Page 113 of Sincerely, Pack Pucked
“It's not exactly apleasurableexperience, but it's not terrible. Not yet, anyway. The pain comes and goes in waves with the contractions.”
“The nurse said they're getting quite close together, and she's progressing nicely,” Percy said from behind her. “She’s been a rock star,” he praised, kissing the top of her head. Mable leaned into the touch, a smile gracing her face.
“Can we get you anything?” I asked, rubbing my hand up and down her arm.
Mable nodded at the ice chips in a cup on the rolling table that had been pushed to the side. “I’m hot. And thirsty.”
Saint was closest to the table and snagged the cup, handing it to Mable. She plopped a few of the broken ice chunks into her mouth and sighed happily. But the noise was cut off as another contraction took over. She gripped my hand instinctively, her eyes squeezing shut as she worked to breathe through it.
“Okay…I lied…It’s…” Mable paused, trying to get through the contraction. I watched the monitor to my side, this line thing going up and then holding steady before it went down again. “Oof. Yeah, those are…fuck.”
The guys laughed. Mable didn’t swear much at all, of course, so if she was now, this was pretty damn serious. I hated not being able to do anything more for her.
Time blurred on as we all stood next to her. I wasn’t sure how long had passed. We all took turns holding Mable’s hands as she squeezed, helping her to walk around the room when she could, and the nurse had even come in and made us get her on the toilet.
Apparently, it was a great place to progress.Whatever that meant. I just did as I was told.
The contractions got closer and closer together and lasted for longer and longer. The nurse checked on Mable’s dilation frequently, and at her last update, Mable was at seven centimeters. Something calledtransitionhad started, and the nurse ensured us—mostly us alphas who were all nervous wrecks—that this was the big wave before showtime.
“Is everything ready?” She raised her head, looking between us as this last contraction stopped.
I nodded. “Yeah, we asked Spencer to drop off the car with the car seat in it, so it’ll be here ready and waiting. And paternity leave begins immediately. Thank God for that.”
The car seat had been a particular thorn in our side. I’d spent a good few hours trying to figure out how to install it and got so frustrated that I was tempted to chuck the thing out a window. The guys had tried, too, but the damn thing had been designed by Satan or something because none of us had any luck.
We had walked away thinking we would come back and figure it out later, maybe go to a firehouse and ask a fireman to show us how to install it. Only, when we came back an hour later, the thing was perfectly installed. Apparently, our security team also knew how to install car seats. They definitely deserved a raise.
We reallydidn'tpay them enough.
“Good, I know—ugh!” Mable hissed, bending over slightly and leaning over the bed.
“Another contraction?” Saint was at Mable’s other side, taking her hand just as I did.
Mable nodded, biting her lip and gesturing at Percy who stood behind her. “Percy…the hip thing…”
“Of course, babe.” He grabbed her hips real low and squeezed, pushing inward. “The nurse said this can help.”
Seeing her face contorted in pain made my stomach turn sour. I wanted to take the pain away. She was our omega. She shouldn't ever suffer. We were the ones who were supposed to take the pain for her. Only, in this instance, there was no way we could do that.
As she breathed through it, rocking and spreading her legs wider, I couldn’t help but be in awe. Mable was a rock star. She was rising to this occasion and pushing through it. I watched the monitor again. The last contraction had been less than a minute ago. We were close. We had to be.
The nurse appeared in the doorway and crossed the room quickly to Mable. She watched the fetal heart monitor and took a few more of her measurements or assessments or whatever. When the contraction passed, she smiled gently at Mable.
“All right, hun. I need you to get into bed so I can check your dilation again, okay? These look like they’re coming hard and fast, so I think I might have some good news for you.”
It took work to get Mable into the bed, and she had a contraction halfway through the movement, leaning on the nurse and whimpering as she forced herself to breathe. My heart and stomach were in knots.
When she was there, the nurse got Mable to lean back on Percy, keeping her butt close to the edge of the bed. She did her thing to check Mable’s dilation, which my omega did not seem to like, but a huge smile broke out over the nurse’s face.
“You, missy, are fully dilated, and I can feel baby hair.”
“What?” the entire room asked, and my eyes blurred with tears. “Hair? The baby’s?”
“That’s right. When you feel like you need to push, we can work on getting this baby out here.” The nurse stepped to the door and called out for the doctor.
She appeared quickly and went right to Mable. “How are you?—”
“I want to push. Ugh!” She gripped my hand and Saint’s so fucking tight.
