Chapter Twenty-Four

Roughly eleven months later

“There’s going to be blood. Your mate’s blood. If you can’t handle it…”

Cyrus held up his hand. Deputy Joe was a handsome, solid man with a quiet but firm manner – a man clearly devoted to Doc. Him and Liam, who was standing on the other side of him, had become friends of sorts in the weekly visits Ness and Cyrus had been making to Doc’s office since Ness had his pregnancy confirmed.

It had been a relatively easy pregnancy – at least for Cyrus. Ness had struggled in the last four weeks with the increased weight, and not being able to move around as much as he wanted. But he’d kept his good humor, something Cyrus knew he would never be able to do as well as his Ness did.

“I’m going to cope with it, because Ness wants me to,” Cyrus said firmly, meeting his mate’s smile with one of his own. “My mate’s put in the hard yards. All I have to do is keep my teeth to myself so we can share this special moment.”

Ness was already lying on the bed, his face flushed with the effort it had taken just to do that. It had been a very long year – one where barely anything happened for the first six months and then all of a sudden Ness woke up with a cute belly, cravings, and mood swings that tested their relationship. One minute Ness would be all over Cyrus like a rash wanting sex three to six times a day, and the next he’d snap if Cyrus went to hold his hand. It was frustrating at times, and yet there were so many positive moments too.

Ness’s pregnancy had to have been the most documented male pregnancy in history. Doc charted growth, Ness’s symptoms, took blood once a month to make sure Ness was staying healthy in all ways, and making a point of recording the mood swings as well, because as he said, a person’s mood played a huge part in a successful pregnancy. So there was all that.

For his part, Cyrus started making the changes Ness suggested with his business and the “family” associated with that. The profit sharing ideas Ness thought would help reduce the incidences of cheating in his casinos was working far better than Cyrus had ever anticipated. His profit was up over twenty percent from the year before – and he shared that with the staff who made that happen.

It appeared when employees had a vested interest in the success of a business, they worked harder to ensure that happened. Cyrus also put in a dedicated email address where employees could report on anything concerning, without any fear of losing their jobs if they were genuine in their concerns. Cyrus, being a shifter, helped weed out the troublemakers because it was so easy for him to scent a lie. Overall his businesses had never done as well.

Jimmy the carpet guy could finally retire – something he’d apparently wanted to do five years before. Cyrus instigated new rules for dealing with grievances toward and about his family members. There had even been a five day visit to Sicily where Cyrus met with other family heads and discussed his involvement going forward. It was decided Cyrus wasn’t going to retire as such – it was more him stepping away from the day-to-day because he had more important things to do.

Like look after Ness and their baby that was minutes away from being born. The one issue neither Cyrus nor Ness had been able to resolve was their relationships with their own blood families. Ness had contacted his parents again via email when he was three months pregnant and had never received a reply. Likewise Blade would nod if he saw Cyrus or Ness in town, but they still hadn’t spoken.

That was upsetting, at least for Ness. Three times during his pregnancy Ness had broken down, crying and yelling, angered at how much his parents didn’t care about him and apparently never had. Then, when Cyrus would comfort him and remind him they weren’t going to parent that way, Ness would start crying all over again because Cyrus was missing out with Blade not talking to him. Fun times, not. With Ness’s encouragement, Cyrus learned to open up a bit more and be more approachable with people in town who were friendly and supportive, which did help Ness.

“I love babies,” Liam confided as they waited for Levi and Doc to start. “I’ve gotta admit those first weeks were really hard – getting barely any sleep and wondering if we’d ever have time to ourselves again. I’m not sure if me or my mates would want to have anymore. But this moment, this point in time when your baby is first welcomed into the world…” Liam fanned his face. “Makes me tear up every time.”

“I just need for them to be okay – my mate and my baby. That’s all I want or need.” There was only one baby. That was all they knew. No one had any idea if the little one would be a boy or a girl, despite Ness having over forty ultrasounds.

As the scent of Ness’s blood hit the air, Cyrus focused his eyes on Ness’s face, his mind taking him back down memory lane. He hadn’t been present at Blade’s birth. That wasn’t done in those days. Cyrus had been in a business meeting when he was notified that Blade’s mother had given birth and that he had a son, and after thanking the messenger, Cyrus went back to what he was doing.

Now, I’m here…I’m seeing… Cyrus’s jaw was so tight he thought his teeth would break. His hands were fisted at his side, and he was conscious of the tension in the men flanking either side of him. Cam, from the bar, and the town’s resident honey badger was standing by the door frame, while Brutus, a bear shifter, and Ra, a tiger shifter were on standby in the waiting room.

Our friends… Cyrus realized as Levi and Doc worked quickly. People who were prepared to stand by Cyrus’s side and make sure he did nothing to ruin what was the start of a whole new chapter in their mating. Yes, those same people cared deeply for Doc and Levi as well, but they could’ve insisted he wait outside. Instead they stood by, ready to stop Cyrus from making a fool of himself, if needed... and they won’t be.

