“It’s our son—well, it will be once the egg hatches,” Troy told the gob smacked human. Emery had to refrain himself from laughing at the grimace on the man’s face.
“The egg. Right. Sure.”
Troy wrapped a hand around Kay’s arm and gently pulled. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”
The three men walked down the hallway and to the stairs. They stopped in the entrance when they heard Keenan holler in the living room. They could hear him even though the door was closed. “But I want to see the baby!”
Someone answered with a much lower voice.
“I don’t care if it’s an egg, it’s still a baby.”
Emery chuckled and shook his head as they walked up the stairs. Keenan’s voice faded, but he knew Keenan would be there to knock on their door as soon as he managed to escape from whoever was keeping him in the living room.
Emery led the way and opened their door. Someone had brought in all the gifts they’d received and left them on and around one of the chairs in front of the bed, but Emery ignored them. He walked to the incubator that now stood next to the bed and carefully placed the egg inside it before setting everything up the way Jayden had explained. Only then did he turn to look at the two other men in the room.
“Maybe you could sit down,” he said, and Troy gave him a grateful smile when Emery started gathering the gifts on the chair. He dumped them against the wall and sat on the edge of the mattress, leaving the chairs to Kay and Troy.
“So, Kay. You’re not running for the hills yet,” Emery pointed out.
“I’m not, no.”
“You still have time...”
“I don’t think I will, but thanks for pointing that out.” Kay gave Emery the first real smile since they’d met hours ago.
“I’m happy to hear that.”
“Kay,” Troy started. He was wringing his hands together, and Emery wanted to run to him and comfort him, but he knew he had to let Troy explain on his own. “I’m sorry for not calling. I know I already said that, but now that you know, I hope you understand why I couldn’t.”
Kay nodded. “Dominic explained. He told me about shifters and how someone spliced your DNA with a harpy’s and that that was what made it possible for you to get pregnant.” His eyes strayed to Troy’s stomach. “I can’t tell you what I felt when I saw you were pregnant.”
“Yeah, well, try being in my shoes when Jared told me I was pregnant in the first place. I had no idea it was even possible.”
“How?”
Troy shrugged. “Looks like the harpy DNA gave me more than wings and claws. I now have a left ovary, and yes, I know how crazy that sounds.”
Kay looked at the incubator. “I don’t even want to know how you managed to get that egg out.”
“Believe me, I don’t want to think about it. Ever. Once was more than enough.”
“You know how they say that once you forget the pain you’ll want the second one,” Emery teased his mate, earning himself a scowl.
“Nope. Enjoy this kid, because he’s going to be an only child.”
“So it’s a boy?” Kay asked, and Troy nodded. “What’s his name?”
Emery and Troy looked at each other. “We don’t know yet,” Troy said. “We didn’t know it was a boy until it was out, and I—well, I wasn’t in the best place mentally to try to choose a name. It was hard, and I didn’t want it in the beginning.”
Troy swallowed loudly and Emery couldn’t take it anymore. He rose from the bed and plopped himself down in his mate’s lap, curling his arms around Troy’s waist and enjoying Troy’s now nearly flat stomach.
Kay looked at him. “I’m sorry for what I said before. Now that I know why Troy couldn’t talk about what had happened and that you’re his—mate?” Emery nodded. “Right, his mate. That’s weird, but no weirder than the rest, I guess. Anyway, now that I know how it works, I’m sorry for what I said.”
“It’s okay.”
Silence fell on their small group as they all thought about what had happened.
Emery looked at Troy and felt his heart swell with love. They’d be fine. He could feel the certainty of that.
“So, Kay. Are you ready to be Uncle Kay?”
Chapter Seven
Troy sighed and leaned his forehead against the window. Autumn was settling in. Halloween was approaching fast, the leaves were brown and red and falling to the damp ground, and Troy’s egg was still intact.
Jared had said it was matter of days now, but nothing had changed yet.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be here soon.”
