Page 8 of A Hatchling for Valentine’s

Kellan staring up at him with wide eyes. “I think so. I mean, that’s good, right?” He grinned. “Maybe that means our baby is about to hatch!”

“Holy shit.” Vic bent over and placed his hands on his knees.

Dora cleared her throat. “You said that already.”

Vic straightened as he took a deep breath then swiped his hand across his sweaty forehead. “It’s so hot in here.”

Skip grunted. “I was gonna mention that. How can you stand it?”

Vic shot Skip a glare. “The heat is for my baby, not your comfort.”

“Hmmph.” Skip crossed his arms. ”Just making an observation. Sheesh.”

Vic sighed, wiping his forehead again. “Sorry for snapping at you like that… I’m just…”

He regarded Kellan again who was scooting to the end of the bed on his knees. He tugged at the sleeve of Vic’s flannel shirt.

“Should we call Dr. Arthur and ask him?”

“Yeah, definitely.” He turned to Dora. “Can you stay with him for a sec while I make the call? Reception is better in the living room.”

“Of course.” She smiled at Kellan. “As long as he doesn’t mind.”

Kellan hung his head. “I don’t mind.” He peered up at her. “I’m sorry about your cheek. I swear I didn’t mean it.”

“I know, hon. Let’s not worry about that anymore, all right?”

Kellan’s expression brightened again. “All right.” He patted the comforter. “Have a seat. You can touch the egg if you want, but real soft, okay?”

She nodded. “As long as you’re sure.”

As she reached the side of the bed Kellan was on, he clasped her hand and pulled her closer. Vic wanted to stay and watch, but his nerves had him so jumpy.

“Uh, Kellan. I’m going to make the call now and I’ll need to explain things to Dr. Arthur. Did it move a lot, more than once?” Vic eyed the egg. I wish I could’ve been here when it happened. “Has it moved again?”

Kellan continued to stare at their unhatched child as he shook his head. “Not since it moved the one time.” He glanced up. “It was sorta like a quick jerk to one side, that’s it. But it was very noticeable.”

Vic’s hand shook as he ran it across his head. “Cool, that’s good. I’ll let him know, see what he says.”

Get hold of yourself, dude. He couldn’t discern how much of his reaction was terror and how much was excitement.

He left Kellan with their two friends and made his way to the living room. He wanted the baby to be born soon, wanted to see his child, to hold them—but what if something went wrong? No one seemed to have very definitive answers about anything—not even the doctor.

As Vic waited for Dr. Arthur to answer his phone, he sent out a silent prayer to the universe that the doctor would be in town with his nephew instead of his home, which was a few hours away.

“This is Dr. Arthur.”

“Doctor! Oh, thank God.”

“Is the egg hatching?” His voice was as calm as if he were asking what time it was.

How can he be so blasé about this? “We’re not sure. It just moved.”

“And?”

Vic frowned at the phone. “What do you mean ‘and’? Isn’t that enough?”

Dr. Arthur had the nerve to chuckle. “Well, that supports my belief from my last exam that your baby is almost here. The fetus should be large enough by now to be moving quite a bit. That’s a wonderful sign. It sounds like you have a strong, healthy child on the way.”