“Let’s go have a baby!” Preston said.
I held up a hand, halting him. “I am probably in the very early stages of labor. I'm going to take another shower and put onsome clean clothes, and then we're going to have a baby. Sound good?”
Merrick nodded. “I'll help you shower.”
“And I'll make you a snack for the road,” Preston added.
“I would offer to watch your shower, but I feel like now is not the right time…” Wilder trailed off.
“I’ll double-check the hospital bags and smack Wilder around the back of the head,” Nolan added.
I chuckled as I waddled toward my nest and my bathroom. “See, we make an excellent team!”
Chapter 53
Hailey
Baby Landry was born almost twenty hours after we made it to the hospital.
The moment he was placed on my chest, I burst into tears and sobbed for a good while.
I was pretty sure I sobbed that he was the cutest squishy potato I had ever seen. For that, I blamed the painkillers.
Birth was tiring, messy, and stressful, but my alphas were there the entire time, holding my hand, feeding me ice chips, or rubbing my feet.
Overall, it was hard but so worth it.
Landry had insanely big blue eyes, and I found myself looking at them almost constantly.
It was almost impossible to think that a mere nine months ago, Preston and I had been in that alley, accidentally bonding with each other. Nine months for my world to entirely flip on its head. For me to fall in love with four alphas.
Every one of them had stayed by my side during birth, steadfast in their resolve to be there, supporting me.
Thankfully, the birth was easy—well, the doctor said it was an easy birth, but my very swollen downstairs begged to differ. No birth was truly easy. Evicting a tiny human from your body wasa difficult experience, no matter what. But my birth lacked any complications, so I was able to go home after a day.
“Someone needs changing.” I smiled down at the baby in my arms. Since coming home, I'd spent every minute in the nest, snuggling with my baby. Feeding him or simply basking in newborn cuddles.
“Gimme!” a voice said next to me.
“I can do that,” I said as Wilder scooped up the baby and took him over to the changing table.
“No, you heard the doctor’s instructions,” Nolan said in a stern voice. “You’re to spend five days in bed, five days on the bed, and then five days around the bed.”
I was only three days in, and my alphas were taking those recommendations seriously.
“But I can change my baby,” I insisted.
Nolan rolled his eyes at me. “If you really want to change him, we’ll bring everything over to you. You shouldn’t be moving around too much—just for showers and the bathroom.”
I glowered playfully at my alpha. Even though I acted unhappy about it, deep down, I was absolutely elated to be pampered so much. The only thing I had to focus on was taking care of my newborn. He and I stayed curled up in the nest, both of us napping frequently. The guys brought me food and snacks and rubbed my feet every day.
The room’s floor-to-ceiling windows meant we could open them up and let in tons of natural light and fresh air. Sometimes, it felt like I was outside while still curled up in my nest.
Wilder passed me the freshly changed Landry, taking a moment to bounce him in his arms before doing so.
“He’s so handsome with those eyes of mine!” Wilder declared, batting his lashes at the baby. “He’s going to be a heartbreaker, just like his daddies.”
“That’s not how that works.” Merrick frowned, glancing at me, and I shook my head.
