Page 121 of Bonding the Band

She nodded. “I want to wear the blue birthing gown I got. There’s no point taking it to the hospital to put it on there. And I need the hospital bag.”

Hendrix dashed into the room. “I can do that!” He went straight over to Meadow and grabbed her hand, kissing the top of her head. “You’re amazing. I’m feeling only a fraction of what you feel through the bond, and I’m pretty sure my balls will never be the same again!”

Meadow laughed. “I think that’s only fair, considering you got me into this situation!”

Hendrix glared playfully at her. “I’ll have you know, it was your munching ways that got you into this situation. I fully believe that the bite came before the baby conception!”

“I was just following instructions, remember.” She shrugged with a giggle.

“Such a good girl.” He chuckled. “I’ll go get your bag while Arlo brings the car around front and Beckett gets you comfortable. Phin is throwing together a few snack boxes for you to eat if the doctors give you permission.”

Meadow groaned. “That sounds perfect.”

I almost asked if Phin had packed enough for all of us, but as Meadow groaned, clutching her stomach again, I was reminded that this situation wasn’t about me.

Gently taking Meadow’s hand, I grinned at her. Our lives were about to change forever. “Let’s go have a baby!”

Thirty hours later, and Meadow’s labor wasn’t progressing much. Arlo had rushed us all to the hospital while she had whimpered and moaned through her contractions, talking normally one moment, clutching her belly in pain the next.

“Someone needs to serve your spawn with an eviction notice!” Meadow snarled at Hendrix, who just nodded in agreement, knowing better than to do otherwise right now. He was holding on to her hand through every contraction, and judging by his pale, pinched look, he had been feeling every one of those contractions through the bond.

“Surely I’ve got to be dilated to a ten now?” she asked as sweat dripped down her brow.

I really hoped she was. Her labor was slow, and we were all exhausted from lack of sleep, so Meadow probably felt terrible. The baby needed to hurry up, so his sweet mama could rest.

Phin lightly pushed Hendrix, taking his position opposite me, next to Meadow’s head. In his hand, he had a bento box with easy nibbles he had been slowly feeding her, since, thankfully, our hospital was relaxed about letting expectant mothers eat during labor. If Meadow had been hungry on top of everything else she was going through, it probably would have resulted in some sort of violence.

Meadow was an aggressive omega when hangry. I had learned that the hard way when we had been so distracted with nest building, I had forgotten to encourage her to eat and she had thrown a roll of onesies at my head. A second later, she had burst into tears because pregnancy was a wild ride, and her emotions were everywhere.

“Can one of you guys go get a nurse to check me? Things are starting to feel different,” Meadow asked in a breathless voice.

“I’ll go,” Arlo said, quickly disappearing through the door that led to the nurses’ station.

“We still need to agree on a name,” Hendrix said from where he was massaging her ankles. We had discussed names briefly over the course of her pregnancy, everyone tossing out ones they liked as they thought of them, but we hadn’t settled on one.

“Don’t make me think right now,” Meadow growled, but it came out more like a groan.

“Babyworks for me!” Hendrix said in a chipper tone, making us all laugh.

“Hey, Meadow.” The nice nurse who had been taking care of her popped her head in. “Your alpha said you wanted another check to see if you’ve come along any further. Are you sure? You still had a way to go last time we checked.”

Meadow nodded. “I’m sure!”

The nurse did a check, and her eyes widened. “Okay. It seems like you have progressed nicely. I’ll go get the doctor. I think we’ll be having a baby soon!”

“Oh, thank god!” Meadow sighed in relief.

“I didn’t know a little human nugget could be so perfect,” Phin cooed as he gazed in awe at the baby in Meadow’s arms.

“He’s so small. Should he be so small?” Arlo asked, looking over Phin’s shoulder.

Meadow snorted. “He isnotsmall. A ten-pound baby is enormous! No wonder I felt like a whale at the end. My poor lady bits.” She giggled, delirious with exhaustion.

“I’ll kiss your bits better.” Arlo smirked at her, making her giggle even more.

Once the doctor came in, it was smooth sailing. Only thirty-five minutes of pushing later, Meadow was holding our son in her arms. I had thought I had seen how fantastic Meadow was, but watching her give birth to our son had been mind-blowing. She had taken everything in stride.

“I still like the name Forest,” Meadow said, smiling down at the wiggling bundle on her chest. They had been doing skin to skin for the last hour, and Meadow had a blissed-out look on her face.

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