The Hidden Luna Queen 2

MAEVE POV

Yesterday's phone call with Luna Queen Leonora stuck out in my mind like a sore thumb. I couldn't stop thinking about it, no matter how much I tried.

A different sort of lesson...?

The thought was a little unnerving. Somehow, I got the sense we would not be afforded the same sort of privacy I was accustomed to. But I'd already had decent practice, if the two banquets I'd recently attended counted.

I rubbed my hands over my shirt, both to wipe my clammy hands dry and to flatten any stubborn wrinkles. Maybe I was overthinking things, like usual.

It won't do me any good to worry about something like this, I tried to remind myself. It's beyond my control. All I need to do is show up, so focus on something else.

Instead, I let my restless eyes wander the room I found myself in.

The examination chair I was currently seated in was quite uncomfortable-stiff and the sound of plastic shuffling scratched against my ears. My nose filled with the strong scent of antiseptics. Helpful posters and diagrams covered the walls, with incredibly detailed illustrations of the anatomy of a pregnant woman's body.

So... this is what a doctor's office looks like...

It was like I was brought back to my first time visiting that Pampered Pups store-that new and completely foreign world that felt so much like a baby's dream come to life. Where all I could see, smell, and feel were for babies. Instantly, I was swarmed with that same sense of overwhelm. Well... perhaps even more now than before.

Because these people could tell me more about my baby than I ever could have learned myself. Everything I thought I knew came either from an impromptu doctor's visit or was based on the books I had read was nothing but mere speculation. To avoid an incomplete reading experience, visit Jobn'i'b.com. Here, I could learn how much he weighed right now... or how big he actually was... or if he had all of his fingers and toes yet. The thought made my stomach flutter. And then, a gentle knock sounded at the door. The door squeaked open as a woman peeked her head in. "Maeve?"

My lips pressed together in a small, awkward smile. "That's me."

"Wonderful! I'm Doctor Meadows," she greeted with a kind smile, holding out her hand to shake mine before grabbing the clipboard from behind the door, skimming over whatever notes had been taken.

She was younger than I'd anticipated, with light ginger hair and bright, open eyes, but the professional white coat she wore- embroidered with her name in bright pink-couldn't have been anything but legitimate. "So," she asked, "this is your first visit to our clinic?"

"Yes," I answered, rubbing my still-clammy hands over my thighs. "It's actually my first visit with... well, any clinic, really. Yours is the first to accept me as a patient."

She nodded, her face contorting into a small apologetic grimace. "Unfortunately, most clinics in the capital are highly exclusive about the clientele they accept. That's just the way business has always been handled around here."

I was pleasantly surprised.

Less than one minute into the conversation and, already, she showed such a refreshing honesty and kindness that I could not get from those other clinics even as a courtesy. Maybe this arrangement could work out, after all.

"In any case," Doctor Meadows continued graciously, "thank you for choosing us to help you start your journey." She paused with a smile. "I see you're already well underway with your little one, too," she said, gesturing towards my belly. "How about we get started and take a look at things?"

I nodded and lifted my shirt, ready for her to apply that strange blue stuff like I'd learned to be prepared for. She put a pair of latex gloves on and spread the jelly over my belly.

"You're a pro at this," she commented, sounding both surprised and mildly impressed when I didn't so much as flinch. "And you say this is your first appointment," she gently teased.

I smiled awkwardly. "It is. I just had two private doctor visits early on where he did something similar. The father is pretty protective," I said, feeling the need to explain a little.

She continued to move the wand across my belly. "That's hardly something to feel insecure about," she said kindly, though her eyes were glued to the screen. "It's lovely that he sounds so involved with the baby. There are too many who couldn't care less about the goings-on of their own children."

That made me feel all the more affection for Xaden, who was anything but uninvolved. "I know, I'm really lucky, I guess.'

After a moment of clicking at the computer, she eventually turned the monitor to face me, so I could see what she saw. I had been expecting a picture or... something of my baby in the womb, but I was surprised to see a wash of blacks and whites jumping across the screen.

"Oh..."

Dr. Meadows glanced at me with a smile. "Fascinating, isn't it?"

I cocked my head, taking in everything that I could see on the large screen in front of me. "It's all so... gray."

She laughed, making me blush in embarrassment. "Unfortunately, ultrasounds can only go so far," she conceded. "Though, I agree, it would be nice if it was more like a camera."

