“She emailed me. It’s nothing to worry about—just a routine check-up since we’re so close to the due date.”
He nodded.
“Have something to eat first. She can wait.”
“Just wrap it up and bring it with us,” I said, glancing at the perfectly cut grilled panini.
He nodded, picked up the tray, and left.
The moment I heard the stairs creak at the bottom, I started taking slow, measured breaths.
???
As Melissa parked the car, I spotted a nurse waving us over, a wheelchair already waiting to cart me off. I placed a hand on Blaidd’s chest and smiled up at him.
“Don’t go nuts on me,” I murmured, patting his chest.“I need you.”
“What is it?” he asked, covering my hand with his.
His deep blue eyes locked onto mine as he waited.
“The bags are in the boot,” I said calmly, even as his pupils blew wide.“I’ve been having contractions.”
His head snapped toward the hospital doors—then back to me.
Then back to the doors.
Then to me again.
He repeated the motion a few more times before I slapped his shoulder.
“Focus on the breathing techniques we learned.”
He stared at me blankly—then bolted out of the car and grabbed both bags in one go.
Melissa met my eyes in the rearview mirror.
“Good luck,” she said. She didn’t add that I’d need it—but her look did.
“We should’ve taken my car,” Blaidd muttered as he helped me out.“You should’ve told me. I should’ve—”
And so it begins.
???
By the time the doors slid open, I was already inside myself.
Hospitals had a particular smell—clean and sharp, layered with something human underneath. Fear, maybe. Anticipation. I barely registered the nurse guiding me into the wheelchair, or the way Blaidd hovered like he was deciding whether to fight her or thank her.
“Easy,” I murmured, tapping his arm as another contraction tightened low and deep.“I’m fine.”
He nodded too fast.
“I know. I know you are,” he said, then turned sharply when a trolley rattled past.“Where are they taking her?”
The nurse smiled with the kind of calm that came from doing this every day.“Labour ward.”
Fenrir paced inside him. I could feel it—sharp, restless energy snapping against the bond. Bouda, by contrast, settled in me like a warm coil.
