“Thanks,” Julia says to them, taking her clipboard, sounding more at ease than she did in the parking lot.
We sit side-by-side, filling out our health histories and contact information. I make a mental note of her last name—Norman—and I catch her sneaking a peek at mine, too. I tilt the clipboard so she can see my info better, and that gets a giggle out of her.
“Mr. and Mrs. Lyall?” a wulver nurse in lavender scrubs calls. “We’re ready for you.”
“That’s us,” Julia says, standing. She winks at me when I sit there, stunned that she didn’t correct the nurse. She tucks her clipboard under her arm and holds out a hand to help me out of my seat. “Come on, hubby.”
“You don’t have to pretend,” I murmur to her as the nurse leads us back to an exam room. “It’s perfectly fine to be candid about our situation.”
Julia shoots me a look that I can’t quite decipher. “I don’t mind. We both know it’s just pretend, but you deserve the real thing. I might not be able to give that to you, but I don’t want to completely rob you of the experience, either. I’m like…your ten-percent mate, but that’s the best I can do.”
My nostrils flare as I try to rein in my emotions. She’s more than ten percent mine. She’s one-hundred percent my mate, even if we can’t have a traditional romance. But I understand what she’s trying to do. She’s trying to gift me a piece of happiness, a memory that isn’t stained by our real-life complications.
My hand on the curve of her lower back again, I lean close to her ear. “Thank you.”
“You can hop up here, Mama,” the nurse chirps, patting the paper-covered table. She takes our clipboards and hands Julia a folded paper sheet. “Go ahead and shuck those bottoms, and Dr. MacDougal will be right in.”
She leaves us, and Julia gives me a sheepish grin. “Do you mind turning around?”
I jolt out of my daydreams. “Oh! No! Of course not. I don’t have to be here at all, if you’re more comfortable…”
“It’s okay. Nothing’s going to show. I just look silly wiggling out of my drawers.”
I bet she doesn’t. I bet she looks like a pretty pinup with her skirts up and her drawers down. But I turn around to give her privacy, forced to use my imagination.
A quick rustle. “Done.”
When I turn back, she’s perched on the table, the paper sheet spread demurely over her lap. I spy a pair of peach panties folded on a chair, and my mouth salivates. I want those panties in my pocket by the end of this appointment, even though that makes me the world’s biggest creep at this point. I’m discreetly wiping away the line of drool on my chin when a soft knock at the door announces the doctor’s entry.
“Ian!” Helena MacDougal exclaims. A gray wulver with a silver mask, she’s wearing black scrubs and has a stethoscope looped around the back of her neck. She gives me a brief hug, her tail wagging. “Sogood to see you here, and with a mate! Your sire didn’t tell me.”
“Family friend,” I explain to Julia, who’s clutching the paper sheet and looking between us. To Helena, I add, “I haven’t told him yet. Early days still.”
“Ahhh.” She nods. “Well, it’s lovely to meet you”—she checks her paperwork—”Julia! Feel free to call me Helena or Dr. MacDougal, whichever makes you the most comfortable. I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot of you if you’re joining the Lyall clan.”
“Nice to meet you, too.” Julia’s eyes are on her lap, though. I can tell she feels awkward. I move closer to the table, resting my hand near her in case she needs moral support. I’m relieved when she takes it, lacing her fingers through mine. The hard circle of her wedding band digs into me.
Helena smiles at her, exposing her bright-white canines. “Looks like we’re doing a general reproductive health check today?”
Julia nods. “I’m…older. We just want to make sure I can still conceive.”
“You came to the right place. I can send you for some blood tests to check hormone levels if you’d like, but to be frank, in your forties, your hormones can be all over the place, so it won’t tell us a lot. What’s going to give us the quickest information is taking a look at your ovaries via transvaginal ultrasound, if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure.” Julia shifts in her seat as Helena rolls a cart with a screen and some other equipment on it over to the table.
With cheerful medical efficiency, Helena extends some footrests from the base. “Feet here, please. You can lie back and get comfortable, then scoot your bottom to the edge. You can insert the wand yourself if you prefer.”
From the side of the cart, she pulls out what looks like a white dildo and rolls a condom on it, liberally covering it in lube while she waits for my mate to follow her instructions.
Frozen in place, Julia darts a look at me. “Um…”
Helena sucks in a breath. “Right. Early days. Ian, could you step out for a minute?”
“Sorry,” Julia whispers to me, looking miserable.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll be right outside.” Without thinking, I drop a kiss on her forehead. Her lids flutter as I pull back, and color rises in her cheeks. I hope I haven’t overstepped, but it seemed like she needed it.
I lean against the hallway wall outside the door while Helena performs the exam, my heart doing a weird, dull kind of thud. I’m not worried about what the doctor is going to see when she looks at Julia’s ovaries. I know they’re fine. I cansmellit. I’m more worried what this whole thing is going to do to her heart.
