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interbreed. More research would need to be done on this
breakthrough. It is most interesting."
"You have said that already," Mykael pointed out,
irked.
"Well& " The doctor coughed.
"How did this recessed gene resurface, causing my
mate to become pregnant now?" Mykael asked.
"Through contact with you, sir. You mated with
him. Exchanged bodily contacts of all sorts. I'm guessing
the sex was unprotected. So by imprinting your own set of
genes onto him "
"I awoke the sleeping Tsatrya cells in his," Mykael
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concluded.
"Yes. I do not know how the pregnancy will go
though. Full or half Tsatryas come with the capability to
carry a child to full term pregnancy and, uhmmm, a
delivery portal. I cannot predict what will happen in your
mate's case."
"Will he be in danger?"
Dr Bennett paused a tad too long for Mykael's
comfort. "His iron levels are already much lower than they
should be. And his heartbeat is erratic. I can't confirm his
safety."
"How old is the foetus?" Mykael asked, a pang in
his chest at what he was contemplating.
"I would say around two months, sir, why?"
"How long do I have before I have to tell you to
terminate the pregnancy?"
"What? You can't possibly& but it's a miracle& "
"It's a miracle in your world of science, Doctor, and
it's& he's my child& but I can't have him if my mate's in
danger," Mykael said, his voice breaking towards the end.
"So tell me."
"A Tsatrya pregnancy usually lasts for a year. So I'd
say you have a month or so to decide. But we can monitor
your mate's progress and make sure he's in the best
condition "
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"You've already admitted his current body condition
to me. Can you place your position on the line and give me
the assurance he'd be safe if this pregnancy continues?"
"I& "
"And how will the baby be delivered? I may not be
learned in the ways of science, Doctor, but I've been in the
world long enough to know this. If he loses too much
blood, he'll die. What if his diluted Tsatrya blood means
there'll be no delivery portal forming when he's due to give
birth to the child? You'll have to cut him open, won't you?"
"Caesareans are done on human females and they
have survived them," Dr Bennett pointed out.
"And my mate is not a human female nor is he a
Tsatryan male. He is an anomaly who might not survive
this and I can't chance that."
"And what about asking this anomaly whether he's
willing to take that chance?" Joseph said softly, his voice a
little gruff as he tried to speak.
"You're awake," Mykael said in delight, a smile
breaking out on his face. He moved to the bed, sitting
beside Joseph carefully.
"I am," Joseph replied. He smiled wanly before a
frown quickly replaced it. "We need to talk."
Mykael nodded, knowing what the conversation
would be about. He turned to the doctor, only to find the
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man was no longer standing there.
"You heard."
"I heard& Will you let me have a say in this at all?"
"I don't want to lose you, Joseph. I can't. Please
don't ask this of me."
"But what if you won't. I heard what the doctor said.
Let them monitor my progress, Mykael. I'll be fine."
"You are already suffering for it. Look at you.
Lying on this hospital bed."
"We have a child, Mykael. A child. Shouldn't we be
happy?"
"I would be ecstatic if your health and safety were
not at risk because of our child."
"Give him a chance to live. Please. For me?"
Joseph pleaded.
"You know I can't say no to you, don't you? You
use those eyes against me every time you want something.
Fine. Dr Bennett gave us a month. If during that month,
your health declines further& I am reconsidering my
decision on this."
"Okay. I'm good with that. Don't worry, Mykael,
we'll be fine. Thank you," Joseph said to him, his hand
moving towards his stomach in a protective gesture.
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Chapter 12
Only five people besides the excited parents knew
about Joseph's pregnancy: the three doctors, Gilliam who
had drawn up the confidentiality agreement, and of course,
Jess, as Joseph's best friend, was the final person brought
into this small group. When Joseph had told Jess over the
phone, his friend had first been flummoxed, ecstatic, and
then concerned.
"What do you mean by complications, Archie?
What sort of complications?" Jess asked sharply.
"I& I& "
"What? Spit it out already!"
"You're not going to like it."
"It's not like I'm liking this conversation much
anyway. You're evading. Tell me."
"It's no big deal all right."
"If it's not a big deal, then I'm sure you can tell me."
"I& Well, the doctor said it might put my health at
risk& "
"Fucking hell. Define at risk, Archie."
"Worst case scenario, I might die?"
"Might die. Shit. And Mykael is letting you do this.
What the fuck are you two thinking?"
"He's not letting me do anything," Joseph said
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defensively.
"Of course not, not with you pleading to him with
those puppy dog eyes of yours. Fuck, Archie. You can't do
this."
"Don't tell me what I can or can't do, Jess."
"Damn you. You might die. Die. This is serious."
"Don't you think I get how serious this is, Jess? I do
all right. Dammit, I do. But this is my child we're talking
about here, Jess. My child. I can't kill him just because the
doctor said it might harm me. Not when there's a chance
both of us will survive this."
There was a long pause before Jess spoke up. "I
don't even know what to say. What do you want me to say?
You've already made up your mind." There was a tinge of
sadness to Jess's tone of voice. Joseph hated it that he was
the one to put it there.
"I just& wanted you to know. You're my best
friend, Jess. Please, be happy for me?"
Jess sighed. "You know I got your back, right?
Even when you make decisions that make me want to
smack you upside down."
Joseph chuckled. "I know. Thank you, Jess."
"Yeah whatever, you can thank me by making me
godfather to your baby."
Joseph replied, "Of course. On one condition
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Mate of the Tsatrya Ann T. Ryan
though."
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