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“You’re still bleeding?” he asks, pushing his glasses up his nose. His hair is pulled back, and although I long to yank that band out, I suppress the urge, looking away.

“Less than the first week I got home.”

He nods and jots it down in his file. “Lactation is going well,” he notes, because he’s witnessed it himself. “I know you were worried he wasn’t getting enough milk, but that’s resolved?”

Sighing, I agree, “He’s a pig.” The hour directly following a feeding are the only moments of the day I don’t feel fit to burst.“I should’ve known he’d pick up on it quickly.” I crack a smile. “Takes after his father.”

Lex’s mouth quirks in a small smile before he sets down his clipboard and pulls on the latex gloves.

“Let’s check your abdomen.”

Ugh.

In all the times I’ve been naked around these men, not once has it felt like this. I know I’m not the most beautiful girl in Forsyth, but I’ve never felt insecure. I knew they wanted me. Even when Lex had his erectile issues, he still made it known. But now? Still carrying the extra weight, the ring of puffy skin around my midsection, and the swollen, bleeding pussy, I feel like a sack of leaking meat.

And the fact none of them have even made an advance on me confirms it.

I’m disgusting.

Eyes laser-focused, Lex presses his fingers into the doughy skin that was once my flat, smooth abdomen. Literally, it’s like he’s kneading dough, but despite my mortification, he’s seemingly pleased with whatever he’s found.

“Looks good.” Meeting my gaze, he dips his chin in a nod. “Remember, it’s common to have abdominal swelling for a while. I expect that will improve soon.” He moves to the end of the table, where he taps my knees and says, “Let’s get a look down here.”

Downhere.

Thisfrom the man who’s whispered all the dirty things he wants to do to my pussy, even when he couldn’t get it up to do it himself. But it’s not a ‘pussy’ anymore. It’s just a portal to my reproductive organs.

Embarrassed, I spread my thighs for him, feeling the wash of heat over my cheeks. But the moment he touches me, fingers searching my folds, my knees snap together.

His amber eyes rise to mine, questioning.

Exhaling, I force my knees apart. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he says in that calm, soothing tone. “You just went through some trauma down here. It’s understandable.”

“Sure,” I choke out, feeling his fingers poke and prod.

He ducks his head to look at what his fingers are doing—entering me—and hums. “It looks like you’re healing up nicely.” Lex’s hands are gentle on the insides of my thighs as he finishes up his examination. I look down, checking his crotch, and there’s not even the slightest hint of an erection. For someone who has zero interest in sex right now, I’m still inexplicably disappointed. “The bleeding may last for another few weeks.”

“What about sex?” I blurt, hating myself for asking. “I’m just… wondering.”

He pulls off the latex gloves one at a time, his eyes searching mine. “The recommended time is two to twelve weeks.” We’re rolling into the three-week mark. “But you know I’m going to always err on the side of caution and say we can discuss it again at your next exam.”

“Okay,” I say, unsure of how to feel. I don’t feel up to sex right now. In fact, it seems absolutely terrifying after giving birth. But there are these little flickers of heat that I get—usually when I see the guys with the baby. I haven’t lost all of my desire, it just feels different, like my maternal endorphins get mixed up with my horny endorphins.

If I have to watch any of them shirtless while lovingly rocking our sonone more time, I’m going to burst.

Lex sighs, resting a palm on my knee. “I’ve already told the guys, and they’re fine with it. Good, actually. No one is in any rush,” he assures me. “Right now, the focus is on Justice and your recovery.”

It’s not until he turns away, giving me the opportunity to change in private, that I realize this is the first time in months that he hasn’t taken his hair down for me.

Maybe all that talk about wanting to fill me up again when he could was just that—talk. Maybe their attraction to me was just about the creation of it all, and now that the baby is here, they’re not interested.

The rational part of me understands it’s not reasonable. I haven’t even had the opportunity to mourn Laura, worry about Stella, or fret over Ballsy not being able to get bail. There are a million things happening in my life, and god knows the last thing I want right now is sex.

But all I do is nourish our baby, and I can’t—I justcan’t—only be that.

Except maybe that’s really all a Princess is.