“You can do this, you know,” Dom said. “It’s a way of bonding with the baby. You treat them as a little adult.”
Jesse stared at his abdomen—it was bandaged and stitched up, and he still felt the solid presence of the uterus inside him. It scared him, a little. Knowing that he was committing to this other life in his body. “Can it hear you?”
“Probably not yet. But soon.” Dom straightened and cupped Jesse’s nape, kissing the top of his head. “Text if you need me. I’ll answer when I can. The team might visit after-hours.”
Jesse cringed. “I’m not an invalid!”
“Give them an excuse to come see you.” Dom smiled. “They’ve been filling up the chat asking how you are.”
Jesse had been so distracted by Dom that he’d kind of forgotten about their team. And he was supposed to be on duty right now. “This feels wrong. I should be at the station.”
“You’re supposed to be recovering.” Dom brushed his knuckles against Jesse’s throat. Then he pressed Jesse’s phone into his hand, and kissed Jesse a last time.
Dom swept out of the room, leaving Jesse with the baby in his abdomen.
Jesse looked down at himself, coming to terms with this. A baby. His and Dom’s. How was he supposed to give birth to it? Would it rip his body apart? He hadn’t been modified for childbirth. At least, he didn’t think he had.
Maybe he would have to undergo a C-section, and they’d cut him open for it. He ignored the anxiety rising through his chest, pushing those thoughts out of his mind. It was still months away. He didn’t have to think about it.
Slowly, he set his phone down. He shuffled back against the headboard to lean against it. Then, ever so gingerly, Jesse pressed his hand over his abdomen. There was a life in there. The uterus moved slightly inside him, harboring the baby.
Feeling a bit silly, Jesse said, “Hi.”
No response from the baby, but that was normal. Jesse would freak if the baby said hi back.
He wondered if he needed to say hi into a paper funnel pressed against his abdomen, or if the baby could just hear him like this. Then he wondered if he was eating enough, and how much food a baby needed every day to survive. How big was it, anyway? His abdomen hadn’t grown so much over the past few weeks.
The more he thought about it, the more Jesse realized he didn’t know the slightest bit about being pregnant.
Probably why Dom had given Jesse his phone and a charging cord. Jesse would really hate for Dom to be the know-it-all about this.
He settled more comfortably into bed, and began his research.
31
More Donuts
Jesse was dreaming about a fish salad with gooey fried eggs, when someone nudged lightly at him. “Hey, sleepyhead.”
He ignored the person, still entranced by his salad. Would it go better with a squirt of lemon juice, or some mayo? Except the mattress indented next to Jesse, and someone kissed him on the lips.
“Wow,” someone else said.
“Ooh, look at Dom being sappy. That’s even worse than at the barbecue.”
“You’re in really deep,” a fourth person said.
“So when are you gonna get married?”
“Shut up,” Dom muttered. “Or you’ll be scrubbing the toilets for a week, Alec.”
That voice was enough to draw Jesse out of slumber. He’d missed Dom a lot. Not that he could remember why. But he cracked his eyes open, welcoming the sight of Dom sitting next to him, that familiar gaze warming Jesse to his core.
Vaguely, Jesse glimpsed the rest of the room—white walls, sterile scent. He was in a hospital. But Dom’s presence was enough to calm him down.
“Hey,” Dom rumbled, brushing his thumb over Jesse’s mouth. “Slept well?”
Jesse nodded, wanting another kiss. Except someone moved behind Dom—many someones. Jesse tensed, before realizing that it was the rest of their team: Gareth, Harris, Alec, York, Brad, and Nate.
“Good to see you recovering,” Nate said.
Jesse hadn’t had the chance to speak to him, ever since the chaos began. “Thanks, Nate. For saving my sorry ass again.”
Nate shrugged and smiled. “Happy to help, kid.”
Dom stood so the rest of the team could crowd around Jesse. Alec wanted to see the gunshot wound on Jesse’s back. York scrutinized the long line that Larson had left on Jesse’s front. Gareth seemed to study Jesse’s abdomen—then he exchanged a look with Dom, and Jesse had an inkling that maybe Gareth knew.
But when Gareth stopped by Jesse’s side, all he did was smile and clap Jesse on the shoulder. “Scared us for a bit there, son. Dom said you’d been captured by some bastards.”
Jesse thought they might think less of him for it, but none of them did. And maybe... he could trust them to accept his other news a few months down the road.
Dom chased the team off after a while, frowning enough that Gareth rolled his eyes.
“He needs rest,” Dom muttered.
“Yeah, and rest comes with a stack of donuts,” Gareth said dryly.
“Fuck off.”
Jesse perked up, though. “You brought donuts?”
Dom nodded at the side table, where there was a box from Ben’s Buns. “You can have them when you get home. We’re working on getting you discharged today.”
The last of the toxins had been neutralized. Jesse had passed the doctor’s observation, and he couldn’t wait to follow Dom home. “You’re feeding me the donuts, right?”
Dom’s gaze darkened. “Yeah? You want to be fed?”
“I’m gone,” Gareth announced, closing the door behind him.
Jesse raked his eyes down Dom’s body, admiring the muscles behind his T-shirt, the thick thighs hidden by his pants. He needed to claim his alpha again. Just to be doubly sure. “You could wear the donuts,” Jesse said.
Dom’s smile grew. “What should I wear them on?”
“I don’t know, something you could put inside their holes.”
“Want something in your hole?” Dom growled.
Jesse’s blood swooped south. “Get me out of here,” he muttered, shoving down the sudden tent in his clothes. “I’m gonna poke a hole in the sheets.”
Dom smiled
