Chapter Twenty Four

Seth

"What do you mean, you made her water break?" Ben barks, running up the stairs behind me. "No way were you rough enough with her to do that."

"Don"t be an idiot, Ben," Michael snaps over his shoulder. "Of course I wasn"t. I barely did anything."

"Well, you did something."

Oh my god. "Stop arguing. She"s going to be stressed enough without the arguing. Ben"s right though, something caused it to happen and you were with her. What happened, exactly?"

Michael stops at the top of the stairs and turns. "We didn"t fuck. I got her off. Everything was fine. She was catching her breath, and then she said her water broke."

"What are we walking into?" Ben asks. "I just want to know what to expect."

Michael snorts. "What do you think you"re walking into? Her water broke. It"s water. She"s rearranging things and getting ready to have a baby. We"ve got a while before it gets intense."

"Stop whispering in the hall and get in here!" Desie yells. "And someone call Obi!"

I have read articles and books about birth and babies. I have watched online presentations. I have tried to learn and be as prepared as I possibly can for this. But I have never been present or even in the house for a birth. The closest I"ve ever been is when Talia had Luca, and I was outside.

I am fucking terrified.

I can"t be, though. Desir"ee deserves more than that. Better. I cannot allow myself to be overrun by fear or panic. I can do this. We can do this.

"Ready?" Michael asks, his hand on the doorknob.

"Ready," Ben answers, and I nod. Michael twists the knob and we follow him inside.

She looks the same. Nothing has changed about her since we were curled up together on the couch just a little while ago. I don"t know why, but for some reason I thought she"d look different.

"I need this moved over there." She gestures to the nightstand and points across the room. "And I need the cart moved in from the nursery. We need to keep an eye on the temperature in the rooms. Seth, call Talia and let her know it"s time. Then call your mother. Ben, call Mateo. Michael, Obi."

I grab the other side of the nightstand and help Ben carry it to where she pointed. It"s not one of those small nightstands. No, Jasper picked out one of the heavy-duty ones with brass accents and four drawers. "You didn"t mention anything about any contractions today. Are you in any pain right now?"

"I haven"t had any contractions. Not any that I"m aware of."

Ben puts his end down on the floor and starts for the door. "Is that normal?"

"Yes, Benjamin. It"s normal. I"m going to have plenty of contractions soon, which is why I"m trying to get everything in place and all the phone calls made now."

Right. Phone calls. Talia first. She picks up on the third ring. "What"s wrong?"

"Nothing. Desir"ee"s water broke."

"Just now? Is she alright? I"ll be there in just a minute." I listen as she runs to another room. "Kaleb," she hisses. "Kaleb, get up. We need to go to Seth"s. It"s baby time."

"Wait, Talia. Hang on. It just happened a minute ago. It"s not baby time just yet. Let me see when she wants you to come."

That"s one of the things Desir"ee was insistent about. She wanted family here when the baby arrived. She wanted our baby to be welcomed into this world surrounded by the people who will love him or her. But she didn"t want our family to suffer through hours and hours of waiting, especially in the middle of the night. So the plan is to alert everyone that it"s happening so they can expect the call to come over in the next little while.

"Do you want Talia to come now, Desir"ee, or later?"

"Later. I haven"t had any contractions yet. I just didn"t want her to be surprised. Tell her to go back to bed and expect a call in the morning, unless something drastic happens once Obi gets here."

Talia laughs. "Tell her nothing drastic will happen and she"ll be just fine. I"m just a phone call away. Kaleb will come with me, and Reid. Jasper is coming. But I"m not telling Corso you called. He"d take up residence on your couch. Just let me know when she"s ready and we"ll be there. Are you alright, Seth?"

I nod, then realize she can"t see that through the phone. "I"m alright. Just worried."

"She"ll be okay, Seth. Just do what she needs you to and don"t do anything she doesn"t. Keep her comfortable and hydrated. And don"t forget to trust her to know what she needs."

