Chapter Twenty-Seven

“ARE YOU COMFORTABLE?” Bauer asked, kneeling by my side.

I shook my head. I was in excruciating pain. Of course, I wasn’t comfortable.

His mouth dropped open. “Should I sit you up more?”

“No,” I said, my voice wavering as my stomach cramped. I was in the back of a truck on the side of the road, giving birth. No matter what position I’d be in, it wouldn’t matter to me because the whole situation sucked, and it was such intense pain I didn’t want to move. Supposedly, on your back was the worst position to give birth in, but the doctor did say I had birthing hips, and billions of people had given birth on their back, so it’d work at the moment.

“What if I held you?”

I shook my head. Anybody touching me then sounded so unappealing. I screamed as I bore down. My body shook like wild as I tried to work our baby down my birth canal. A breeze blew, but it was warm and did nothing for my sweaty body. Wet droplets rolled down my forehead as I concentrated on pushing. When the contraction passed, I fell back, breathing heavily, and rolling my head to the side, taking in my mate, who sat there with his eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

He blinked and licked his lips. “I’m going to get between your legs. Okay?”

I nodded, my chest heaving, as I took in the fields to either side of us. Crickets rang out, and the grass rustled in the wind, but I was the main one making all the sounds. I could’ve sworn I heard the echoes of my screams.

“I have to take off your pants.” As he reached for the waist of my pants, I gripped his wrist and cried out.

He put his other hand on my hardened stomach as I grabbed my thighs and pushed. The pain was more than anything I had imagined. It was all-consuming. I pushed through the misery and whimpered as it subsided, knowing it would be back in merely seconds. Bauer worked off my pants and underwear, and I closed my eyes and cried.

“Shh, I’m here for you.”

I cried harder because I was naked from the waist down, outside, giving birth. “Oh. Oh.”

He put his palm on my stomach. “I feel it. Push, Max, push.”

I sobbed as I pushed. Even though the circumstances were pretty bad, I still had him. The man who had been by my side the whole time. The man who loved me no matter what. He put his hands on the inside of my thighs and spread my legs as I pulled them back.

“Shh, look at you.”

I let out a scream as I continued to bear down, and then it finally passed.

“Hey, you’re strong and brave. Look at you. You sure you’re okay like this?”

I nodded and groaned as my stomach tightened again.