by Sarah Havan
“It was never important enough to bring up. I never told you that your great, great, great grandmother ran a whore house in the Wild West either.”
I laughed. “Now that is something you should’ve told me.”
“Haven’t thought about either story for a long time.”
“What do you think Dad would say?” I asked.
“First, he would say how proud he is of his son and then be amazed by you. And also, that there was truth to his family’s story. Their history, really.” She scooted over and put her arm around my waist.
“How are you so understanding with all of this?”
“Because you’re my son.” She squished me and pinched my cheek.
“Your gay, intersex, pregnant son.”
“Should I print that on a T-shirt maybe? I have a gay, intersex, pregnant son?”
“You are the best mom ever,” Conrad said, laughing.
“And Conrad, know that I’m here for you, too. I can imagine this is all so overwhelming. So again, I say, you boys are both strong and courageous.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Donnelly.” Tears rolled down his face. We were just all taking turns letting the waterworks go.
“I think it’s time to go, guys,” I said. My ultrasound awaited, and I gulped, thinking about it. I know everyone kept saying that if the babies turned out like me, they’d still be wonderful and great, but I didn’t want them to have to struggle with anything—with accepting themselves and others accepting them. The world was a cruel place, and I wanted it to be a place my kids could grow up to be happy in.
***
My mom held my hand, and Conrad petted my hair as I lay back on the table, waiting for the ultrasound to start. My mom talked non-stop on the ride. Luckily, I had her in my life. She seemed more excited than Conrad and I. We showed her The Welcome Center, and she met Mr. Jones and Dr. Matthews, and she said congrats to another pregnant omega that had walked by.
“Let’s check these babies out,” Dr. Garcia said, squirting some gel onto my stomach. He moved the scanner around and then pointed to the screen. “Look at those babies.”
“Wonderful,” my mom said.
“Baby number one is a girl.”
“Can you be for certain?” I asked Dr. Garcia.
“We can never be for certain, Mason, but she has external female anatomy so that it what we’re going on for now.”
“We’re having a girl,” Conrad said, blinking, his eyes threatening tears.
“I’ll have a granddaughter. That’s fantastic.” My mom’s whole face was lit up. Babies sure do make people happy.
“And baby number two is a boy,” Dr. Garcia said, moving around the scanner and snapping some pics on the computer by pressing a few keys on the computer keyboard.
My mom clapped. “One of each. Perfect.”
“Our two babies,” Conrad said, kissing my forehead.
“It’s like a mini litter,” I said under my breath.
“We prefer to use the term multiples, but yes, essentially more than one child from an omega/alpha pairing would be a litter.” Dr. Garcia looked at me and nodded.
“You serious? I was joking.”
After Dr. Garcia cleaned up my stomach, and I went to use the bathroom, yet again, my mom, Conrad, and I stood outside The Health Center.
“Um, want to come with us to The Welcome Center. We wanted to talk to Mr. Jones about staying over the summer,” I said, scratching my stomach. It had become quite itchy. Was told it had to do with the skin stretching.
“I would love to. I think it’s so wonderful, boys. I’m so glad you have a supportive community here.” My mom gave each of us a hug, and we walked toward The Welcome Center.
Chapter Thirty
Mason
“Look, he’s starting to waddle when he walks,” Conrad said.
“I can hear you.” I walked in front of him and my mom. The two of them dawdled along, talking all about me.
“And I think you’re adorable.”
“Shut up, Conrad, let’s go.” I’m sure I looked far from adorable. The coat I wore was too small, even though it was a maternity one, and my cheeks had turned a permanent pink, and dear God, one of the babies must’ve directly rolled onto my bladder. I grabbed the bottom of my stomach with both my hands, and I didn’t want to admit it, but I waddled the rest of the way to The Welcome Center.
“All right, here we have some month to month cottages available,” Mr. Jones said.
We stood at the end of a small road lined with little houses. All complete with picket fences, clapboard siding, and gardens of flowers and green lawns.
“Let’s take a look inside.”
We all followed Mr. Jones in. “Do you think this will do?”
“It’s great,” Conrad said.
“It’s a bit on the small side. Only two bedrooms. So, you probably won’t stay here long if you stay past the summer,” Mr. Jones said.
“Why not?” I asked. It sounded kind of suspicious.
Mr. Jones smiled at me. “Because you’ll be busy growing your family.”
“Why does that sound like everyone assumes it’s a given?” I still had to get through having twins. I hadn’t even turned twenty, but yet, everyone was always talking about my future family and me popping out babies everywhere.
“Because we know our young pairs.”
“You boys did mention to me about having more children,” my mom pointed out.
“Okay, fine. When I think of what’s to come, it might involve more kids.” My face burned, and I sighed.
“A lot more.” Conrad put his arm around my shoulder and rubbed my stomach.
“Slow down there, buddy.”
My mom laughed.
“How does this work exactly?” Conrad asked. “Do we give you a deposit? How much is it a month?”
