Page 14

Chapter 14

Ash

N ausea hit me the moment that I woke up. Of course I knew what it was instantly. At least I hoped I was right. I’d been waiting for a sign, any sign that would tell me if I was expecting a clutch of eggs, and now I had it. I couldn’t wait to grow a family with my mate.

My joy was overshadowed by my inability to talk through the violent regurgitation that wracked my body. Every time I opened my mouth, my stomach seemed to revolt, and I threw up more. It was to be expected, and everything I knew about pregnancy told me it meant that the pregnancy was healthy. And as much as I hated it, that thought got me through.

I’d been in the bathroom for at least twenty minutes, every time I thought I was good to go, I was proven wrong. As gross as it was watching and hearing and smelling someone puke, my mate sat on the floor next to me, rubbing my back, offering what little comfort he could. Not once did I sense even a smidgeon of disgust rolling off of him. He left briefly to retrieve a glass of water and a warm towel for my head, but aside from that, he was glued to me.

“We have to get to work,” I finally managed to choke out. “The team has endurance training with Kellan today.”

“Our class isn’t until this afternoon,” Zayne said. “Kellan can handle it on his own.”

As much as I hated to leave him in the lurch, that was music to my ears.

“Oh, thank goodness.” I rested my head against the cool wall, taking deep, gulping breaths. Thank goodness we kept our bathroom clean and that it had tile everywhere. There was such comfort in the coolness they held.

“Are you all right, mate? Do you need anything? Let me take care of you.”

It was weird because I felt sick as a dog, while at the same time being better than all right. Knowing the cause of my stomach woes meant our dreams were coming true was everything.

“Fresh air, I think. Maybe something to settle my stomach.” I wasn’t quite so sure on the second part. We’d find out soon enough.

Zayne helped me to my feet. His eyes widened when he looked down at me. I followed his gaze, expecting to see nothing unusual, but my usually flat stomach bulged like I had eaten too much.

“Oh, wow,” I said. “That was unexpected.” And so very quick. No wonder my body was in such turmoil. Things were progressing very quickly.

“No kidding,” Zayne said. “You look great.”

I laughed. “I just spent the morning vomiting, and now I look like I indulged in too many tacos. I look far from great.”

“Shh. No one is allowed to talk about my sexy mate like that.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off with a shake of his head. “I mean it. You’re amazing.” He placed a gentle hand over the roundness of my stomach. “Those are our eggs in there, yours and mine. You’re absolute perfection.”

“I appreciate your vote of confidence.” I also appreciated his steady legs, because mine were shaking uncontrollably. I wasn’t sure if it was being in that position on the floor for too long or if it was a symptom of my pregnancy. I really hoped it was the first.

Zayne held my hand as we walked down the hall to the kitchen. He helped me into a chair. I appreciated his attentiveness.

“Okay, let’s start with toast and water. Not coffee.”

“Oh no, I am going to need coffee, mate.” He wanted me to have coffee. The team wanted me to have coffee. Not having coffee wasn’t good for anyone around me. “If it upsets my stomach, I’ll stop drinking it, but I do need my coffee.”

“All right, then. Just take it slow.”

I had to give him credit. He obviously didn’t think it was a good idea, but not once did he decide his opinion mattered more than mine. I couldn’t say that I’d be as good of a mate had our roles been reversed.

Zayne set to work, and within a few minutes, he had a slice of toast, lightly coated with my favorite pear jam, in front of me. I took a tentative bite, chewing slowly to keep my body from rejecting the nutrients. Surprisingly, it tasted good. I’d been afraid that everything would instantly have me running back to the porcelain throne.

“Commander Emmon said to let him know if I started seeing any symptoms and that we could make an appointment with the physician here,” I said. While I was 100% sure that I was pregnant, hearing it from the physician would ease my nerves.

“That sounds like a brilliant idea. As long as I have known Vexis, he has always enjoyed when there is an omega expecting on the grounds.” Vexis being the physician. “He gets bored with treating broken limbs from flight training and sprained ankles from students running too fast in the quad.”

“Well, I think I will have a ton of questions. Does he have experience treating a pregnancy like ours? With a non-dragon shifter or half-dragon, I mean.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect and the unknown was always scary, but doubly so because in this case, it wasn’t just me I had to worry about. I had little ones on the way, and right now, I was the only thing protecting them from… everything.

“He’s older than I am, so I imagine that he has seen a thing or two. If not, I know that Lord Malic’s son just mated with a human, and Dr. Hugo, who used to be an Academy doctor, treated his human mate.” My mate had looked into this. Not that that surprised me.

“I suppose I can ask my parents any questions. They had the same experience as us.” They were going to be thrilled. I had let them know a few days after Zayne and I had been mated. They were, of course, over-the-moon excited that I had found a dragon for my mate. They’d have accepted anyone, of course, but being that I was technically half-dragon, they loved it.

Zayne handed me my cup of coffee and spread some jam on another slice of toast. He slid the plate across the counter. I nibbled on the corner of the bread.

“I could get used to this treatment. I’m starting to feel better,” I said.

“Good, that’s good. I wish there was more that I could do for you.”

