Chapter Seventeen

Wolfe

The holiday flew past, and we celebrated New Year's Eve with sparkling cider because of my pregnancy. Plus, Aster said most of the elves didn't drink. Not that it was a rule or anything, they just usually weren't into it.

As far as we could tell, my alpha was here for the duration as in maybe forever? Other than the gift from Santa at Christmas, we hadn't heard a thing from the North Pole, and Aster said he was prepared to assume he was here for good.

I felt bad because he really would have liked to have a suitcase of his things at least. When he'd left, he didn't have time to pack, and although we'd gotten him clothes and everything here, it was hard to leave everything you knew and loved behind.

Of course, we were a family now, and I hoped we helped to make up for any losses. He'd even gotten a job in the bakery in the local town because he didn't want to just sit at home. I got that. Especially since I'd been placed on bed rest by the local midwife for the past month. "Nothing to worry about," she insisted. "Just being extra cautious." I was also not allowed to shift, since that would involve getting out of bed, and that meant my wolf was extra antsy, too.

Maybe if I hadn't felt well, it would be easier, but I felt fantastic in a bloated, achy sort of way. My blood pressure was just elevated enough to worry the midwife and have her put me under this stricture. Until now, it had been a perfect pregnancy, with glowing reports at each visit, and now?

Now, I was trapped like a rat. "Aster," I called, "Can you refill my water?" I couldn't think of a single reason I couldn't at least get a glass of water, but my alpha had made me promise I would only do that if I had to make a bathroom run anyway.

To be fair, he'd been waiting on me hand and foot and had even begun his own paternity leave to be here for me every minute. When I thought about how my life had been before Aster came, how I'd worried so much about every detail, especially those concerning Noel…this was the "polar" opposite.

If I didn't make it through delivery, I'd already done the paperwork to be sure any authorities would know Aster was designated to care for him. Shifters wouldn't question it because he was my mate, but the human world was always out there. And sometimes it overlapped in an inconvenient way.

Today, Aster had taken Noel down to the lake for a quick swim. Mostly because I insisted they not lose their whole summer watching me in this bed. I'd forgotten that when I called for water. And, since my bladder called, I would just get my own this time. Standing up, I reached for the glass only to double over in pain. Gripping my belly, I felt a stream run down my legs.

How long ago did they go to the lake?

Lucky my mate and midwife were reachable by cell. I picked up my phone and promptly dropped it on the hardwood floor. It landed with an alarming crunch. Oh no. Maybe it was just the screen that broke. I crossed my fingers before attempting to get to it. Bending down to pick things up had been a problem long before I was put to bed, and now my phone lay in a puddle and it might as well be a hundred miles away. I tried bracing a hand on the dresser and leaning to the side to no avail. I could get down on hands and knees probably, but then I'd have to stay there forever because there was no way I'd be able to stand.

Maybe that would be all right? Hands and knees was a position for giving birth. I was pretty sure anyway. But what if I was wrong. What if I ended up delivering down there? I gasped as another pain wrapped around my middle.

For all my fears about protecting and caring for Noel, I'd never been this afraid. I wasn't sure what to do to safely bring my baby into the world alone. With that in mind, I staggered to the window, gripped the sill through another round of pain, and then shouted as loudly as I could, "Help!"

Snowball hopped up on the windowsill and rubbed against my hand. I stroked her, appreciating her attempt to give comfort. "Thanks, kitty, but I'm so worried. I wish you were a shifter who could shift and catch the baby." I studied her, hoping maybe…but no, she was just an adorable cat. I hollered out the window a couple more times then went into the bathroom and emptied my bladder. It took most of my strength, but I really had to go and didn't want to wet the bed.

I was pretty sure it would be messy, but it was one less thing. I emerged from the bathroom determined to do whatever I had to, to keep the baby safe. My second son deserved all the love and care I gave to the first one.

I crawled to the middle of the bed, where neither baby nor I were likely to fall off, and rode the pains. They were very close together when the door burst open and Noel came running in. Followed by my mate.

He took one look at me and fished his phone from his pocket.

An hour later, I cradled Davina, a tribute to my first mate's name, in my arms. Turned out, all the talk about a brother had been wishful thinking on a certain wolf pup's part, but nobody was more excited to meet a sibling or made more promises about fun times to come and how she could always count on him.

There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Not even the midwife's.

On the mantel stood the statue Santa gave us of our family. Aster, me, Noel, and a baby wrapped in a blanket in my arms. Through the pregnancy, especially when I was put on bed rest, I felt confident that Santa knew the baby would get here safely. I'd only forgotten for a little while at the start of my labor.

She was a beautiful little girl with a lot of blonde hair and big blue eyes. And I loved her so much… Just like Noel and my mate. Our whole little family.

Fate knew what they were doing when they sent Aster here. Or maybe it was Santa.