Hope took my hand and led me to the bed. “Don’t worry about the linens. We have plastic lining to protect the mattress.”
“You did all this in fifteen minutes? How?”
She smiled. “With a little help.”
“Coming through!” Archer walked through the doorway with a rocking chair hooked under his right arm. “Where do you want this?”
Hope pointed next to the bed. “Put it there for now. Did you bring the lap blanket that’s in my closet?”
“I’ll get it,” Cecilia said before rushing off.
Not only had they brought in a bed and drapes, but there were small tables throughout with candles lit. They obviously didn’t want to put candles on Melody’s and Hope’s workstations since they had flammable materials, and someone had draped dark fabric over their desks to hide everything from sight.
“Is something wrong with the power?” I asked.
Tak shook his head. “Babies should enter this world in natural light. Nothing artificial.”
“Artificial light is always better,” Virgil remarked from the doorway. “The more electricity, the better.”
Bear clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s get you sober.”
Another pain hit me, and I clutched my belly and leaned forward.
Montana and Lakota supported my arms.
“Milly’s out of town,” Melody informed the Packmaster. “We need an experienced midwife.”
He rubbed his chin, his dark eyes brimming with concern. “How far apart are the contractions?”
Melody flipped her hair back. “I think about twenty minutes. I didn’t look at the time when we left. You haven’t had one since the bar, have you, Joy?”
I shook my head.
While Catcher investigated the room, Montana and Lakota walked me to the bed. As soon as I sat down, they both shifted. Lakota’s silver wolf sniffed the air and then raised his head, unleashing an excited howl. Montana’s wolf joined in.
Robyn came in with a stack of towels and set them at the foot of the bed. “They couldn’t wait, could they?” She collected their clothes and shoes from the floor. “Montana, you are worse than a kid at Christmas. We still have a million things to do!”
“Why did they shift?” I asked.
She picked up a shoe after dropping it. “In my former pack, it was common for some of the pack to shift during labor. I guess it’s instinctive to protect the most vulnerable.”
Cecilia hugged Archer’s middle, and I felt the weight of their stares.
Hope clapped her hands against her cheeks. “My gosh. Robyn is right. There’s so much to do! We need to find someone who can help with delivery. If her contractions are still twenty minutes apart, we have time.”
Bear walked in and set a glass of water by the bed. “Do you want me to boil water?”
I was getting dizzy with all the chatter.
“That won’t be necessary.” Salem entered the room with a confident stride. “We’re in the twenty-first century. We have a washer for dirty linens, and I have what I need to sterilize equipment.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “How is the patient feeling?”
Only a short time ago, we had severed ties. Yet Salem’s unflappable approach to medicine calmed me down. If he was holding any grudges, it didn’t show.
“Tired,” I admitted.
“You should lie down.”
“Walking is better,” Hope suggested. “It can move the contractions closer.”
