Chapter Text
Jared isn’t sure where it all started to go wrong. Just two months ago he was on top of the world and now… He is standing in the bathroom doorway of his new home looking at his mate who is hugging the toilet busily being sick and miserable. Jensen had started being sick every morning nearly two weeks ago and he had felt bad for a whole week before that. Jared was positive it wasn’t something in their new home as he had scrubbed down every inch last week, which had made Jensen extremely happy, and Jensen didn’t have any allergies that they knew of that could be affecting him this way. Jensen had been to see his regular physician twice already and an emergency doctor and a specialist and none of them had been able to find anything or help Jensen so far. Jared had begun to be beside himself with worry that there was something seriously wrong with his mate when suddenly like lightning striking he'd had a burst of clarity.
He had been keeping a list of Jensen’s symptoms and issues since Jensen first alerted him he was ill and it had kept on a running loop in his head as he had watched over his mate. Everything fit with one very crazy theory that against all odds just had to be right. Jared was in no hurry to mention that theory to Jensen at the moment as he was sure it would get him laughed at, yelled at, and cried at, and possibly not in that particular order. But when he told Jensen his theory he’d make him see all the pieces fit together so they would make absolute sense and then he’d get Jensen the help he’d need. It would be specialized help only a doctor of his kind would be able to offer.
He was brought out of his thoughts by the toilet flushing and Jensen groaning as he sat back on his heels. When a few seconds went by without Jensen bending back over the toilet bowl he stepped forward and grabbed a damp wash cloth off the sink and wiped Jensen’s forehead before folding it and resting it at the back of Jensen's neck. Then he handed Jensen a small cup of water that was on the counter for him to rinse his mouth out. When it appeared that Jensen was done being sick for the moment he watched as Jensen got shakily to his feet. He took the cup from Jensen and placed it back on the counter as Jensen wiped off his neck and face again with the wash cloth before flinging it into the sink. Jensen sighed and began his stumbling shuffle back towards their bed. Jared was at his side but not touching him. Jensen had gotten grumpy and irritated that he sometimes needed help after a morning sickness session with the toilet and often refused Jared’s help when Jared tried. However, Jared had found that if he hovered by Jensen’s side he could reach out when Jensen needed him. It was less of a hit to Jensen's ego and that was fine with Jared as long as Jensen got what he needed and didn’t bite Jared’s head off. This trip he seemed to be a little bit sturdier on his feet making it back to the bed without assistance.
Another piece of the symptom puzzle was that Jensen found he could keep saltine crackers down pretty well as with applesauce and bananas which he liked a lot. This little tid bit of information had been a recommendation from a neighbor who had recently had a baby and said that it had always helped her through her morning sickness. Jensen had brushed off that last bit of information like it had never been said. Also, recently Jensen had developed the taste for more meat lately and he was eating any and all kinds Jared could his hands on for all his meals even if it made his stomach upset later. Especially beef jerky, it was one of the only things he could keep down consistently besides the crackers and bananas that was solid. For Jared though it was now like a switch being flipped. He thought long and hard again over all the things going on with Jensen and it all fit together nicely in his theory. He would go and do a little research just to make sure he couldn’t be wrong about what Jensen would have called a cockamamie theory. But the more he picked at it in his mind the more it seemed he would be right. Apparently, Jensen was not as human as he seemed or thought or considered himself to be. It all boiled down to the fact that Jensen, his mate, was pregnant. He was pregnant with Jared’s baby. The baby of a weredragon and his cherished mate. A drake. Because that was all the baby could be.
It had all started two months ago when they had moved into their first house as a mated couple although Jensen was still reluctant to acknowledge the mate part. Jensen came from a rare purest family who had been upset about him being gay, but threw in the towel and disowned Jensen when they learned he was dating a Were and not just any Were but a weredragon. Like his family, Jensen had been a bit shocked to find that Jared was a dragon shifter as Jared had been keeping it from him too from the time they had first started dating. But Jensen despite his upbringing that humans should not date Weres of any kind, couldn’t turn his back on Jared even if he was mad about not knowing right away. Jared had done lots of apologizing and even took Jensen to meet his family and Jensen had eventually forgiven him. They got right back into dating again as if he had known all along what Jared was. This time Jared had been open with Jensen about almost everything in and to do with his life. When he was sure about what was happening in their relationship, he told Jensen that he thought they were mates. Jensen had been very skeptical about the whole thing but had agreed to move in with Jared, who at the time had a modest apartment. Now that they had been together for more than three years and with both their jobs going so well they decided to buy a house and make it as official as they could for the moment without being married considering they were in Texas.
