Sam-

The tantalizing smell of breakfast woke my hungry stomach, its rumbling, along with the scent, pulling me out of a deep sleep. I felt surprisingly good as I slowly turned my head on the soft pillow to glance at the clock on the nightstand.

Huh? It's already almost noon?

I hadn't slept in in so long that I wasn't really sure what to do. After a minute of thought, my head cleared a little and I noticed the plate of food sitting just behind the clock with a note folded next to it, along with a small box. My hunger urged me to grab for the food, which was probably cold considering I didn't see any steam coming off of it, so it had to have been there for awhile, however, what caught and held my attention was the note and box.

Reaching for the note, I licked my lips and hesitantly opened it. I was having trouble recalling all of what happened yesterday, but as the words on the dull white paper filled in the blanks, I felt my stomach drop.

I apologize for telling you in this way, but I can't afford to miss work and I couldn't wake you this morning. I suppose I'm just a coward, but I can't face what I did yet. I have the kids and will be home early and if you need to wait until then, I will gladly do whatever you need me to during the test and I will take full responsibility for whatever the result may be.

 Richard

I didn't need to try and remember anything now. Images were swimming through my mind from last night... And they were hot. My face warmed but I couldn't push down the panic in my gut as I turned to stare at the pregnancy test. It would only take a minute. All I had to do was go bathroom, which I really had to do. Yet I found myself staying in bed for another twenty minutes before finally forcing my limbs to move.

Even as I made myself take that short, terrible walk to the bathroom, I was praying that last night had somehow not happened. Now that I could actually think clearly I knew that I'd gone into heat really badly. The ache in my backside making it also rather obvious that we had been very busy last night. It had been so long since my heat had happened that I was taken off guard. I also thought it wouldn't be so bad, but it had been unbelievably painful and hot. So hot. My cheeks heated with a blush that ran halfway down my chest as I finally stopped in front of the toilet, looking down at the box in my hand.

"We-we'll make it work i-if it's positive."

My voice shook with emotion and I blinked back tears. The thought of having more puppies was overwhelming but if Richard was true to his word, it might not be overbearing... With that tiny moment of slight relief, I got the test out of the box and relieved myself, then set the test on the counter before jumping in the shower.

I took my time washing myself while sitting on the seat he'd placed in the shower before, then rewashing my body until it was red from all the rubbing. When the water finally ran cold I stepped out, unable to keep my worry inside any longer. My feet took me to stand in front of the sink counter and my eyes landed on the test.

Then relief flooded my system.

"Negarive."

The next several hours were spent cleaning, and tripping. Mostly cleaning, thankfully, but sometimes my feet still thought they were paws and trip me up. By the time the front door opened I'd gotten dressed in a pair of Richard's loose black shorts and cleaned most of the kitchen and living room area. I wasn't really sure when I should tell Richard about the test, but the moment I saw him stagger into the kitchen looking like a zombie, I knew I couldn't let him stress about it any longer.

"Negarive." I said quietly, feeling my cheeks warm.

Richard's head snapped up, eyes widening slightly as he replied. "What?"

I tried to smile but was too embarrassed to really make it work. "Negarive. The test."

The look of utter relief on his face made my smile become a bit more natural. I didn't blame him for losing control last night... I knew I definitely had. He'd also helped me, even though, judging from the dark rings under his eyes and the look of exhaustion in them, he hadn't meant to do it. My heart even gave a tiny stutter when he stepped forward and wrapped me in his arms, heaving a heavy sigh as his forehead dropped to my shoulder.

"Thank god. I'm so sorry that I lost control. It will never happen again, I swear it. I-I didn't adopt you to do that, e-ever. God, I'm such a—-ouch!"

I couldn't help it. I sucked with emotions in general so when he started panicking with his arms still around me I had to bite his ear. Hard. He let me go and stepped back, one hand going to his slightly-bleeding ear as he stared at me in shock.

"You just..."

Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms over my chest. "I bited your ear." I stated plainly, a bit surprised though, when he suddenly started laughing instead of saying something back.

"Wh-what?" I asked, getting a little annoyed that he was laughing now. Heck, I was about to bite him again when I felt a fuzzy paw tap at my leg. The second I saw my son my anger melted away and I knelt down to pull him into a strong hug.

"Hey der, Coda. Were you a good boy today?"

My pup yipped in response, making me smile and lick his nose.

"So um."

Looking up, I raised a brow at Richard, silently asking him to continue.

"Well, I left early from work for two reasons. Of course the uh, first one was to check on you, but the other. Well, I made an appointment for you at the local shapeshifter vet."

My mouth opened slightly, then shut, then opened again. "The... vet?"

I remembered faint memories of former vet visits when I was a tiny puppy but not much besides the fact that I hated them. Before he could even speak again I was getting to my feet and heading for the living room.

"Sam, come on. They're bound to have more information on why you go into heat and maybe they can help so what happened last night doesn't happen again."

I still wasn't interested... That is, until he mentioned something else.

"Well, at least Coda has to go. He has worms and the shelter said he needs one more dose of dewormer to be safe."

He didn't need to add, surely you want your boy to be healthy, but I knew it was hanging in the air between us. I sighed, staring at Coda as he snuggled in my arms, tail wagging enthusiastically. Relenting, I turned towards where Richard stood at the entrance to the kitchen and narrowed my eyes.

"He can gets dwarmers, but nothing to me."

Richard grinned, making me think that he had something up his sleeve. "Alright. Let's get ready to go. I already fed him and Jess and you can grab something when we get home."

I nodded, following him out the door without caring that I wasn't wearing a shirt. The vet was surprisingly close, too, so the car ride was only a few minutes before we pulled into the parking lot. My nerves were on edge when Richard helped his daughter and I slid out with Coda. When we stepped inside the waiting room was empty, which was probably why we were called back almost immediately and put into a tiny room that made me extremely uncomfortable.

