Their Marked Baby Boy

5

As we walked through the hallways,I saw people in similar uniforms to Dan. I assumed they must also be agent for the SHB. Each one smiled at me as we passed them, hiving me a sense if warmth and comfort I had craved for a while.

Dan knocked on a door labelled Dr Stevens before opening it and ushering me inside. A tall woman with long brown hair beamed at me as I entered, her white coat feeling like a welcome contrast to all the blacks and greys decorating the building.

"Good morning, you must be Lucas," her voice was bright and cheerful as she reached out to shake my hand. "I'm Dr Stevens. It's so nice to meet you."

I smiled awkwardly at her as I shook her hand, I'd never been great at meeting new people, and being in a new place didn't make it any easier. I glanced behind me to where Dan had taken a seat, I'd only met him today, but for some reason, I felt safer knowing he was there.

Dr Stevens led me towards the wall, where she began moving me to different equipment.

"To start, I'm just gonna get some basic data, just things like height and weight, alright?"

"OK." I nodded in agreement, letting her work.

I blushed slightly as she took my height, moving the bar down to touch the top of my head. I knew that at 5'2 I was probably one of the shorter people she'd measured. She looked a bit concerned as she wrote down my weight but quickly moved on, pulling me towards the bed.

"Alright, sweetheart, just sit on the bed for me. I need to garb a few things from my desk."

I had to jump a bit to get up, and my legs hung above the floor by at least a foot. Dr Stevens quickly returned to continue her test. It was going smoothly until she pulled out a small light. She shone it into my right eye, then reached to move my hair to do my left. My hand shot up to grab hers in an attempt to stop her. I looked up at her, fear obvious on my face.

She smiled at me with a hint of sadness. "It's alright, darling. I know what's under there, and no one is going to hurt you. You're safe here."

I slowly removed my hand, allowing her to tuck my hair behind my ear. She quickly shone the light in my eye before putting it away but left my hair out of my face.

"Do you know what the mark is?" She asked

"It's... It's a birthmark, isn't it?" I was confused by her question. Wasn't it obvious.

"Kind of," she replied. "I'm guessing that Dan didn't explain mate markings to you and that you haven't seen a mirror today?"

I shook my head, confirming her suspicions. She turned her head to look at Dan, who laughed nervously

"I guess I missed that part."

She sighed as she walked to her desk.

"A mate marking is like a birthmark, but it shows your bond to you mate, or in your case mates."

"Wait, what? I thought people only had one mate." I asked

She walked towards me, holding a mirror.

"Normally yes, but in some cases, the mate bond ties more than two people together."

She held the mirror up, allowing me to see. The mark I'd had all my life had changed overnight. The pinkish splodge now resembles something like a three leaf clover, with each leaf having a coloured hue :green, red, and blue.

"Each colour represents a different mate. Your mates will have a matching mark somewhere on them, but one segment will be a different colour to represent you."

"So, I have three mates?" I questioned in disbelief.

"Yep." She replied merrily before her voice became more serious." I know this is all new to you, but you should never be ashamed or scared of people seeing your mark. It shows everyone that you have three mates who will love and protect you. Most of us only cover our marks if it's part of a uniform or in a hard to show off spot."

She pulled up her sleeve to show a dark grey half heart on her wrist.

"Dan." She called out, causing him to rise from his chair and turn around. Revealing an identical mark but in a light purple on the back of his neck.

"So you're..." I began

"That's right," she said. "we're mated, Dan's my sub."

I nodded, but I still did not quite understand the ins and outs of the dynamics.

Dan walked toward us and held onto Dr Stevens' arm, leaning against her slightly.

"So now you know, wear your mark with pride." He said to me.

I nodded again, unsure of what to say. I couldn't believe that the very thing I had blamed part of my father's cruelty on was a symbol of those who would love and care for me.

A low buzzing sound interrupted the comfortable silence. Dan reached into his pocket to check.

"Your results are done. Are you ready to find out your dynamic?"

I wiped a way a stray tear that I didn't realise I had shed and tucked away a few strands of hair that had fallen out behind my ear.

"I'm ready."