The Degan Incident Ch. 11

The distant sound of beeping and voices grew closer.

I was able to partially open my eyes, and I became aware of people scrambling around me, but my senses were muddled and unfocused. I tried blinking and squinting to see where I was and what was going on. Upon seeing the clean white room and a huge lab technician hovering over me with a hypospray injector, I started to panic.

I pushed away the man in the white coat. "No! Get away!"

"Devin. It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

I knew that voice. I was frantic as I looked around until I found the source of the deep, comforting sound. "Bastian."

"Yes, I'm here. You're safe." He smiled at me, though I could tell that something wasn't quite right from his expression.

The Degan man in the white coat moved closer. He lifted the hypospray and spoke soothingly. "Just relax, Mr. Drago."

Something wasn't right. I wanted to go home.

I squeezed Bastian's hand as I looked him with pleading eyes. I felt a pinch in my neck and a few seconds later, everything went cloudy again before fading completely to black.

* * *

The next time woke, I felt like I had been put through a wringer. My whole body ached. The intense pain in my gut was gone, having turned into a dull throb. My mouth felt like cotton and I coughed and tried to clear my throat.

"Devin."

I struggled to open my eyes. When I finally did, I turned my head to see Bastian smiling at me. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot. He had been crying.

Something was... off... missing. It took me a moment to realize what it was.

I usually sensed the baby's movements on an unconscious level. Now I felt nothing. My heart plummeted and shattered into a million pieces.

I reached up to Bastian, grabbing his hand and pulling it close. "What happened?" As much as I didn't want to, I finally looked down at my stomach. It was definitely flatter than it had been. Tears streamed down my face. "Did... The baby?" I couldn't even say it...

Please let it not be true.

Bastian grasped my hand tightly and squeezed, bringing it up to his mouth to kiss it. "He is fine. They are checking him out and he will be back soon."

"He's fine? You're sure. Everything is okay?"

When Bastian nodded, I let out a breath of relief. I was about to have a freaking heart attack. I took a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to calm down enough for him to continue.

"You lost a lot of blood. You were so pale. I thought you were dying. They had to do emergency surgery. You scared me." His voice caught and he had to take a breath before he could continue. He kissed the back of my hand again as his other stroked my sweat-damp hair, pushing it away from my forehead. "Please don't ever scare me like that again."

The door opened and I struggled to raise my head. When he entered, I remembered the Degan man in the white coat from earlier. Taking a good look at him now, I realized that he was part of the medical staff, not a labbie.

While he checked the equipment next to the bed, our family doctor entered the room.

I didn't like the look on the doctor's face.

"You're going to be fine, Devin," Doc said assuringly with a smile as he patted my arm. "Just try to relax. I don't want you to rip your incision. The suture site will be tender for a couple of days."

"What about the baby?" I begged. "What about Callan?"

"He's fine, I promise. But we need to discuss you first. When you went into labor, you ruptured a major blood vessel. We were able to get the baby out in time. I'm sorry to tell you that you probably won't be able to carry another child. Your body just wasn't able to—"

I looked over at Bastian and let out a wail and burst into tears. He held me in his arms while I sobbed into his neck. I clung to him for what seemed like hours, letting all my emotions pour out of me. Even once I calmed down, I still maintained a tight grip on him, not wanting to ever let him go.

"I'm sorry," I cried. "I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Devin," he said as he slid his fingers across my face, wiping away my tears.

I felt my eyes welling up again and I just couldn't look at him. I didn't want to see his pain or his disappointment. "You wanted a big family—"

He held my face firmly in his hands and forced me to look him straight in the eye. "Don't you even think that. Not ever. We have a son, a healthy boy. You and Callan are all that I need."

I stared at him for a few moments, then sniffled. He was right. I had to think about now and not what could have been in the future.

"Mishu. Don't forget him."

Through his teary eyes, Bastian let out a soft chuckle. "Of course. Mishu, too."

I sniffled again and let out a small, strained laugh. Bastian once again brushed a lock of sweaty hair away from my forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

The door opened behind Bastian.

"Are you ready to meet your son?"

I looked up as a nurse walked in with a bundle wrapped in a thick green blanket. She gently placed him into my arms and I instantly fell in love. Bastian kept his arms around me as he leaned down to get a closer look at our baby.

