Page 126 of Blood

“Vi, baby...” The skin under Cal’s eyes is violet with exhaustion. “Stop being a stubborn shit and get on the damn bed.”

“Why did I marry you assholes again?” I pout as I move toward the bed, knowing I’m outnumbered.

“Because you like our cocks,” Vin deadpans.

“Not anymore.”

Another wave of pain ripples through my body, and I groan, twisting in on myself to try and alleviate the ache.

“MOTHERFUCKER!”

Frankie moves to stand in front of me and places a comforting hand on my bulging stomach. “Your contractions are coming every three minutes,” he tells me seriously. “Violet, you’re having this baby. Right the fuck now.”

“But the meeting,” I whine, somewhat hysterically.

Vin’s green-gold eyes, like spring with bits of fall flecked throughout, fill my vision. “You don’t truly care about this damn meeting, Violet. You’re just terrified of being a mother.”

“That is not true, you—SHITBALLS OF FIRE AND GRAVY!”

“Get your clothes off, Pinkie, and change into this hospital gown.” Mason offers me a smile, though I can see the anxiety creasing the corners of his eyes.

Yeah, my mates won’t admit it, but all of them are terrified of becoming dads.

Jack literally had to tie Hux up in their shared mind in order to stop him from obsessively building every type of wooden toy he could think of. Even Dimitri, the most unflappable man in existence, has been freaking the fuck out. Just yesterday, I visited him in his torture chamber to see him simply staring at his prisoner instead of stabbing him.

My mates are spiraling.

“I don’t know...I can’t...God...” My heart races, my blood spiking with fear. “I can’t do this. Get this baby out of me! Oh god.”

“You can do this, Violet.” Barret grabs my hand in his and gives it a squeeze. His husky voice curls around me like dark smoke, seeping into my skin and putting me at ease. “We can do this.”

I stare into his eyes, which radiate an astute intensity I’ve come to expect from my sweet mate, and some of the panic inside of me ebbs away.

We can do this.

We can do this.

We can fucking do this.

I nod, and Barret smiles hugely, helping me stand to change into the pink hospital gown Mason grabbed for me. Once I’m back in bed, my feet in the stirrups and my damn vagina on display, Frankie rolls a stool up to the bed.

“You’re going to need to push when I tell you to, my love,” he says fiercely. “And don’t forget to breathe.”

“We’re having a baby,” Dimitri murmurs, drawing my attention to where he stands in the corner of the room, looking dazed. “Oh god. We’re having a baby. We can’t have knives around babies, can we? Knives are bad. Knives are super bad. We’re going to need to remove all the knives from the house.”

“He’s panicking—” My words turn into a screech as pain rockets through me. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

“Oh my god. We’re going to be parents,” Mason chimes in, his face turning stark white. “We’re going to be in charge of a tiny little monster. What if he or she is half Fomorian? What if he or she has to join the Wild Hunt?”

“What if there’s more than one?” Jack’s voice takes on a panicked squeak that has my own anxiety flaring.

“Somebody stab these motherfuckers to shut them up! Please!” I growl as I squeeze someone’s hand so hard they grunt in pain. I don’t look to see who.

Cal’s face is pinched so tightly, you’d think he just swallowed a lemon. “I don’t know if we can do this. We can’t do this, can we? We can’t be fathers. What if we fuck up?”

“We can’t murder people around babies.” Vin agitatedly runs his fingers through his tousled hair. “What if we stab someone in front of him or her, and that impedes their development?”

“CAN WE FOCUS ON ME AND MY BREAKING VAGINA FOR A DAMN MINUTE HERE?” I screech.

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