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Lana shifted uncomfortably as Dawn positioned herself at the end of the bed. Sid moved closer to her head, taking her hand while trying not to look as nervous as he felt. He'd never imagined he'd be standing here watching his mate go through something like this, and as much as he wanted to make a joke, he was beginning to realize that keeping his mouth shut might actually be the smartest thing he'd done all day.

“Okay, Lana, you're at five centimeters,” Dawn announced after finishing the examination. She removed her gloves and gave Lana an encouraging smile. “You're making good progress.”

“Five?” Sid frowned.

“Sid,” Lana warned as she scooted back up the bed with Sid and Angelina's help.

“What? It's a legitimate question.” Sid gave her an innocent look. “You've been hurting for hours, ba—” He snapped his mouth shut when Lana's eyes narrowed.

Dawn pressed her lips together, obviously fighting a smile. “Five centimeters is good progress, especially with this being Lana's first baby. Her contractions are doing exactly what they're supposed to do, and the baby's heart rate looks good.”

“Her name is Sadie Lilith Sinclair,” Lana informed Dawn, smiling when Angelina gasped.

“Oh, I love that!” Angelina grinned, looking from Lana to Sid.

“What a beautiful name.” Dawn beamed excitedly.

“Beautiful and badass,” Sid corrected proudly. “Just like her mother.”

“Sid suggested the name, and I love it.” Lana put her hand on her stomach and smiled. “She already feels like a Sadie to me.”

Leaning down, Sid kissed her temple. All thoughts of Sloan, betting and who would have their baby first left Sid’s mind as he watched his beautiful mate smile at the name he chose.

“If you're feeling up to it, I'd actually like you to get out of bed and move around a little.” Dawn glanced at the monitor before continuing. “We can have you walk the hallway, change positions, whatever feels comfortable. Staying upright and moving around may help the baby move down, and sometimes it helps with the contractions. We won't force anything, though. If you get tired or uncomfortable, we'll get you back into bed.”

“Walk?” Sid repeated, looking at her as if she'd suggested Lana run a marathon. “You want her to walk? She's having a fucking baby.”

“I'm aware of that, Sid.” Dawn gave him a patient smile. “And right now, there's no reason she can't move around as long as she's feeling steady. We'll make sure everything stays monitored.”

Lana looked at Sid, who was still staring at Dawn in disbelief. “I want to walk.”

“Of course you do,” Sid muttered, then sighed when Lana narrowed her eyes at him. “Fine. We'll walk.”

Angelina moved to help Lana sit up. “I'll get the monitor sorted out, and we can take our time.”

Sid shook his head, wondering how in the hell walking around the compound was supposed to help get a baby out of his mate. Then again, at this point he'd try just about anything if it meant Lana wouldn't have to hurt much longer. He glanced toward the door, wondering if Jared was out there taking bets. A slow grin spread across his face.

Maybe a little walk down the hallway wasn't such a bad idea after all.

CHAPTER 17

Sloan frowned watching Becky pant through another contraction. Tears streamed from the corner of her eyes and Sloan was ready to tear the fucking room apart. He glanced at Slade who watched the monitor and couldn’t read a damn thing on the doc’s face.

“How long can this go on?” Sloan demanded as he wiped the tears from Becky’s cheek.

“As long as it takes,” Slade said, still watching the monitor.

Sloan almost flew over the bed to strangle Slade, but Becky’s shaking hand on his arm stopped him. “Sloan, I’m okay. This is just part of it.”

“I’ll be back,” Slade said, not looking at either one of them before quickly exiting the room.

Sloan growled as he watched him disappear. “I swear when this is over, I’m firing his ass.”

“You will do no such thing.” Becky smiled, then moaned, grabbing Sloan’s arm and squeezing. “Oh, God. I want to push so bad.”

Sloan towered over her, hated everything about what was happening to his mate, and he was powerless to stop it. Never in his life had he felt so obsolete. He just stood there like a fucking idiot watching her suffer repeatedly through a pain he couldn’t even begin to understand.

“Breathe, honey,” Sloan encouraged her, but she was holding her breath and turning a really deep shade of red that was making him nervous. “Becky, breathe dammit.”