Page 144 of The Other Omega

“Can you tell whether they’re boys or girls?”

“Yes. Would you like to know?”

“Please.”

I would apologise to my mates later if they’d wanted a surprise. There was absolutely no chance I was lying there knowing Thaddeus had the answer and waiting until I’d managed to ask all five of them.

“They’re both girls.”

“Oh, Eira. Girls.”

“Two daughters,” she said softly, wiping her cheek with her free hand.

I couldn’t stop looking at them. I wished the others were here to see this, even though I’d wanted to do it alone.

Thaddeus checked the readings beside the image.

“Their hormonal markers are also clear enough for me to identify their secondary sex.”

“Their what?”

“Their designation.”

“At seventeen weeks?” Eira asked.

“Usually, it would be too early to be certain. Your daughters’ markers are unusually clear, and I’ve confirmed the findings in the blood results.”

I finally dragged my eyes away from the babies and looked at him.

“What are they?”

“Both of your daughters are Omegas.”

Eira let go of my hand and lowered herself into the nearest chair. So much colour had drained from her face that I started to push myself up before I’d even thought about it.

“That’s all right, isn’t it? Eira, are you okay?”

“I’m quite well,” she said, though she stayed put.

“The girls still appear healthy,” Thaddeus assured me. “What I need to explain is how unusual this is. There hasn’t been a recorded twin pregnancy carried by an Omega in more than three centuries.”

I looked back at the display. I’d been so busy trying to wrap my head around it that I didn’t ask whether twins were unusual here.

“Omega fertility has been declining throughout the kingdoms,” he continued. “A twin pregnancy would be remarkable on its own. But we have no record of an Omega carrying two Omega children.”

“Ever?”

“None in the medical archives of High Mountain. I’m not aware of a documented case in any of the other six kingdoms either. That doesn’t mean it has never happened, but we have no previous case to guide us.”

My smile disappeared properly then. He’d already told me the girls looked healthy, and I was trying very hard to hold on to that, but every new thing he couldn’t explain made it harder.

“What does that mean for the girls?”

“It means I would recommend closer monitoring than usual. We’ll need to follow their development carefully, along with your own health, and I would like a team of specialists involved in your care.”

“What sort of specialists?”

“A specialist in high-risk pregnancies and an Omega endocrinologist. I’d also like a foetal cardiologist and neurologist to assess their development, and a geneticist. We should involve physicians with experience caring for Omega newborns well before the birth.”