Epilogue

“Push!” Mac encouraged.

“You push! I’m tired,” Viv snapped back. It had been a long labor and she was exhausted. She could hear the nurses murmuring in the background that if it went on for too much longer they would be doing a C-section. She had been told the baby was big and it might be difficult for her, but she had been optimistic that she could do a vaginal delivery, one with an epidural and pain meds. Her pregnancy had been closely watched by both Mac, Thomas, and the doctors. There had been no issues from the scorpion poisoning from her abduction. She had felt so relieved.

Now she was in the labor and delivery ward at the nonhuman hospital with D, Thomas, and Lucifer waiting in the waiting room.

“I want to try one more thing before we decide to do a C-section. I have a cream I can apply, it’s magical in nature. It’s a type of muscle relaxer but it should also potentially help you not rip.”

“Will it hurt the baby?”

“No, it was designed just for labor and delivery, especially for large babies.”

Viv nodded. “Let’s try it.”

The doctor nodded, reaching for a shimmering tub. “This is going to feel really weird, kind of tingly from what I’ve been told. It’s going to help open your channel more than your body would naturally. Everything will go back to normal once it wears off, so don’t worry about that. If this doesn’t work, we’re going to have to go to surgery. Your body can’t take much more of this and the baby will be getting tired too.”

Mac held her hand, watching as the doctor shoved her whole hand up Viv’s vagina. He winced, but Viv didn’t seem to feel it.

After a minute, Viv started to wiggle. “Oh, that’s weird,” she panted through a contraction.

The doctor leaned down, checking her progress. “Okay, next contraction you’re going to push. Start and stop when I tell you.”

Mac watched Viv’s stomach tighten again, the muscles rock hard under his hand.

“Push. Now, Viv! Go, go, go, keep pushing. And stop.”

Viv’s head dropped back to rest on the bed, her forehead sweaty. Mac leaned down to give her a kiss. “You’re amazing. You’ve got this. Let’s meet our baby, huh? After this you can have a huge milkshake and a slice of peanut butter pie.” Once she had arrived at the hospital she hadn’t been allowed to eat and it had been almost a full day since then.

“Here we go again. Get ready, Viv. Push!”

Mac watched in the mirror behind the doctor. He thought he saw the start of dark hair and tiny little horn nubs. “Keep pushing! I can see the head coming, go go go!” the doctor ordered.

He winced as he saw the state of his mate’s vagina. He didn’t know it could stretch that big and he was grateful for the cream the doctor had used because he didn’t think it would have been possible otherwise. She was tiny and the baby clearly was not.

“Okay, Viv. I think one more will get the head out. Then we’ll stop and wait for the next one. You’re almost there,” the doctor encouraged her.

Mac felt her stomach turn rock hard again. “Now!” the doctor shouted.

His mate pushed with everything she had, the dark-haired head popping out. “Stop, get your breath. Okay, one more Viv. Give me everything you have, let’s get this baby out!”

Viv took a deep breath, pushing, her neck and face straining. There was a rush of baby and fluids. Mac watched as the doctor cleaned the baby’s face off, getting them to cry out. Oh gods, look at what they had made, he thought in awe.

“Congratulations guys. He looks healthy and perfect. Let’s get him cleaned off and measured and you can hold him. Dad, why don’t you stay with him while I get Viv cleaned up.”

Mac looked at his love, getting her nod. He followed, watching as they gave him goop over his eyes, measured his length and weight. He turned around to look at Viv and almost threw up when he saw the placenta fall out into a metal bowl. Those looked like their mixing bowls at home. They needed new ones, he decided. Maybe cheerful colors in a porcelain or ceramic. Not shiny metal. The doctor was checking to make sure it was all discharged and ended up putting a stitch or two down there. Mac was glad the epidural was still working. The doctor was applying a healing cream to Viv’s vagina, especially over the stitches, so it should be healed up by tomorrow. He felt sorry for humans who gave birth and had to wait to heal.