“Oh, don’t worry. If I get too sick, I’ll just have you wait on me hand and foot. I’ll lie on the couch every day, get myself a little bell that I can ring. You can deliver me my snacks and drinks.”

I’d been teasing, but Zayne smiled as if the idea of being my personal waitstaff thrilled him. “I’d be honored to do whatever you need.”

“I think that I’ll be fine.” I took a small sip of my coffee. “Already, the nausea is gone. My big belly is still here, though.” I was still floored by that. I swore it wasn’t there last night. Or maybe it was and I’d been too busy paying attention to my mate’s body to focus on my own. Both were very real possibilities.

Zayne grinned. “But it’s gorgeous.”

He might think so, but I wasn’t so sure.

“Good thing we wear mostly track pants to work, because otherwise, I wouldn’t have anything that fits soon enough. I’m going to have to get a new suit for our first competition if the eggs aren’t laid.” I really wanted to be there for the competition, but family came first. It wasn’t like I couldn’t watch the tapings later.

“That’s a month away,” Zayne said. “Our eggs should be laid by then.”

I stood up straight, my spine stiffening. “How can you travel to a competition if my eggs are here? How will we— We can’t leave our eggs, Zayne. What will we do?” He could go without me, but the thought of him being gone with our eggs here with me, no one else to protect them, was terrifying.

He came to my side and wrapped me in his arms. The warmth of him calmed me. “Easy. Slow down, mate. Many dragons have brought their eggs along for travel. We have a special transport van that can fit most nests, and the team will help us as well. We have specialized things for this. You won’t be the first omega who has had to travel with their eggs.”

That caught me off guard. It wasn’t something I’d ever heard about, much less had experience with. If my mate thought it was feasible, I at least needed to hear him out. The team couldn’t go to competition without a Flight Leader, but also…

“Is this really a good idea? Me working and having eggs?” We’d talked about it before, but that was all in hypotheticals. The hypotheticals were over, and now we were in real territory.

“Of course. Our children are going to be so proud of you—the first omega eagle Flight Leader who won a championship while also in the middle of nesting? It’s amazing.”

I rolled my eyes. “I think you’re inflating my accomplishments. We haven’t won anything yet.”

“We will. I have all the faith in the world.”

I didn’t have the strong confidence my mate did in us coming out victorious, but enthusiasm and confidence were contagious. By the time we finished our conversation, I was beginning to feel the same way.

“I’m going to go call Kellen and let them know we’re going to miss today, and then we can head over to see Dr. Vexis.” Zayne got up from his seat and started toward his office. He kissed the top of my head as he walked by.

I’d met Dr. Vexis in passing when I first arrived, but didn’t know him very well. No one on staff had made me uncomfortable, including him. Given that he enjoyed working with pregnant omegas—and I wasn’t being thrust upon someone whose only desire was to deal with flight training concerns—I considered that a positive as well. Still, it was good to know there were other options if I needed them. I had a feeling I wouldn’t.

After getting dressed, the two of us walked to campus, hand in hand, the fresh air already making me feel a thousand times better. The weakness in my knees was now gone.

Dr. Vexis was already in the office when we arrived, a huge grin on his face.

“I hear congratulations are in order,” he said, coming up and patting Zayne on the shoulder. “I’m thrilled for you, Zayne. You deserve this.”

Zayne put his arm around my waist. “I don’t, but for some reason, the Fates sent him to me anyway.”

Gods, he was the sweetest thing ever.

Dr. Vexis had me start out by peeing in a cup and then hopping up on the table for a quick exam. The results from the urine test came back almost instantly, letting me know that, yes, those really were eggs in me and not just the result of too much food. My blood pressure was great. My heartbeat sounded strong. My lungs were clear. Everything was exactly how it should be.

In human TV shows, they always had them hear the heartbeat now, but with the shells in the way, that was something that wasn’t quite feasible. Instead, he pressed down, trying to figure out how many eggs there were.

“I’m sorry, it’s too soon,” he said, turning toward a cabinet, opening it up, and digging around. “But soon enough, you’ll know.”

When he turned back around, he had a bottle in his hand.

“These are prenatals. Be sure to take them. They have extra calcium for the shells. And... you’re not going to like this, but maybe don’t do any of those tricks I’ve seen you doing for the next little bit.”

That caught me off guard. “Tricks?”

“Yeah, that diving thing I saw the other day. I was pretty sure one, if not both of you, were going to land on the ground. I was tempted to prepare the trauma unit for one of you. It was pretty impressive.”

I thought back to the time he was talking about. It had to be with the spoon. And if my doctor was on this campus, seeing all the flights for who knew how many years, and he thought it was impressive, then we had nothing to worry about come competition—that was assuming they mastered it, which they would.

“Don’t worry, Dr. Vexis, not doing that again for a while. I got nauseous standing up this morning.”

“Ah, that’s very good.”

I knew what he meant. It was a good sign that everything was healthy. I still didn’t like hearing it.

“But do yourself a favor—take these on a full stomach. You’ll thank me later.”

“When do I need to come back?”

“You’ll know.”

I wasn’t sure that I would, but I knew where to find him if I had any questions.

My mate was already thanking him, and a minute later, we were on our way home. Once we got there, Zayne tucked me into bed and told me to get some rest.

I wasn’t turning that offer down. That was for sure.