Upon finishing settling into their new home and having unpacked the last box they had a party with friends and ended up spectacularly drunk. They spent the late evening and early morning after their friends had gone christening each room in the house with wild, passionate, hot sex, ending in the bedroom. It was the one and only night they had had sex that Jared had missed remembering to wear a condom during one of the slower more sensual rounds of sex. They were so gross and hung over the next morning to think much of it while they showered and vowed not to do that again any time soon. Nothing more had been thought about it seeing as they were both clean anyway and they were two men, so what did it matter? Except now it seemed it did matter, very much.
Jared watched as Jensen wiggle crawled his way into the middle of the bed where he had taken to sleeping lately surrounded by pillows that formed a nest of sorts. It was filled with all their blankets thanks to Jensen stealing them and one Jared had had to fetch from the couch just so he could have one. But Jensen had commandeered that one too during the early morning hours. Jensen proceeded to wrap himself up in a cocoon-like a little caterpillar before metamorphosis which was just a little ironic. It was also another piece of the puzzle and fit in with Jared’s suspicion and theory that Jensen was indeed very much pregnant. It was a symptom in and of itself but like the bananas, it was one that made all the other symptoms better or at least less miserable. The only question now was how had this happened, and how could Jared get Jensen to see it as real and not freak out when given the proof by the doctor Jared would take him to.
“I want you to see a doctor,” Jared said when Jensen was finally settled to his satisfaction. He sat on the edge of the bed so as to not disturb Jensen's position least he have to wiggle around to find another spot. Lately, when Jensen found a good spot to rest after being sick he got very grumpy if you disturbed him from his rest.
“Dude I’ve already seen two doctors and one specialist and they got nothing to tell me other than I have a really bad flu or stomach bug, or best of all it's in all in my head and I'm making myself sick” Jensen sounded as if he was losing his patience. Jared had been mother-henning him more and more as time went on as Jensen didn’t get better. He had discussed with Jensen all the symptoms as they came and was there for his doctor’s visits. But they had never really added all the symptoms together as a whole, they had been looking at them individually. If the doctors had put them together they made sense for a woman but not for a human man. That may have been when one of the doctors Jensen had seen told him it was psychosomatic. That phantom pregnancy symptoms some men got when their female partners were pregnant were just the mind playing tricks on their bodies.
“I want you to see my doctor” Jared persisted knowing that Jensen had hated to go to the doctor in the first place. It had taken a lot out of him to see the three he already had. The last one had made him so upset he'd been ill for an entire day from nerves and anger. But those doctors weren't trained in the medicine Jared was now certain Jensen needed.
“Why, I’m not a dragon or even a Were. I don’t see what he could do for me that my doctor and a specialist couldn’t.” Jensen looked a little confused and down right sour about the thought of being poked and prodded by yet another doctor.
Jared bit his lip not yet ready to tell Jensen his theory. If he told Jensen he wanted him to see his doctor because he thought Jensen was pregnant Jensen was sure to do everything in his power to not go and possibly have Jared committed in the process. And if for some infinitesimal chance Jensen believed him, he'd freak out and that would not do either him or the baby any good. “I just want another opinion and since as you pointed out my doctor primarily treats Weres there might be some tests he could run that your doctor might not think to. My doctor has studied human medicine so you don’t have to worry about that aspect of things.” Jared could see that his reasoning was having some effect on Jensen but he could see he needed something more to get Jensen to agree. “I’ll stop pestering you so much if you do this and put my mind a little more at ease that every possible thing is being done to make you feel better,” Jared offered.
That was it and Jensen’s eyes lit up as he took the bait. “Fine, I’ll go but I am sure that the answers will be the same as before, I just have to get over whatever this is on my own.”
“I’ll make the appointment then, try to get in a little more rest while I do” Jared patted the place where he thought Jensen’s legs were before getting up and leaving his mate who currently looked like a human burrito. Jared wanted to make the call out of ear shot of Jensen as he would tell his doctor of his theory. He wasn’t sure what his doctor would think and how well he would take the theory since he knew that Jensen was human. But Jared’s doctor, Anthony, who was by chance also a Weredragon had been around for a long time and seen many things so who knew? Also being a doctor who specialized in Weredragons he knew a lot of lore and history of the species that might help explain how Jensen could be pregnant. And he would have access to many more records than Jared did, which would help when Jared started doing his research on his theory. Because once the Were community heard about Jensen, which they would when Jensen began to show, they would want to know how it was possible just like he did. They would want to know if it would be possible for any male human mates to become pregnant.
