Page 14 of I Ain't Lyin'
“Or what? Did someone put poison in my chicken soup the other night? Why are you just standing there? Should we call a doctor?” Really, why wasn’t he concerned that his mate just vomited all of his omelets?
“I think that we should go to the doctor, yes.” Ashton finally left the doorway and approached me. “But I think you need to take this first so we know why we are seeing him.”
I stood from my crushed position and scowled at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Here.” Ashton handed me a box with a smiling omega on it.
“What is this?” I examined the box more closely. I shoved it back at my mate, realizing what it was. “What the fuck? Ashton, be serious. I am here getting sick, and you are joking about babies.”
“No joke, babe.” Ashton placed the box on the sink counter. “You haven’t felt well in several days now. We have been here for weeks and mated over a month ago. The timing is right if there is an egg in there.”
Ashton tried to touch my belly and I swatted his hand away. “Go away. I’ll take the test to prove to you I’m not. Then can you call a doctor to come and examine me?”
“I already called, and he will be here in about two hours. But humor me and take the test. Please.” Ashton walked out into the bedroom.
“I already told you I would. Now, go, and I will call you when I’m done peeing on it, okay?”
“I’ve seen you naked and puking, but I can’t watch you piss on a stick?” Ashton shook his head.
“Nope. Bye,” I said, shutting the door in his face and locking it.
Stupid alpha, thinking I’m pregnant. I’m on the shot. I’ll prove him wrong.
***
“And there is the egg.” Doctor Morgan ran the wand over my belly and indicated the small form on the ultrasound. “Since your mate is a dragon, there is a 50/50 chance that your offspring will develop in a dragon’s egg which you will lay instead of giving birth to a fully developed child. We can’t see into the egg, so it’s unknown which form your child will have after birth. But the measurements are correct for the dates you gave me. And as you can hear, the heart is strong.”
Numb and speechless, that is how I had felt since the lines on the test appeared earlier. And seeing the proof of our child on the ultrasound machine wasn’t helping my shock. Giving birth to a dragon’s egg didn’t surprise me, I knew that mating with an oviparous shifter could lead to that sort of circumstance, even for viviparous shifters. But I never thought this would happen in the first place. Not so soon and especially not when I’d taken the birth control shot on time consistently.
“I’m on the shot.” I looked from the screen to the doctor. “Will that harm the baby?”
“I looked into your medical files, and it would seem that the last dose that was given to you had been switched for a placebo by accident. There wouldn’t have been anything to prevent the pregnancy and therefore nothing to cause the developing egg any harm.”
“Excuse me.” I must have heard wrong. “A placebo?”
“Yeah.” The doctor nodded. “Things like this shouldn’t happen. Apparently, there was some mix-up in the lab, and your dose was misplaced. When the intern saw another vial, they thought it was your dose and gave it to the nurse to give to you. Later that day, they found your dose and saw that one of their placebos was missing.It looks like the office called and left a message with your mate. I take it that message was never passed on to you?”
I shook my head. Why didn’t I get that message? “I didn’t have a mate before Ashton, and he wasn’t around when I had my last shot.”
“I think Harvey was more of an asshole than you thought. If I understand the situation correctly, he said you were his mate, so they gave him the message. I bet you had him down as your emergency contact.” Ashton waited for my nod before continuing. “What a jackass. I’m sorry he neglected to tell you something so important.”
“It actually makes sense now why he was always trying to have sex with me.” I thought back to the weeks following our separation. “Even after we broke up, he kept asking me to come over and would try to seduce me when I did. I bet he wanted to get me pregnant so that I would stay.”
“I refuse to speak ill of the dead,” Doctor Morgan said. “But if there were ever a case to do so, this would be it.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered, looking back at the screen. “I’m going to be a dad. And luckily, it’s with the right alpha.”
“That’s true,” Doctor Morgan said. “Do you want a picture?”
“Yes, please.”
Doctor Morgan provided us with a strip of photos from the scan and left the room to allow me time to gather my things and let the news of our impending parenthood settle. Wiping the leftover gel off my stomach, I sat up and adjusted my clothing. “I can’t believe this is real.”
“Are you okay with this?” Ashton caressed my face with his thumb. “We discussed having kids, but not this soon.”
“Honestly, I am.” I covered his hand with mine. “I was in shock at first and am sure I will freak out a few more times during this pregnancy. But seeing that tiny shape on the screen changed something in me. I don’t even know what our child looks like, but I love them wholeheartedly.”
“Me, too.” Ashton kissed me and gestured toward the bed. “I’ll show the doctor out. Why don’t you stay here and get some rest?”