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The girls would use that as an excuse to consume all the meat they’d prepared for the baby.

“Not long now, love.” My mate crossed a day off on his phone’s digital calendar. “And we’ll have the baby in our arms.”

I took his hand in mine. He was an amazing dad and I was still learning. But I had the best teacher beside me and a lifetime to get it right.

SEVENTEEN

SINCLAIR

“I’m taking the girls to school, love.” I kissed River who was on bed rest. “Be back soon.” I kept hold of his hand as I walked backward until only our fingertips touched before I lost contact.

“Come on, Daddy.” The girls tugged at my sleeve, but my arm was still outstretched because I was desperate to stay with my mate.

The girls blew kisses at River from the doorway before they herded me downstairs. Everyone stood on the squeaky step, and Wren said we had to teach the baby to do that too.

Making sure I had my phone, I got my daughters in the car with seatbelts on. But as I drove through the gates, I pressed the brakes and glanced in the rearview mirror, thinking perhaps I should have had a friend take the girls to school. But our family lived farther away than any of the girls’ school friends, and I had been reluctant to ask anyone to go out of their way.

I wanted to be at home with River because he was close to his due date. And not even in the workshop but at his side, wiping his brow, watching romcoms to pass the time and feeding him his favorite snacks. But disrupting the girls’ routine wasn’t smart, even before the baby arrived, and so we headed to school.

“When is the baby coming?” Poppy asked. “They have been inside River’s tummy for so long.”

“Very soon, sweetheart.”

It had been an age since we discovered my mate was pregnant, and while I’d stopped counting the days until the end of River’s contract, I had been counting again, this time until we met our little one.

“Bye, Daddy.” Ivy waved after she got out of the car. “Make sure River has a lot of ice.”

I was about to pull away from the drop-off point when the phone beeped.

River.

Answer it. It might be about the baby. My dragon had been worried about my mate for weeks as the date for the birth drew near.

“Are you having contractions?”

“How did you know?”

Lucky guess.

“I’ve had two, but they’re about twenty minutes apart.”

Two? Why didn’t he call after the first one? Perhaps my beast was right to be concerned.

“I’m leaving school now.”

“Okay. Ummm⁠—”

He hesitated, and my pulse rate increased as my mind whirred.

“What is it? I can help with the breathing technique as I drive.” I’d practiced them with River and alone in front of the mirror because I wouldn’t let him down when he was laboring with our child.

Unlike many alphas whose mate was about to give birth, I’d been present during a long labor when my surrogate delivered the girls. But that omega wasn’t River, my fated mate and love of my life.

“It’s not that. I’m in the workshop.”

Huh? I tried to fathom why he’d be there. He only visited when I was working and less so once he was pregnant because of the dust.

“I woke up and thought you were back, and I c-came to t-tell you the b-baby was on the way.”