I feel a little guilty at waking the kit. Only a little, though. “Sit, Kira,” I say to my mate, and when she shoots me a fierce look, I kiss the top of her head. “Please.”
She makes that little sound she always does when she is irritated with me, but I ignore it. All I need are answers. She can be mad at me later, and then I will kiss her frowns away.
“Do you need a blanket, Aehako?” Maylak asks calmly as she puts a hand on Kira’s belly.
Comparing their pregnant bodies makes me realize just how much more Kira has to go before our kit is born, and I begin to sweat. Our kit must be so very small inside my mate, and I do not know how I will handle it if the child comes early…
“Aehako?” Kira asks, her brows scrunched as she looks up at me.
“Eh?”
“You’re naked, love. And you’re eye level with poor Maylak.”
“And hovering,” the healer adds. “I have seen everything before but that does not mean I want it in my face.”
I find a fur on the floor, wrap it around my hips, and discreetly adjust myself. “Do you feel the kit? Is all well?” I drop down next to Kira and take her hand in mine, nervous. “If something is wrong, can you tell what it is? Should we stop mating? Does my mate need to eat more red meat? What—”
Kira pulls her hand out of mine and covers my mouth. “Hush, love.”
Maylak closes her eyes, putting both her hands on Kira’s stomach, and concentrates. I can hear the gentle thrum of her khui. It purrs, but not like it does when there is resonance. It is a different sort of reaction, one that happens when she uses her healing senses.
I hold my breath.
Maylak eventually opens her eyes. “From what I can tell, the kit is fine and healthy, and growing much faster than mine.” She pats her distended belly. “Humans must breed so fast.”
“Nothing’s wrong?” I echo. “You did not sense any pain? Any problems?”
“No pain,” the healer reassures us. “No problems. How do you feel, Kira?”
My mate lets out a long, shuddering sigh. “I’ve felt great, but I think my imagination’s running away with me. Aehako was worried, and his worry made me worry. I freaked out and then he freaked out and that’s why we’re here. I’m so sorry, Maylak.”
I touch my mate’s belly, wanting to shove my ear against her skin so I can listen for the kit. “But you are certain there is nothing wrong?”
“Nothing,” Maylak reassures us. “I would feel it if there were. Small things would sing…wrong. They would be evident when I touched you, like a snarl in a mane that catches the fingers.” She strokes Kira’s belly again. “But all is well. Why are you so worried?”
“Because she is small and human,” I say.
Kira snorts.
“And she is everything to me. Her and the kit both. I would give anything for them.” I hesitantly touch my mate’s belly and sure enough, there is a flutter of response. “They are my everything and I am the luckiest.”
“Shit,” Kira mutters, and starts to swipe at her eyes. She is crying again.
“I cannot help worrying,” I admit. “Sometimes I worry I am too lucky, and it is all a dream.”
“Never say the word ‘dream’ again,” Kira sniffles. “And I love you, Aehako, but we can’t keep freaking out. Either one of us. I swear I aged ten years tonight.”
My pulse hammers. “You did?”
Kira groans. I swear Maylak does, too. “You know what I mean,” Kira says. “We’ve got to calm down.”
“I will never calm down. This is my first kit!” I smile with relief when the child kicks against my hand once more. “The little one just moved.”
Maylak just chuckles. She gives Kira a knowing look and yawns. “I can check you again in the morning. When you leave, will you send Kashrem and Esha in?”
“Of course,” my sweet mate says, and offers her hands to me. “Help me up, Aehako?”
I do, and when Kashrem enters with Esha asleep in his arms, her skinny legs dangling, I think that might be a good way to carry my mate, too. But before I can suggest such a thing, Kira drags me away from the healer’s cave and then taps the top of my chest, her signal that she wants to kiss me and I need to bend down.
I do so, gladly.
She cups my face, shaking her head at me. “You’re an idiot sometimes. I am, too. We have to promise to stop freaking each other out, all right?”
“I cannot make such promises,” I tell her sheepishly. “I will always worry about you and our child.”
“I know. I worry, too, but we really can’t make ourselves crazy like this.” Her soft fingers skate over my face and she studies me, all serious expression and sad eyes. “Do you truly want to move back?”