“See? He’s fine.”
I nodded and left with Silver.“Sweetie, Silver is bringing me to the zoo since he has a parking pass for your parking area. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“Okay. I brought a plastic bag with me, and I’m sitting outside on a bench. I think I need to go farther away from the aquarium, though, because the scent of the salt water is really upsetting my stomach.”
I winced. Silver saw it and raised an eyebrow. I knew that look.“We’re climbing into his truck now. If you can start to make your way to your vehicle, that would be the best place for you.”
“Okay. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll start walking that way.”
“Is he all right?” Silver asked as we walked out the back door.
“He said he brought a plastic bag and is sitting outside on a bench. He’s better, but the scent of the aquarium is making him nauseous.”
“I can get you a pregnancy test on the way back to the office, then run it by this afternoon. I don’t think you’re going to need it though. It sounds like he’s having pregnancy sickness.”
I felt bad for Duncan. I didn’t want him to be sick. I wanted him to have an easy pregnancy if he were to end up pregnant. The fact that he was getting sick from the scent of the aquarium was concerning.
“Maybe. Or perhaps he’s having some sort of reaction to a scent at the aquarium.”
Silver stopped just beside his truck and stared at me. “He’s newly mated. Had a heat. And now the scent of a place that he’s worked at for a few years is suddenly making him nauseous. What do you think is really happening?”
I sighed. “I get it. You’re most likely right. I just didn’t want him to have a difficult pregnancy. I wanted it to be easy for him. He’s struggled enough in life already.”
“Just because he is having pregnancy sickness, that doesn’t mean he’s going to have a difficult pregnancy. I’ll have to share the books that Charlie and I picked up. You and Duncan could probably benefit from them.” Silver gestured to his truck. “Get in.”
I climbed up into his truck, and in moments, we were on our way toward the zoo. “Thanks for taking me,” I told him.
Sliver glanced at me. “Anytime. You would do the same for me, and we both know it. If you leave your keys with me, we’ll make sure your truck gets dropped off at your place later.”
“Thanks again. I didn’t even think about that either. I’m just so worried about Duncan.”
Silver smiled over at me. “That tends to happen when we meet and fall in love with our mates.”
I stared at Silver for several moments before absently nodding. Love. We’d not shared those words with one another. I knew that most likely, that was what I felt for Duncan. I had even told him I was going to fall hard and fast. Well, I had. He was my mate, and despite him believing he didn’t bring much to the relationship, I disagreed with him. He was amazing, and I knew it. How could I not fall for him? He was so sweet and caring. He was always worried about being too much, but he didn’t quite understand just how ready for him I was. How much I’d prepared to have a mate and family.
“You’ve gone quiet.”
I smiled over at Silver. “I’m thinking about everything. If Duncan is pregnant, it’s possible he could have the baby by the end of the year. Early next year is more likely, but just the thought of a tiny version of my mate brings happiness.”
“What if the baby is a mini-you?”
I scowled. “I want a mini-Duncan.”
Silver chuckled. “You don’t get to choose that, you know.”
I shrugged. I didn’t care exactly, but I really wanted a mini version of my mate. He or she would be so adorable. And the thought of having a tiny little red panda around made my gorilla very happy. He wanted to carry the baby around and protect both the panda that we loved and the one we created together.
“You’re doing it again.”
“I can’t help it. The thought of Duncan being pregnant changes things. We knew it was a possibility since we didn’t try to prevent it. When he showed no signs at all, I had assumed that he didn’t catch and wasn’t pregnant.”
“I think it’s probably safe to say that if one of our mates is an omega and has a heat and we don’t wear a condom or he isn’t on something to prevent pregnancy, we’re going to end up with a new addition to our family.”
“I’d say that’s probably safe. You said Charlie never even had a heat.”
Silver shook his head. “If he did, it wasn’t anything that was overly noticeable. But we’re fairly active in the bedroom. Even now. Not that I’m going to share more than that.”
I shook my head. “I don’t need to know your bedroom life. It’s obvious that you and Charlie have a strong bond. We all know that’s maintained by being connected. Both mentally as well as physically.” Our bond was there but would suffer if we didn’t work to stay connected to our mates.
