“Clover, you’re bonded to a pack of fucking billionaires. They wouldnothave sent you home. They’d have put you in the damn presidential suite and done every test under the sun.”
“Well, excuuuuse me for forgetting that rich bitches live on another fucking planet from the rest of us.” I whimpered, pain sweeping through me again.
“Shit!” Maggie stood straighter, her eyes somehow flaring even wider as she held her hands out toward me. “You’re really in labor?”
I shook my head because this was all so wrong. “No, no, Icannotbe in labor, because when I go into labor, I’m going to be in a hospital where they have clean water, doctors, anddrugs, all the pain relief drugs. I plan to take every damn medication they offer me and eat ’em like candy or let the doctor stab ‘em in my ass,” I hissed, another cramp hitting me. I breathed through the discomfort while Maggie awkwardly supported me.
“Let’s walk a bit. That’s supposed to help, right? I feel like that’s what I’ve read. I have no idea what’s from TV shows or the baby books anymore, but I’m like ninety percent sure walking is supposed to help labor.”
“I willnotbe going into labor in a basement!” I hissed.
Maggie nudged me into motion, lightly rubbing my back in small circles that sort of distracted me. “Umm, I know that’s the plan and all, but…”
I whimpered.
Maggie paused under the vent on one lap. “Hey, assholes! If this is a ransom thing, I can pay it myself if you let me have my phone. Clover needs to get to a hospital.”
I stared at her. How had it not occurred to me that she’d have access to the Ashcroft fortune for something like that?
“Do you think we’re stupid?” the female voice snapped. “We’re not giving you your phone. You’d call for help. We’re getting the money either way, so sit down and shut up.”
Maggie pouted and whispered, “Damn. I didn’t put a lot of faith in that, but I’d kinda hoped.”
Much as she might want to, even all her influence and money wasn’t letting her throw her weight around in this situation.
Every lap around this stupid room made me more furious that my first baby was probably going to be born in this hellhole. Whoever the fuck had taken us had better hope this was a long labor, because I was ready to maul their faces off.
I whimpered through another cramp, my knees almost buckling, and my water finally broke. “I hate this.”
Maggie frowned. “I know, I’m not a fan of it either. Let’s get those pants off you, and you can have a little rest.”
Not about to protest, I let her help me to the mattress—though I cringed at having to use it at all, it was better than sitting on concrete. She wrangled me out of my sodden pants, washed up again, and she resumed rubbing circles on my back. Maggie pressed harder on her next circle, adjusting, which put more pressure on my pissed-off muscles until I groaned.
“Oh, shit. Sorry.” She pulled her hands back sharply.
“No, it’s okay. It felt nice. Actually, can you press on my lower back, maybe squeeze my hips a bit?” I asked, gently swaying from side to side and focusing on keeping my breathing even.
She did as I asked, and the relief—though not total—was terrific. I vaguely remembered how the books and nurses said that having someone put pressure on the lower back could be really great when the time finally came.
It was.
“How’s that?” Maggie asked softly.
“It helps,” I said, nodding with my eyes scrunched closed.
“Clover, I know you don’t want to have my little nibling down here, but if this baby is choosing to come now, then there’s nothing we can do to stop it.” She didn’t let up on the pressure as she spoke, and I had to at least give Maggie that. She might have been saying exactly what I didn’t want to hear, but at least she was still trying to help.
I frantically shook my head, hating every second of this. “Nope. Your brother will be here before this baby arrives, and my packwillget me to a hospital. One with epidurals and all the medication I can handle. I want to be floating on a cloud when I have this baby.”
Despite the discomfort of the moment, Maggie snorted. “Sure, and my brother and his pack will cease being overprotective buttheads.”
I turned to look at my fellow omega. For a brief second, we stared at each other seriously before bursting into laughter. Despite the gravity of our situation, kidnapped by a damn stalker and me in labor, we’d found a moment of levity. And hell, that helped almost as much as the back rubs.
Humor was good. Humor meant we hadn’t totally lost hope.
Yet.
Giving birth in a shitty basement was the opposite of how I wanted to bring my baby into the world. Still, given the rapidly accelerating contractions—I had to admit that’s what they were—I was unlikely to have a choice. The guys just had to get here soon. No matter what nonsense was going on in the outside world, they had to get to me. I wasn’t going to let my child be in this foul place a moment longer than necessary.