"Thank you. I will. I"m going to call my mom."

I end that call and get right back on the phone with Mom. She answers on the first ring. "Is it time? Is she okay? What do you need?"

"She"s okay. Her water just broke."

"Have you called Oberon?"

"Ben"s calling him."

"Any contractions?"

"Not yet. She said to call everyone first."

"Good, good," she says. "John said it will take us an hour to get there. We don"t want to be underfoot, but I know it was important to Desir"ee that we be there when the baby arrives. Oh, Seth! I"m so happy and excited. Just let me know when we should drive up, alright?"

"I will, Mom. Try to go back to sleep for a while."

She laughs at me. "I"m sure I"ll have no trouble at all falling asleep now that we're on baby watch. Don"t worry about me, honey."

I end the call just as Ben walks in with Mateo on a video call. He goes to Desir"ee"s side and holds the phone so that she"s in the frame. "Desie, please tell your brother that you"re okay before he gets on a plane."

She glances at the phone and continues arranging things. "I"m okay, Mateo. Don"t get on a plane. We"ve got this under control. I just wanted you to know what"s happening. I"ll call you when we have a baby."

"See?" Ben says, turning the phone back to him. "She"s fine. But I"m going to go now. I"ll keep you updated."

Desir"ee sits down in the middle of the nest she"s put together over the past few days. It"s similar to the nest she maintained before, but there are differences. More pillows and cushions at one end. Only one of her favorite blankets. More bed sheets. Similar but different. "Obi?"

"He"s on his way," Michael answers. "I texted."

Desir"ee has the first contraction about an hour later and they start coming regularly a few hours after that. She has rested between every one of them and has ordered us to do the same. That"s obviously not happening. Every sound or movement has us jumping to her side. Obi has thoroughly enjoyed our nervousness, and Ben might thoroughly enjoy decking him once this is over.

My phone buzzes with a text. From Jasper. I"m trying, but I"m still not used to him texting me.

Any progression? How is she doing?

I"m not sure how much she"s progressing. Obi is monitoring everything in a very hands-off kind of way. I think it"s partially due to the fact that Desir"ee might rip his arm off if he suggests checking to see if she"s any more dilated than she was a while ago. I text him back with the best update I can give.

She"s ok. Not distressed. Obi says the baby looks ok.

Those things are true. Neither the baby nor Desir"ee are distressed. I know this can"t be rushed, but she"s been in labor for hours. The sun is going to come up soon, the birds are already screaming outside the windows.

Jasper sends another text.

Need anything? Talia is up and making breakfast. I can bring something over.

There"s no way we could eat anything right now.

No, we"re good, but thank you. I"ll text you in a little bit.

~

"You"re doing so good, darlin. It won"t be much longer. You squeeze my hand as hard as you need to, I won"t break."

I shouldn"t anyway. At least not the bones in my hand. But Jesus fuck, it"s been nineteen hours. And the last one has been dedicated to pushing every two minutes. The twins and I are shouldering as much of her stress and pain as we can, but this is too much. It can"t be normal for someone to hurt this much for this long.

"Here, baby. Turn toward me." Ben puts a small ice chip into her mouth and pushes the damp hair off her forehead. "It"ll be over soon."

"It"s never going to be over," she groans. "I"m so tired."

I glare down at Obi. He"s sitting at the foot of the bed like he"s about to catch a baseball, all he"s missing is the goddamned baseball mitt. "Why is it taking this long?"

The bastard has the nerve to smile. "These things take time, Seth."

"It"s taking too much time," Michael growls. "She"s exhausted. Are you sure there"s nothing wrong?"

Another contraction takes her and she tightens her grip on my hand.

"Nothing"s wrong, Michael. Be quiet," Obi chirps. "Push, Desir"ee. You"re almost there. Keep pushing. There you go. Hard part"s coming."

"Crowning?" she asks through gritted teeth.

"Don"t talk. Yes. Keep pushing, keep pushing, almost, stop!"

