A Baby for the Bear (Wylde Brothers 1)

“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.

After several long minutes of him just holding her, he pulled back and dropped to his knees in front of her. She was a bit confused as to what he was doing, but then he lifted up her shirt and placed a kiss on her stomach.

“You hear that, son? Your momma loves me, and I love her.” He kissed her once more and stood. She was speechless, so much so that all she could do was blink at what he had just done. Here was this big, strong male, so very powerful and frightening at times, but so gentle and surprising at the things he did. He continuously shocked her. “We better get going or they’ll think we’re doing dirty things in the exam room.” He took her hand and led her out of the office. She was still in shock when he helped her in then climbed in the driver seat.