"Mr. Candem, you're pregnant. We should perform an ultrasound to verify that the fetus is well. Do you keep track of your cycles, Mr. Candem?"

Leo shifted restlessly in the office chair.

"Excuse me, are you sure those are my results? I think there's been a mix-up—I came because the definition of my subgender is still pending."

The doctor, about 40 years old, adjusted his hair with a questioning expression.

"Well, seeing the hormone levels in your blood test that indicate pregnancy, and considering that you're a man, it's easily deducible that the subgender is omega."

Leo returned his gaze with evident antipathy. Was he really speaking to him with a condescending tone? A health professional from such a large hospital?

Leo was getting nervous. The doctor looked at him expecting some kind of reaction.

He breathed deeply before speaking.

"So lately a uterus formed... out of nowhere and I started having phantom cycles."

The doctor looked at him sideways and laughter resonated in the office. From the physician's expression, he had thought Leo's comment was a joke. Upon noticing Leo's threatening gaze, he cleared his throat nervously and had the decency to blush slightly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were being serious." He looked away slightly. "No, of course not. That's impossible. The latest recorded case so far belongs to a young beta who had a subgender change at age 15, awakening as a recessive omega. A case that appears in study texts."

Leo felt an unpleasant sensation throughout his body. Without responding, he looked for his phone, typed a few words until he located the file he was looking for. It was an image. He turned the phone to show it to the doctor.

When he spoke, his voice sounded rocky:

"So, am I a miracle for science, doctor?"

The doctor looked at the image the young man showed him on his phone, which came from an MRI.

"This study was done on me a year ago."

The doctor inspected the image closely. He asked:

"How tall are you?"

"6 feet," Leo responded somewhat surprised.

The doctor moved away from the phone with a furrowed brow.

"That study isn't yours. The image belongs to a young male, but you can tell from the bone length and hips that it's not yours. There's a big height difference."

Leo had to admit he wasn't prepared to receive that response. With a cold tone, he added:

"That image is from a study done on me in this same hospital when the former endocrine specialist was here, Dr. Gharam."

The doctor, who clearly liked to show off how well his delicate tan looked, lost all color in his face upon hearing those words.

Leo, who wasn't going to waste the opportunity, quickly added:

"Not to mention the experimental treatment I was part of in order to define my subgender, only to now find out it was never necessary and that on top of that, I'm pregnant."

The doctor nodded with a solemn attitude and typed a very long text on the computer.

"I've left everything recorded in the medical report. Please understand that I cannot be held responsible for another health professional's actions. Someone from administration will contact you so your case can be clarified and what really happened can be investigated."

He stood up, and while giving him directions on where to schedule the ultrasound and explaining something about the maternal chart, he accompanied him to the door and said goodbye with surprising speed.

Leo was going to say something, but the doctor called the next patient, and the dark-haired boy had no choice but to move away from the door. He walked down the hallway with a blank mind—he hadn't even understood about getting the ultrasound, he barely remembered anything. At some point he reached the main door and looked around feeling lost. He took out his phone—he had only managed to record the last part of the conversation, but it didn't serve as proof of anything, only to ensure that the doctor should put on record in his clinical history the nonexistent diagnosis and the female doctor's error. He knew he had copies of all the files because he had taken the trouble to screenshot them when, frustrated, he confirmed that the app wouldn't let him download them.

He should do something, but he couldn't shake the feeling of exhaustion and at the same time overwhelm that he felt. He walked slowly toward a cafeteria—he should buy himself something with sugar, he could collapse at any moment. At that instant he felt a hand on his arm. He turned questioningly. A young woman in the hospital's nursing uniform looked at him, evidently saddened.

"I'm so sorry, this is all we can do for you right now." She smiled at him. "I hope you understand. And don't come back to this place—it's for the best."

Leo smiled at her and squeezed tightly what she had given him in his hand. The young woman left quickly. Leo continued walking. On the corner he went into the cafeteria to order an apple juice. While waiting, he opened his hand. It was a lawyer's card—on the back of the card was written by hand the case name and resolution number. So he wasn't the only one. Though that didn't bring him much consolation either. He was so desolate at that moment that he didn't even feel he had enough strength to start a legal battle.

They gave him the drink and he headed back to the street. Upon leaving, a gust of icy wind hit his face. His eyes stung. The sound of his phone pulled him again from the nothingness where he had submerged for a moment. He looked at the screen and the name that appeared made him scream like a madman in the middle of the street.

"AND NOW YOU CALL ME? I HATE YOU!!"

Naturally he didn't answer, but instead blocked the phone number. And if he could, he would block his memory from his mind.

He needed to think. He looked at his phone, let out a groan, opened his contact list, and pressed "call" when he found the name.