Desir"ee groans and pulls my hand against her cheek. "Is your mom here yet?"

"She"s in the kitchen. She"s going to make cookies. She says it"s her first grandmotherly duty."

"Get her," she hisses. "Quick. I want her in here." Then she reaches for Michael"s hand and takes a long breath.

I yell for my mom as loud as I can and then Desir"ee pulls against mine and Michael"s hands so hard that she almost throws us off balance.

"Not yet, honey," Obi says gently, pulling another towel from the stack beside the nest. "Just a second. Okay, now. Push. Keep going. Keep going."

"I"m here," my mom says as she runs into the room. "I"m here."

"Keep pushing, Desir"ee. Don"t stop," Obi urges.

Desir"ee pulls our hands again, but we"re ready for it this time. Then between one breath and the next, the baby is out and screaming in Obi"s hands. He lifts the baby up for us to see and beams at us. "Meet your beautiful, strong son."

Desir"ee reaches for him and Obi gently lays him on her chest. He stops crying almost immediately. Michael touches his hand and he instinctively grasps Michael"s finger. Ben bends down to kiss Desir"ee"s cheek as she smiles up at him. I can"t stop looking at them. There is so much pride and relief and joy flooding through me that my chest hurts.

"Look at him," she sighs. "He"s so perfect."

I touch his tiny foot with the pad of my finger, smiling when he balls it up. "He is."

"Do you know what you"ll call him?" my mom asks. She"s sitting at the desk by the door wiping her eyes.

Desir"ee nods. "Calian. Come look at him. Do you know what you"d like to be called?"

"Oh," my mom sniffs, "I thought plain old Grandma might be good, if that"s alright?"

Desir"ee turns Calian so that my mom can see his face. "Look little boy, this is your Grandma."

That"s more than my mom can handle without bawling. She touches the back of the little fist that"s still wrapped tightly around Ben"s finger and cries her eyes out. Then she reluctantly pulls away and gives Desir"ee a watery smile. "Alright, sweetheart. I"m going to go put together something for you to eat. You"re going to be starving in a minute or three."

The house stays full of the people we call family until after dinner. I was unsure about having everyone there at all, much less for the whole day, but Desir"ee was adamant that our house be full of our family for our baby"s first day.

Our son. We have a son. He"s the most beautiful thing I"ve ever seen. He looks exactly like Ben and Michael. Exactly. I love him so much. I know, for a fact, I"m going to be one of those insufferable, overprotective parents that hovers over their children to the point of annoyance. Trent"s going to have nothing on me.

The triplets were so gentle with Calian. Dutch was even quiet. Iris decided that Calian is her baby and she"s probably going to try to move in with us at some point, and Zetty seems to be less opposed to me now that I have a child of my own. I"ll take that miracle and run with it.

Desir"ee is on a video call with her brothers now. They are all gathered around one phone screen cooing at the baby and making plans to come visit. My mom and John are getting settled in the bedroom down the hall. Desir"ee asked them to stay with us for a few days.

I spent most of the day thinking about her wanting to be surrounded by people today, and about her asking my mom and John to stay. The majority of the stories I"ve heard about omegas having babies, including Talia, are that they don"t want people who aren"t part of their pack near their babies for the first few days. Not even grandparents or close relatives. Corso worked it out, though. He pulled me aside after dinner to explain it and now I feel like an idiot.

Desir"ee"s parents are gone. The twins" parents are gone. The only living grandparents Calian has are my mother and John. Desir"ee and the twins grew up surrounded, even crowded, by siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles. I didn"t so I don"t know what that feels like. I don"t know what doting grandparents feel like because my father"s parents died when I was a baby and my mother"s parents are in another territory and wanted nothing to do with my father. I had no siblings. Being part of a family means something now.

I was never going to have children. I was never going to have an omega. I did everything I could over the years to ensure that I could never curse another person with myself. Now that"s over. And it"s okay. I"m okay. Everything is going to be okay.