Jared had some coffee and toast deciding to wait a few minutes to see if Jensen would go back to sleep or he was sure Jensen would not come in and disturb him while he was on the phone. He was ninety percent positive Jensen was done with his morning sickness for the day so there was no worry that he’d have to rush to make sure Jensen was okay. Jared would have to talk softly as it was if he didn’t want Jensen to hear him, which he was not used to. Weredragons had great hearing so he wasn’t worried that his doctor wouldn’t be able to hear him. Taking one last look in the direction of their bedroom Jared called Anthony.
“Jared,” Anthony greeted after three rings “what can I do for you, is there anything wrong?” Since Weredragons were rare these days and their numbers slowly dwindling Anthony, as the local Weredrgaon doctor for almost all of Texas, had caller ID and the numbers of all his Weredragon patients on his personal phone.
“Um nothing’s wrong, or with me at least” Jared paused a second and Anthony waited for him to continue. “I want you to look at my mate, Jensen. You know he is human but I am beginning to think he may be more than that.”
“Oh, and why is that?”
“Well he’s been sick for a while and his doctor and a human doctor specialist haven’t been able to find anything wrong yet. I have a theory it’s because they are running the wrong tests.”
“Jared you know that Weres just don’t crop up as adults, we are born what we are, no Were can just manifest out of the blue” Anthony didn’t sound patronizing, he sounded like an indulgent parent actually, but his answer made Jared a little annoyed all the same. “But what is this theory you have?” Anthony asked anyway, sounding sure that he knew he could dismiss it with a little reassurance and the facts of life.
“I know that” Jared sighed, remembering the classes he took on what everyone knew so far about what made a Were a Were. “His symptoms had me worried and I may have made a list so I could look up what might cause them myself. Not that I don’t trust his doctor or anything and I am not questioning the specialist either, but he’s my mate and I just wanted to help. But when I was looking around I was open to general things, not just human or male problems. My theory kinda took shape after a talk with my neighbor, but it really hit me this morning.” Jared ran a hand through his hair as he rambled on trying to put off saying his theory out loud. Now that he was talking with his doctor he wasn't as sure of himself anymore.
“And what do you think it is that the other doctors didn’t see or find?”
“I think…” Jared took a deep breath and let it out before rushing forward. “I think Jensen is pregnant.”
“Jared you know that isn’t true” Anthony sounded a little like he had when Jared was a little boy telling him that getting his annual flu shot wouldn’t hurt even though Jared thought it was torture. Both of them had been half right, Jared’s skin as a Weredragon was thicker so it shouldn’t have hurt, but in order to get through the thicker skin the needle was bigger and Jared was sensitive for a Weredragon.
“Look whatever it is that's wrong could you at least see him and take a look? I’m just worried about my mate” Jared sighed. No one would believe him till the evidence proved he was right, and to get that evidence he would need to have Anthony perform the tests. If he was wrong he didn't know what he would do but at least he could put his hope in this for Jensen's recovery. After all, if he wasn't pregnant he might be right that Anothony might find something that the human doctors had missed because he would take a different approach to looking at and testing Jensen.
“Yes Jared I’ll run a check-up on your mate, you know I wouldn’t turn down the mate of one of my patients. When did you want to come in? My schedule is pretty open at the moment."
“The sooner the better so I was hoping sometime tomorrow?” Jared really wanted to get it done fast before Jensen had the chance to change his mind. Also, it would put him at ease and they could begin to sort out the future. Having a baby was stressful enough under normal circumstances and Jensen was sure to freak out at the news that he was pregnant. Not to forget about all the worry he’d put into planning for the baby and its growing up when he finally got over the hurdle of being pregnant. Jensen was a massive worrier and always needed a plan for the bigger events and things in their lives. Jensen had about driven him crazy with his lists and contingency plans when they were in the process of buying their house.
“I am free around noon if that works for you, I will be in my Houston office of course” Anthony’s words cut into Jared’s thoughts.
“That sounds good, we’ll see you then” Jared hung up and sighed with relief now that the first step to their new future was out of the way. Anthony had a total of four offices in Texas and two more out of state. One in New York and the other in Washington DC closer to the Were council and government. Jared’s parents had always taken him to the Houston office when he was young and he had continued to go to that office after he had moved out on his own. It was a small office outside the city and it was decorated to be relaxing and friendly. Jensen wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable there. Now he just had to wait till Jensen woke up to tell him about the appointment.
