26. Talia

"Come on, cyw!" Talia grinned, sitting on the carpet and holding her hands out to Felix.

The few feet between her and Jensen must have seemed vast to him, but a look of abject concentration settled over their son's expression as he took his first shaky step to close the gap. Jensen's broad hands went with him, hovering a few centimetres away from Felix's body.

A thrill went through Talia as Felix managed the next step; this was the stage he usually fell down at, but she gasped as he bulldozed his way past it, taking a third—and then a fourth.

She wanted to cheer Felix on, to give him words of encouragement, but he tended to lose focus whenever one of them spoke. Instead, Talia shared an animated glance with Jensen, who looked every bit as excited as she was.

When Felix finally reached her, Talia hoisted him into the biggest hug she could give without squishing him. "You did it!" she exclaimed, covering his head in a barrage of kisses as he giggled.

Then Jensen was there, his arms locking round the two of them, every bit as ecstatic as she was.

Their little boy could walk.

"We're in so much trouble now, aren't we?" Talia snorted, glancing around the flat. Felix's birthday cards were scattered across every surface out of his reach—or what had been his reach until now. "Think of all the mischief you can get up to if you can walk wherever you want."

"Mmm," Jensen murmured, kissing her cheek. "I'll install all those safety locks I ordered the other day. I didn't realise we'd be needing them quite so soon."

"Neither did I." Talia swept Felix's hair back from his face. "And you need a haircut, cyw."

Tilting his wrist, Jensen checked his smart watch, letting Felix crawl away from them. He headed for the Dalmatian see-saw that Roman had gifted him, although thankfully he hadn't worked out how to use it yet. "There's still time for me to take him today, if you like."

"You mean the place you took him last time? With all the cars and trains for them to sit in?"

Jensen nodded, his lips finding the curve of her neck. "Then he'll be nice and tired by the time he goes to sleep tonight."

"Oh?" Talia made a breathy noise. "Did you have something particular in mind?"

Jensen's words rushed over her skin, his hands on her stomach. "Maybe Felix can go and stay with Warren and Kate for the night instead. I've needed to talk to you about something for a while now, if I'm honest. After that? Maybe we can see how loud the Sybian can make you scream."

Biting her lip, she nodded. "I could be convinced." Although they'd have to turn off the emergency alert on Tarik's security system. The last thing they wanted was to be interrupted by the police knocking on the door, thinking she was screaming for a very different reason. "Maybe I can message them and see if—"

Over on the coffee table, her phone began to ring, cutting off their conversation. Letting out an unhappy hrumph, Talia crawled over on her hands and knees, grinning when she felt his touch caressing her rear.

It was Mia. Talia smiled. "He—"

"I think I'm in labour," Mia cut her off. A low grunt followed, the sound distorted. Was that a contraction?

Talia swivelled round to shoot a panicked glance at Jensen before scrambling to her feet. Waving goodbye to her evening plans, she went to grab the bag she'd prepared. "I'll be there in a minute. How long have you been having pains?"

"A few hours." A few hours?! She was fine yesterday at Felix's birthday party. "I wasn't even a centimetre dilated at my sweep after the party, so I just assumed it was Braxton Hicks contractions," Mia sniffed, her voice twisting into a knot. "Cameron's mum is on her way but it's going to take her an hour to get here. She was supposed to watch Reggie for me when I went into labour but now I don't know what to do. I just don't want him to be alone worrying about what's happening."

Shit.Talia knew there wasn't anyone else Mia could ask. "I'll watch him whilst I'm helping you."

As she was bending to put her shoes on, Jensen touched her shoulder. "Can I help?" he murmured. "I can bring Felix and have a boys' night in with them playing games and watching films."

Talia relayed the request to a hyperventilating Mia. "Would you be comfortable with Jensen being in the flat too?"

"Yes," Mia squeaked. "Just please hurry."

Whilst Jensen stayed behind to gather Felix's things, Talia ran to Mia's flat, sprinting through the mansion block's long corridors. Not wanting to get Mia up if she was in pain, Talia used her emergency key to get in. "It's just me," she called, finding Reggie sitting on the couch, slowly patting their sleek grey cat, Meg, and watching his favourite show blaring on the TV.

"Hey, Reggie," Talia smiled, bending down to his level. "Are you okay?"

Reggie nodded, tilting his head to look past her.

"I'm going to be helping your mum today. Felix's dad is also going to be here in a little while."

That got Reggie's attention. "Is Felix coming too?"

"Yeah, Felix will be here too, cyw." Talia swallowed as a pained groan echoed through the flat—originating from behind Mia's bedroom door. "Felix's dad will answer all of your questions but right now I have to go help Mummy."

Reggie's dark brown eyes were almost reproachful. "Okay," he muttered, his voice small.

Following the string of moans, she made her way to Mia's bedroom. Her friend was on all fours on the bed, letting out soft whimpers into her pillow.

Talia leapt into action, kicking off her shoes and hopping onto the bed. "Where does it hurt?" she said, immediately beginning to massage Mia's lower back in long, slow strokes—just as Darcy had done when she was in labour. She glanced at Mia's alarm clock, making a mental note of the time. "Here?"

Mia gave an affirmative moan.

"You just let me know if you want anything different. Have you called your midwife?" Another affirmative moan. Good. Hopefully they would arrive soon. "Jensen is just packing everything up to come down here, so he won't be a moment."

Eventually, Mia's shoulders relaxed. Her friend exhaled as the contraction ended, and Talia whipped out her phone to note both the time and how long it had lasted. "Right," she said, ready to transform Mia's bedroom into the calming birthing room she'd specified in her birth plan. Just as she was about to start searching for the waterproof sheets, there was a knock on the door.

