“Sure thing.” Emelise nodded at her and followed her grandmother out of the house. Whatever the woman had to say, it better be good.
Lily
Lily helped Gage to get Mia out of her sodden pants and into a dress that could be pulled down to cover her up later. A plastic tarp was spread out beneath the sheet and Mia was settled onto the bed. When Mia gripped her hand hard enough it would have broken bones if she’d been human, Lily reached up with her free hand and brushed the hair back from her face. “Just breathe, Mia. Slow, deep breaths until the contraction passes.” Mia had chosen to have a home birth, with the aid of the Pard’s doctor, who had recently returned to New Orleans after finishing her residency at a hospital in Shreveport. Lily kept her voice soft and gentle to keep her friend calm.
“Listen to her; she knows what she’s talkin’ about.”
Lily’s attention went to the door and the woman who stood there. She was expecting a much older woman and was startled to see the woman looked just a bit older than her own twenty-six years.
“Dis is Sabine; she’s da Pard’s doctor,” Gage said in introduction. He saw the look on Lily’s face and chuckled. “Sabine just finished up her residency and came back home. She’s been gone five years and we’re damn glad she’s back.”
“Nice to meet you.” Lily turned her attention back to Mia. “That’s it, deep breaths,” she encouraged and was finally able to flex her fingers to get the blood flowing through them again when Mia’s grip eased.
“Have you had much experience wit’ childbirth?” Sabine moved with grace and efficiency as she got Mia re-positioned so she could check the progress of things.
“Nothing formal, not like you, but I helped out a few times with my old pack, before I left. I was the Alpha’s daughter so it was kind of expected of me, but I did it because I wanted to be there, not because everyone expected me to. The worst was Casey. She was raped when she was fourteen and got pregnant. Her parents wanted her to abort; they didn’t think she could handle it emotionally, but she refused. She…had a lot of problems in childbirth and we almost lost both of them.”
“Dat can happen when da mama is so young. Da poor child. Are she and her babe well?”
“They were when I left. Jacob is eight now. He was two when I left Montana.” She’d not thought about them in a long time and now it made her want to reach out to the younger wolf.
“Dat’s good, dat dey’re both doin’ well.” Sabine looked to Mia and gave her an encouraging smile. “You’ve been in labor a lot longer dan you let on, cher. You’re already at nine centimeters—won’t be long now before you’ll want to start pushin’.”
Mia blushed at the hint of reprimand in Sabine’s voice. “I didn’t know I was in labor. My back was hurtin’ but I didn’t tink anyting about it.”
“Back labor can be tricky because you’re already havin’ back pain from the weight of da babe. No’ting to be embarrassed about, Mia. Now you know for da future.”
Mia just nodded and tried to breathe through the contractions. “When will I know it’s time to push?”
“You’ll fee da urge, but I want you to wait until it’s so strong you can’t fight it anymore. Lily, I’ll use your help since you’re already here and know a bit about childbirth.”
“Just tell me what you need me to do.” As Mia’s labor progressed, she assisted Sabine by helping to keep Mia calm, helping her with her breathing, and finally, when the baby was born, she was the one who wrapped it in a blanket while Sabine got Mia cleaned up.
“You’ve got a healthy baby boy.” Sabine handed the baby to Lily to wrap in a blanket once she’d gotten it cleaned up. Then she turned her attention to Mia so she could help her through the rest of the birth process with the expulsion of the afterbirth.
Gage let out a roar of joy that was soon echoed by the Pard. As their voices lifted to celebrate the birth of Gage and Mia’s son, Lily couldn’t help but add her own voice to it and her howl joined their roars. If anyone was in the bayou that night, they were bound to get one hell of a scare.
