I never got tired of hearing that. "Well, if I'm a fish, and you're a bird... Then are you going to get pregnant? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense for you to be, uh... What's the egg version of pregnant?"
"Gravid. And yes. I think I will be."
"Wow. So you're going to lay eggs?" I asked excitedly.
Weston chirped in a small laugh. "I would be very surprised if I gave live birth."
I glanced at his osprey belly, and then felt silly. We'd only just conceived recently, and even if it had been a longer time, I wasn't sure if he would look noticeably different in his bird form anyway.
Another thought occurred to me. "What if one or both of the babies are fish?" I asked anxiously. "Won't they need to be near water?"
Weston tilted his head. "Remember how you instinctively shift to your human form when there's no water available for your koi? The children would do the same, in that circumstance."
I sighed. I did remember that happening to me--that was how Xander and Remington had saved me from being trapped in my koi form back when I didn't know how to shift purposely yet--but it felt different thinking about it happening to my own children. I didn't want them to feel helpless that way.
"But there's no need to worry, love," Weston murmured as he reached down to nuzzle me with his feathered head. "Ospreys build their nests near water anyway, so if the babies did hatch into fish, there would be a water source nearby."
"Oh, that's good." I gasped, sending a big ripple through the water. "Wait! A nest! When are we supposed to start building one? Should I help?"
Weston let out another chirrup of a laugh. "Calm down, Nishiki. We have plenty of time. And yes, we'll do it together. I wouldn't have it any other way."
Relieved, I settled down. It was just all so new to me. Not only was I going to be a father, but I was going to be the father of twins that hatched from eggs--and I still didn't know what shifter species either of them was going to be. I think I deserved to be alittleanxious.
But Weston was as calm as ever, even though he was the pregnant--gravid--one. How could he be so relaxed when he'd never done this before? Weston was incredible. I was so proud and lucky to be his fated mate.
"Okay, how about a less panicked topic. Baby names?" I suggested.
Weston's feathers puffed out happily. "Do you have any in mind?"
"Hmm..."
Since I'd never entertained fantasies of growing up to have a family like other people did, I'd never really thought about potential baby names before. But now that the situation was right in front of me, Ididrecall a few names I enjoyed.
"I don't know how much they'd suit our kids, but I've always liked the names Cloud and River," I said.
"Those are nice," Weston agreed.
"What about you?"
"I think I'd like to see our babies' faces first. That way I can feel it in my soul if the names suit them or not."
I smiled, feeling a flood of warmth at his answer. Weston acted cool and confident, but he was so incredibly sweet on the inside.
"What are you smiling about?" Weston asked, brushing me with one of his long primary feathers.
"Just thinking about how cute you are. Actually, you're so cute that I want to hug you. Hang on."
I slipped out of my koi form, transforming back into a man with a contented sigh. Weston shifted too, both because it was the polite thing to do and because otherwise I'd squeeze his feathers off. I wrapped my arms around my mate and buried my face in his neck, soaking up his amazing scent. It was one I never tired of.
"Say," Weston murmured. The feeling of his lips moving against my neck made me shiver with pleasure. "I've been thinking of Nero's invitation to return to the pack."
I let out a soft content sound as I held him. "What about it?"
"I'd like that. I already have a lot of instinctual parental urges, but it would be nice to be around fellow omegas who've already gone through the process before."
"That's a great idea," I said. "And maybe the other alphas can assure me it's normal to be this freaked out..."
Weston just chuckled and ran his fingers through my hair, smoothing away all my anxieties. Because when I was with him, everything always felt like it was going to be okay.
