The three men were huddled on the couch, their shoulders pressed together and their faces smushed into a single cluster as they leaned over the ultrasound image.

Oathran held the glossy print in his hands like it was a sacred relic, his eyes tracing the faint outline of the tiny egg.

Meanwhile, Arkai was pressed against his left shoulder, his eyes narrowed to slits, his wolf ears pricked forward intensely and Eastiel was mashed against Oathran’s right side, his golden eyes wide and dreamy and completely dazed.

They had been staring at the image for a solid five minutes. No one had spoken or moved. The only sound in the apartment was the soft hum of the refrigerator and the distant, muffled noise of the city below.

Cecilia sat across from them, her hands folded in her lap. She looked excitedly demure, precisely the newly pregnant woman presenting her husbands with the first glimpse of their child and waiting to see their reactions.

"It is growing~" she said, her voice lilting and sing-song-y. Proud of what she was growing at that very moment.

The men’s eyes remained dreamy and dazed. But increasingly, as the seconds ticked by, suspicious.

"I remember," Eastiel muttered, replaying the night in his head. "I remember you said it was a safe day for you." His golden eyes flicked toward the ultrasound image, then toward Cecilia, then back to the image. "But I forgot. My cock actually stimulates ovulation."

Arkai’s voice, when it came, was equally distant. "Didn’t I... knot you in the end?" He was staring at the ultrasound image, furrowing intensely while doing complex biological math in his head. "Mine made sure the seed doesn’t spill out."

A beat of silence. Then, both Eastiel and Arkai turned to Oathran in unison.

The dragon was sitting between them and still holding the ultrasound image, turning to the two innocently.

"We did all the work," Eastiel said, his voice slowly rising furiously as if he had been cheated out of a prize he had not known he was competing for. "And it was your seed that fertilized it! Unfair!"

"Oathran." Arkai’s voice was lower, more dangerous. "Just because you are the oldest here, you can’t simply do that. Is she ready for this pregnancy? Did you ask her?"

Oathran’s expression cracked. Why was he unjustly accused like this?! "As if the two of you didn’t also rip the condom away after she said it was a safe day."

Boom.

It exploded.

"The condom wouldn’t have done much against my spikes anyway!" Eastiel protested, his lion ears flattening against his head.

Arkai pointed at him angrily. "I actually bought feline-cock-resistant condoms, you little shit!"

"Shut up!" Oathran’s voice rose to a growl, making the windows rattle and the lights flicker and the hair on the back of everyone’s neck stand up. "Just admit it. The three of us were being reckless that night, alright?"

The silence that followed was absolute. Until Cecilia giggled her suppressed laugh.

"The four of us, alright? The four of us... were being... hehe... reckless..."

Eastiel’s lips twitched... Arkai’s wolf ears drooped... Oathran’s defensive glare softened into... embarrassment.

"...Alright," Eastiel muttered. "Fine. We were all reckless."

"Reckless," Arkai agreed, his voice grudging but honest.

Cecilia sighed and stood up. Her movement was quick and excited, practically bouncing. "Ah, thankfully the porridge actually stayed down... too bad the steak from lunch didn’t."

She blinked. When she turned, she saw the three men already jumped to their feet. Their arms were outstretched toward her, urgently hovering and slightly panicked as if seeing an expensive porcelain vase wobble on its pedestal and were preparing to catch it.

"You moved too fast!" Eastiel said in panic, his hands hovering inches from her elbows as though she might spontaneously combust. "Don’t move too fast!"

"Just—just sit down." Arkai said, usually so gruff and composed, but now trembling at the edges. "Do you want something? Let me fetch it for you. Water? Are you thirsty? Hungry? Nauseous? Should I—"

"If you need to move around, we will just help you stretch, alright?" Oathran was the calmest of the three, but his hands were still out and hovering toward her. "Ah. Right. I will resign from McKing. I will take care of you during the day. You two—"

He turned to Arkai and Eastiel, assuming his elder brother voice to assign duties. "—take care of her at night."

Cecilia blinked. She was caught between amusement and exasperation.

"Why are you all so dramatic?"

What do you mean dramatic?! We had just watched you vomit your intestine out into a toilet bowl! We hadn’t recovered from the experience yet!

"You are growing a baby inside you," Oathran said flatly. "We’re not being dramatic, alright?"

***

Gregor burst through the door of Thalia’s office with a barely-contained fury. He had spent the last hour working himself into a rage and was now ready to share it.

His massive frame filled the doorway, his suit jacket already discarded somewhere, his tie loosened and his face flushed a deep, dangerous crimson beneath his fur.

"Thalia! Did you hear what they were doing?!"

Thalia raised her face from her computer screen. "I did. They threw away Madam’s personal items in the lab, right? My people told me."

She was speaking steadily, but there was a sharpness beneath it. She had been expecting exactly this kind of pettiness, but she was very much still offended by it.

"Those people—" Gregor’s hand flew to his forehead, pressing against his temple as though he could physically contain the blood pressure spike. "—bastards!"

"I have already sent someone to collect the belongings. Quietly." Thalia’s fingers tapped at her keyboard, pulling up a confirmation email. "I will send them to the dry cleaners first before delivering them to Madam. They were... not treated kindly."

Gregor’s massive chest heaved. His hands, which had been clenched into fists at his sides, slowly uncurled. "Do you think we should tell her about it...?"

Thalia shook her head decisively. "Madam is pregnant. I don’t think it is wise to risk triggering an emotional fluctuation on her. If we are telling someone," she paused, then carefully continued, "it will be Mr. Oathran."

"Right." Gregor nodded, eyes full of vengeful delight. "Send his number to me as well."

"Copy."

They fell into silence, both of them staring at their phones and slowly processing the events of the day.

Thanks to that, slowly, like the sun breaking through storm clouds, the anger began to lift. Gregor’s stern mouth twitch at the corner and Thalia’s sharp eyes soften.

The baby.

"Right..." Gregor’s voice was different now, almost shy. "We should... we should buy Madam baby things, right?" He cleared his throat. "For the baby."

"Yeah." Thalia was already rising from her chair, reaching for her coat. "Yeah, do you want to go shopping now...?"

"Okay." Gregor nodded. "Let’s go?"

"Let’s go."