Troy turned to face Emery. He didn’t know what he would have done without his mate. The past months had been hard on Troy, but he’d managed to come through it. Everyone had helped, but Emery had been the central light of Troy’s life and hopes. He was the one who held Troy when it all became too much, the one to sooth him when the harpy wanted to lash out, the one who reassured Troy that he was fine just the way he was.
“I know. He doesn’t have much space in there anymore.”
“Uh huh.”
“But... what if he’s not able to come out on his own? What if we’re hurting him by waiting?”
Emery rose from the bed to stand next to Troy. He leaned his head against Troy’s shoulder and wrapped an arm around Troy’s waist. “He’s fine. You know Jared decided he would break the egg next week if nothing happens.”
“I’m scared.”
Emery chuckled. “Me too.”
“What if I’m a terrible father? What if the harpy doesn’t want him? They’re usually females, so what if she doesn’t want a boy?”
“Troy, you’re the one in charge. You’re the one who controls the harpy, not the contrary.”
“She still makes herself known sometimes.” That was a mild way to put it. The last time the harpy had gotten angry, Troy had nearly punched Emery, and all because he’d eaten the last cinnamon roll. The harpy was very self-centered and egoistical, and Troy sometimes had a hard time controlling it when the emotions swamped him.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m more than able to take her on.”
“I know that, but he’s not.”
“I’ll be there to protect him if he needs protection, but I don’t think it’ll come to that. She’ll accept him, you’ll see.”
Troy nodded, but he still wasn’t convinced. He was scared he’d hurt the baby, and he hadn’t gone close to the egg since the last time the harpy’s temper had exploded. There still was a fist-formed hole in the dining room wall.
Troy’s eyes wandered to the incubator when he heard a rattle. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
The rattle came again and Troy saw the egg twitch. “That noise. The egg moved.”
Emery’s eyes went wide and he rushed to the incubator.
Troy held back, torn between the need to see his son come into the world and the fear he could hurt the baby. “I’m going to call Jared.”
“Yeah, do it. He can candle the egg and check if the baby is ready.”
The phone was on Troy’s nightstand. He grabbed it and punched the number in, his gaze never leaving the rattling egg. “Doc? I think it’s time.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Next Troy sent a message to Kay, telling him the baby was probably coming and that he’d call as soon as he arrived.
The door swung open and Jared, Noem and an overexcited Keenan came in, followed at a more sedately pace by Jamie and Oliver.
Troy groaned. “What are you doing here?”
“We were hanging out right at the living room door when we saw Jared and Noem pass,” Oliver said with a smirk.
“Right next to the door, huh?”
“Yup. Weird, huh?”
“Can we stay? Please?” Keenan asked. He made his best puppy eyes at Troy, the ones no one but Jonah could resist. “I swear I’ll be good and I’ll keep my hands to myself. I’ll even let you
hold the baby before I do.”
Troy snorted. “I certainly hope so.”
“Come on, please? I’m never going to see another nephew get born.”
“Fine. Just keep your hands to yourself.”
Keenan made a show of shoving his hands in his jeans pocket and hurried toward the incubator. Troy joined the not-so-small group but kept a careful distance, at least until Emery noticed it and pulled him closer.
“You’re going to do just fine,” he whispered in Troy’s ear, and Troy wanted to believe him with every cell in his body.
The egg rattled and wobbled even when Jared took it and held it up against the bright light Noem was holding. Troy never got enough of seeing the baby like that. He filled the egg now, and it couldn’t be comfortable. The baby was in a fetal position, his legs bundled against his chest, and he only had a few inches of space left, just enough to move his hands and feet against the shell and try to push, like he was doing.
Jared looked closer and smiled. “He has claws and he’s already trying to use them to break out.”
The doctor put the egg back down and everyone moved even closer. Troy held his breath as a crack appeared in the fragile shell that held his son. “Should we help him?”
