Page 41 of The Devil on my Chest

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“You’re all incredibly lucky. The placentas had completely come away and both of the little ones could’ve died.”

Doc stripped off his latex gloves and threw them in a trash can. He’d insisted Rocky take Mal and the little ones into the surgeryroom, so Mal could be checked over thoroughly and get stitched up. Then he’d dusted the wound with some of Kee’s pixie dust which had taken away the pain.

Levi had turned up and was weighing and measuring the babies and doing whatever tests a doctor needed to ensure the little ones were healthy. “How the hell did you manage to give birth and still end up with a roadside C-section?”

“Don’t ask me, I was just doing as I was told.” Rocky was exhausted, but he wasn’t going to rest until he knew Mal and the little ones were all right. “One minute I’m breaking land speed records in the cruiser, and next minute Mal was yelling at me to stop the car and telling me to catch.”

“I didn’t realize I could give birth naturally.” Mal had dark smudges under his eyes, but at least his color was returning. The pixie dust clearly worked fast. “I never saw anything about that on the paranormal council website, or I might’ve been better prepared.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t know about it either, and I should have.” Doc ran his fingers through his long gray hair. “Those pains you were having through the day were clearly labor pains, so your body was preparing to shove them both out, but what the hell happened? Why did you end up slashed across your belly?”

“I will swear until my dying day that the bigger one pushed the little one out.” Mal looked at Rocky. “You believe me, don’t you?”

Rocky nodded. “That’s what it looked like. One minute I could see the head and the next our little one popped out so fast, I barely had time to catch him.”

“And then my wolf told me the bigger one was struggling. I’m not big enough down there… His head couldn’t fit.” Mal was crying again. “I could’ve killed him if it hadn’t have been for Rocky.”

“Hey, babe. We did it together.” Rocky turned to his mate and pulled him against his chest. Mal clung to him, and Rocky’s shirt was getting damp. “We’re all together now. We’re safe. After a shift or two, you’ll be all fixed again, and our little ones are sleeping. The Fates were smiling on us tonight.”

“I’m still not sure how you did it. You absolutely did the right thing. Somehow, and I can only guess it’s part of a male omega pregnancy process, your womb created a secondary birthing channel that attached itself to your rectum. It’s already disappearing and I’m sure with the pixie dust, it won’t cause you any future problems,” Doc said. “But Mal, Rocky is right. You have two beautiful sons and despite the most jagged C-section cut I’ve ever seen, it worked. You need to go home, get some rest while you can, and start learning to fit your lives in around your sons.”

He turned back to his notes. “I will make a note of all of this, so if you get pregnant again – it won’t be for a few years at least…”

“No.” Rocky shook his head. “Two is enough for us, isn’t it, babe?”

Mal nodded, but he still looked worried. “I don’t think birth control works for omegas though, Rocky. I’m not sure…”

“I can have the snip, can’t I?” Rocky asked Doc. “There’s something you can do, a little procedure so that my swimmers don’t make it to their destination, isn’t that right? It doesn’t stop me getting hard, either, does it?”

Doc and Levi exchanged glances. “I’ve got to admit, I’ve never heard of a shifter doing that before,” Doc said slowly. “And there’s no guarantee that the snip won’t just heal itself the first time you shift.”

“I wouldn’t make the decision just yet. You’ve got a few years before you even have to think about it. For now, you’re bothtired, emotionally worn out and justifiably so.” Levi came over with the bigger boy who had lost his purple shade. “Your boys are perfectly healthy with nothing wrong at all. Here, you hold this one, Rocky. I’ll get the other one for Mal.”

“Levi’s right, you’ve got plenty of time,” Doc said. “Get yourself home. Focus on getting to know your new sons. What are you going to call them?”

“You said Hector and Harriet when you told me you were pregnant.” Rocky smiled seeing Mal cradle their other son. “But we have two boys.”

“We’ll work it out.” Mal managed a weak smile. “Let’s just get home, because you know when word gets out, we’ll be inundated with visitors. I need a shower, something to eat and, yeah, I’m sure it will come to us. Thanks, Doc. You’ve been brilliant.”

“I think the credit for these births goes to Rocky,” Doc said but he was smiling too. “You did real good Sheriff, you did really good.”

As far as Rocky was concerned, it was Mal who was the superstar, but he could see Mal was fading, and they needed to clean up and eat, if nothing else. “I do think this one looks a bit like a Hector,” he said as he helped his mate and new family back out to the car. “Look,” he added, holding the sleeping baby up next to his face. “You can tell he looks just like me.”

“Yeah, you’re right. He looks just like you do when you’ve had too many beers and on the verge of passing out.” Mal chuckled. “Aren’t you glad you put the car seats in the trunk of the cruiser?”

“I’ve learned a lot being with you,” Rocky said. He didn’t think Mal needed to know that the only reason the car seats were still there was because he hadn’t bothered to take them into the house. “Just call me Mr. Organized.”

“I’m so glad you said that.” Mal indicated with his free hand. “Pass me Hector, and you, Mr. Organized, can work out how those darn things attach to the back seat of the cruiser.”

“They have to be attached?”Oh, gods,Rocky mentally groaned.Me and my big mouth.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mal felt as though their days were blurring into each other. The babies were really good – he knew how lucky he and Rocky were with that. The boys slept at least three hours between feeds, and then liked to be awake for about two hours and that made bathtimes and just time spent holding the pair without them fussing so much easier.

There were times when Mal looked at the pile of laundry that still needed doing and groaned inside. It didn’t help that a wave of wet weather hit Arrowtown and for the first week that they were home, Mal was running in between the washer and dryer because otherwise he was sure their entire home would be swamped with piles of laundry.

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