Page 106 of His Gentle Omega
“Seth!” My tone was as sharp as a knife and had Shay sitting up straight in the chair next to my hospital bed. Even Chelsea, who was the most kickass labor and delivery nurse in the hospital, tossed me awhat-the-fucklook from where she was checking something on my monitor.
“My water broke a couple of hours ago, and I’m absolutely, positively in labor. Lily is out of town and Finn says it is definitely happening. Today. Finn! And no, it’s not fucking weird as hell that myex-landlordis delivering my baby and being all up inmyprivate business. Or that my best friend is hungover in a hotel room, hundreds of miles away, because he had to get some‘new alpha dick’. It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything is fine. All fine.” My voice rose to an octave I had never heard before.
“Anytime you use that manyfinesin a sentence, you are not fine, Bennett.”
“Did you miss me telling you I-am-having-the-baby? I need you here to hold my hand, Dammit!”
“Isn’t holding your hand Shay’s job?” Seth snapped back. “He went all territorial in Lamaze class.”
“Let the Lamaze class go, Seth! I have two hands!” I wailed at the top of my lungs. “And I need you holding one of them! I don’t care if you get twelve speeding tickets getting here, just do it!” With that declaration, I hung up on my soon-to-be-replaced best friend.
“Benne–” Shay started to say something but Chelsea’s vehemently shaking head, and violent hand gestures to abort, made him think better of it, and he snapped his jaw shut.
Silently I mouthed,three, two, one…smiling in triumph when my phone rang.
“I’m leaving a note for this fine as fuck Latino alpha, getting my stuff from my room, and checking out,” Seth whispered, no doubt so he didn’t wake up thefine as fuck Latino alpha. “Donothave that baby before I get there, B. First babies take likeforever,and I expect this one to abide by the rules. He is not allowed to be born before his Uncle Seth gets there.”
“Love you, Sethy.”
“Love you too, B.”
Why the fuck had I thought natural childbirth was a good idea?
There was nothing natural about the way my body was trying to be ripped in two by a ridiculously large sized human. Why was Shay so tall with such wide shoulders? Goddess help me, this baby felt like he was already the size of a linebacker, trying to fit through a hole way too small for him.
Panting against the pain, I shook my head, trying to evade Shay’s hands. He was making a valiant effort to try to wipe my forehead, and to push the sweat soaked fringes of my bangs back from where they flopped into my eyes.
“No touching!” Not sure who’s deep, growly voice that was but it wasn’t mine.
Shay flinched, ducking his head, but not before I saw the telling twitch of his lips.
“Don’t…laugh…at…me…” My words were punctuated by harsh pants. “My…skin…feels…weird.”
The sweat he’d been trying to helpfully mop off my brow slid down, stinging my eyes. “Get…it…out…of…my…eyes!”
Shay’s lips quirked. “Just to clarify, now I can touch you?”
Baring my teeth at him, I snarled, “Yes! Wipe!”
“You’re doing great, Bennett,” Chelsea, told me with a wide smile. She was on the opposite side of me from Shay, where Seth should be, carefully watching the monitor in between coaching me with encouraging words.
“Almost time to push, Bennett,” Finn declared from his spot between my splayed wide legs. These stirrups were surely made for someone taller, because my legs were spread wider than I had ever managed to get them during sex, and I was pretty damn flexible.
“Where’s…Seth?” Panting, my eyes were glued to the closed door. Chelsea went about getting things ready for my delivery and Shay squeezed my hand reassuringly. Or maybe I was squeezing his? The slightly pained expression on Shay’s face and his tightly gritted teeth told me that was likely the case.
“He’s on his way, sweetheart,” Shay pushed the sweaty hair back from my forehead, “No one expected you to gointo labor on New Year’s Day. You know he was a couple of hours away,” he reminded me softly.
Honestly, the man had been super calm from the moment I had woken him up to tell him my water had broken. He had helped me shower and get into clean clothes, made sure the bags were in the car. Taken care of waking up Albert and Maria and carried a sleeping Lucas next door, so they could watch him for us. He’d even called Asher on the way to the hospital to tell him we were having the baby and asked him and Gabe to check on the Santos’, in case they needed anything.
He held my hand, fed me ice chips, wiped my brow, let me be irrational and snap his head off, and not once had he complained or lost his temper. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect alpha.
Shaking my head vehemently, I moaned, “Can’t…do...this without…him… here.”
Some kind of silent, secret code passed between Finn and Shay.
Finn gave a small shake of his head before instructing me. “Next contraction, I need you to push, Bennett. I know you want Seth here, but I’m afraid this baby isn’t going to wait any longer.”
My contractions felt like they were coming one on top of the other, with barely any time in between for me to take a breath. Feeling my stomach tighten with the next contraction, Chelsea and Shay held onto me as I prepared to push with everything I had.
