“I’ll ask the nurse,” Sam said, striding over. They both stared as Sam bowed his head close, murmuring his question. It figured, that their omega was the one making the decisions in their relationship.
The nurse nodded. Sam beamed, waving them both in.
“See, I told you,” Valen said, grabbing Harris’ fingers.
Harris tugged his hand away, but he was smiling, relief in his eyes. “Fine.”
As they strode over, Valen whispered, “I love Sam.”
Harris cracked a smile. “I know.”
“And I love you, too.”
Harris brushed their hands together, his smile growing. That made Valen smile, too.
They followed the nurse and Sam through the clinic doors, waiting while the nurse took Sam’s height and weight. Then they were moving again, Sam knocking on the doctor’s door. Valen followed him, and Harris brought up the rear.
Dr. Smith’s office smelled like hay—she was a beta, an older woman with graying blond hair. The office was a simple room with a desk, computer, and a couple of charts on the walls. There was an exam bed to the side, attached to a secondary monitor and another keyboard.
“Oh,” Dr. Smith said, looking between all of them. “I wasn’t expecting so many of you.”
“They’re my baby’s dads,” Sam said hesitantly. “I’d like them both to be here.”
“Ah.” Smith smiled. “That’s fine. It’s great to meet you, Sam, Valen? And...?”
“And Harris,” Valen said, waving toward his alpha. They shook hands with her.
“Please take a seat,” Smith said.
Sam sat to the side of the desk, Valen behind him, Harris hovering in the background.
“We’re here for the 20-week ultrasound.” Sam touched his belly. “I’ve had one miscarriage to date.”
Valen listened as Dr. Smith asked Sam about his dietary habits and exercise, as well as his job and the details of his last pregnancy.
Sam winced. “It was ten years ago,” he said. “I was two months pregnant. Slipped in a bathtub and fell on my belly.”
Valen hadn’t asked Sam about the details—Harris had told Valen in secret one evening, when Valen mentioned Sam was afraid of the tub.
Sam had been in a motel when it happened. He’d decided he was taking a break from his life and Valen, and rented a nice room. The bathtub had been slippery. He’d been getting out of the shower when he’d fallen.
Gods, Valen regretted the things he’d said to Sam back then. But if they’d never broken up, they would never have gotten together with Harris, would they?
Dr. Smith listened to Sam’s heartbeat, then pressed the stethoscope to Sam’s belly.
“We’ll have the bloodwork done after the ultrasound,” Smith said after a while. “Right now, it looks like you’re maintaining a healthy diet and exercise. Keep it up! We’ll be looking at the baby through the ultrasound next. Climb onto the exam bed when you’re ready, Sam.”
Sam stepped out of his shoes, then lay down on the exam bed. Pulled his shirt up over his belly and cringed.
At five months, his belly was half the size of a basketball, tiny red stretch marks creeping along his pale skin. Valen had asked if they hurt—Sam had shaken his head. But Sam had also been rubbing lotion onto the marks, turning away when Valen pulled his shirt up.
Valen stepped across the room, catching Sam’s hand. “Your belly is beautiful,” Valen murmured. He traced his fingers down the dark line leading down Sam’s belly to his cock, pressed his palm to the stretch marks. “They’re like badges of honor, you know?”
Sam’s eyes lit up.
“If you’re ready, Sam,” Dr. Smith said, tapping into the keyboard next to the exam bed. Valen backed away, and Smith took a tube from a stand. “The gel will be warm.”
She squirted a dollop of clear blue gel on Sam’s belly, then pressed the ultrasound probe on top of the gel, spreading it around.
“It’s comfortable.” Sam smiled. “I didn’t expect it to be so warm.”
Then he met Valen’s eyes across the room, and Valen grinned. Slipped his fingers into Harris’ hand—not as though the doctor was looking, anyway. Harris squeezed back.
The ultrasound resolved into a speckled black-and-white image on the monitor. Sam peered at the screen; Harris tensed next to Valen, leaning forward.
“How’s the baby?” Harris asked.
Smith tapped on the keyboard, snapping pictures of the fetus from different angles. “Looks like it’s developing well,” she said. “You can see its face here, and its hands and feet. The placenta and umbilical cord appear to be fine.”
But Harris didn’t relax. Valen slid his arm around Harris’ waist. Squeezed him. “So the pregnancy’s going okay?” Valen asked.
Smith nodded. “Yes. As far as I can tell, the placenta is normal, and so is the fetal heartbeat.”
“There,” Valen whispered. “Stop worrying, Big H.”
Harris snorted, glancing at him. “Fine.”
But nothing he did would ease Harris’ concern, would it? Harris’ previous omega had died during childbirth. As long as the baby was inside Sam, Harris would continue to worry.
And that made Valen feel helpless. All he could do was protect Sam, drive him to work, make sure he would always be okay getting in and out of the tub.
Sam looked relieved, though. “Can we have a picture from the ultrasound?”
“Sure,” Smith said. “We offer a printing service. Five dollars for each copy. How many would you like to have?”
“Three,” Sam said. Looked at Valen and Harris.
“Big H and I can share,” Valen said.
Harris rolled his eyes. “We’ll take three copies. You’ll want to bring one to work, V.”
Okay, so maybe Valen did like the sound of that, a picture of his baby on his desk, maybe in his wallet. He already had little photos of Harris and Sam—a baby picture would fit right along with them.
“I’ll forward your order to the receptionist,” Smith said. “You’ll get your copies of the ultrasound image at the counter.”
“That’ll be great,” Sam said.
Valen admired Sam on the exam bed, his fingers twitching. He wanted to step over, cuddle Sam close. Kiss up his perfect belly, then further down, between his legs. Make him squirm.
“Oh,” Valen said. “How safe is it for