The recipient didn't take long and their voice sounded reassuringly clear.

"It's me," Leo said. "Can we meet at home? I'll be there in ten minutes."

The receiver responded affirmatively and then hung up.

The journey felt endless, however he had decided not to think about anything that had happened to avoid a possible breakdown. He got off the bus, walked 5 minutes to the complex of imposing new buildings. He arrived, announced himself downstairs, and went up to the apartment. He rang the doorbell. A woman about 50 years old, with black hair and blue eyes, opened the door. Leila, his mother, was radiant as always. She greeted him briefly and headed to the kitchen to wait for him while her son prepared to enter.

As she headed to the kitchen she said:

"You surprised me—you said you'd come next week to eat... wait, I'll make you something warm to drink, it's a bit cool..."

Leo left his jacket and shoes at the entrance before heading to the kitchen. He paused briefly in the hallway, took a breath—the familiar aroma was comforting. And suddenly he felt small, like a child again. Jared was right about something—he had so many awards they probably could have wallpapered a room. The first hung proudly near the foyer with a photo they had taken of him at that moment in the town at age six. In the photo he was with his parents. They always celebrated each award as if it were the first he had received, and he never understood how they could get so excited about something that was no longer new, but deep inside, far from all logic, that celebration and excitement always filled him with a warm sensation for days.

He walked toward the kitchen, entered slowly. His mother was preparing some sweets. On the wooden table was a steaming cup of black coffee, waiting for him. He approached, looked at the cup, and then at his mother. His tone of voice sounded indifferent.

"Is caffeine good for the baby? I'm expecting one."

There were few things that could surprise his mother, and this had been one of them—he could observe it in her pupils when she turned toward him. He watched her in silence and let himself fall into the chair.

Leila took away the cup, threw out the coffee, and brought him a glass of water. She breathed deeply and sat across from her son.

Leo was concise with explanations and not very communicative. Except for this occasion, where he felt the need to be as detailed as possible. At the end of his account, which ended with the visit to the doctor and the nurse giving him the card, the only thing he had omitted was about the dissociation, since it was an assumption and wasn't confirmed.

He handed her the card with a trembling pulse.

His mother grabbed the card and read the lawyer's name aloud and frowned.

"Leo, I think this is the famous lawyer who went viral years ago for a fraud case regarding stem cell treatment." She took out her phone and searched for the case name. "Yes, it's him. This guy is a beast. His field is malpractice."

She continued typing on her phone and immediately a triumphant smile appeared on her face.

"Leo, in the case that appears on the card they have 15 reported cases, of which three were part of the experimental treatment. They talk about millionaire compensations." She looked away from the phone before continuing. "You should call him today—I think in your case, the financial compensation will be high."

Leo looked at her and collapsed on the table.

"Mom, do you understand this isn't about money? I'm omega. Can you understand that my subgender is omega?"

His tone of voice denoted sorrow.

"Possibly dominant," his mother added, softening her tone of voice.

Leo closed his eyes for a moment. His mother was a dominant omega—even now it seemed almost logical to have inherited her subgender. Though his father was alpha, so it could have been either of the two.

For the first time in many years, Leo's gaze was sad and dark, and his deep blue eyes filled with tears.

"Mom, this isn't what I had planned for myself. Nothing I had planned for my future works. What am I going to do? I'm in law school—I can already forget about aspiring to a position as a judge in the judicial court. I've been gathering merits since I was little. In recent years I added so many extracurricular activities... for what? They're useless to me."

He covered his face with his hands—his world had disappeared from one moment to the next.

Leila observed him in silence. She couldn't judge him. She had known her nature since age 15 and had oriented her possibilities based on that. She couldn't try to pass on her beliefs because they had only worked for her. She had to be fair with her son, even if the options she could give him didn't align with what she professed.

"Leo," she breathed deeply, "you're registered as beta—otherwise they wouldn't have admitted you to law school just like that. What I'm getting at is, if you give up the lawsuit and compensation, I doubt anyone will modify your registration. You can continue living as beta—there are medications that would allow it. The cost to your health is very high, but the possibility exists."

Leo smiled at her—he knew it went against all the principles she believed in and on which they had raised him.

"Mom, thanks. But I'm not like that—I couldn't and would hate to lie about who I am."

His mother smiled at him, and when she spoke again her voice sounded calm and full of sweetness while drying his cheeks.

"You're on scholarship at one of the most prestigious universities worldwide. You have the capacity to finish your degree early. You can also request an exchange and take a semester or two abroad—it would help you put distance and get used to your new reality."

Leo nodded, a bit calmer. He hadn't thought of such an option, but a bitter smile appeared on his face as he murmured:

"For what? In the end, what's the use of what I'm doing? How am I going to continue with a baby?"

-cont part 2-