My own heart seemed to speed up to match the rapid pace. “Is it supposed to be that fast?” I asked.
She smiled, her relaxed demeanor putting me at ease. “Yes. A fetus’s heartbeat should be anywhere between one hundred and ten to one hundred and sixty beats per minute. Your baby is on the low end of the spectrum, but still in a healthy range.”
My shoulders unhinged from my ears. “Okay, good.”
“And the gender?” Cyrus asked, his tone hopeful. He likely already knew the heartbeat’s pace and had evaluated the fetus through his spirit element, even if I hadn’t been able to. But I suspected Cyrus had resisted from finding out the gender through his fae abilities. His gaze met mine, full of excitement, along with the rest of my mates. I knew this was a moment we’d remember for the rest of our lives.
She pulled out a different device this time, and a blotchy image appeared on the screen. She moved the scanner around on my stomach, making the baby inside squirm, but I couldn’t sense distress, just a reaction to the pressure. The doctor smiled, and she clicked a button, outputting a still image that looked like an ink splotch to me.
She pointed at the screen. “See that? Looks like you’re having a boy.”
Titus jumped to his feet with a celebratory roar. “Yes! I knew it!”
My mates all likewise laughed, delighted in the news in their own way. As for myself, the awful tears came again, seeming to flood my vision no matter if I was happy or sad. I would have loved news of either gender, but a boy?
A boy.
A little fae king.
The thought made my heart swell three times over, and I thought I’d die right there on the spot.
I held Cyrus’s hands in mine as the tears freely streamed over my cheeks. “A boy,” I repeated the thought out loud.
Cyrus echoed my delight in my mind.
Our little holiday heir.
DECEMBER 23RD
THE MATE-CIRCLE practically hummed with excitement and the desire to celebrate.
Claire and the baby were fine—more than fine—and they would be even better after they were fed and sated.
Although, we planned to surprise our mate in more than one way in that regard. We all wanted to assure our Claire that carrying a child only made her more beautiful and more desirable, not less.
I glanced down at the list Claire had given me of human food items. When I told her I was going out to run some errands, she hadn’t realized that included yet another detour to the Hell realm. Cyrus had ventured down there yesterday, and today had been my turn.
Those demon bastards were really giving us a hard time. And I was pretty sure it was purely for their sadistic enjoyment.
However, I felt pretty confident that we were making decent headway.
Rather than tell Claire about my little side trip—there was no benefit to worrying her—I’d just agreed to her errand, which was how I found myself strolling through a human market after spending a few hours in literal hell.
I roamed the aisles and grabbed every item on her list, plus anything else that looked interesting. I also grabbed some festive decorations for the cottage—I suspected Claire wouldn’t mind adding to what we’d already put up.
Most of the food seemed unhealthy to me, but she could indulge. No, she needed to indulge. Growing a faeling required ample energy, so Claire needed as many calories as she could physically ingest.
After food, she needed to relax and rest, and I knew just the thing to distract her from thinking about politics and our faeling’s impending arrival.
Every birth was unique, as well as difficult—that, unfortunately, ran similar between fae and human pregnancies. I’d done my research before going into this venture with my mate-circle to be as prepared as we could be for the unknown.
However, none of my planning could have prepared me for the protectiveness radiating through me, in addition to the new layer of love that threaded through my bond with Claire and our entire mate-circle
. It brought us all closer together, knitted our love tighter, and gave it a sense of permanence that I hadn’t realized had been lacking.
If one child did this, then I looked forward to many more.
After we survived this one.