The day had not started out well as Jared had refused to let Jensen have any coffee with breakfast. Jared had told Jensen it was so that any caffeine didn’t throw off any tests and insisted that water was the best way to go. Jensen had grumbled about pushy protective dragons and Jared had helpfully reminded him that a urine test was most likely in his future. Jensen drank down the water and reminded Jared that karma was a bitch and that it might catch up with him sooner rather than later. Jared was just happy that Jensen hadn’t been stubborn enough to drink the coffee that he was so accustomed to in rebellion or spite. Going through the rest of the pregnancy without coffee was going to be like trying to walk through a mine filed every morning. Jared knew that pregnant humans could have some decaf coffee from time to time but for a Weredragon it was best if all coffee was cut out of the diet.
By the time noon rolled around and Jared pulled up in front of his doctor’s office Jensen was finally not as irritable as he had been for most of the morning. Mostly because Jared had promised him ice cream after the doctor’s visit. That was another possible sign of Jensen’s pregnancy that Jared had thought of last night as Jensen had snuggled into his nest but not covered himself up complaining about it being just a bit warm in the house. Jensen was usually cold and for him to be complaining about the heat was a red flag pointing out that something in him was changing.
“How long is this going to take?” Jensen asked as they moved up the path to the door of the office. Jensen’s regular doctors hadn’t taken too long with him on his first visit and on the second visit only long enough to run some quick noninvasive tests and refer him to a specialist. The specialist had taken the better half of a day. None of them had given him any real results beyond that he was healthy despite his listed symptoms. Now he was seeing a doctor who specialized in treating Weres not humans. It could either go quickly or take forever because of this fact.
“I’m not sure” Jared replied as he opened the door for Jensen then quickly followed him in blocking the exit if Jensen suddenly changed his mind about the appointment. Jared knew that Anthony would run the standard tests all doctors did before he got down to the real problem. Jared wanted to be sure that the pregnancy tests were taken and running while Jensen was examined thoroughly physically.
There was no receptionist at the front desk, instead, Anthony was seated there looking at the computer. He looked up as Jensen and Jared came into the waiting room before standing and nodding at Jared. “Hello Jared” he smiled and turned his attention to Jensen “and you must be Jensen, Jared’s mate. I’m Anthony Webber, Jared’s doctor” he held out his hand to shake as they got closer to the desk.
“That’s me” Jensen confirmed as he shook Anthony’s hand “it’s nice to meet you.”
“Why don’t you boys come on back? I have a room already for you,” Anthony stepped away from the desk and Jared nudged Jensen towards the hall that lead to the patient rooms in the back. They followed Anthony down the hall to a room in the middle of the hall and entered after him.
To Jensen it looked just like every other doctor's office except for the fact that it was quite a bit larger and the table/bed he sat on was soft and twice as big as usual and the chairs for anyone who accompanied the patient were the nice kind found that might be found in library reading nooks, not doctors’ offices.
Like any other doctor's visit this one started out normal. Jensen listed his symptoms and had his temperature, pulse, and blood pressure taken, his lungs and heart listened to, his eyes, ears, and nose checked over and even his reflexes checked. Then the fun part Anthony drew some blood and had him take the urine test.
Anthony excused himself to go sort out the blood and urine in the correct testers so that they could have some answers before Jensen and Jared left. Jared was sure to mention quietly as Anthony left the room that he wanted a pregnancy test run on both the blood and urine samples.
“He’s not going to find anything just like my other doctors” Jensen sighed as he flexed his arm looking at the snoopy band-aid that Anthony had put over the small puncture from drawing his blood. Jared hummed thoughtfully but didn’t say anything. Jensen knew by now that Jared had some theory or another but they were like all his other ideas that he had mentioned to Jensen so far, wrong and just worrying for nothing.
Anthony came back not long after that and asked Jensen about his health history, his family's health history, and took the time to feel out Jensen’s whole midsection front to back. His brow had creased in concentration when he’d been palpitating Jensen’s lower abdomen. He had written a few notes before he pulled a chart down out of a cupboard and briefly read over it before going over Jensen’s lower abdomen again. When he was done with his inspection of Jensen's stomach he examined Jensen over again, this time with a very serious expression and taking double the time he’d given when first starting the exam. He took more notes this time and occasionally consulted the chart he'd taken from the cupboard. “If you excuse me I think one of the diagnostic tests should be done by now and I really need to see it” Anthony was at the door before Jensen or Jared could say anything. “I’ll be right back and don’t worry I am sure that it’s not anything life threatening, just something I need to confirm” Anthony gave them some parting reassurance, which really wasn't, before he slipped out.
