Breaking into laughter, David said, “I know that. But the point is, youcould. When you’re in heat, you’ll have no trouble at all.”
That brought up another question. “Why do you suppose I haven’t gone back into heat?”
“Maddox and I were wondering about that the other night. We think you should ask Laura about it. When Maddox comes back in, I’ll have him call her.”
We busied ourselves with some chores, and then I watched David sew. I wasn’t interested in it myself, but sometimes I watched David and Trey make things because I found itinteresting. I needed my own hobby, but, so far, I hadn’t figured out what it should be.
When Maddox came in from outside, he went to take a shower and David and I put together a casserole.
“Where’s Gramps?” Maddox asked when he came into the kitchen twenty minutes later wearing navy lounge pants and a t-shirt. The muscles on his arms were impressive, as were his tattoos. I found it pretty funny that shy and introverted David ended up with someone with tatts and piercings.
“He hasn’t come out of his room since he went in with Colt, who left a long time ago.”
Maddox nodded. “I’ll knock and tell him the food’s ready.”
When Maddox returned to the kitchen a few moments later, he said, “Gramps says he isn’t hungry.”
“Is he sick?” I asked, worried.
“No, I don’t think so. He said to put his in the refrigerator and he’ll heat it up later.”
The three of us sat down to eat.
“Maddox,” David said. “Ben and I were talking, and we wondered if you’d call Dr. Turner and ask her what she thinks about Ben’s heats not having started up again since he ran out of the suppressants.”
“Sure,” Maddox said, glancing at me with a smile. “I’ll call her after we eat.”
While we ate, we talked about the garden and the horses, and David told some stories about the cute things the chickens were doing that morning. When the dinner dishes were cleared and washed, we went into the living room and Maddox put in a call to Laura Turner.
“Hello, Maddox,” she said when she answered. “I hope this is a social call and no one is sick.”
Laura lived in Hudson City, where Carter and Jackson lived, but she was the closest thing to an expert on omegas that theyhad, and she had helped during both Jackson’s and David’s childbirths.
“No one is sick; I just have a few questions, if you have the time,” Maddox said. “I’m sitting here with David and Ben, and I have you on speaker phone.”
“Okay, I have time. What are your questions?”
“A few months ago, I spoke with you about what we could do when Ben ran out of the heat suppressants you gave him.”
“Right. We talked about secluding him in a room for the course of the heat. Perhaps getting him some toys to take the edge off. How is that working?”
Maddox met my gaze. “Well, the thing is, Ben hasn’t had a heat yet.”
“He hasn’t?” Laura sounded surprised. “Not even a mild one?”
“No.”
She was silent a moment. “By my calculations, he should have had two by now. Maybe three.”
“We thought that maybe his body was adjusting to being off the suppressants. But nothing’s happened,” Maddox said.
“That’s…odd. I really would like to examine him. I need to give David and Trey check-ups to make sure they’re back to normal after childbirth, anyway. I’ll book a flight this weekend. Is it all right if I stay with you?”
“Of course. We have plenty of room, especially now that we’ve built-on.”
“Excellent. I’ll see you all then.”
When he disconnected, I said in a small voice, “Sounds like something’s wrong with me.”