Page 60 of His Pretty Omega
“It’s all part of having a baby.”
Sighing in pleasure, I leaned my head back against the rim of the tub, closing my eyes and letting the warm water relax me.
Running my hand over my belly as it tightened with another contraction, I focused on getting through the pain. Alex’s large hand covered mine in the water, soothing small circles into my skin until I opened my eyes and gave him a little nod to indicate it had passed.
“Your stomach is like a rock,” he observed, still running his hand over my skin.
“Go unlock the door and come get in with me,” I ordered him. “I want to lean on you. Besides, Bennett says I’ll forget the pain once the baby is here.”
Alex stood, shaking his head and his arm, displacing droplets of water onto the hardwood floor.
“Not sure how that is even possible,” he muttered.
Shrugging, I told him, “Probably nature’s way of making sure the human race doesn’t die out. Just make sure you stay up by my head when I’m actually pushing this baby out. I don’t want you traumatized by anything you might see down there.”
I swished a hand in the water in the general direction of my nether regions. “My hole is a thing of wonder and beauty, and I don't want what’s going to happen ruin your thinking on that.”
Bending down, he kissed me on the tip of my nose. “You are a thing of wonder and beauty.”
Swatting at him, because my emotions were all over the place right now and I couldn’t deal with him being all sweet and swoony, I made a shooing motion at him.
“Door. Go.”
Less than ten minutes later, Alex eased himself into the tub behind me, wearing a pair of black swim trunks.
He spread his legs around me, and I floated peacefully, the top of my head resting just under his chin, his heartbeat in my ears where I rested against his chest.
After what seemed an eternity but probably wasn’t all that long, my contractions were seven minutes apart and lasting a little over a minute each time, growing more painful. Alex placed another call to Naomi. She arrived shortly after, Bennett right behind her, chatting away.
Naomi smiled her bright smile at me, watching as I leaned forward in the pool on my knees, my head resting on my arms across the top. Alex rubbed my lower back for me, as the pain in my back had gotten more intense.
“We’re going to get the bed made up, and then I’d like to check how far along you are,” she told us.
In the middle of a contraction, all I could do was make a humming type noise and nod my head against my arm, acknowledging I had heard her.
“His back is really hurting him,” Alex told her quietly, his fingers kneading the soft flesh of my lower back.
I could hear them moving around the room, the rustling of sheets and things being set out, but I concentrated on my breathing, of riding the waves of pain out, until finally they subsided. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes to survey the room.
Since I had insisted on Bennett being here, Naomi had asked if he would help her with some simple things like making sure the bed was covered and washing the baby after I had them.
They were even covering the dressers and nightstands with drop cloths painters used, which I found a bit funny, but whatevs. She was the expert on these things.
“Can I get back in the water after you’ve checked me?”
Alex held me tightly as I got out of the pool, until I was steady on my feet.
“Absolutely,” she assured me. “You can stay in the water until closer to delivery if that’s what you’re comfortable with. Or get out and walk and get back in. Whatever you need to do.”
Alex dried me tenderly, kissing my rounded belly, and looking up at me from under his dark lashes.
“You’re so beautiful like this,” he whispered, his voice tight with emotion.
He had made me feel beautiful my entire pregnancy, always touching me, kissing me, and telling me how attractive he found me. But to hear him say the words now, when I had been laboring for hours, sweating and pruning from the water, nearly made me glow inside.
The next few hours passed in a blur of floating in the water, and using different positions to ease the pain of the contractions, which were growing more intense with each one.
After one contraction had me crying out, clinging to Alex for dear life, I felt something shift inside me, low in my belly.