The vet helped, a little. He was wearing a bright pink doctor's jacket that I thought was normally supposed to be white. He also had on huge, dorky glasses and a giant smile that bordered on creepy.

"Hello there, my name is Dr. Williams and you must be Richard," he said, reaching to shake Richard's hand and smile at Jess before turning his attention to myself and Coda. "What a cute little puppy!"

He leaned over, giving Coda a gentle pat on the head before looking up at me. "What's this little guy's name?"

I wasn't happy about him being so close to Coda, but I didn't want to cause a scene in front of Richard and his daughter. "Coda."

"What a cute name. Alright, we've just got to give him a wormer, right?" He asked, glancing up at Richard and getting a nod in response. "Great. I've already got it drawn up, so let's get that done."

I gently set Coda down on the cold metal table when told to by the doctor, then held his mouth open after being promised that the wormer wasn't anything dangerous. He did mention that it might make him throw up, but he was a baby, so that was already part of the deal. Once the medicine was given I grabbed him back up and turned, intent on leaving... But of course, Richard was blocking the door and when I turned back around, the doctor was standing in front of the other one. Anger welled up in my belly when I whirled back to snarl at Richard, Coda in my arms.

"Now listen, Sam. I know you don't like the vet, but I think this is what needs to be done. I came here so that he can help you, not hurt you."

"I don't want to be helped!" I shouted, knowing that my canine form was beginning to push through in self defense. Richard saw it and gently took Coda from me right as I began to sprout fur around my face. The shift was seamless and soon I was a frustrated Australian Shepherd. To make matters worse, if that were possible, Richard snatched me up, holding my squirming body easily in his insanely strong arms.

Bastard!

I tried my best to bite him, but after a few tense minutes I realized that I wasn't going to get anywhere and was just being a terrible influence on the children.

"Will you just let him give you a quick exam? No shots or anything, just a check up. He can help you, but you have to have an exam first before he can do anything."

I wanted to tell him that I could help myself, but I knew I wasn't going to get out of the damn room without doing what he wanted. It sucked, and I was pissed, but I eventually calmed down so that Richard could set me on my feet again. The doctor wasted no time in getting down on my level but he was actually really careful each time he pulled on one of my limbs to check its reflex and backed off each time I gave a warning growl that he was going too far.

He was smart when taking my temperature and used my mouth instead of somewhere else, then finally stood up after a quick look at my teeth. While he wrote he asked me to get on a scale in the corner, which I sat down on when directed. Once the weight flashed across the screen he wrote it down and smiled.

"All done! Your reflexes are good and I didn't see or feel anything to worry about. You do need to gain another fifteen or so pounds, but everything else looks great."

I nodded, allowing my body to return to my human form. Thankfully the shorts I'd been wearing were still on, so I didn't need to get dressed or be naked in front of him.

"Okay, so, Richard tells me you're a cross shifter and has also mentioned that Coda is your pup?"

Pursing my lips, I replied with a quiet "Yes."

He smiled. "Alright, he also let me know that you happened to go into heat recently and that has caused some... Tension. I think I can help you with that in two ways."

Curiosity warred with embarrassment as he reached behind himself and grabbed two items. One, I wasn't surprised to see. A small bottle with, what seemed to be only one tiny pill. The other, however, made me glare. A collar? Really?

"Now now, before you get upset, let me explain."

I bit my tongue, waiting for his explanation. Which better be good.

"The pill is in case you go into heat again and happen to sleep with someone. It will immediately terminate any pregnancy but it must be taken within a day, though within the next few hours is recommended. And this," he said, holding up the collar. "Is to prevent someone coming after you because your pheromones attract them."

"Wait secon, is that why... Last nigh?"

The doctor nodded, offering me the collar, which I hesitantly took to eye closely. It didn't look like anything special. In fact, it looked gaudy, and even had a little bell like one of those stupid cat collars.

"The bell actually has a very rare, and unfortunately expensive herb in it that somehow manages to block the majority of heat pheromones. We aren't sure why, but it works a lot better in cross shifters, though it is sometimes used for normal females as well."

I wanted to ask him so many questions but I knew it would be useless. I couldn't afford something expensive. Hell, I had no money at all to my name. So, reluctantly, I offered him the collar back. He frowned, reaching for it, but then Richard suddenly grabbed it, taking the bottle from the doctor at the same time.

"Thanks Doc, we'll take both. Are we all set?"

Even as he spoke I tried to question him. We didn't have to have the collar... I could just take the pill if things got bad, but when I opened my mouth to tell him he completely ignored any word I managed to spit out and fastened the small collar around my neck.

"Yes, but I need to tell you, Sam." The doctor said as he turned to me and I fidgeted under his gaze. "From what Richard explained, you had a severe heat yesterday, which is normal considering it's your first after having Coda. However, it could also mean that you just have those sorts of heats. It's normal, but I have to recommend that you pick up some condoms from the store as soon as possible, just because you did have trouble controlling yourself at certain points."

I couldn't reply and I bet my face was more red than a cherry.

"Okay, I've already got some somewhere at home so until we can get to the store, we'll have those just in case." Richard replied before ushering me outside towards the office. There was a young woman sitting in the waiting room but we paid her no mind as Richard took care of the bill, then got us in the car to head home. I was silent the whole way, fingering my new collar. I had heard the veterinary clerk say that the cost of the visit had been nearly four hundred dollars. Which was probably why I couldn't get my tongue to work.

"I'm glad you're feeling better."

My eyes lifted to meet Richard's in the rear-view mirror when we stopped at a light. I couldn't think of anything to say, but I had a feeling I didn't have to.