the number of children… What kind of shifter did you say you were,Gabriel?”
“A wolf,” hereplied.
She nodded. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that. You seem to be in good shape, fit and healthy, and there’s only one baby that I can see inside you. Everything should runsmoothly.”
