Page 54 of His Prodigal Alpha

“You’ve been helping Ollie with the twins,” Rex reminded me gently, and I realized belatedly that I must have blurted all of my thoughts out loud. “You know how to hold babies. How to feed ’em, and how to change ’em. Pretty sure you know how to bathe ’em and dress ’em, too. The rest is all trial and error, darlin’, and we’ll learn together.”

Once again, he was right. Between the way he was rubbing my back, and his steady heartbeat beneath my ear, I started to calm down again. “Sorry,” I apologized sheepishly, but Rexgently pushed me back, holding me at arm’s length as he shook his head.

“You’re allowed to feel whatever you need to. I can’t imagine how terrifying what you’re going through is. But you’re not gonna be alone. I’m here. And I’m still not goin’ anywhere.”

A handful of months earlier, when I’d arrived in Shifters Sanctuary, I’d thought there was no way the alpha who had knocked me up and run away could ever compare to the way Beck was with Ollie. However, in that moment, I had even more proof that I hadn’t given Rex a fair chance way back when.

He was perfect. Or, at least, perfect for me.

I knew that telling him as much while I was in labor would be a mistake, though, so I kept the revelation to myself. I didn’t want him thinking that it was my panic and insecurities talking. When I finally told him, it would leave no doubt as to my sincerity.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked, pulling me from my musings.

“I don’t…I don’t know.” I hated not knowing, but I was suddenly struck by indecision. Rex was right: it made more sense to go to the clinic and have access to medical supplies, but I was scared. Life had finally settled into a routine that felt good, and it was about to be upended all over again.

Plus there was the immediate fear of the pain and uncertainty of labor. I was only the second male omega in however many hundreds of years to experience childbirth from this perspective, after all. We were all pretty much going in blind, save for Ollie’s recent experience. What if something went wrong?

“Okay,” he gently guided me over to the bed and sat medown, “how about we cuddle until your contractions are more regular or something changes, uh,downstairs…and then I’ll call Eric and we’ll let him decide whether stayin’ here or goin’ to the clinic is the right choice?”

Perfect.

* * *

Eric wasn’t lying when he said that the hot water from the shower would work wonders on my labor pains. It was almost noon and Eric had shut the clinic so that he and Brandt could give me their undivided attention. Like Rex, they had both thought that it made more sense for me to have the baby where they had access to all of their supplies, so that’s where we ended up.

Thankfully, because the clinic was housed in Eric’s cottage, I had access to his surprisingly generous bathroom. He must have had it renovated in recent years, because it was more modern than the rest of the cottage, and large enough to comfortably fit both Rex and me in the shower stall.

“Gods bless the inventor of the handheld shower head,” I moaned, arching as Rex aimed the spray to the achy spot at the base of my spine. When the next contraction hit, I got him to move it to my tightened belly while I braced my hands on the tiled wall and breathed through the pain.

It was also nice to be under the water to wash away the blood from when the…ugh…birth canal had formed (which had been just as freaking painful as it sounds – like shifting, but only partially, and with pressure and stretching of parts that should not exist). My water had broken not long after, but Eric had examined me and declared that I wasn’t dilated enough yet.With all the pain, I was convinced he was wrong, but I was just shoved back into the shower and told to try and relax.

Relax? Ha!

Apparently, this wasn’t even the worst of it. Eric had soundedfartoo cheerful as he informed me that active labor was going to be worse. I couldn’t help but hope that he found an alpha and got to experience this for himself. You know, for research. Science and all that jazz. We didn’t want him to miss out on the magic of childbirth, right?

Please note, what I was going through could not, under any power of imagination, be considered ‘magical’, and I would strangle the next person to use that description within my enhanced earshot.

“Ow ow owowwwww,” I whined as the cramping intensified. Squeezing my eyes shut, I fought the sensation of building panic. “I’ve changed my mind,” I told Rex, “I don’t wanna do this.”

“Aw, kitten, I wish I could fix it…” He really did sound apologetic. “But there’s no goin’ back now, baby. I’m sorry.”

I was not going to be a cliché. I was not going to tell him that this was all his fault and that he’d better be sorry.

But Iwasgoing to petulantly think it.

So I did.

I thought itsohard.

Rex rubbed my back, not seeming to care that he was getting as wet as I was. Where I was naked, he was still wearing his boxer briefs, but I thought they’d be drenched by now.

Another contraction built within a minute of the previous one ending. This one seemed even more intense, or maybe I was just tiring, but when it crested, I cried out…and then the urge topushmade my knees buckle.

Rex’s reflexes were thankfully super quick. He caught me before I crumpled, wrapping one strong, tanned arm across my chest as he held me to his body, shutting the shower off with his free hand.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded with concern. “Talk to me, Damon.”

“I…I have to push…” I couldn’t explain beyond that. My body was working on instinct.

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