Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
The doctor offered her hand to Ella, who quickly shook it. “I’m Dr. Greene. Mia tells me that you’re roughly three weeks into your pregnancy.”
“That’s right,” Ella told her with a nod. “I drank plenty of water in advance, my bladder is as full as it can get.”
“Excellent. It’ll make the ultrasound image clearer.” Greene turned on the ultrasound machine and pressed some buttons. “If you could just lay down here for me and raise your t-shirt, that would be great.”
Ella lay on the bed and inched up her tee. She grimaced when the doctor squirted gel on her stomach.
“What’s wrong?” Viper asked, his brows snapping together.
“It’s cold,” she groused, taking his hand. A hand she squeezed tight when Greene placed a handheld probe over her lower abdomen. “I’d better not pee.”
Stifling a smile, Viper dropped a kiss on her head. A frantic beat sounded. Fast as butterfly wings. And then a somewhat cloudy image popped up on the screen.
Sidling up to him, Mia spoke to the doctor. “I thought you said having a full bladder would make the image clear.”
“Generally, it would,” Greene told her, not looking away from the screen as she moved the probe along Ella’s belly. “But there seems to be an extra layer around the fetus. Almost a womb within a womb.” She glanced at Ella, curiosity lighting her eyes.
“No questions,” Mia reminded the doctor.
She nodded. “Right.”
Anxiety battering at her, Ella telepathically reached out to Viper and asked, Why would I have two wombs?
His mind softly stroked hers. You don’t. All celestial babies grow with their own protective film; it’s normal. Our baby may be half demon, but it seems they still have the added layer.
And this is a good thing? It’s basically extra protection for them?
Yes. Viper gave her hand a light squeeze. Stop worrying, all’s good.
Blowing out a steadying breath, she concentrated firmly on the monitor. She could make out the baby’s outline. Could see the little head and body. The vision made her swallow hard, her mouth automatically curving.
“I can’t tell you the gender, but I can tell you the fetus is more physically developed than I would have expected.” Greene spared Ella a swift glance. “I think you may be further along in the pregnancy than you thought. At least by another three weeks.”
Or Ella was simply destined to have a shorter pregnancy, much like celestials. But she couldn’t say that.
Viper swiped his thumb over the back of her hand. “Does everything look good?” he asked Greene.
“It’s hard to say for absolutely certain—the image is just so murky because of the added layer no one wants to explain to me,” Greene replied, moving the probe this way and that.
Ella gasped as the baby kicked at it.
Greene blinked. “Oh, the fetus doesn’t like that, does it?”
Ella felt its consciousness flutter against hers, and she had the impression of cold and discomfort.
The image on the screen froze as the machine faltered, stuttering and rattling. And Ella just knew the little menace in her womb was responsible.
As Greene removed the probe and began pressing buttons on the machine, Ella exchanged a look with her sister, who looked close to laughing. Yeah, her demon thought it was hilarious too.
Ella lightly touched the baby’s mind. You’re fine, the machine can’t hurt you, I promise.
Eventually, the ominous noises stopped.
She peered up at Viper to find his eyes smiling, a hint of pride there.
Greene let out a long breath. “I think we’d better print out the image on the screen in case the machine stops working altogether.” She jabbed a button. There was a short whir as it printed out a small black and white picture. The doctor handed it to Ella with a smile. “Unfortunately, it’s not the clearest image.”
It was perfect. Would have been perfect no matter what, because it was her baby. She looked up at Viper again, finding him staring down at the picture, his lips curled; his eyes twin gems of wonder and contentment.
His gaze breezed over to hers, and his mouth canted up a little more. They look kind of like a peanut, but I’m all there for it.
She snorted, gratefully accepting the paper towel Greene handed to her, listening as the doctor reeled off all the various symptoms she could expect to experience. One made her blink. “Wait, power-hiccups?” she repeated, wiping the gel from her abdomen.
“You may not have the same level of control over your demonic abilities, or it may be that you instead struggle to access them,” Greene explained. “You may not experience the issue, but I thought it best to warn you.” Having switched off the ultrasound machine, she stood. “Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and raw fish. We’ll have regular scans so we can keep an eye on things. Mia gave you my number; call me any time if necessary.”