Tak gestured into the adjacent room. “Take Bear, and use my truck.”
“Be careful with my equipment,” Milly called out. “You break it, you buy it! And bring a few hospital gowns. They’re in a storage room downstairs.” Milly turned her gaze about the room. “What’s wrong with your electricity?”
“It’s better for the baby,” Tak said. “They should come into the world in soft, natural light. Easier on the eyes.”
“But your power works? My equipment doesn’t run on sunshine.”
Tak rubbed his eyes. He always looked different when he wore his hair unbound. “It works.”
“Good. Find your brightest lamp. A headlamp is even better. I’m trying to think of what I don’t have in that childbirth bag. Get me plastic or trash bags, clean towels you don’t want, a large bowl, and hand sanitizer.”
“Hand sanitizer?” Lucian repeated from the doorway. “What for? She can’t get an infection. We’re immune to germs.”
Milly gave him a stony look. “In that case, why don’t you fill your toilet bowl with soup and have dinner in the bathroom? We’re not animals. Well, maybe some of you are,” she said with a snicker. “I like everything sanitary and clean. Make sure you have plenty of ice in the freezer for her to suck on later when she’s off food. Did anyone buy diapers, bottles, or a breast pump?”
Hope arched her eyebrows at Tak. “We have plenty of diapers.”
Tak laughed under his breath and shook his head.
Milly turned her attention back to me. “Do you need the placenta?”
I blinked at her.
“Some people like to bury it. One family of lions wanted to eat it. I don’t judge either way.”
“No. Please… I don’t wantanyoneeating it.”
Lucian flashed a crooked grin. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Bear tried to fillet the damn thing.”
“Now you’re grossing me out,” Mercy said, rousing from her spot on the floor.
Tak turned to leave. “I’ll get the supplies. Lucian, search the storage room for a headlamp.”
Milly fluffed my pillow. “You may not be able to sleep through the night, but get those naps in while you can. This is the time to relax. Come morning, you can walk around and we’ll see where we are. If you stay up all night, you’ll be too exhausted, and we don’t know yet how many hours you’ll be in labor. I’ll sit with you through the next contractions, but if I don’t get some shut-eye, I might wind up delivering a chicken from the oven.” She turned to the women. “If you ladies are staying in here, get some sleep. I might need your assistance, and Joy needs her packmates to be calm and collected, not running on three cups of caffeine to stay awake.”
After tucking myself beneath the covers, I rolled away from the door and stared at the dark corner of the room.
Milly patted my shoulder. “Next contraction, I want you to tell me when it starts and when it stops. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ve got loads of experience.”
I dreamedmy wolves were splashing in a cool stream while chasing each other. The baby lying on the blanket in front of me giggled at them. One wolf suddenly disappeared, and the other shook her wet coat before joining us.
A breeze rustled the pale-green leaves while cotton candy clouds drifted across a blue sky. I heard a lawn mower in the distance and people talking in low voices. When someone moved my hair away from my neck and kissed my nape, I luxuriated in their affection.
I opened my eyes and blinked at the daylight peering through the curtain borders. The dream slowly filtered out of my mind like the last grains of sand in an hourglass. A lawn mower was humming in the yard while people quietly talked outside the room. Somehow I managed naps between contractions, but it was also throwing off my sleep.
When someone kissed my nape again, it startled me enough to look over my shoulder.
“Atticus? Is that you? Am I dreaming?”
His hair glistened, and he smelled like soap. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
I rolled onto my back. “When did you get here?”
“Three hours ago. I didn’t want to disturb you. The Relic said you needed every minute of rest.”
I was disoriented from a disrupted sleep all night. Milly had stayed up for a while to monitor my contractions but eventually went to bed.
Another contraction came on, and I groaned.
