“I hope that doesn’t turn into a kicking contest.” Ulric winced.
“Come to think of it, maybe they’ll kick hard enough that they can feel each other.” Gage laughed.
He pulled Ulric closer and gave Ulric’s belly a loud kiss. Then he sat up, kissing Ulric on the lips. The look in Gage’s eyes—it made Ulric melt inside.
“Lazy afternoons are the best with you,” Gage said fondly. “Best enjoy them while we can.”
Ulric grinned. “Wise words. I hope you won’t regret this.”
This time, Gage cradled Ulric’s belly, and his kiss was slow and lingering. “Nah, I won’t. You can hold me to it.”
By the time the twenty-week ultrasound rolled around, Gage had felt their baby kick, but the one in Ulric’s belly hadn’t budged yet.
“I hope it’ll be okay,” Ulric said, his stomach twisting. Had something gone wrong with the pregnancy? This wasn’t quite a natural process, after all—not for alphas who’d artificially placed a uterus in themselves.
Except Gage’s baby had moved. Not Ulric’s. Did Ulric’s weight have something to do with it?
He worried at his lip, his heart thumping when they stepped into Rutherford’s office.
“It’ll be okay,” Gage whispered. But even he was nervous.
Rutherford looked a little harried. “Hello there. It’s been a while. How are the two of you doing?”
They went over Gage’s progress first, then Ulric’s. “I haven’t felt our baby move,” Ulric said, wincing when Rutherford turned his solemn gaze on his belly.
It wasn’t so often that Ulric felt out-of-place these days. But now that he was nervous, he felt far too heavy next to Gage, and Rutherford’s slim frame. What if he was too unhealthy to carry a baby?
“Here, lie back on the exam bed,” Rutherford said. “We’ll do your ultrasound first.”
Ulric held his breath, his heart thumping. Gage crowded next to him and held his hand.
The ultrasound gel was warm on his belly; Ulric barely felt that. Instead, he felt his curves, he felt as though he needed to hide his body again.
The doctor examined the inside of Ulric’s belly this way and that, the monitor’s black-and-white speckles changing with his movements. Then a small, curled-up figure came into view—their baby. Gage sucked in a sharp breath. Ulric stopped breathing.
Aside from the morning sickness and the fatigue, aside from his honey scent and the stiff shape of the uterus in his belly, Ulric didn’t feel quite so pregnant. Whereas Gage’s baby bump looked like a baby bump, Ulric’s belly looked like he’d just put on more weight.
But the ultrasound image—that made his pregnancy very real. There really was a baby inside him.
After he’d examined the fetus from all angles, Rutherford looked up with a smile. “Your baby seems to be developing well. Some pregnant folk may feel the flutters as late as the twenty-fourth week, so there’s no cause for concern yet.”
Ulric could finally breathe again. So maybe this wasn’t as bad as he’d thought.
Gage leaned in and kissed his lips. “See, you’re both fine.”
Ulric was too weak with relief to answer.
He clambered off the exam bed and cradled his belly, waiting while Gage had his turn with the ultrasound. Gage’s baby looked just as beautiful as Ulric’s—these were both their flesh and blood. And it never ceased to amaze him that they were carrying their babies at the same time.
Later, they left Rutherford’s clinic, walking hand-in-hand through the outskirts of New York City.
“He looked pretty stressed-out,” Ulric said.
“Who? Rutherford?” Gage frowned. “I think he might really move to Meadowfall. He sure could use a break.”
“Imagine if he became our neighbor.” Ulric laughed. Wilkie had been talking about moving in with his friends on the next street; Ulric wasn’t sure how Wilkie had gotten to know them, but Wilkie hadn’t stopped with his questionable side gig thus far. Gage had been arguing with his brother a lot more lately.
“Maybe Wilkie and Rutherford should both be our neighbors.” Gage scowled. “I’d rather Wilkie move closer so I can keep an eye on him.”
“He’s an adult, you know.”
“If he keeps up the way he is, he’s going to get into trouble one of these days. And not any sort of good trouble.”
Ulric smiled at Gage’s protectiveness. “Maybe things will turn out fine. Like it did for us.”
“Maybe,” Gage grumbled.
“He could hook up with an alpha, and they’d protect him.”
Gage’s scowl deepened. “No. What if they manipulate him? He’s—He has issues.”
“What if he finds someone he loves?” Ulric pointed out.
“What if they use him, and he thinks he’s in love?”
Ulric could understand Gage’s protectiveness, though. Wilkie was a dear; Ulric didn’t want anyone to break his heart.
He tugged Gage onto a less-crowded street so they wouldn’t get as many looks their way. Then he brought Gage’s hand to his lips, kissing it. “Give him a chance,” Ulric said. “You can always be the good older brother and swoop in to save him.”
“I hope,” Gage said darkly.
Ulric was about to kiss Gage’s wrist to distract him, when a car pulled up next to them. It was familiar. Ulric didn’t think much of it, until the door opened and his mother stepped out.
His stomach sank. He’d known they shouldn’t have stayed out so long, but he’d wanted to show Gage some of his favorite places from his childhood. Somehow, it had slipped his mind that his mom frequented these particular streets, too.
She stalked toward him and Gage, her expression filled with contempt. Gage glanced over. “You know her?”
“My mom.”
Gage stiffened, his mouth pressing into a thin line. He moved to step in front of Ulric; Ulric shook his head. He couldn’t hide behind his alpha for anything. Especially not this.
So he held still and waited until she stopped in front of him with a disgusted stare. “Nothing has changed with you, has it?” Mom asked, flicking a glance at Gage. “Or have you started paying for an escort?”
Gage’s eyes flashed. “I’m no escort.”
“He’s my bondmate.” Ulric held his breath. He remembered being afraid of his mom turning Gage against him.
