20
Ryu
When the sixth and final month of pregnancy finally rolled around, neither Scar or I were taking any chances.
“I’m going to be honest with the both of you,” Dr. Lynden had told us at our last clinic visit. “Given Scar’s age and situation, I recommend a c-section instead of a natural birth.”
“Hell, I’m not about to argue with that,” Scar had muttered.
Our friends joined us the day of the c-section. Scar wouldn’t admit it, but I knew him well enough by now to know he greatly appreciated their support and presence. And it didn’t hurt that Gabriel and Raja were so good with Angel.
Scar squeezed my hand as we walked towards the front desk. Gabriel, Dante, Raja and Lorenzo sat in the waiting area, all giving us supportive smiles. Charlotte, Noelle and Noah huddled in the corner playing with the clinic’s toy set, while Angel sat in Gabriel’s lap. As much as she loved Gabriel—and the other way around—Angel seemed to know something was going on with her dads. She watched Scar with a slight furrow in her brow that broke my heart.
“He’ll be back out soon, baby,” I promised her.
“You won’t even know I’m gone, Angel,” Scar said.
At the front desk, the beta nodded at us. “Ah, you must be Scar. I have an appointment here for you.”
“That’s right,” Scar mumbled. I could tell he was nervous. I rubbed his back in soothing circles as he filled out a few forms.
“Everything’s going to be great,” I told him.
He made a grunt. “I hope so.”
We waited for a few minutes for Dr. Lynden to arrive. Gabriel and Raja both offered Scar their comfort.
“You’re not gonna feel a thing,” Gabriel said.
“Yeah—thinking about it makes me wishIhad a c-section,” Raja added. “It was so damn painful.”
Scar raised a brow. “I’ve been through enough pain to be used to it. I would’ve done it naturally, if it wasn’t safer this way.”
Dante butted in. “So? What are the baby names you got?”
Scar waved him away. “Shush. It’s a secret.”
Groaning, Dante cried, “Why? You’re so mean!”
Gabriel laughed. “Honey, it’stheirbaby. You don’t get a say in it.”
“Maybe if you’re so excited about the names, you can make a third,” Lorenzo teased his brother.
“Oh, hell no,” Gabriel declared. “Two is enough for now. You alphas can talk all you want about wanting more kids, but until you’ve pushed a baby out of you, you don’t get a say in it.”
The conversation did a good job of distracting Scar from his worries, and soon enough the beta from earlier stood and announced his name.
“Dr. Lynden is ready for you now,” he said.
Scar swallowed thickly. I held his hand and helped him stand. He’d grown huge over the past six months. Despite all his discomfort, I still thought he was incredibly sexy looking like that.
“Come on,” I encouraged him. “Let’s go have a baby.”
All our friends called “Good luck!” from behind as we followed the beta through the doors and down the hall to the operating room. Scar’s breathing grew shallow and rapid.
“I’m right here,” I comforted. “Don’t worry.”
“I know,” Scar murmured. “It’s just, the last time I had a surgery was…”