“Let him be. If we see he’s having trouble we’ll intervene, but let nature run its course.”
It felt like an eternity had passed before the first small piece of shell finally fell. A tiny finger tipped with a black claw poked through the opening and Troy’s breath hitched. He reached for Emery and wrapped his arms around him, holding onto him as they watched their son being born for the second time.
Troy desperately wanted to reach out and touch the small digit, but he kept himself in check, even when the baby started to whimper and cry weakly.
The hole became larger as more pieces broke and fell away, and Troy couldn’t resist anymore. The baby was almost there anyway, since he’d managed to crack the shell neatly in half, even if he wasn’t able to push the upper half away yet.
He felt the need to shift, to be in his half-harpy form when he welcomed his son, so he stepped away from the group and tugged his T-shirt and his shoes and socks off. Everyone’s attention went momentarily to him, especially because he usually avoided shifting in front of anyone who wasn’t his mate or his doctor.
Troy’s bronzed wings slid out and unfurled, his claws emerged and his fangs poked out of his mouth. Troy opened his wings to their maximum span before carefully folding them and walking to the incubator again.
The group parted to let him pass and everyone took a step away and bundled on the other side of the incubator. Only Emery stayed right where he was, a smile on his face and a spark of joy in his eyes.
Troy reached out with a trembling hand and, using the claw tipping his index finger as gently as he could, he tugged on the big shell part on top of the baby’s head. The shell fell away, revealing a small hairless head. The baby stopped moving and Troy’s heart jumped, but a low cry reassured him.
The baby moved his head, and Troy smiled at his blue-eyed son. He reached out, but stopped himself from touching him. “Do I have to wait for him to get out on his own?”
“What do you think? What’s your instinct telling you?” Jared asked.
“I want to hold him.”
“Then do it. I know birds should be left on their own to get out of the egg, but your son is only part bird. Take him, Troy.”
Troy reached backward until his hand found Emery and he dragged his mate even closer before reaching for the egg. He gently took what remained of it in his hands, feeling his hands were inadequate to hold such a small thing. Emery reached in and peeled off another piece of shell, exposing the baby’s back and the featherless wings that were there.
Together they worked on the shell, bringing their son into life while the rest of the room was silent. Jared stood next to Troy and handed him a warm towel as soon as the last piece of shell fell.
Troy wrapped it around his son and looked at Emery. There was so much love in Emery’s eyes, both for Troy and for the tiny bundle in his arms, that he couldn’t regret everything he’d gone through. It had hurt, probably more than anything else could, but it had given Troy the opportunity to create a family with his mate.
Troy held the baby close to his chest and pulled Emery into the embrace. They were both looking at their son in wonder. Troy stoked a finger on the baby’s smooth cheek, amazed when the baby grabbed the finger with one tiny fist and tried to pull it inside his mouth to suck on it. The move exposed tiny fangs in the baby’s mouth.
“It looks like he might have taken something from you too,” Troy told Emery, earning himself a smile from his mate.
He looked up when someone tapped his elbow and smiled at Jared when the man handed him a warm bottle of milk. “I’m not sure this is what he needs to eat, but we need to try it.”
Troy nodded and offered the bottle to the baby, smiling when his son latched on the nipple and started sucking.
“So, what’s his name?” Keenan asked. He was literally bouncing on his feet with the need to come closer.
“Aaron.”
Keenan’s eyes went all gooey. “That’s a beautiful name.”
“It means miraculous.”
About the Author
Catherine lives in Italy, country of good food and hot men. She used to write fantasy as a child, but it was reading her first gay erotic romance novel that made her realize that that was what she really wanted to write.
After graduating from college in English language and translation, she divides her day between writing, reading, taking care of her son and reading some more.
You can find her on Facebook and Twitter or on her website: authorcatherinelievens.wordpress.com
Email: [email protected]
Troy [Whitedell Pride: 12] Page 12