Page 84 of The Beta: Part Three
“No,” she grunts.
“Tough,” Obi says. “She's got to come out right now. I'm going to pull and you're going to push and we're both going to cuss. Ready, three, two, one, now! Push Talia! Right now!” She's pushing, but it isn't enough. “Lean against her, Corso, pull her knees up. Come on!” I pull her knees toward me and, finally, after a few collective efforts, Obi pulls the baby out and suctions her nose and mouth before he clamps the cord.
“Why isn't she crying? The other's cried.” Trent climbs down from the dresser and gets on his haunches next to Obi.
“Give her a moment.” Obi turns her over and starts aggressively rubbing her back.
“That's too rough.”
“Hush it, Lancaster. Just give her a minute.”
We all hold our breath until the tiniest little cry comes, not a scream like her siblings. Just a tiny, pitiful cry. Talia's relief rushes through me and she sags against my chest. Obi holds the baby up so Talia can see her. She's smaller than her siblings, much smaller. I don't know if she will be Iris or Zetty, but she's perfect.
Jamison suddenly screams from the other side of the door. “Three! You had three babies in there? My god, Talia. Mom’s going to shit!”
A while later, after all three are measured, weighed, and washed, Jasper and Talia are sitting on my bed looking down at the babies sleeping in their blankets between them. Talia touches the larger girl's head and looks up at Jasper. “Zetty.”
Jasper nods, and lays his hand over the smaller girl. “Iris.”
Talia smiles, then Dutch complains that he hasn't gotten any attention. I didn't think that would be an issue until they're older. Talia laughs and picks him up. “Nobody forgot about you, sir. Trent, come here.”
When he's settled beside her on the bed, she leans into him and runs her nose across his collarbone and pulls away with a little smile. “Here,” she says, handing Dutch to him. “He's going to have your eyes.”
Trent's head jerks back and his eyebrow disappears into his hairline as he shoves his hands into his armpits to keep from taking the bundle he is being offered. “How's that?”
“Smell his hair, and right behind his ear.”
Trent pulls a face, takes Dutch gently from Talia, does as she asks, then nearly drops him. “What the actual fuck?”
Talia shrugs. “I don’t know, but it happened. I hope he has your hair too. You’ve got great hair.”
Trent looks from the baby, now cradled more securely in his hands after we all lunged toward him, to Talia and then to Jasper. His voice is a little high-pitched and that wild look he gets when he wants to climb the walls is back, but he remains on the bed with our son, turning him from side to side and smelling him every other minute. “But we have implants. I have an implant.” He motions toward where Obi is cleaning up and putting away equipment, “he gave me an implant, just like the rest of you.”
Talia looks over at Obi. He shrugs and keeps gathering things, “Maybe it was defective. I can cut it out and put a new one in. In fact, I need to do that or the next one will be yours too.”
Trent growls a little but turns it to a purr when Dutch whimpers at the sound. “You are not cutting me open. I told you that you put it in too deep, now the fucking thing doesn’t work.”
Talia leans forward, into Trent’s line of sight, and smiles up at him. “I don’t care. I’m glad it didn’t work. We have Dutch because of it.”
Trent looks down into the sleeping face in hands. “Okay, but you’re not allowed to act like me. And you can’t be a sour-ass like your mother, either. Jesus, you’re going to be such a little shit, aren’t you?”
Chapter thirty-five
Reid
I live for my pack. I am utterly devoted to it. My heart belongs entirely to Talia, and if I have a secret within me, it is that I will always hold her higher than my pack. But I have never loved anyone or anything so completely, so immediately, as I love the three infants sleeping in the cradle. It is overwhelming. Devastating. Utterly terrifying. And wonderful.
Little Dutch is far more demanding than his sisters. If either of them fusses or cries and one of us doesn't immediately appear to console them he will scream his lungs out until we come to address the trouble. It could be that he doesn't like that they're crying, but my guess is that he’s already starting to show his designation as an alpha and that’s how he’s able to help them. He also has big opinions about not getting attention every time one of the girls is getting attention; and even bigger opinions about being last to nurse.
The only physical difference between Iris and Zetty is their size. Talia thinks Iris's eyes might change color a little as she grows, but they both have little heads covered in dark curls, rosy little mouths, and pointy little chins. I think they look like elves. They already have distinctly different personalities even though they still spend most of their time sleeping. When she's awake, Zetty watches everything around her. She listens when we talk to her. Trent and Devon tend to talk gibberish to her, she mostly ignores that, but Corso and Alex talk to her like she's their equal. They have entire conversations with her, and I can practically see her mentally responding. I can't wait until she's old enough to talk back to us.
Iris, however, judges us. All of us. If you watch closely, you can see her weigh every word and action. I think I have even seen her tiny eyebrow raise on more than one occasion. Once she's mobile and able to communicate, we're all probably in for it. Dutch especially. I didn't know a child this young and small could throw a stink-eye, but Iris launches plenty of them in her brother's direction when he's being what Talia calls dramatic.
My quiet, alone time with the babies is interrupted when Alex whispers from the hallway. "Reid. Can you come down to the kitchen? We just got a call and it's a pack meeting sort of thing."
"Talia and Jasper are sleeping in his room. Should we wake them or wait until they're up?"
Alex pulls a face and says, "let them sleep. We'll tell them over dinner. They're going to be pissed, anyway, so waiting an hour won't matter. Maybe food will help."
