Chapter 27

"What do you mean that you think you're pregnant!" Henry yelled.

"Henry, you may be my brother, but you are also, at this particular point, my doctor. Your discretion would be appreciated. You know, by lowering your voice and not yelling!" Misty hissed in anger.

"It's real simple, Henry. Bill and I are mates and the night I let him mark me, I was obviously ovulating. My period was due a week ago and it hasn't arrived. I wanted you to do a blood test, urine test and physical exam to confirm." Misty smiled as her brother blushed beet red.

"You are aware that it might be too early for a positive result to be considered accurate? Medical science has made great strides, but, I'm still skeptical of the early results." Henry turned and handed her a gown and set out a vial for a blood draw, a specimen cup and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes. Naked from the waist down, scoot to the end of the table and feet in the stirrups." Henry left the room to allow her to change.

This was getting real and Misty was a nervous wreck. She never spent much time around kids, and she wondered what kind of mom she would be.

A knock sounded on the door and when she said "Come in," her brother came in with the nurse.

Henry helped her to get situated and began the exam. Then the questions began. "How long since your last pelvic exam? Any pain during intercourse? Any unusual period symptoms on your last few cycles? And spotting in between periods?"

Misty answered the questions, a little off-kilter. She really hadn't expected her brother to be so professional. But, he was and so was his nurse. You would never know they were related.

Standing up after finishing her exam, he had his nurse draw blood and cathaterize her for a urine sample. It was all over very quickly. Henry looked at her and said, "Get dressed and come to my office. I have already called Bill. I figured I would talk to you both, at the same time. Besides, even though Bill is a shifter and most of them are disgustingly healthy, there are some anomalies, on occasion."

Without waiting for her to answer, he turned his back and left the exam room. Misty wasn't sure how she felt about whatever it was that her brother wanted to discuss with her and Bill.

When she exited the room, Henry's nurse was waiting on her, to lead her to her brother's office. When they got there, the nurse held the door open for her to enter and then closed it when she left. Bill, just as Henry had said was waiting with her brother.

On Henry's desk was a file that he was looking it at. It couldn't have been hers because it was clearly not a new file. There were several entries in it. Leaving her to think that it was Bill's file.

"I wanted to speak to you both and at the same time." Looking at the file in front of him, Henry scanned it and then looked from Misty to her mate, Bill.

"Bill, you know that being a shifter, the fetus is stronger than a human one. However, there is a problem that even your genetics cannot overcome.' Without pausing, Henry said something that terrified her. She was pretty sure that Bill wasn't feeling very calm, either.

"Genetically speaking, our family has a strong history of miscarriages. I am hoping that with Misty being pregnant with a shifter baby, that this might actually act as a deterrent. Most of our family will miscarry at least twice."

Misty reached over and grabbed Bill's hand and squeezed it.

"I want to keep a close eye on her. At least until she gets to the second trimester. " Henry scribbled something on a notepad and handed it to Misty. "This is a prescription for prenatal vitamins and something for the nausea that should hit you within the next week or two. Limit your caffeine and strenuous activity. Sexual activity should be okay as long as there is no marathon sessions or acrobatics. Light exercise daily. Walking is good. Diet should be lower sodium, as fresh as possible, no fish that might contain mercury, no non-pasteurized cheese or milk." Henry finally looked at his sister and said, "There is a great book out there that will help you understand everything that will be happening to your body. Its title is 'What to Expect for First Time Moms.' I highly recommend reading it."

Henry looked at Bill and said, "Take good care of her, Bill. She's not just my patient. She's my sister."

Bill nodded to the doctor and left. As they were walking to check out, the front desk person was waiting on them. "Yes ma'am, the doctor wants to see you next week. Same time?"

After scheduling her next appointment, they walked to the pharmacy to get her two prescriptions filled and while they were waiting, noticed the book that Henry had suggested. They bought the book and walked out of the pharmacy held each other's hands.

As they walked into to Bill's office, his deputy Martin called out to him. "Sheriff, Jaxson called and said he needed to speak to you. Wants to know if you can come to his place later today?"

Looking down at Misty, he said, "I better call him and see what's going on." Bill called Jaxson to check in with him. "Jaxson? You need me? Okay, I'll be there soon. I'm bringing Misty with me, too. Okay, we'll be up there later." He paused, then obviously replied to something Jaxson had said. "Yes, sounds good. See you then."

"Well what did he say?" Misty asked half fearfully and half excited.

"Powers has gotten everyone rounded up or they have killed each other except for the guy that Rio worked with and a couple of others. One a guy out of France and the other a nasty fella from Australia. All of them are deadly men and have no qualms about hurting someone. Powers has reason to believe that they might be headed this way.'"

