Chapter Twenty-Three

Leon

One of the managers from Tobias' restaurant came over and delivered some lunch for us. I'd plated it up for him when I heard a moan come from the bedroom, put down the tray I'd prepared, and rushed in. My mate was stubborn and, even though he was put on bed rest, wanted to get up and do things himself. Of course, he chose the moments I wasn't in the room to attempt such feats.

I called out his name as I approached.

"I'm here," he answered. "I'm not out of bed, I swear."

"Then what's going on, omega?" I asked, my heart beating hard. That moan wasn't one of passion; it was one of pain.

"I don't know. My back is hurting again. I think I just need to get up and stretch a bit." We'd attributed that off-again, on-again ache to sitting too long.

"I've got you." I helped him out of bed and onto his feet. But as soon as he was upright, I heard a squeak followed by a splash. "Tobias?" I asked, thinking he'd had some kind of accident, but then I realized as he had—this wasn't urine. Our eyes met, his wide with knowing. "Your water broke."

"My water broke. Oh, oh, Leon, the pains I've been having. Call Quinn. Please. Please, call him."

"I will. Let's get you in the shower."

We'd gone over this. He would shower. I would call Quinn. We would get ready and, if at all possible, he would have a home birth. No hospitals, and he wanted to be at home. It was the most important thing to him.

Tobias had a few of the pains in his back while he was in there. Quinn said he was on his way but, in the meantime, he wanted me to spread some blankets on the floor and follow my omega's lead. His bear would know exactly what to do in order to deliver our young.

When he got out of the shower, I layered soft blankets on the floor until Tobias was happy and approved of the nest I'd made. He dropped the towel from around his waist and got down on his hands and knees.

"Tobias, talk to me," I pleaded as he lowered his head fell into another round of pain.

"I can't. He's…my bear is in charge. Let him. Let him do this."

"I'm not standing in your way, omega. My little bear, do your thing. Show him how to birth our babe."

Quinn arrived a few minutes later, but my omega was already pushing. His bear growled through him. I felt helpless in that moment. There wasn't a damned thing I could do to ease his pain except to rub his lower back, which somehow soothed his bear.

"There we are, Tobias. Just a few pushes. You're fully dilated, and we're almost there. Almost time to meet your babe. Come on. You can do this. Big push."

Tobias let out a loud growl and bore down on his hips, tucking his ass toward the floor. His channel opened wider and then, before I could take my next breath, our baby crowned. Quinn encouraged him.

"There's the head, Tobias. One or two more pushes and you've got your baby. You can do this."

I whispered in his ear how strong he was. How much I loved him. How much I believed in him. All the things I would want to hear if I was in his place, which I very much wanted to be. To take the pain away from him.

"Go back there," he whispered. "Catch our babe as he comes out of me, alpha."

I did as he told me and when the time came, it was my hands who caught our son. He cried a bit as Quinn wrapped him up while I helped Tobias onto the bed. Then I placed our baby on Tobias' chest. My omega had collapsed from the expended energy, but he held our babe with strong arms.

"You did it," I said, in awe of my mate. "You did it."

"No," he said, looking down at our new baby. " We did it."