It was Jensen, thank god.

Talia introduced him to Reggie, relieved that he'd met Jensen several times before now. He was quickly taken in with Jensen's promises of pillow forts and robot movies, leaving Talia free to set up the birthing room—until Mia spoke again.

"I think I need to push."

Talia whipped around, her eyes wide. Where is the fucking midwife?

Sweat pouring from her forehead, Mia ripped off her clothing, clearly past the point of caring about modesty. She knelt at the head of the bed, hands gripping the headboard.

"Don't push yet," she blustered. "Because…" I can't remember why. Talia just knew that a woman shouldn't push before she was fully dilated. She could almost see the paragraph in her textbook telling her why, but it was nothing more than a blur. Something about swelling, maybe? "Let me just check to see what's happening down there, is that okay?"

Mia gave a helpless cry. "Hurry. My body's pushing!"

Talia lay on the bed, shining the torch on her phone between Mia's legs. Oh fuck, no, no, no, no. "The head's right there, Mia."

"Can I push?"

If the baby was that far down the birth canal, Mia must be fully dilated. Talia decided to listen to her instincts. "If you're ready to push, then you push."

Mia heaved in a breath, before cutting it off with a groan. Exertion reddened her face, sweat dripping from her temples.

"Breathe, Mia. Breathe. Take deep breaths and push down towards your bottom, down towards your bottom, that's it. You're doing amazing," Talia encouraged.

When the contraction was over, Mia let out a whine of distress, hanging onto the headboard. "It hurts."

"I know it does." Talia couldn't help but think of what Cameron was doing at this very moment. Did he know that his child was being born? Did he care?

The contractions came thick and fast. Mia barely had time to recover from one before its successor was on her.

"Put all your energy into the next push," Talia panted, almost as sweaty as Mia. "The head's nearly out. Don't think about anything other than pushing. You can do this. You're ninety percent of the way there already."

Juddering wildly, Mia nodded. Her face scrunched up as the contraction approached.

"That's it," Talia tried not to let any fear into her voice. What if the baby got stuck? What if the cord was wrapped around its neck? What if Mia tore and bled out? Oh my god, I might be about to watch my friend die and there's nothing I can do about it. "Snatch a breath and go again. Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop. Snatch and go again. You can do this."

Mia gave a long, animalistic bellow.

"The head's out," Talia announced, somewhere beneath Mia's chorus of groans. "Pant, pant, pant, pant."

"It stings!" Mia shrieked, her nails digging into the headboard.

"One more push and it'll be over," Talia gave a frantic nod, wincing with compassion as she remembered this stage of her own labour.

With one final, ear-piercing screech, Mia sagged against the bed. Talia's hands darted forward to catch the baby, wrapping them in a towel and gently rubbing. Mia hadn't tore. The cord wasn't wrapped around the baby's neck. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I can't believe I just did that. "You did so well," Talia squeaked, her eyes welling up at the little bundle in her arms. Please cry. Please, please, please. She whimpered out a sigh of relief when the baby gave a small, crackly cry.

"Are they okay?" Mia turned at the sound, attempting to see her baby for the first time.

"They're fine," Talia sniffed—just above the baby's enthusiastic wailing. "A bit shocked, but they're pinking up nice and quick. I'm about to pass them through your legs, and then you can lay down. Be careful, the cord is still attached." She passed the tiny bundle to Mia before helping to guide her onto her back. Tears streamed down her face all the while. "You were amazing," she blubbed.

"Thank you." Sobbing, Mia unwrapped the baby, covered in a sticky white coating and birthing fluids but so, so perfect. "She's a girl." She brushed a finger over her daughter's tiny button nose, hyperventilating with relief and joy in equal measure. "My beautiful little girl."

The baby screeched back, apparently furious to have been born.

Hours and hours later, Talia and Jensen lay in bed back at their flat. The midwives had finally come and gone, giving both Mia and the baby a clean bill of health—much to Talia's overwhelming relief. Cameron's mum had arrived not long after the midwives, amazed to see the new arrival.

Moonlight streamed in through the bedroom window, bathing Talia in a silver glow as she snuggled up beneath Jensen's arm, somehow unable to sleep. Was it the adrenaline in her system? Or was she just overtired?

"Was your labour like that?" Jensen whispered into the night.

Talia snorted. "I suppose so, at its core. There was an incredible amount of pain and eventually a baby was plopped in my arms."

"Knowing is one thing, but hearing it..." Jensen trailed off, his hands constantly on the move, stroking over her arms, her back, her cheeks. He glanced down at her, his eyes soft. "You're the strongest, bravest, most resilient woman I know. And today—you were phenomenal today. Mia is so lucky to have you as a friend."

A smile graced her face. "Is it weird that I enjoyed it?"

"Giving birth?"

"Delivering a baby. It's like… I don't know." Talia paused as nerves infused her, but she knew he would never judge her. "I almost feel like I've found what I was meant to do."

"I'm glad." Jensen kissed her temple, his lips soft against her skin. "You want to be a midwife?"

"Maybe? But I'd need to go back to university to qualify, I know that much. And university isn't something I'd want to consider with Felix being so young. The midwife actually thought I was a doula—when she finally fucking arrived. I looked it up after we got back. A doula is effectively a mother's helper; someone to help and support the mother during the childbirth."

"Sounds like you'd be great at it."

Talia agreed. "Plus it would be a good way to determine whether that kind of work would actually suit me." She hid an exuberant grin against Jensen's neck, suddenly realising why she'd been unable to sleep.

She was excited.

Talia knew deep inside that she'd found what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She knew how to make her mark on the world—and she was itching to get started.