Page 107 of His Gentle Omega
Pushing the baby out meant the pain would stop, and then I could have some lovely painkillers.
Just my luck when I had decided that maybe going the whole natural childbirth route wasn’t for me, my labor had progressed past the point of no return.
“Okay, push for the count of ten,” Finn ordered.
Halfway through my pushing, grunting, growling, the hospital room door banged open, hitting the wall loudly.
“I’m here, I’m here, I made it!” Seth ran into the room, panting. “Fucking hell, my eyes! I did not need to see that. Bennett! I love you, but I’ve just seen more of you than I ever needed to see!”
When I heard Chelsea say ten in my ear, I lay back gratefully, panting. Squinting my eyes at Seth as he hurried over to take his place by my side. He nearly body checked Chelsea to move her out of his way. She grunted, smacking him on the back of his head playfully, then wrinkled her nose.
“Goddess, Seth, you reek.” She waved her hand in front of her nose, as she moved to the end of the bed where all the action was taking place. At some point, more nurses had joined the party, bringing with them a bassinet and who knew what else.
Squinting at Seth, I took a good look at him. His eyeliner was smeared, and there were still traces of glittery shadow on one of his lids and across one cheekbone. His lips were dark red and swollen, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he had beard burn running down his jawline. There was definitely a bright red hickey on the side of his neck. His hair looked like a bird had used it as its nest. It was wild, going every direction, matted and tangled. Getting a whiff of his pungent aroma, my eyes watered.
“You smell like sex. A lot of sex. Sooo much sex.”
Blowing me a kiss, he snarked, “Don’t be jelly. It’s not my fault my nephew has inconsiderate as hell timing. We’ll be having a chat about that when he gets here.”
“You made good progress with that push, Bennett,” Finn broke up our little tete-a-tete. “A couple more pushes like that and you’ll have your baby in your arms.”
It took exactly three more pushes, along with a lot of shouting from me, Shay, and Seth, before I felt the immense pressure stop and an angry wail filled the room.
Flopping against the pillows, I was wrung out. Dazed, dizzy, and filled with so much joy. Laughing hysterically at the absolutely pissed off baby screams that echoed through the room. Had there ever been a more beautiful sound?
Shay rested his forehead against mine, whispering, “He’s here. He’s really here. You were amazing, baby.”
Within seconds, a wet, red, squirming, still attached by his cord, screaming baby was laid on my bare chest. Staring down at him in wonder, tears of happiness slipped from my eyes. Touching his cheek tenderly, his head full of dark hair, his tiny back, I just stared at him. Not quite believing he was finally here. That he was real.
“He’s beautiful, B,” Seth’s voice was awe-struck. “You did good.”
“Shay,” Finn called, “wanna cut the cord?”
Shay moved so fast he made me laugh. Which I instantly regretted, becauseow. But I loved watching his face as he cut the cord that connected the baby to me. His eyes were shining, brimming with love, as he slid onto the bed beside me. Gently cradling the baby’s back with his big hand over mine, protecting, as we both just looked our fill at the tiny miracle we had made.
Chelsea came over with a gentle smile. “We’re just going to take him to clean him up and get his measurements and APGAR. He’ll be right over there, and you can see us the whole time.”
I frowned because I didn’t want to let them take him off my chest. By the slight tightening of Shay’s hand over mine, I knew he felt the same. Chelsea, bless her, knew exactly how to scoopthe baby from our hands without looking like she was prying him away from us. “Does this little one have a name?”
Shay and I looked at each other, smiling. “Brodie. His name is Brodie. Brodie Cian Pierce.”
At Shay’s look, I just gave him a small shrug. We had been undecided on the middle name, not finding anything we both liked. But I had stumbled upon Cian, and I had loved one of the meanings.Enduring one.It was a nod to all Shay had endured to get to where he was now. To get to this place where our little one existed. “Do you like it?”
He nodded, all the while keeping one eye on the nurses who were busy fussing with the baby. He wasn’t letting Brodie out of his sight for one second. “I do.”
“Brodie?” Seth muttered, wrinkling his nose. “Sounds like a surfer. Did Josh from The Sweet Spot come up with it? Because it sounds like something Josh would suggest.”
“We agreed on it together,” Shay settled me snuggly against his side.
“Mmmm,” was Seth’s only response.
Finn finished doing whatever he was doing still perched between my legs, and one of the nurses settled the blankets over my waist, while yet another put the bed back to rights, removing the stirrups. I had no idea when so many hospital staff had entered my room, not caring about anything but pushing Brodie out.
“Everything looks good, Bennett,” Finn told me with one of his rare smiles. “You did great, and the baby is gorgeous and healthy. Congratulations, you two. I’ll give Lily a call and let her know. And order you some pain meds,” he added with a wink.
“Please, yes,” I sighed, leaning back against the pillows. Now that the euphoria of giving birth and seeing our baby washealthy, my body was loudly letting me know I had just given birth without pain meds.
Marking that idea off in the never-doing-that-again box.
