Bear My Babies

“Could you grab a blanket out of the supply closet for me? I’m going to lie down until the symptoms pass.”

Melissa’s eyes were already growing heavy with every passing second. As much as it pained her to shut her business down for the day, this experiment was much more important. Not only to boost her medical career in the shifter community but it was also going to provide her a baby. She was already attached to the idea of having a son or a daughter to call her own. A little sickness wasn’t going to stop her from the rewards. And at the moment, the best thing she could do was take care of herself so she could obtain what she was willing to endure this much pain for.

Bruce’s footsteps faded out of the room as he went to retrieve the blanket she had requested. Melissa was almost asleep when she felt Bruce drape it over her prone body.

“Thank you,” Melissa said slightly slurring her words. “I’ll call you when I wake up so we can discuss my vitals.”

Bruce let out a huff. “Melissa, get some rest. I’ll be right here when you wake up. There is no way I would leave a patient under these conditions. I’m appalled you would think I would leave you.”

Melissa fell asleep as her protest died on her lips. A weight had been lifted off Melissa’s abdomen, or at least that’s what she felt like when she woke up forty-five minutes later. She didn’t feel a hundred percent better, but she was able to sit up without running to the bathroom to dry heave. She was going to call that progress.

Bruce was right by her side when she started to stir from her vomit-induced nap.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, rubbing her back in big, strong circles. Melissa was amazed how sore her body felt, the heaving must have done more to her than eject her lunch.

“I’m better,” she said throwing him a shaky smile.

“I’ll be right back. I’m going to get some more testing supplies. I want to run all of your vitals. Don’t get up until I get back. I don’t want you falling.”

Melissa nodded her head as he sprung up and quickly left the room. Right when he was out of sight her office phone rang. Tilly came inside the room with a gigantic smile plastered on her face.

“Your baby’s daddy is on the phone.” She wiggled her eyebrows, making Melissa chuckle. The movement caused her stomach to quiver so she quieted down quickly.

“I’ll take it in my office.”

Bruce was not going to be happy. He made it clear he wanted her to stay where she was, but she was feeling better. Besides, Tilly would be right next to her if anything went wrong on the tiny trip it would take her to get to her office. Bruce would just have to get her vitals there. She would be more comfortable anyway. It was a win for everybody.

Melissa stood up and her stomach sloshed around. Melissa froze as she waited for it to calm down. Tilly came over and helped her pull up her trousers after several failed attempts. The little effort she was expending to get dressed was making her weak. Tilly helped her shrug on her coat and wrapped an arm around Melissa’s waist as they slowly walked back to her office.

“Are you going to be okay?” Tilly asked when Melissa all but collapsed into her office chair.

“I’ll be fine, Tilly. This treatment is going to take some time to adjust to. Even regular fertility treatments are hard on women when they first start out. My body will find its balance soon. It may take a while, but it will come around.”

Tilly stared at Melissa as if she was trying to assess her symptoms just with her eyes. “I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.”

“Thanks. Can you let Bruce know where I am when he comes back?”

“I’ll let Dr. Dreamy Eyes know.” The sparkle came back in Tilly’s eyes banishing most of the worry that had been there since she walked into the treatment room.

Melissa ignored the sweat coating her body, and the nauseous feeling that overrode every other emotion she could have been feeling. She was afraid Thomas would pull the deal if he knew the toll it was taking on her body. She wasn’t lying when she told Tilly it took time for women taking regular treatments to become accustomed to the hormones being injected into their body. Melissa was tripling the hormones and adding cocktails of her own into the mix. She was positive her body could deal with it. It just needed time. She was going to endure whatever these treatments had to offer.

Melissa sucked in a deep breath as goosebumps sprouted on her sweat-chilled body. She could do this, she thought as she lifted the phone.

“How are you doing? I thought I would have heard something from you by now. Today is the day you started your treatments right? Or did I get the timeline mixed up?” Thomas asked when she picked up the phone. His nervous rambling was adorable.

“Sorry, I got busy with other patients. And yes you’re correct; I started the first series of shots today.” Melissa pressed her fist into her stomach, willing it to stay still.

“How did it go?” Thomas asked, making Melissa smile at how eager he sounded. It seemed she wasn’t the only one attached to a baby that hadn’t been conceived yet. “Wait, did you say shots? How many shots are we talking about?”

“It went great. My body accepted the hormones with no discomfort at all.” Melissa heard the insincerity in her voice when she lied. She could only hope Thomas didn’t pick up on it. “I had a series of seven shots today.”

“Seven?” Thomas yelled over the phone. The back of Melissa’s eyes started to throb from the noise. She slouched down in her office chair, unable to stay upright.

“Yes, seven. It’s not as unusual as it sounds, Thomas. And it won’t be every day. I will only need seven shots once a week. I only need three daily.” Melissa’s mouth started to water as she held back the sickness taking over.

“Melissa, I didn’t realize how intense this was going to be. I knew you were going to have to go through some things to make it possible to conceive, but I don’t like the amount of pain you are putting yourself through.”

Melissa would have felt warm and fuzzy if she didn’t feel like death warmed over. Thomas cared for her well-being. That was a trait were-bears were known for. She knew their future child would have one amazing dad. His concern for her gave her more resolve to go through with this.