“Yes, exam rooms are always cold,” said Meg.
“Not all of them. Mine should be warm. Cold shifters shift. Stay here a second, and I’ll be right back,” he said. He disappeared out of the door and a second later Meg heard the heat kick on.
“That should be better. Monday morning hick-up. No one turned the heat on. Sorry about that,” he said. “Now if you’ll lay back, I’ll check you out.”
Meg laid back and put her feet in the stirrups. She stared up at the ceiling and started to giggle. On the ceiling were pin-ups of good looking men and one in the same position she was with a look of horror on his face.
“So, you like the pictures?” Jeff asked as he checked her out.
“Yeah, that’s pretty good. Much better than counting holes in the acoustic tile. So Doc, am I pregnant?” she asked.
“Yes and we have one last test to do,” he said. With that, he stood up and went over to another machine. He grabbed a paddle and a bottle of gel.
“What is that?” Meg asked.
“Ultrasound,” said Jeff.
“Don’t I have to have a full bladder or something?” she asked.
“Normally, but I’m not looking for sex or details. I’m looking for heartbeats,” said Jeff as he lifted her gown, smeared her stomach with gel and put the paddle on top of the gel.
“Heartbeats? Not heartbeat?” said Meg.
“Your hormone levels are a bit high for a single baby. So, I’m looking for heartbeats,” Jeff said.
“Twins? You think I’m pregnant with twins?” said Meg a bit panicky.
“Settle down, lots of women have twins,” he said. “Hold still.” He moved the paddle to the left a little. “Yes, there it is!” Jeff said with a smile. He pointed at the black and white image and two flutters on the screen. “Two heartbeats Meg. Congratulations.”
“Oh boy… puppies,” she said with a bit of sarcasm.
Jeff just smiled. “Could be worse. Could be quads or more like a real canine,” he teased.
Meg blew raspberries at him as he wiped the gel off of her stomach. “Luc will be over the moon literally for the next week,” she sighed.
“Yes, and now we know why he’s been so protective of you too. His wolf probably knew and just didn’t communicate it,” said Jeff.
“Oh shit, I didn’t think of that,” said Meg. “Can I get dressed?”
“Yes. Martha will have some prescriptions for you for vitamins and such,” he said.
“Huh? Won’t the ones I take now be okay?” asked Meg.
“Maybe. Shifters tend to need more and pregnancy really drains a woman. I like to err on the side of caution. Martha will have some other information for you too,” said Jeff.
“Okay,” said Meg as she got dressed. “Oh boy will this rock Luc’s world.” she thought. Once she was dressed, she went out and got the information and prescriptions from Martha.
*
Meg drove up to the office and saw Patrick’s Subaru in the parking lot. “Good, I can tell most of them all at once,” she thought. She grabbed her briefcase and headed into the office.
“Hello Angie,” she said as she got into the office. “Hi Ginny, where’s the guys?” Meg asked.
“Down in Luc’s office. They ran away from the estrogen out here,” said Ginny.
“Okay, let’s join them. You too Angie,” said Meg with a wicked smile on her face.
“What are you up to?” asked Angie.
“You’ll just have to wait a minute,” said Meg as they headed to Luc’s office. She walked in and saw that Luc was talking on the phone. What she didn’t know is that he’d been on the phone for the last twenty minutes. Every time he hung up, it rang again. Patrick was sitting back munching on a piece of jerky and trying not to laugh.
Luc looked up, saw Meg and smiled. “Yes ma’am. Our service does include wiring the computer to your modem. No, no problem. We will be there sometime this afternoon, Glad to be of help,” he said and hung up the phone. “If that rings one more time, I think I’ll throw it out the window,” he said.
Meg laughed. “Well then, my news should make your day,” she said nonchalantly.
“And what news is that?” Luc asked. “Oh please let it be that she’s pregnant!” he thought.
“Oh, I’m having puppies,” she said and sat down on the edge of Luc’s desk.
Everyone in the office just stood there. Luc finally found his voice. He was expecting her to say that she was pregnant, but her use of the phrase ‘puppies’ had him flustered. “Puppies? As in plural?” Luc asked.
Meg just nodded. “Twins,” she said softly.
Luc came around the desk and swung Meg into his arms. He tilted his head back and howled. The sound of it echoed through the office. Patrick joined in and the noise brought Kevin, Cal and Peter running.
“What the hell?” asked Peter.
“We’re having puppies!” shouted Luc.
An hour later, seated around a table they were chatting and enjoying coffee. Meg was eating a piece of lemon meringue pie and listening to Ginny and Patrick’s travel plans.
“George has volunteered to stay with the kids and Ysabel is going to help. When we get back, Patrick has a couple of job interviews lined up,” said Ginny.
“You gonna be able to do all that in two weeks?” asked Cal. He was still laughing at the idea of Ginny being a relative. Granted, his joke about ‘taming the shrew’ earned him a smack up side the head and the right to pay her bill.
“I think so. If nothing else, we get a chance to be alone. Something I don’t think Ginny’s done in years,” said Patrick.
“I have too!” said Ginny. “I’ve showered alone for as long as I can remember,” she protested.
That made everyone laugh.
“By the time we get back, George has promised to fix up the house too. Paint, rearranging a few things and make it better for us to live there with the kids. With ‘Solda and Bitty almost grown, they don’t need to share rooms with the likes of Sara or Ivan,” said Ginny.