Even now, she remembered when Frank and she would have a conversation. He never paid attention to her and was certainly not interested in anything but himself.
Charlie conversed with her, responded to what she had to say, and focused solely on her. It was refreshing and made her realize exactly what she had been missing out on and the losers she let fill her life. He didn’t care that she had a few extra pounds, or that her belly wasn’t flat and her thighs were thick. In fact, he told her continuously that he loved her body and that she was healthy enough to carry his child.
He hadn’t been formally introduced to Melissa or Candace yet, and she hadn’t met his brothers. With her friends’ schedules taking them out of town for several weeks, and his brothers traveling from Sweet Water to Denver the last couple weeks for a new building project, there hadn’t been a right time for introductions.
That would change tonight though, because they had plans to go to Bram’s house later this evening, and she was taking Melissa and Candace with her.
Charlie picked her up, and they went to her first official doctor’s appointment—well, the one she considered official, since the time before had just been a confirmation that she was indeed pregnant. This one would allow them to find out the sex of the baby and if it would take after her or Charlie in regards to shifting.
Charlie seemed to be positive it would be a male bear shifter, but she couldn’t deny she was kind of hoping for a little girl. It didn’t matter the sex or who it took after, though, because in the end she just wanted a healthy baby.
“You getting excited?” Charlie reached across the seat and grabbed her hand. She nodded and couldn’t help but smile. “Me too, baby.” His own excitement was tangible, and his smile lit up his whole face. There was no denying he was one proud father, and that had her heartstrings tugging almost painfully.
Her belly was in knots, but in the good kind of way, and the further along she got in her pregnancy, the more she was anticipating the arrival of the baby.
She had four more months to go, and although she hadn’t felt any kicking or movement, she knew it would be coming and couldn’t wait.
He pulled the truck into an empty spot in front of the doctor’s office, and they climbed out. He grabbed her hand again, and she loved that he always had to be touching her. Since he went wild on her all those weeks ago, literally, she noticed he tamed down quite a bit.
Maybe it was because he was no longer fighting his bear for supremacy, and now the two were merged into one. Either way, she liked everything he gave her.
When they entered the small office, there were a few women seated in the chairs. Some had obvious round pregnant bellies. After she checked in and they sat down, Ary couldn’t help but notice the way the women stared at Charlie. Yes, he was certainly not a male to be missed, but wasn’t it obvious enough that they were together when he still had a hold of her hand and brought it up to his mouth to kiss her fingers?
The women were called back one at a time, and the longer she had to wait, the antsier she became.
“Calm down, kitten.” Charlie chuckled beside her. He was flipping through some Pregnancy 101 magazine, and that sight brought a smile to her face.
“February Felina?”
Her heart pounded a fast tattoo, and they both stood and followed the medical assistant into the back of the office. After being weighed, having her vitals taken, and asked to change into the standard paper gown, they were left to wait in the room for the doctor to arrive. Charlie started pacing, and it was her turn to speak and ease his nervousness.
“Calm down, Charlie.” He glared at her but plopped his big body into the tiny chair in the corner. The doctor arrived moments later with a sonogram machine and an assistant.
“Hello. I’m Dr. Harrison.” She held her hand out, and Ary took it. The physician was a cougar shifter, the same as the assistant. The feline in her could smell the cat in them right away. “So how about we check on your little one?”
Nodding and smiling, February did as the doctor instructed and lay back on the table. The lights dimmed, and the sonogram machine lit up in an array of blue and white. “If you were a human, we would have to go vaginally in order to see anything, because you’re so early in the pregnancy, but seeing as you’re a shifter, we will be able to do this on your abdomen.” The assistant brought the machine closer. “We can see the sex of the baby and which species it will take after, if that is what you’d like revealed.” She smiled at Ary and then did the same to Charlie.
Dr. Harrison squeezed warm gel on her exposed belly and started moving it around. Charlie stood by her side and took her hand in his. At first, she couldn’t see anything but a black screen, but then the tiny body came into view. Ary could make out the arms and legs, the head, and even the tiny fingers and toes.
The doctor started pointing out all the parts and even showed them the baby’s beating heart and let them hear it. Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked them away. It was the most surreal and joyous moment in her life thus far.
“Do you guys want to know the sex and who the baby is taking after?”
Ary looked at Charlie but already knew he wanted to know as well. She looked back at the doctor and smiled. “We want to know.” The doctor ran the wand over her belly a few more times, tapped out dimensions on the keyboard, and printed off some pictures.
She pointed at the screen, but Ary had no idea what she was looking at. “You see that right there?” Charlie leaned in and squinted, and she and the doctor laughed. “I know it’s hard to make out if you don’t know what it is, but that right there tells me your baby is a boy.” Charlie snapped his head back, and she swore his chest puffed out a good six inches.
The doctor then started rattling off bone lengths, head circumference, and a whole lot of other dimensions that made no sense to Ary.
“The bone structure and the placement of internal organs tell me your baby will be a bear shifter.”
Charlie squeezed her hand and looked down at her. His smile was bigger than any other time before, and she couldn’t help but return the expression.
“You hear that, kitten? We are having a boy, and it looks like he’s taking after his dad.” He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
“I can also see he is going to be a pretty big boy too, given the length of his arms and legs this early on.” Doctor Harrison looked over at them. “But seeing as the father is quite large in size, that really isn’t a surprise.” They wrapped everything up, and they were handed a series of pictures of the baby. When they were left alone and Ary was dressed, Charlie grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug.
“Have I told you how happy you make me?” He pulled back and cupped her face with his hands.
She had to crane her head back to look into his face. “Yes, but you can always tell me again.”
He chuckled and kissed her once more. “You make me so damn happy. I love you, Ary.” Her eyes widened, and her pulse quickened. Charlie didn’t flinch as he stared at her. “I know everything is happening so fast, but my feelings are what they are. I don’t expect you to feel the same way—”
“I love you too, Charlie.”
His eyes widened a fraction as well, and then that trademark half-mouth smile came into play. He pulled her into a hug again, and she heard him inhale. He was right; things were going so fast, but she had never been around someone who made her feel so complete.