“That’s right,” I added. “Think of it as feeding your child.”
Benji steeled himself. He tilted the glass back and took a small sip, then screwed up his eyes and gulped it down.
A beat passed.
Benji opened his eyes again, testing the leftover taste on his tongue.
“Well?” Theo asked.
“It’s… not that bad?” Benji finished.
A collective breath of surprised relief flooded over us. Benji took another sip, then a bigger one. He paused to decide how he felt about the flavor before downing the rest of the glass.
“Wow,” Caleb said. “Once you started, you couldn’t stop, huh?”
Benji shrugged. “I guess so.” Sheepishly, he turned to Theo. “Um, is there any more?”
“Of course!” Theo cried before running off to acquire it.
“What did I say?” Margaret said to Benji, putting her hand on top of his.
“You were right, after all,” Benji replied with a smile. “The first sip was the hardest.”
She nodded gently. “Now you will start to feel better, and the baby will be quite happy. You’ve done well, Benji.”
Benji leaned over and embraced her, and Margaret returned the gesture. I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My crazed mother and my mate hugging? Everyone else had a similar reaction to the scene. Theo watched with wide eyes, while Adriel uncrossed his arms and let them fall to his sides.
After Benji drank another glass, the color finally began to return to his face. The dark bags underneath his eyes faded and his cheeks grew pink again.
“Do you feel better?” I asked, filled with relief.
“Definitely,” he replied. Humor returned to his expression, too. “It’s crazy to think that a little blood made me feel so much better.” He glanced down at his swollen belly and rested his hands on it, then muttered, “Once you get out, though, you’re on your own, you little blood-sucker.”
* * *
After a satisfying mealand a relaxing bath, Benji settled into bed. But despite all that, he still remained a bit uncomfortable.
“Sit up,” I suggested. “I’ll give you a massage.”
Benji groaned. “That would be amazing.”
The strain of carrying so much extra weight was getting to him. His lower back hurt most of the time, and no amount of bathing or stretching would help. We both knew the discomfort would only go away once the baby was born.
“Did I tell you?” Benji murmured as I worked out the knots of muscle in his back.
“Tell me what, my dear?”
“Margaret wants me to have a c-section.”
I paused momentarily, then continued. “Really? Why is that?”
“I dunno,” Benji replied, sounding half dazed from the pleasure of the massage. “She said something about wanting to see her grandchild as soon as possible.”
I scoffed. “Well, the decision isn’t up to her. It’s yours to make. You hadn’t mentioned a c-section earlier, so I assumed you wanted to have a natural birth.”
“I did. I’m not even sure what I wanna do anymore.” He chuckled tiredly. “Honestly, getting knocked out and having to not do anything while the doctor gets the baby out sounds like a good plan.”
“It’s entirely your choice,” I reminded him. I didn’t want to attempt to sway his mind either way, but I had a dark feeling that Margaret had tried to do so. “Benji, can I ask you something?”