“And we have a baby girl,” Levi said with a wide grin as a blood-streaked baby appeared in his hands. “Just wait another two minutes, Cyrus, please. Let’s get Ness sewn up again and the baby cleaned up…”

“A girl? We have a daughter?” Cyrus felt his knees wobble and Joe quickly grabbed his arm. Why had I assumed I’d have another son? “Ness, darlin’. Are you all right with that?”

They’d talked about genders, like prospective parents did. Ness had explained one long night when he couldn’t sleep about how most of the women in his species were extremely dominant and seemed to lack any sign of a caring gene, and for that reason he would’ve preferred to have a son. But those concerns were clearly history because no one could deny the joy on Ness’s face.

“We have our own precious hybrid. Species standards and behaviors need not and will not apply to our baby.” Tears were pouring down Ness’s face as he cradled their daughter to his chest. “Cy, look at her. She’s beautiful.”

Cyrus already knew that. As he made his way to the bed, all he could do was stare at the mop of bright red hair, two shades lighter than Ness’s. The face was scrunched up, chubby in that way a healthy baby’s could be. Cyrus couldn’t see his daughter’s eyes as they were closed, but just as he had when he’d seen Blade for the first time, Cyrus fell in love.

“Wanna hold, Daddy?” Ness held their daughter up for Cyrus to take. “I don’t want her jostled while they’re taking care of things down there.”

“I’ll take her, darlin’.” Taking the baby carefully, waiting until Doc wrapped a blanket around her quickly first, Cyrus held his daughter against his chest. “You’ve given me everything, darlin’,” he said softly, looking over her head at his mate. “I love you. Are you feeling all right?”

“I need to shift.” Ness sniffed and wiped over his cheeks. “I feel as though I could sleep for a week, but I also feel like I could conquer the world in this moment as well.”

“Heightened emotions are all perfectly normal,” Doc said brusquely, writing more in his notes. The file he had on Ness’s pregnancy was at least two inches thick. “Spend a few weeks at home, at the bare minimum, before you start thinking about flying off anywhere again. Take that time to bond, settle into a routine that works for all three of you, and bring your lovely young lady in to see me in a week’s time so I can make some final checks on her weight and all those technical bits and pieces I need for my paperwork.”

“A baby’s a good look on you, gangster,” Cam said as he straightened off the doorframe and went to leave. “Congratulations to you both. If you need a hand with anything, Nessie, call Fergus – I’m lousy at giving advice.”

“Yes, I’d better go, too.” Liam cooed at Sofia and dropped his arm over Cyrus’s shoulder quickly before dropping it again. “My mates are going to think I’m broody again, if I hang around too long. We’ll drop by and visit later in the week.”

“Cam still hasn’t forgiven us for what happened when his Fergus gave birth.” Joe chuckled as Cam and Liam disappeared. “We wouldn’t even let him in the building. He fought us so hard. You did good, Cyrus.”

“I did it for Ness and Sofia.” Cyrus stroked a fingertip over his daughter’s head. They’d decided on the name a month ago, even though Cyrus had thought he was having a son. But it fit. The name fit her. Sofia Duncan Marinus.

“I’ve got to admit,” Levi said, as he quickly sorted stuff on a tray that had been used during the birth. “I’m a bit stuck with this one. Did I just assist in the birth of my aunt or my cousin?”

“It was a family birth,” Ness said with a yawn. “But technically, if you want to be specific, Cyrus is your step-grandfather, Blade is your stepfather, and Ethan is your stepbrother. As our Sofia is Blade’s sister, just a hundred and ten years apart give or take, that makes her yours and Ethan’s aunt.”

“Cool,” Levi said happily. “Let’s get my new aunt into some clothes, shall we grandpa? And then you can take Ness home so he can shift. I assume you can’t do that in here.”

“I’m far too big to do that.” Ness said, wincing as he tried to sit up. “Yep. I’m going to need a shift to heal that business up.”

“Here, let me help you, darlin’.” Cyrus handed Sofia over to Levi, making sure the young doctor had Sofia secure and was supporting her head before hurrying to Ness’s side. The scent of Ness’s blood still hung in the air, but it was dissipating fast. But when Cyrus went to help Ness sit up more comfortably, his mate held him in a grip around his torso.

“We did it.” Ness was crying and laughing, his whole body shaking in Cyrus’s arms. “Oh, Cy, Sofia’s finally here and she’s perfect .”

“You did the hard yards, darlin’,” Cyrus said softly. “I’m so proud of you and I love you so much.” He kissed Ness’s forehead. “We might not have much alone time for the foreseeable future, so I figured you needed to hear that about now.”

“As if I’d forget. I love you, too.”