Chapter 224

Justin’s POV

“Oh my,” Dr. Peterson muttered.

She adjusted the ultrasound wand again and then a third time.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“No. Not at all. It’s just this here is your second pup.”

“What?” Helen and I both yelped at the same time.

She looked at each of us with a wide smile. “Congratulations. You’re having twins.”

“Twins?” I gasped.

“Twins!” Helen gushed out.

“They’ll be fraternal twins,” Dr. Peterson explained. “Look. See, this one has its own amniotic sack, which means that they’re not identical twins because the same egg didn’t divide into two embryos. You have two fertilized eggs, and they’re each growing in their own sack. But they’ll be born about the same time, within a few minutes, I’d say.”

We must have looked worried because she gave us an even wider smile. “Don’t worry. All of this is perfectly natural, especially for werewolves. It’s very common for a female werewolf in heat to ovulate more than once and send off multiple eggs for fertilization.”

The news was sinking through me. The shock that I initially felt was slowly getting replaced by unadulterated joy.

“We’re going to have two lycan pups to start off with?”

“That’s right,” she said. “And who knows, perhaps something about your unique combination of biology means that you’ll have multiples more often.” Dr. Peterson gave a giggle. “I suggest finding a good nanny if you’re going to have any additional children in case you continue to have twins.”

“If Helen’s biology’s desire to pull maximum power from a mate and your body’s desire to reproduce as many lycans as possible with a werewolf have meshed. It may have created a situation where her heat plus your pheromones could result in an attempt to increase the population. So you might be more prone to multiples.”

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m king, then,” I joked. “Finding a nanny shouldn’t be that difficult.”

Helen gripped my hand so tightly that my bones cracked. “I can’t wait to go home and tell everybody. I almost wanna drag out my phone now.”

Dr. Peterson laughed. “I understand the desire to share your good news, but let’s finish the appointment and focus on that first, shall we? I need to map out rest of the ultrasound. It’s a little bit more boring because I need to take pictures and measurements and make sure that everything is going right, especially now that we know that you’re having twins.”

Helen and I sat patiently, looking at the screen while the doctor clicked and typed in notes. Every so often, she would stop and print out one view and hand the little picture to Helen. They were labeled baby A and baby B.

“Will we be able to tell which one is A and B in the future?” I asked the doctor. “How about knowing which one of them was conceived first, so we know who is the older twin?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know when you’d want to consider the older twin by conception instead of by birth. Most people just go by birth order. So then it wouldn’t matter whether baby A or baby B was born first. They would be the older twin.”

“As for keeping track of which one is A and B until they’re outside the womb,” she continued, “unless you’re planning on naming them before delivery, I don’t think that matters much either. But I will always be able to tell you which one is A and which one is B while they’re inside. Baby A is implanted more on the right side of the uterus, and baby B is implanted more towards the top.”

She pointed to each fetus. “So by that measure, if you really want to keep track of who is who, I can help you now.”

Helen gazed at the screen with adoration in her eyes, then at the pictures, she’d been given. Every so often, she’d reach out with a finger and gently stroke the jellybean shape.

“I love you, babies,” she whispered. “I love you both so much.”

After a few more minutes of taking pictures and moving around, Dr. Peterson switched and used the wand I was more familiar with on the exterior of Helen’s stomach. When she was all done, she wiped Helen clean of the gel and pulled the sheet back down.

“Would you like to change back into your undergarments before Dr. Myles does her work? Because I don’t think you need to do anything quite that invasive, do you, Dr. Myles?”

Dr. Myles shook her head.

“Yes, I think I’d like to be more comfortable,” Helen said. “The ultrasound left me all slimy feeling. I’d like to clean up and put on some of my normal clothes.”

“All right then,” Dr. Peterson agreed. “We’ll step into the hall and give you a minute. You’re the last patient of the day, so we can spend as much time with you as necessary. Meaning we’ll just be right outside the door. Whenever you’re ready for us, just poke your head out, and we’ll come back in.”

“You get to step out, too,” Helen ordered me. “I’m not cleaning myself up down there with you watching. That’s just awkward.”

My eyebrows raised. “After everything we’ve done together?”

She blushed. “I don’t know. Something about it just isn’t the same. Please?”

“All right. I’ll step outside.”

Dr. Myles and Dr. Peterson, and I all stepped out into the hallway.

“Is there anything about this that I should know or be prepared for?” I asked the two doctors.

They both shook their heads. “Not as of now,” Dr. Peterson said.

“I’ll let you know what I find,” Dr. Myles said. “And if there’s anything you need to worry about or prepare for, I’ll make sure that you’re ready.”

“But it’s very early in the pregnancy right now. We’re still just focused on making sure that everything is healthy.” Dr. Peterson patted my arm. “You should know that everything looks implanted and growing correctly. I wouldn’t worry about it at this point.”

The door cracked open, and Helen poked her head out into the hall. “I’m ready,” she said.

The three of us entered, and Helen scurried back to the table, sitting down with the gown and sheet covering her lap.

“I’m going to have you lay back much like Dr. Peterson did,” Dr. Myles said. “But I’ll need you to pull the gown up so that I can see your stomach. You can leave the sheet at the level of your underwear, covering your legs if you’d like.”

Helen scooted herself into this position, and Dr. Myles pulled several things out of the pockets of her lab coat. One of them was a jar of cream which is what gave off the herby smell. She took a glob of this and rubbed it across Helen’s stomach.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “It’s just sage and a couple of other herbs, but they help amplify my power so that I can see through your body to get a good read on your pups. It’s kind of like a transmitter.”

She smeared this all over and smiled at Helen. “The good news is the cream also works as a great moisturizer. When you get done, you’ll smell all fresh, and your stomach will be nice and smooth.”

Helen giggled nervously, and Dr. Myles patted her stomach before turning to wipe her hands.

“No worries. Nothing that I do is going to be anywhere near as uncomfortable as that internal ultrasound. Your awkwardness is out of the way for the day. You might feel a little bit of tingling with my magic as it gets a good read on what’s going on inside, but it won’t hurt. I can promise you that.”

Helen bit her lower lip, nodded, and reached for my hand. I gripped hers again. Just a few more minutes and we could settle in and relax, basking in the glorious news of our coming twins.