Page 27 of Alpha Bear Accountant

We had talked about getting a dog after the baby came—one to go for walks with us around the neighborhood. But a lot of that would depend on how much our lives changed when we became fathers. It was easy to plan, but we wouldn’t know until we were in the thick of it.

Niam stopped for a quick bathroom break and then we headed outside. We had a standard path that went through the neighborhood. Over the past months, we’d gotten pretty familiar with all the neighbors—though quite a few of them were older and didn’t come out much. But we waved and chatted with those we did see.

About a mile away, we stopped at a bakery and my mate picked out a dozen different cookies to bring home.

I eyed the big box in his hands. “You want to carry those all the way back?”

He looked down at the fitness app on his watch and shook his head. "Shit, I didn’t realize we were so far from home.”

“Do you want me to go get the car?"

"No, no, this is good. The midwife told me to walk. She said it would help the baby come. And if everything’s ready…I think it’s time."

We each ate a cookie on the way back, weaving through the neighborhood on a different path to get a new view.

When we got home, Niam stopped on the lawn and looked up at a flock of birds dancing in the sky.

I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. "Do you want to go inside?"

"No." He turned his attention to me and smiled. "I think… I think I want to go down by the river with your bear."

"We can do that."

We put the cookies inside, and I took off my clothes and shifted. The two of us slowly wandered through the woods since my mate was very much in the waddle stage of his pregnancy. When we reached the river, Niam sat down on a boulder and ran his fingers through my fur as he stared into the water.

We stayed like that for a long time, peaceful as could be.

That ended when his head snapped up and he turned to me. "Oh. We need to go. Now."

I didn’t think much of it, assuming a bug flew too close to his ear or something, indicating we had a short time before bug-a-geddon hit.

But as soon as we got back to the house, the first thing Niam did was call the midwife. Apparently, his little trick about walking had worked…just not as quickly as he’d wanted.

My poor omega labored all night long. He went between pacing, taking a bath, bouncing on a ball, and trying unsuccessfully to catch a snooze here and there.

At about four o’clock in the morning, we called the midwife again and told her it was time.

I’d wanted her here the whole night, but they both assured me that labor could last a long time for a first baby, and it was best to do it this way.

Not gonna lie—labor was rough on me.

Seeing my mate in pain and being unable to do anything about it was a whole new kind of torture. I kept having to remind myself that it was worse for him, which then made me feel even worse.

It was a shitty cycle that I was desperate to end.

When the midwife showed up, she was pleased with his progress. She told us that if we wanted anyone else there for the birth, now was the time to call.

I left that up to my omega, and he asked for his father. He wanted him to be the first to meet the baby. And it was a good thing I called when I did, because by the time he arrived, Niam was already pushing.

My strong, strong mate pushed for nearly forty-five minutes. At first, the midwife said that was normal. But I sensed it when she started getting antsy about it.

I was just about to call an ambulance when my mate gasped. "It’s burning. This time, it’s different."

Nothing about burning sounded ideal to me, but sure enough—it was different.

He gripped my hand—nearly breaking it—and with one last push, our daughter was born.

Her cries filled the room.

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