He followed as the nurses brought his son back over to Viv, laying him down on her chest, wrapping a blanket over them.

“He was a big one,” the doctor said, coming to stand next to him. “Part of the problem was his size, part was that he was shifted, making him a little bigger. We’ll have to see what he’s like when he switches to human form. He should do that in the next day or so. When you guys have the next one, we’ll know to start the cream earlier. If it looks like they’re shifted, we might induce a little early to try to keep their size down too. She’s a trooper. Congratulations, his stats are perfect. We’re running a blood test to make sure nothing weird shows up with her history, but I’m not anticipating anything. Other than the size, which I think we can attribute to your own size and him shifting, which also can happen in demon births, everything was normal.

“Do you want the rest of the family in now or do you want some alone time?”

“You can let them in,” Viv said. She had a hospital gown on again and a blanket over her legs and up to her waist.

The trio came in, D’s parents having told them they would wait until they were home and would bring meals. Thomas’ parents were dog sitting at their house. Thomas took one side of Viv’s bed, Lucifer the other.

“He looks just like you did when you were that age,” Lucifer said softly. He gasped when the baby opened his eyes at the sound of his voice. “Well, except for those blue eyes. Those are all your mate. Congratulations. He’s perfect.”

“He’s adorable, Viv. Look at what you made,” Thomas crooned at the baby, who grabbed hold of his passing finger.

Lucifer leaned down, giving them both a kiss. “I have to go, but may I?” he asked, gesturing toward the baby’s wrist. Viv nodded and Mac grabbed the healing salve out of his pocket. At the first whimper, Mac swiped on the cream, letting the baby settle back down. He now had Lucifer’s mark, protecting him from the world. D and Thomas had also received theirs in the months since Christmas. “Congratulations. He’s amazing. I wish I could stay, but work calls me back,” he said sadly.

“We’ll be there to visit soon,” Viv promised. Mac had been surprised that his uncle had left Netherworld at all. This was the only time since his parents’ death that he could remember it happening. They had even had their double wedding in Netherworld so that he could attend. They had later had a ceremony on Earth so Thomas’ parents could be there.

“You guys ready to leave and head home?” the doctor asked with a smile as she knocked on their door the next morning. “Everything looks good, just come follow up in a week or so, sooner if something feels off, but you look great. We got the lab results back. Hunter is perfectly normal. Except for one thing, and it’s not bad. It looks like he carries an anti-venom to scorpions. It’s built into his DNA, so he’ll be immune to any normal or shifter stings from what we can tell. Now, don’t go getting him a pet scorpion and test it, but that’s the only thing that showed up. Go home, relax, and congratulations again,” she said, giving Viv a hug before leaving the room.

Mac had already packed their bag. He helped Viv stand up and then handed over their son before opening a portal. His uncle had given him a bit more power, allowing him to portal multiple people at a time. It would come in handy with kids. Wrapping an arm around her waist, Mac guided Viv home where Faolán was waiting on the other side anxiously. Thomas and D were there as well, D’s parents keeping Thomas’ busy in the kitchen so they could port in undetected. Luckily, Hunter had shifted to his human form this morning.

Viv bent down, showing the baby to Faolán. “This is your little brother. Isn’t he cute? You guys will have such fun together,” she told him. The pup sniffed the baby and gave him a gentle lick. “Good boy,” Viv praised him. She walked over to the couch, easing herself down, before adjusting the baby to be held with one hand. She rubbed the pup’s ears with the other.

Thomas sat next to her, quietly talking. D bumped Mac’s shoulder with a grin. “We may have bought a few more toys,” he admitted. “They’re in the nursery. Faolán has some too. I’m going to help Ma in the kitchen. Why don’t you sit and rest?”

Mac sat in one of the recliners, his eyes heavy. He had sat up all night watching over his family and it was catching up to him now. As sleep stole over him, he smiled, hearing the sounds of his family.