Misty felt a cold chill take hold of her. Immediately, her hands went to cover her lower abdomen where their baby was. Bill seeing the action, grabbing his mate and pulled her in close for a hug, holding her tight.

"Everything will be fine, sweetheart. I'm not about to let something happen to you. You mean too much to me." Kissing her, he pulled back and said, "Come on, I'm sure you would like to talk to Amber again."

"Bill you need to know something about me. I may have been a medical examiner, but I am still a fully trained federal agent. I am qualified to handle most firearms." She wasn't sure how he would take this statement.

Bill released a sigh of relief. Misty's information had taken a huge load off of his shoulders. He would still worry about her because she was his mate, but to know that she wouldn't be helpless, set his mind at ease.

"Martin, we're going to the Alpha's house. If you need me for anything, give me a call." Hearing his deputy respond affirmatively, he and Misty left his office and got into his truck.

They were quiet on the way to Jaxson's home. He suspected that Anders and Miney were still there. He knew that they would not leave their children in a time of crisis. Even if they were adult children.

Pulling up to the house, Bill got out of the went around to help Misty. This action caused her to smile. Then she thought of something, her eyes going wide.

"What is it, sweetheart? What are you thinking?" Bill asked her.

"What if everyone has an issue with the age gap between us? You're in your 50's. I'm 28."

"Honey, shifters don't care about things like that. Only humans do. It certainly appears that Henry doesn't have a problem with it." Shaking his head and reaching for his mate's hand, he also said, "I wouldn't worry too much about it, if I were you. Come on, let's go in. I'm sure you want to share the news with Amber." This brought a smile to his mate's face as they went to the front door of the house and knocked on the door.

When Jaxson came to the door, he automatically sniffed and when he did, his eyes widened. "Kind of quick wasn't it, Bill? I mean, I understand, what with us being shifters, but that was fast, even for one of us." He said, smiling.

"Way to call out a friend, Jaxson." Bill said grinning.

"Jaxson, leave the man alone. He obviously loves his mate and their closeness has created a child." Miney said, smiling.

Jaxson and Miney moved out of the way and let the couple into the house.

Following the Alpha and his mother, Bill and Misty entered the kitchen. It was full and lunch was in the process of being served.

"Bill, you and Misty come in and join us. We were just about to have lunch" Bill was shocked at the sight of Charlotte.

This was not the same shy and frightened girl that he had left the last time he was here. She was flourishing and it looked like she was ready to take her place as the Alpha female. No, this young woman was poised and confident. Wholly different from the beaten and battered young woman.

The amount of people in the large kitchen surprised him. Bill counted five extra men, along with Anders, Miney, Rio and Amber.

The two agents greeted each other with hugs and smiles.

Jaxson cleared his throat and drew everyone's attention. "It would appear that Bill and Misty have news for us."

Everyone in the room turned to look at the couple who were standing up at the head of the table next to Jaxson.

Bill looked to his mate and then at the gathered group in the kitchen. "Misty and are are expecting our first cub." Bill said, smiling. Losing his smile, he remembered what Henry had said. "We weren't going to tell anyone just yet. We wanted to make sure that Misty was able to carry to full term." Frowns appeared on faces around the room, and Bill quickly went on to explain. "Evidently, Misty's family has a genetic anomaly that creates a problem with them carrying a fetus to full term. The women in her family average two miscarriages before having a healthy pregnancy. Henry, currently her doctor and also her brother, is hoping that with me being a shifter that Misty will have a better chance of carrying. He is going to be watching her carefully over the next few months until she is well into her second trimester."

Everyone was shocked at the statement. Even hardened men like Hunter, Rio and Jaxson understood the consequences of the possible outcome of the future of the pregnancy.

Miney, being a mom and former Alpha female, walked over to Misty and gathered her into her arms and simply held her. Sitting her down at the table, they talked quietly for a few minutes before she stood and said, "Alright folks. Enough gloom and doom, food is on the table and it's lunchtime. Everyone sit down and fix you something to eat."

Miney sat Misty and Bill next to her at the table. While Charlotte and Amber questioned her about preferences for a nursery and the color scheme for both genders. During this time it was decided that yellow and gray would be the color scheme and that wood finish furniture would be used. The women decided that a baby shower would wait until Henry gave the all-clear.

The unspoken was that if Misty did miscarry, she wouldn't be surrounded by the baby things or have to cancel the shower and be faced with the task of contacting everyone and telling them that she and Bill had lost the baby.

Soon, the conversation turned to the reason why Jaxson had called Bill, in the first place.