“I know, baby. I love you too.” I patted his chest sweetly, then turned in his arms. “Do you think you could rub my back? A little lower? Yessss, right there.” I moaned, leaning into him as he dug his thumbs into my low back. It was partly to give him something to focus on, but also… yeah, it was definitely starting to hurt. Like, a lot.
I barely remembered what it was like when I went into labor with Mia. I was so worried about Victor finding me, about keeping quiet, about delivery my baby safely, that the pain was secondary. A distant concern, deep in the background. This time, though, it was very much front and center.
The first time a groan managed to sneak out, my first instinct was to swallow it down, but then I realized how silly that was. I was in the hospital, with my men by my sides, and Victor was locked up behind bars—where he would be for another couple decades at least. It turned out, the courts didn’t like dirty cops, and they managed to pile all kinds of charges on him, including fraud, forgery, domestic abuse, and three counts of attempted murder.
And you know what? Once the trial was over, it had been surprisingly easy to banish the fucker from my mind. I’d wasted too much of my time and energy on him, and he wasn’t worth a single second more.
With that self-reassurance, I let myself relax a little. I groaned, I paced, and more importantly, I leaned on the support of my mates. They were here for me in every way, and I trusted them completely to get me through this.
And I planned on taking full advantage of the fact that I had help this time around. Back rubs were just the beginning! I madeJerry sing to me, his low baritone a calming rumble against my back as he swayed us back and forth. Lazlo spoon-fed me ice chips, even though there was nothing wrong with my arms. They played card games with me, and whenever I was bent over with a contraction, they slipped me the best cards, ensuring I would win; I pretended not to notice.
When it came time to push, it was Lazlo seated between my bent knees. He’d been my doctor every step of this pregnancy, just like he’d asked, and I couldn’t imagine trusting anyone else with this. His scrubs and rubber gloves were a far sexier look than they had any right to be. Maybe it was just because I was experiencing some serious hero worship right now, knowing he represented relief from the incessant waves of pain that were currently smashing into me every two minutes.
“Okay, baby, on this next contraction, I want you to push,” he said.
I whined, dropping my head back on Jerry’s shoulder where he sat behind me. “What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time, the boogie-woogie?”
Lazlo’s laugh was muffled behind his mask. “So glad I can amuse you,” I muttered sarcastically, but whatever reply he gave me was lost behind the next contraction, more a solid brick wall now than a wave. There was nothing to do but face it head-on and hope I was strong enough to withstand it.
Jerry sat up behind me, bracing me for this final push. “Come on, sweetheart, you’ve got this. You’re so close.”
I bore down, letting out a fierce war cry, embracing the fiery ring of pain that threatened to tear me in two. I remembered this pain, and instead of shying away from it, I plunged headfirst straight through it.
With a rush, the pressure vanished, and I collapsed back, gasping. “Is that it? Did I do it?”
“You certainly did,” Lazlo said, his eyes crinkled at the corners, and I knew he was grinning like a fool behind that mask. “We have a son!”
“A son!” I gushed, trying to get a look at him. He let out a high-pitched complaint as he was cleaned up.
Jerry was shaking against me with silent emotion, but when Lazlo held out the scissors and asked, “Do you want to cut the cord?” he broke into full-on choking sobs. Lazlo and I had been trying to get that man’s steely control to break for over a year now, with zero success, but he didn’t stand a chance against our son.
Lazlo reluctantly passed our son to the nurse, before he deftly stitched me up, giving me the care I’d missed the first time. When our baby was cleaned and swaddled, Laz carried him over to me, his gaze so full of adoration. “Our son,” he whispered in total awe.
I accepted the tiny bundle and looked down at the red, wrinkly baby I’d been waiting nine months to meet. “Hello, my sweet Elijah,” I said, trying out the name we’d chosen for a boy. His little bow-shaped mouth puckered, and I decided that meant he liked it.
There was a brief moment of doubt when I brought him to my chest to feed for the first time. I’d half expected having the same trouble feeding him as I had Mia, so when he’d latched on like a champ, instinctively sucking away, the relief almost made me laugh. “Oh… wow,” I whispered, brushing away the tears trickling down my cheeks.
“We are so proud of you,” Jerry said, his eyes overflowing with tears as he watched me feed our son.
Lazlo rounded the bed to stand at my other side and brushed sweaty hair back from my forehead. “Our beautiful, brave, strong omega.” My blush burned fiercely on my cheeks, and I looked down at Elijah to hide my face. Even after all this time,their praise was hard to accept—but I knew they would never stop, so I should probably just get used to it, right?
The narrow hospital bed was not made for three, but try explaining that to my two stubborn, overprotective men. They perched on either side of me, balancing on just one ass cheek each, so they could be as close as humanly possible. It was their steady warmth and familiar presence that finally let me relax enough to close my eyes.
I must’ve fallen asleep, because I woke up sometime later to a knock at the door. I immediately tried to sit up, searching for our son, but I found Elijah sleeping in Jerry’s arms, and I flopped back onto the bed. “Come in,” Lazlo called, seeing me awake.
The door opened, and my mom peeked in. “Are you guys up for some visitors?”
“Of course,” I told her. “Always.”
Once Victor had been arrested, I’d felt safe enough to search out my mother on social media. Turned out, Victor had made her life miserable too. She hadn’t known who was pulling the strings at the time, but later, she found out he’d had her evicted from her apartment, frozen her assets, and disconnected her phone number, leaving her scrambling to make ends meet. She just thought she’d been a victim of identity theft. She’d tried to reach out to me a few times, but he’d made it nearly impossible for us to reconnect. She hadn’t even known I’d left him.
When she slipped into the room, she wasn’t alone. Sam was with her, and he was carrying a gift bag. His eyes went straight to the new baby. “Is that him?” he whispered with total reverence.
“Come meet your little brother,” Jerry said at a normal volume. The poor kid would just have to get used to some noise, because our house was always full of it. Mia was still too young to understand what a new baby meant, so she was with a sitter. Olivia’s student loans werestillgrateful for the paycheck…
Jerry got Sam seated in the chair and then set Elijah into his arms, reminding him how to cradle his head, though at this point, Sam was practically an old pro. He was so in love with Eli, and I felt so blessed to be witness to this kind of magic. Eli was officially his little brother, since the adoption paperwork was finalized—he now hadthreedads, and so did Mia. We already had the paperwork ready to file for Elijah too, since a birth certificate only had room for two names. The paperwork was really only a formality; none of us needed it to feel like their parents, but I’d seen how much it meant to Sammy to be loved and accepted as our son. I wanted the same for Mia and Elijah.
I sighed, sinking back into the pillows. Compared to two years ago, my life was practically unrecognizable. I was living on a farm, with a dozen chickens, two goats, and one dwarf pig. Just last week, I’d sold my very first painting, and I was thinking of going back to school to study art. But more importantly, I was safe, I was happy, and I was in love. Everything else was just the cherry on top.