“That doesn’t sound too good even if he says it's not something to worry about. Tell me that was better than I thought it sounded” Jensen sat up from his previous position of lying down as Anthony had been examining his stomach again before disappearing out the door in a hurry.
“I am sure it’s fine, Anthony does that sometimes when he thinks he has the answers but they aren’t at his literal fingertips. He's just excited and needs to confirm his findings with a report before he yells us anything” Jared tried to reassure Jensen himself. Anthony had done this once before to him when he was younger and Anthony didn’t have the right chart he needed to show Jared something. It had freaked Jared out when he had left so suddenly and he’d thought something serious was wrong. Anthony had apologized when he had come back and seen how distressed Jared was. Jared was sure he was right and that Anthony had felt something in Jensen that had to do with the baby. Pregnancy tests didn’t really take that long to run and Anthony would want a second opinion. With both the blood and urine tests there would be more than enough to confirm pregnancy.
True to his word Anthony was back a few minutes later, but he was dragging a machine on a rolling cart with him. Jensen reached out for Jared’s hand as the machine was brought right up beside him.
“Alright Jensen I got some of your tests back and they are interesting but it’s not bad news” Anthony pulled a file off of the cart. “The results here confirm what I felt and this machine is a sonogram machine and it will allow me to get a better look inside to see how you are doing. I would like to use the machine before I give you the results so that I can have the best answers for you. Again this is nothing bad or life threatening.”
Anthony was using a soothing voice Jared again recognized from his childhood. Anthony was doing whatever he could to not spook Jensen. Jared who had taken Jensen’s outstretched hand moments before gave it a gentle squeeze.
Anthony turned the machine on and reached under it to a lower shelf and opened a built-in container pulling out a small jar. “Now I need you to lift up your shirt high on your chest and lower your pants so I can get to your lower abdomen again.” Anthony opened the jar and got out a small wooden paddle while Jensen got ready. “I am sorry to tell you this is going to be cold but that won't last long,” Anthony said before scooping out some gel-like substance from the jar and started spreading it over Jensen’s midsection. Jensen hissed at the cold but didn’t say anything as Anthony finished spreading out the gel.
When that part was done Anthony picked up something that looked like an upside-down barcode scanner with a rollerball attached to the bottom and a cord connecting it to the machine. Anthony hit a few buttons on the machine before placing the wand on Jensen’s midsection. “This is a transducer and I have to push down firmly to get a good image so there will be some pressure,” Anthony said as he demonstrated. He began sweeping the transducer over Jensen’s midsection moving lower with each pass. Every now and again he would pause and click some buttons on the machine. When he was done with his sweep he placed the transducer over a spot on Jensen’s lower abdomen and turned the screen of the machine so that Jensen and Jared could see it. The screen was black with white and gray fuzz and a blob in the middle.
“Jensen your results are very clear and I have checked them over several ways to make sure they are positive. You my dear young man are pregnant. And this,” he pointed to the small blob on the screen “is your baby.”
“No!” Jensen shot up from the table and backed away from Anthony and the sonogram machine. “No, it’s not possible” Jensen was shaking his head vigorously like he could shake the words out of his head. Then he started to shake his hand when he had gone to the limit of his and Jared’s arm span, not having released Jared's hand when he had gotten up from the table in his haste to get away But Jared wouldn't let go and Jensen started to shake all over. “I’m a man, a human man, I can't be pregnant” he started up a mantra still shaking his head although less forcefully and more in shock or resignation.
“I’m sorry but it is true” Anthony switched back to using his soothing voice and he hadn’t moved from his place at the sonogram machine not wanting to get Jensen any more riled up. “I ran a test on your blood and urine and both came back positive and I felt your womb which is why I brought in the sonogram to see. By all appearances, you are carrying one healthy drake due in about seven months' time.”
Tears had started to fall from Jensen’s eyes and he had stopped trying to shake off Jared’s now light grip off his hand and was now squeezing it in a vice-like grip. The whole body shaking however was getting worse as he stuttered softly “I’m human, I'm a man, I’m human, I'm a man” over and over again.
Jared got up from his seat by the exam table and slowly walked to Jensen’s side and wrapped him in a hug holding tight, his heart breaking for Jensen. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in Jensen's ear before Jensen’s body went limp in his arms.