The room grew quiet again while she looked for something.

"And... aha-!" Dr. Meadows exclaimed, pointing at the middle of the screen. "There he is."

I blinked in confusion. All I could see was a strange mishmash of blacks and whites.

"Ah... where am I supposed to be looking...?" I asked, hoping I didn't come across as painfully ignorant as I thought I sounded. Thankfully, Dr. Meadows was patient. "Do you see this black space in the middle of the screen?" "Yes..."

"And do you see that white blob in the middle of the black space?" "I see it."

She turned to me with a smile. "That's him."

"That's my baby...?" I repeated, wide-eyed. "That little blob right there?"

"Yep." She nodded, pausing the image on the screen and zooming in a bit closer for me to see. "That little blob is your baby. And, by the looks of things," she murmured, looking closely at the screen, "he's about three inches long. No bigger than the size of a plum." I did a double-take. "That's it? He feels so much bigger than that.”

"All new moms think so. Still, this is quite normal for two months."

I swallowed. Two months...

"Actually," I said with a wince, catching the doctor's sharp attention, "I'm only one month along. Well, just barely over one month along, I guess."

"... Is that so? That's quite a jump for Little Boy, isn't it?"

I winced. "That's why I'm here. The doctors I've seen all said the same thing, but they can't tell me why, and it's freaking me out a little."

"Of course," she said kindly, sounding so very understanding of my predicament. She put the wand away and gave me some paper towels so that I could dry and cover myself up once again. "Though... it wouldn't be too far out of the ordinary if the baby's own father experienced similar symptoms as a child. Genetic fetal growth is not as much a concern of mine, as long as the baby is showing otherwise healthy development."

I nodded slowly. That made sense, I supposed.

She then gazed expectantly at me. "Could you provide any insight on the father's health?”

And there was the inevitable question.

She... wanted to know about Xaden. Perhaps with time, I might feel more comfortable being open with her, but I wanted to try to do this without exposing the truth just yet.

"Oh... okay," I said, swallowing. "He's-um, an alpha. Big, tall... very tall..." I held my hand sheepishly above my head by at least a foot. "He's healthy in every possible way. He's..." I trailed off, struggling to find the appropriate word.

Ultimately, I couldn't finish with anything else but: "He's just... perfect."

Dr. Meadows gave me a small, encouraging smile. "And what about you?" she asked, adding her notes to the clipboard.

Oh.

I supposed I should've seen that coming, as well.

I trusted Xaden to keep my background a secret in this wolf-eat-wolf world, but her? I did not know this woman, even if she was a doctor.

My deafening uncertainty must have spoken volumes, because she swiveled around to face me directly, looking serious.

"I should point out that anything we talk about stays strictly between us," she said, though she was quick to amend with: " unless yours or the baby's safety is at stake, of course. If you're not comfortable enough to share with me yet, you do not have to. But the only way I can be as accurate with my answers as possible, is if you're open with me."

I wasn't sure if she knew it or not, but it was like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders the moment she said this.

"I..." I averted my gaze, keeping them glued on my hands rather than her face, "I don't know. I don't know anything about the details of my birth, and I can only tell you that my father is an alpha. He refuses to tell me anything else."

Dr. Meadows was quiet for a moment as she wrote on her clipboard.

"It's entirely possible this growth derives from alpha blood, especially if it comes from both you and the father," she said, " but even that is a rare case. Most alpha babies do not grow as quickly as this."

My fingers scrunched into the folds of my shirt. "Even if it's possible... is it a sign of something bad?"

Her mouth flattened. "Sometimes, yes, it can indicate underlying health problems, but everything I'm seeing right now is proving otherwise," she murmured as the steady scratch of her pen came to a stop. "If you'd like, I can order some further tests to be done to get a more thorough reading on the baby. But like I said, everything else I'm seeing shows that he's perfectly healthy."

"Do whatever you need to do," I said without a moment of hesitation. "I just want to make sure he is absolutely okay." "Then, I'll have to ask for some samples before you leave. In the meantime, while the test results are processing, I'd like to have you come back every... let's say two weeks, to make sure Little Boy is still doing okay."

Little Boy...

I could feel him, and for the first time, I was able to see him, even if he didn't quite look like what I'd expected. He was a little blob, but he was mine, and I would do anything for him. Even if it meant letting Dr. Meadows run her tests on me.