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Letting out a whoosh of air, her narrowed eyes zeroed in on him. “Do not curse at me, Sloan Murphy.” She sucked in a huge gulp of air, then moaned again. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Sloan looked around for something just as the door opened. His gaze snapped to Angelina. “She’s going to get sick.”

Angelina jumped into action, grabbing a kidney-shaped plastic thing and handing it to Sloan.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?” Sloan demanded, staring at the strange-looking thing as if it were some kind of creature he was about to battle.

“To catch the vomit if she throws up.” Angelina hurried toward the door. “I'll be right back.”

Hearing Becky's strangled chuckle, Sloan looked up. “What?”

“You're looking at it like it's some alien you have to defeat.” Becky took the basin from him and rested it on her belly. “It's a puke basin, Sloan. I just got a little nauseous, but it passed. I did the same thing with Frankie.”

Sloan released a huff of relief before brushing the damp hair away from her forehead. Feeling the beads of sweat along her hairline, he frowned. Looking into her eyes, he shook his head. “I'm sorry.”

Becky frowned. “What in the world are you sorry for?”

“This.” Sloan glanced down at her swollen belly before meeting her gaze again. “I never meant for this to happen.”

Becky reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Sloan, I would do this again with a smile on my face to have your child. Give me some credit, huh? I may not look tough, but look at it this way. I'm a Warrior in my own right.”

Sloan laughed softly with a nod. “You are most definitely the most beautiful Warrior I've ever seen.”

Leaning down, he kissed her, wishing like hell he could take some of her pain. He would gladly endure every damn contraction himself if it meant she wouldn't have to. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option, and for a man who was used to fixing problems, standing there feeling useless was driving him out of his fucking mind.

“Heard you were a little nauseous.” Dawn walked into the room, chuckling when she caught them kissing. “Although it looks like that passed. Did you have that with your last pregnancy?”

“What? A handsome Warrior kissing my hurts away?” Becky grinned. “I wish. But the nausea, yes, I did.”

“I bet.” Dawn laughed, looking at Sloan with raised eyebrows. “Okay, let's see what's going on.”

Angelina returned as Sloan helped Becky get into position for the examination. Dawn settled onto the stool at the end of the bed. Sloan watched her expression closely, trying to figure out what the hell she was thinking. He'd faced down enemies who wanted nothing more than to rip his head off, yet somehow waiting for this woman to finish examining his mate had him more nervous than he'd ever been in his life.

Dawn finally looked up with a smile. “Well, you're at ten centimeters. Fully dilated. You two ready to meet your little Warrior?”

“Yes,” Sloan and Becky answered in unison.

“Good, because he's ready to meet you.” Dawn stood, then glanced at Angelina. “Could you get Slade, please?”

Sloan felt his stomach drop. Fully dilated? Ready to meet them? Fuck, it was actually happening. He'd said yes, he was ready. But he honestly didn't know what the hell he was talking about because he was far from fucking ready. For months he'd known this day was coming, but hearing Dawn say those words made everything suddenly real. In a matter of minutes, or hours...shit, he had no fucking clue, he was going to be a father.

“Sloan, there's a chair right behind you.” Dawn gave him a pointed look as Angelina headed for the door. “If you start feeling faint, sit down. We aren't going to have time to pick you up off the floor.”

Sloan looked offended. “I've never fainted in my life, Doc. Don't you worry about that.”

Dawn snickered. “If I had a dime for every future daddy who told me that, I'd be living my dream life in Hawaii right now.”

“Then you must've been dealing with a bunch of pussies,” Sloan muttered, earning a laugh from Becky.

Slade walked in a moment later and positioned himself near the monitor at Becky's head, opposite Sloan. He glanced at the chair before chuckling. “Dawn insisted on putting that there in case you...faint.”

“Just worry about what you all are doing.” Sloan glared at Slade's smirk. Fucker. “Faint my ass.”

Becky's sudden grip on his hand wiped the irritation right out of him. Her face tightened as another contraction hit, and Sloan immediately leaned closer, forgetting all about the chair and the assholes who seemed determined to see him fainting in it.

“Okay, Becky,” Dawn said, moving back into position. “That one's a strong one, isn't it?”

Becky nodded, her breathing growing heavier. “I feel like I need to push.”