Little Callan was the cutest thing I had ever seen. He looked Human, accented with Degan features. He had my facial features and fair skin coloring, but his ears were a little more rounded like Bastian's. His chubby cheeks were tinged red. He had two nubby horns on top of his head... a head that had a full mop of thick, honey-brown hair. Aside from the hair on his head, he was free of fur, just like me. He stared up at me with the widest and brightest emerald green eyes, just like his sire.

"Look what you made. He's beautiful," Bastian whispered as he pressed a kiss onto the top of my head. "Just like you."

At Bastian's voice, Callan looked up and stared at him.

"We both made him. He looks like both of us." I nodded and tapped my finger on his little button nose. "His fingers are so little," I said as I touched one of his hands. He looked back at me and his fingers instantly fisted around my index finger.

Oh, yes, it was love at first sight.

* * *

After a week in the hospital, I was so happy to finally be home. I carefully carried a sleeping Callan into the house as Bastian practically fell over himself trying to get the door for us.

"Easy, Devin. Please," he pleaded.

I knew he was more worried about my recovery, but I was concentrating too hard on not dropping the baby to think about that. "I'm okay, Bastian. I feel fine."

Moving slow and steady, I headed upstairs to the bedroom across the hall from ours. We decided that it would be the best room for Callan, since it would be the closest. When I stepped into the room, my mouth dropped open.

"Someone's been busy," Bastian said over my shoulder.

The room had been redecorated into a nursery. One wall had a mural painted on it. It showed two different star systems, both Degan and Earth.

"We'll have to thank your parents."

"You can tell them in person. They'll be here first thing in the morning."

"I'll be glad to see them," I said quietly as I gently laid the baby down in the crib. "He is so small and helpless. I don't want to mess up."

Bastian came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He rested his chin on top of my head and we both watched our son sleep.

"You won't. I have a feeling this baby will be loved and spoiled like no other."

Bastian kept watch over our son while I went to our bathroom to clean up. I hadn't had a real shower since I had been taken to the hospital. The aqua shower that Bastian had installed was fabulous. It had multiple shower heads on the ceiling of the glass enclosure and the warm water rained down on you.

I stepped into the shower and just stood there, letting the water soak me thoroughly. Using a liberal amount of shower gel, I began to wash. When I got to my stomach, I paused. It was still somewhat swollen and tender. There was a red scar that went down the length of my body, starting a few inches above my belly button. Doc had closed it with some kind of laser suture and he said the scar would fade away over time.

I gently swirled the soapy cloth over my belly and I noticed that a few of the hairs came loose and fell and slipped down the drain among the suds.

* * *

The gate sensor tripped first thing that next morning. We knew that it was Bastian's parents and Bastian got up from the sofa.

"I'll go put on some tea," he said with a yawn and a stretch and went to the kitchen.

Callan had woken us up from a dead sleep with a cry. Bastian was out of bed in a flash running across the hall to see what was wrong. We quickly figured out that he was hungry. I had just fed and burped him and at this moment, he was contentedly laying in my arms.

When the front door chimed, Mishu began growling and snapping and raced to the door. He pressed his nose to the threshold and began sniffing and snorting.

I opened the door and let Nydia and Dashel in. When Mishu saw who it was, he snorted and wandered away and jumped into a chair and curled up into a ball.

"We're not too early are we?" Dashel asked before covering his mouth with a yawn.

"No, we were already up. Come on in."

Nydia was carrying two armfuls of shopping bags, which she set down in the living room. "I bought a few things."

"A few?" Bastian walked in with a tray of tea.

"There was a sale. Now let me see my grandson."

I handed Callan over to Nydia and she began to rock him back and forth as she made quiet baby noises. Bastian and Dashel both took a mug of tea and sat down on the sofa together. They both yawned at the exact same time, then took a sip of tea.

"Oh my," Nydia frowned as she crinkled her nose. "Someone made a stinky poo-doo."

I looked down at Mishu before I realized she was talking about Callan. Mishu made a pouty face and got up and left the room.

"Sorry about that," I said to Nydia as I stood to take Callan from her. "Let me go change him."

"I will help you."

