Page 22 of King's Obsession

“You need to calm down,” Dougal said, keeping his voice low. “Thank you for the bed, Asmodeus. Merihem, move yourself. Peni’s going to be a lot more comfortable when he isn’t squished to your chest. He needs to go on the bed, and you need to remove the bottom half of his clothing.”

“I’m not showing anyone Peni’s ass!” Merihem backed up, still holding his blissful one against his chest, puffing out his cheeks.

“You’re squashing your mate and your baby. Put Peni on the bed, and then tell me, oh great Controller, how is the baby going to leave his father’s belly if Peni still has his pants on? Do you want the little one to choke when he comes out?”

“Do as my blissful one says, Merihem.” Asmodeus’s voice was deep and calm. “The infant…” He stopped for a moment as Peni screamed again. “The infant is coming fast. Those screams are getting more frequent. Move carefully, but quickly, and get Peni on the bed.”

“I didn’t think it would be like this.” Merihem’s voice broke as he laid Peni down, clicking up a blanket and laying it over Peni’s chest. “I thought we’d just wake up one day and the baby would be here… but this… Peni, I’m so sorry.”

“It wasn’t only you.” Peni gripped the sides of the bed as he grimaced. His face was bright red and flushed with sweat, his curls plastered to his forehead. Dougal could see his huge belly rippling against his shirt. “It was him, the damn demon ruler, blowing on my face and getting me pregnant. Why aren’t you blowing on me now, making this baby come out?”

Dougal shook his head as Asmodeus stepped closer, looking duly chastised by a pygmy goat. “A baby’s journey into the world is the hardest and yet most natural of their lives. Your body needs to go through this, and you can do it. You just need to calm down and control your breathing.” Asmodeus glanced at Merihem. “You, stand by Peni’s head and breathe with your blissful one slowly. In, count to three, out, count to three, hold, count for three, and then do it again. Nice deep breaths. That’s it.”

Everyone waited as Peni let out another godawful yell. “Okay, Merihem keep doing the breathing, but I need Peni’s pants off now. Click them, or I’ll take them off myself.” Dougal ran his hand over Peni’s belly, hovering about an inch from the body when the pants disappeared. “The demon ruler was right, Peni. Your little one’s in a hurry. How do you feel about rolling over onto your hands and knees?”

“If it means I don’t have to see those two smug demon faces, I’ll fucking bury my head in a tree if you want me to.” Peni tried to turn and then winced. “I need to pee so badly.”

“That’s perfectly normal. It’s just your lovely little one tap dancing on your bladder on their way out.” Dougal helped Peni roll over and get up onto his hands and knees. “Merihem, prop yourself against the head of the bed. You need a cloth, a damp, cool one. Wipe Peni’s face, help cool him down.”

“What are you doing?” Merihem growled as Dougal went down to the other end of the bed.

“Checking on your baby, making sure it’s coming out the right way. Unless you want to do it yourself?” Dougal rested his hand on the blanket covering Peni’s butt, his eyebrow quirked.

“Focus on Peni’s face,” Asmodeus moved quickly, standing behind Merihem, his hand firm on the demon’s shoulder. “Your blissful one is sweaty and in pain. Breathe with him. Soothe him.”

“I don’t need soothing, I need that damn knife.”

Ignoring two flustered demons and an angry Peni who was letting his mate, and the demon ruler know exactly what he thought about them, the size of their cocks and some imaginative ways they could use those cocks on themselves, Dougal flipped the blanket up. Peni’s mental state might’ve gotten frazzled, but his body knew what to do. There was already mucus being pushed out of the opening, and Dougal could see a hint of a hair-covered oval.

Using a single finger, Dougal pressed gently and smiled at feeling the pressure on his finger. “Are you ready to push, Peni?”

“Push?” Peni glanced over his shoulder, his eyes bugging out. “I have to push?”

“Your baby has come this far. They just need your help to get past the last hurdle.” Dougal smiled. “You’re doing great. I see the crown—the top of the baby’s head. Focus on your breathing, and when you feel that pain come again, push down as hard as you can.”

“It’s coming now.”

Peni sounded scared, but his slender back bowed and Dougal could feel the tension around him as the goat shifter pushed.…three… four… five…“That’s brilliant, Peni. Now breathe, relax for a moment, deep breaths, that’s right. And when the wave is ready to hit you again, push hard.”

It was barely a minute later, and Peni was pushing again. Dougal could see everything was going normally, but as Peni pushed again, and again, and again, Merihem bathing his head, Asmodeus keeping Merihem calm, Dougal could see how tired Peni was getting.

“You’re almost there.” Dougal pushed Peni’s legs a little further apart to make room for the head. “Come on, my friend. There’s just the shoulders to go. You can do this.”

“I can’t.” Peni was sobbing. “It hurts so bad and I’m so tired. Why won’t my baby come? Are they too big? Are they stuck in me forever?”

“This is all perfectly normal. Not long to go now.”

Merihem was muttering words of love, and how proud he was of his mate, but Peni was struggling to stay in position. Dougal met Asmodeus’s eyes.Do something. He needs one last surge of energy.

The nod was short and sharp. Moving around Merihem, Asmodeus bent over so he was eye to eye with the exhausted goat shifter. “Look into my eyes, Peni,” he said quietly. “Look deep. That’s it. Now when you’re ready to push—”

“I’m ready. I’m ready. I was ready for this to be over thirty minutes ago. I don’t have the energy. I just can’t!”

“You can.” Dougal felt the ripple of Asmodeus’s power flutter around the room, and out through the walls and into the forest beyond. Seconds later those energies came back threefold as every living thing in the forest lent their support to Peni’s struggles. Peni cried, screamed, cried some more, thumping on the bed in frustration. He kept on pushing, his whole body tight with the strain.

“Keep pushing, keep pushing.” Dougal cradled the first side of the shoulder as it came free. “Keep going, Peni, keep going, that’s it, that’s it.” He let out a long breath as a crumpled mass of gooey baby fell into his hands. “You did it, Peni. My gosh, you did it. You have a gorgeous, gorgeous baby… girl.”

“A girl?” Peni collapsed into Merihem’s arms, sobbing against his mate’s chest. “Did you hear? We have a little girl.”

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