“All you have to do is sign the lease.”
“What?” I asked. I was a bit surprised. There had to be some catch.
“We know you two are in a bind. We want to help.” Mr. Jones clapped Conrad on the back.
“I heard you guys helped people out, but this is too much,” Conrad said.
“Please, let us help,” Mr. Jones said, squeezing Conrad’s shoulder.
“Okay,” he said, nodding his head.
And just like that, we had a house to live in for the summer. Not some crappy little apartment, an actual house that we were due to move into over the weekend right after the semester ended.
Chapter Thirty-One
Conrad
“What am I going to do?” Mason asked.
“Whatever you want.”
“Since I’m due October fifteenth, that’s almost two months into the fall semester, and I’ll be huge by then. I’m huge already.” He wasn’t exaggerating on that one. We still had months to go, but his stomach was large. From behind all you saw was his thin arms and legs and his cute little bubble butt but then when he turned around, it was like wow.
“Luckily, this semester is almost over.”
“And I’ll have the whole summer to grow even more gigantic without anyone we know noticing.”
“I just want you to be safe and happy, no stress.” He was still unsure about some things. Mainly, Pine Wood Falls, but I told him it would be great for us, and he went along with what I said, even though he had his uncertainties about it.
“If I show up to school eight months pregnant, more than likely, that’ll be stressful. Just thinking about it right now is making my chest hurt.”
“Oh, baby.” I walked across the room and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.
“Why couldn’t I just be normal?”
“Because you’re not. We’re not. This is how we were born. And you’re perfectly normal anyway. Everyone’s definition of normal is different. Mine is having my happy pregnant mate by my side, who’s also my best friend.” At first, I was so scared to come out, but now that I let my true self be known, I couldn’t help but feel happy and accept our new life. It all fe
lt so meant to be. I was no longer that boring everyday person. I was a person in love with a man who carried my children, and we had wolf genes, which was so not ordinary. It was like our new life was just waiting for me to find it.
Mason ran a hand through his hair. “But I know that I’m going to have to skip the last two weeks of classes.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want.”
“Have you seen my stomach? I can’t even hide it with a hoodie, and I can’t fit your coats anymore. I no longer can claim I’m putting on weight. I’m even outgrowing some of my maternity clothes.”
“Yeah, you are over five months pregnant with twins.”
“I look about ready to give birth.” He sighed and rubbed his belly.
“Only if you were having one baby.”
“I am going to be huge.”
“But adorable.” And with Mason standing there, wearing a T-shirt that had started to get too small on him, showing the panel on the front of his maternity jeans, I couldn’t help but smile.
Someone knocked on our door.
“Let me make whoever it is go away,” I said.
Mason let out a laugh. “So we can then sneak me out in the middle of the night to hide in a cave or something.”
“A cave does sound nice.”
“Shut up and get the door,” he said, shoving me in the shoulder.
I went and answered it. “Oh, hi, Jill. Hi, Margo.”
“We haven’t seen or heard from you guys in a while. Just doing a well-being check,” Jill said.
“We’re getting ready to start packing up.”
“The semester isn’t over yet,” Margo said.
“I’ll be back for class.”
“What about, Mason?” Jill asked. They knew something was up. They were too nice to directly ask, though.
“He hasn’t been feeling well.”
“Still not?” Jill said, worry washing over her face.
“Yeah, he’ll be fine. We miss you guys,” I said, hoping to veer the conversation to something else.
“You guys can’t just hang out with us?” Margo asked.
“Our life is pretty complicated right now.”
“What’s going on? Can we help in any way?” Jill asked. I didn’t know what to say without sounding ungrateful.
“You might as well tell them to come in,” Mason said.
I closed the door on Jill and Margo. “I’ll get them to go away.”
Mason shrugged. “It might be nice to tell someone else that isn’t my mother.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. I didn’t want him to be any more stressed than he was already.
“Yeah, I think somehow they’ll understand.”
“Super sure?” I asked, holding his shoulders and looking into his eyes.
“Yes, Conrad.”
I went and opened the door a crack, popping my head out. “You guys want to come in for a sec? We have some things to explain.”
“Mason isn’t catching, is he?” Margo asked.
“He’s not actually sick.”
“What?” Jill looked so confused.
“Just come on in. You’ll see.”
I waved the two of them through the door, and Mason stood facing my desk, looking out the window.
“Hey, Mason. How you…” Jill said.
Mason turned toward them and put his hand on his stomach. “Pregnant.”
“Holy shit,” Jill said loudly. “No. I don’t get it.”
“Yeah,” Margo said, her mouth dropping open with her eyes glued to Mason’s stomach.
“We didn’t either,” I said.
“Um,” Mason said. “So, I’m pregnant.”
“Are you guys messing with us? What kind of a weird joke is this?” Jill asked, her eyes darting back and forth between Mason and me.
Mason shrugged. “None. Turns out I have unique anatomy.”
“Are you for real?” Margo asked, stepping in closer to Mason.