Nydia stood, cradling Callan with his head on her shoulder. She followed me upstairs to the nursery.

"Thank you again for the room. It was very sweet of you."

"It was nothing. This furniture was used by my children. It is of much better use here than in storage."

"Well, it was very thoughtful. We didn't have time before... And all of this is so nice. I wanted you to know what we appreciate it."

I took Callan and laid him down on his changing table. I very much liked knowing that it was the same table that Bastian had when he was a baby. I already felt like part of the family, but this just cemented those roots even deeper and it tied in Callan as well.

As soon as I undid the fasteners on his cloth diaper and pulled it away, he began to pee like a fountain.

I let out a surprised gasp and Nydia quickly and calmly laid the front of the diaper over him until he finished.

The front of my shirt was soaked. "Oh my god."

She chuckled softly. "I swear, boys tend to just go all over the place as soon as it hits the open air. Martan was the worst. You'll get used to it."

"I hope so."

Nydia moved close and put her arm around me. "You're doing fine, Devin."

"I don't know... There's so much I don't know, and I'm so afraid of messing up. I don't want to break him."

As she spoke, she removed Callan's diaper and cleaned him up effortlessly. "You'll learn as you go. I have no doubt that you and Bastian will make wonderful parents." She double-checked the nub of his docked tail, making sure his laser suture looked good, then handed me a clean diaper and stepped aside.

"I sure hope so." I managed to get the diaper on and fastened without any further issues.

"Do you want to know a secret? When I had Bastian, I was a complete disaster. I swear to the gods that I spent that first week covered in all sorts of his body fluids. I didn't know anything about raising babies, but I learned as I went. And you will too."

Bastian's mother was always so polished and well put together, I couldn't imagine her being a "disaster." But the fact that she had her own insecurities and parenting problems—not to mention was comfortable enough to share them with me—made me feel a whole lot better.

"Thank you." I gave her a warm smile.

She leaned down and rubbed her cheek on my head. "You are welcome, little one." She pressed a kiss to the top of my head, then stood upright and composed herself. "Let's go see what our men are up to."

* * *

After a couple of weeks of constant visitors, it was nice to finally get an afternoon to ourselves. Not that I didn't appreciate the help. Nydia and Dashel showed us everything we needed to know about taking care of a Degan baby. Plus, I knew they were only a comm call away if I had questions.

I packed two baby bottles into the picnic basket and hefted it up with both hands. Mishu was hot on my tail as I went out into the yard, jumping and trying to sniff at the basket's contents.

"You already ate, boy. There's nothing in here for you."

Mishu made a pouty face and I couldn't help but laugh at him.

Bastian had Callan in his arms and he was swinging his son high into the air while singing softly. That was a pleasant surprise. I never would have expected Bastian to sing like that. Apparently it was something his sire did when Bastian and his siblings were babies. It only confirmed that my big warrior was really a teddy bear in disguise and it made me love Bastian even more.

Mishu ran over and made little snorting barks as he bounced around Bastian's feet, wanting to play, too.

I strolled down to my favorite spot by the lake. It was close to the treeline where a bunch of flowers had grown wild. I loved the fragrant smells almost as much as the view.

I dropped the basket and opened it up and laid out a blanket. I flopped down onto the blanket and looked up at the sky. Wispy white clouds slowly danced across the sky. The sun was big and bright and the air was sweet and clean. I let out a happy sigh.

"I love it here," I said to Bastian as he stepped onto the blanket.

"Go to your daddy," Bastian said as he sat down next to me and laid Callan on my chest. I bent forward and kissed my little boy on top of his hair-covered head.

"He's getting heavy," I said to Bastian. "It's only been a couple weeks and I swear he's up to 25 pounds." I kissed Callan's head again and stroked my hand across his thick head of hair. "You're going to be a big boy, like your sire, aren't you?"

My husband laid on his side next to me, sliding an arm under my neck for support. He leaned down and kissed me nice and gentle.

"You feel okay?" he asked.

"Yes. I feel good."

"You sure?"

"Yes, Bastian. I promise."

And I did feel good. In fact, I felt great. I had quickly recovered from the birthing complications. When you looked at me naked now, you would never even know that I had been pregnant. The only visible sign was what was now a very faint scar I had that ran from my belly button down towards my groin. All of the belly hair had shed, which I was eternally grateful for.

