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“Well, I'm back,” the young woman said with a broad smile.

Larissa looked at Bayla, who stared back in shock, and suddenly her eyes began to glow red as well.

Larissa widened her eyes and signaled Bayla to look in the mirror behind her, which she did, not without widening her eyes as well.

Emely was distracted, examining the doctor. And I also managed to tear my gaze away from Bayla's glowing red eyes.

Something was wrong with her, but my head was too chaotic to deal with it right now.

“You're eighteen weeks along?” began the doctor, who fortunately was focused only on me and offered me her free hand before turning on the ultrasound machine.

“My name is Dr. Walls.” She sat down on the other side and smiled at me, then at the girls. “So, you're the curious friends?”

Larissa grinned broadly, her eyes back to normal, as were Bayla's, who also began to smile. Only Emely looked at me searchingly, still holding my hand.

The doctor picked up a bottle. “Careful, it will feel cold for a moment.”

Transparent, cool gel dripped onto my stomach, where my lower abdomen already showed reddish stretch marks.

“Right, now let's take a look at what your baby is up to.”

Automatically, I squeezed Emely's hand, gave her an apologetic look, and she gave me a slight smile.

When I looked back at the doctor, she was turning some knobs on the ultrasound machine. Then she placed the ultrasound probe on my lower abdomen and applied light pressure.

An image appeared on the screen. You couldn't see anything. But the more the doctor moved the small device over my belly, the more it looked like an ultrasound image.

Then I saw it. A small fetus.

My heart skipped a beat. I felt warm.

“Don't be startled. I'm going to make the heartbeat audible now.”

The doctor turned another knob, and a strange throbbing sound grew louder.

An overwhelming feeling overcame me out of nowhere, causing my heart to beat noticeably in unison with my child's.

“Look, here.” The doctor pointed to the screen. “A pretty big boy.”

A smile flitted across Larissa's lips because she had won the bet. But I couldn't help staring at the screen.

A boy.

I should be happy, right?

It was indeed a boy.

But what if he was human? Boys with a developed element were so rare. But his father was a Water Quatura. The answer was clear...

My vision blurred. I was close to tears and didn't know if it was because I was happy, because I was confused, or because it meant that the Quatura society would fight over my child.

The overwhelming emotion threatened to eat into my fingertips in the form of ice, but Emely was still holding my hand.

“Oh, that's strange.”

My gaze darted to the doctor, who was concentrating on zooming in and swiping across the screen as if she were confused.

Startled, I jerked upright, and the image shifted on the screen.