Mason cupped both his hands under his stomach and looked down at it. “Yep. We’re going to be dads.”
“Oh shit, you got him pregnant, Conrad?” Jill asked, looking at me with her eyes bugging out.
“It’s not like we knew it would happen,” I said.
“How the?” Margo said.
“Turns out I’m intersex, and all my inner female reproductive organs are in good working condition,” Mason said.
“But how? Can you even tell us? Is it too private?” Jill asked.
“I don’t have external female genitalia if that’s what you’re asking.”
“So, you got … how did that work? I am being so rude,” Jill said, putting her hand on her chest.
“Turns out there’s access, well…” I said, blushing.
“Good old fucking,” Mason said.
I laughed. He generally wasn’t one for being so brash.
“It’s kind of like a choose your own adventure down there. Do you want to have some anal sex, or do you want to get this dude pregnant all through one entry point?” Mason said. That was one way to put it.
“Wow,” Margo said.
Mason laughed. “That’s exactly what we said.”
***
My hands shook as the phone rang. It was time to tell my family some news. I told friends, but not even my family yet, so I needed to change that.
“Conrad, hello, love. It’s been forever since you’ve called,” my mom said.
“Been pretty busy over here.” I paced back and forth across the room.
“Finals rough this year?”
“Not too bad. Some other stuff has been going on.”
“I hope everything is all right, dear.”
“They are. They’re pretty great. Just different.” Different was an understatement, really.
“How?”
“Well, I um … I um…” I bit my thumb and exhaled.
“Spit it out.”
“Mason and I have been dating. We’re in a relationship,” I blurted, already feeling so much lighter.
“Oh. Is that so?”
“Yes. We’re really happy together.” Beyond happy. I loved the direction my life headed in.
“That is definitely not what I was expecting.”
“So?” I asked. I knew it’d be a long shot, but I was hoping for some kind of positive affirmation from her.
“What do want me to say?”
“That you’re happy for us.”
“Of course, I am. I just envisioned your future different.” Ever since I was young, her and my dad had a certain future planned for me. And with me no longer playing baseball and now in a relationship with a man, I’m sure it was way out of the realm of what she could’ve ever dreamed up.
“Well, so did I, but this is the future, the life I want. The life I love.”
“Good for you, Conrad.”
“And there’s another thing,” I said, wincing even though she couldn’t see me.
“And that is?”
“So it turns out Mason is intersex.”
“Intersex?” she said, confusion apparent in her voice.
“Yes, he has male and female characteristics.”
“What?”
“His body has gone through some changes.”
“What are you talking about?” she snapped.
“The main thing is that he’s pregnant.” I sat down on the edge of my bed and chewed on my lower lip.
“How on Earth?”
“He has some special anatomy.”
“You mean he’s really a female.”
“No, he just happens to have female reproductive organs.”
“So he has a who who, I’m taking it.” Oh my God, she just used the word who who instead of vagina. This is what I had to deal with.
“Not externally.”
“How in the hell did the boy get pregnant then?” my mom asked sternly.
I then tried to explain it to my mother, and all I got back was silence on the other end of the line.
�
�Mom?” I asked. Maybe she passed out or something.
“That sounds absolutely disgusting,” she said, her voice curt.
“Mother.” I wanted to reach through the phone and throttle her.
“This makes no sense.”
“But it’s the truth.”
“No. I don’t know.”
“No to what? You’re going to have two grand-babies.”
“Two?” she said, her voice as high-pitched as ever.
“Oh, yeah, he’s having twins.”
“I have to call you back. I have to talk to your father about this. What are we going to do?”
“Be happy for us?” It was a lot to ask for from them, but one could hope.
“We will sort this out. Bye for now, darling.”
“Mom.” But my last plead was too late. She had already hung up.
Mason peeped in the doorway. He had gone down to the vending machines to give me some space while I made my call. “Hey.”
“So, my mom seems okay with me being gay, but she stops at the pregnant boyfriend.”
“I’m sure she’ll come around.”
“She thinks she needs to do something about this.” I waved my hand at Mason’s belly. “They, her and my dad, need to figure this out.”
“It’ll be all right,” he said, coming over and standing in front of me. I wrapped my arms around his hips and pressed the side of my face to his stomach.
“I just want everyone to love our babies as much as I do.”
“Maybe if we talked to them in person.”
“I don’t know.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“You would be willing to do that?” I asked, standing up and looking at him. His beautiful blue eyes staring up at me.
“For you, I’d be willing to do anything.” He put his palm on my cheek and smiled sweetly at me.
“I’ll think about it. That drive out there might be too long.”
He shrugged. “We went out to my mom’s place.”
“But you’re further along now.” I rubbed his belly.
“Conrad, it has only been about three weeks.” Three weeks that made a huge difference in his size.
“But you’re so much bigger now. You might be uncomfortable.”
“Now we’re definitely going.” He crossed his arms over his chest and pressed his lips together.