"I assumed," Elizabeth agreed quietly. "She looks much like her mother. She'll be a replica of her when she gets older."
"The day will come when strangers will believe you're twins rather than mother and daughter." The Leo chuckled as he glanced at Rachel.
Rachel couldn't speak. She knew what was going on. The Leo was using his own senses to draw in the scent of whatever was changing in her child.
"Dane, could you come here?" Leo rose from the chair as Dane moved to him. "Hold her for a moment."
Dane accepted the slight weight as Rachel felt her stomach knot in panic again.
Dane spoke gently, easily, to the baby. He obviously had experience with children. Within minutes, he had Amber cooing, her eyes bright, her lips stretched wide in a smile. Her daughter, even at her young age, was quite content with the male attention she was gaining.
"I can't stand this," Rachel whispered as she felt Jonas's head against the side of hers.
"Easy, love," he whispered, laying a kiss to her ear as though there weren't five others standing there who glanced at him, their expressions registering momentary shock before they returned their attention to Amber.
"There are slight physical changes," Elizabeth remarked, then glanced at Rachel. "May I remove her gown?"
Rachel nodded jerkily.
The examination took a toll on her nerves. If not for Jonas, Rachel didn't know if she could have survived the ordeal. It seemed to last forever before they laid Amber on a gurney covered in a soft russet-colored blanket.
Ely and Amburg moved closer as Elizabeth took several pressure vials of blood, swabbed Amber's mouth, then, surprisingly, swabbed under her arms, behind her knees and again behind her neck.
"Sweat collects continually beneath the arms, behind the knees and along the back and front of a baby's neck," Elizabeth explained as she stored the samples in sterile containers. "We can use her diaper for a urine sample. That's imperative at this point. We need as many differing samples as possible to see if any changes are occurring in her."
"There's definitely no disease or illness," Leo stated as he glanced back at Rachel. "I agree with Jonas's determination that her scent has changed though. I was here the night you brought her in and took a moment to check her scent then. It's different, and the change isn't natural."
Dane remained silent as they glanced back at him.
"Dane." Leo frowned. "You're often better with the babies than I. What did you sense?"
Dane shook his head. "What you found, Father. I'd be interested in seeing the results of the samples the doctors are taking though."
"Jonas's scent is heavy," Ely stated then, her hand stroking over Amber's head as the baby tried to catch her fingers. "You hold her often?" she asked Jonas.
"Often." Behind her, she felt the slight movement of Jonas's nod.
"Could the changing scent be a marker of some sort?" Elizabeth turned back to her husband and son.
"Of some sort." Dane nodded, his expression too cool, too restrained for the man Rachel had always sensed he was.
"Are the two of you ready now?" Elizabeth turned back to them, a comforting smile on her face. "It will be a while before we have the results back, and we'll need yours as well."
Rachel moved to the gurney, where Amber was once again chortling up at Dane.
"She's physically fine, Ms. Broen," he assured her. "I promise you, if she stays this healthy, she'll grow up to give you gray hairs despite the fact that you're barely going to age a year or two by the time she's mature."
She had to accept their assurances; she had no other choice. She had come to know Leo and Dane over the months she had worked with the Bureau. She had spent quite a bit of time in Sanctuary and had socialized with them often. They were as bluntly honest as Jonas could be. They were manipulating as hell; it seemed to be a family trait as well as a Breed trait. But they wouldn't lie to her about this. Besides, her stomach was finally settling down, assuring her that there was no lie to watch out for.
"Elizabeth, please take enough of Ms. Broen's and Jonas's samples to allow me ample amounts to conduct the tests we discussed earlier," Amburg asked.
"What tests?" Rachel turned to him quickly.
Amburg smiled coolly. He wasn't a warm man. "Simply an array of medical tests, Ms. Broen. Unlike the Breeds, I don't have a sense of smell, and I like to have my own assurances before I begin searching for other answers."
He was lying.
Rachel glanced back at Jonas to see his gaze narrowed on the doctor. Jonas knew he was lying as well. When he turned back to her, though, his gaze wasn't concerned or worried. Doctors were always evasive, she told herself, though she couldn't quite convince herself that everything would be fine.