Before I left the hospital, I received a shot of a new experimental drug that was supposed to suppress Bastian's aggressive DNA. It should keep me from getting pregnant again as well as prevent any other mutations. I would need to get a booster shot every year.

I only wished that Bastian would look at me when I was naked. I swear he went out of his way to avoid me and he never touched me when we went to bed. Sure, we were both tired after caring for the baby all day. I would have chalked it up to sleep deprivation, but I caught Bastian jerking off last night in the bathroom. He had his eyes closed and was so into his fantasy, I don't think he was even aware that I had stood there and watched him.

Baby Callan let out a quiet little coo and then started to softly snuffle against my chest. I gently laid him down on the blanket and covered him with one of his silky wraps. Mishu bounced over my lap and gave the baby a lick on his cheek, then laid down next to him. Though the chubby little banti looked like he was resting, I could see his eyes were open and alert, darting back and forth. He was guarding our baby.

I scratched behind his ears and whispered, "Good boy."

I turned around to face Bastian and I snuggled in close to him. I slid my hand up under his linen shirt and caressed the hard muscles of his fur-covered torso.

"After dinner, how about we put the baby to bed and turn in early?" I whispered as I planted kisses along his neck.

"It has been a long day."

"Long and hard."

I slid my hand down to his crotch and palmed the bulging lump, making sure he knew what I had in mind.

He cleared his throat and sat up, dislodging my hand from his body. He grabbed the picnic basket and began pulling out the dinner we packed.

I took the offered roasted saki sandwich and began to eat while I plotted my seduction.

* * *

After putting Callan to bed in his crib, I got ready for bed. I took a nice hot shower. I took the opportunity to make sure I was nice and stretched. I was wound so tight, I debated getting myself off right then and there. I reluctantly pulled my hands away, wanting to save it for Bastian. As much as I loved foreplay, I was ready to get down to the main event.

After I dried off, I crawled onto the bed. I laid naked on my belly, legs spread a little in a clear invitation. I closed my eyes and waited for Bastian, who was finishing up something in his office.

"Devin."

I stirred awake and turned as Bastian climbed into bed. "What time is it?"

"It's late. Move over, little one."

I rolled onto my side of the bed and pulled Bastian with me. As soon as I felt his body against mine, my sleepiness vanished. My dick rapidly rose to full erection and I pushed it against Bastian's leg. He was wearing those stupid silk sleep pants again. He started wearing them after I came home from the hospital. I liked it better when he slept naked.

"Bastian." I tugged at the drawstring of his pants.

The scent of Bastian's pheromones filtered through the air and I let out a needy whimper and tried to tug and pull at him so that he would get on top of me.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm trying to get you inside me, you big lug. I know you want me. I can smell it. And I can feel it." I rubbed my thigh against his erection.

Bastian lifted his hips, pulling his cock away from me. "We can't."

"Why not? The doctor said it was okay. I asked."

Bastian sat up and turned away from me, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "I don't want to hurt you."

I scooted up behind him and rubbed the middle of his back, my hand soothing up and down his honey brown fur. "Have you ever hurt me?"

"You almost died," he whispered, so quietly I barely heard him.

"That's why the doctor gave me that DNA control shot." I moved up behind him onto my knees. I leaned in and kissed along his shoulder up to his neck. "I know you want me," I whispered. "And I want you so bad. You can't hide the smell from me." I arched my body up and rubbed against Bastian's back, then let my hand slide around his front until I gripped his huge hard-on. "You can't hide that beast from me, either." I was so horny now that I actually begged. "Please, Bastian. I need you. Fuck me, Bastian. Please."

Bastian let out an involuntary groan at my words and gripped the base of his cock and squeezed. "We can't. I... I need to use the bathroom."

As Bastian stood, I sighed and flopped down onto the bed onto my back. "I guess I will have to take care of it myself."

I wrapped my fingers around my hard-on and began a slow stroke. I rubbed the pad of the middle finger of my left hand through the pool of pre-come that had leaked onto my belly. I put my hand between my legs and pressed the finger into my hole. Oh, damn, that felt good. My eyes rolled back into my head and I let out a soft moan.