“Baby, what is it?” Kian inquired while rubbing his stomach in a comforting manner. “Are the babies kicking you too much?”
He suppressed the temptation to roll his eyes in annoyance. “They started doing that in their twenty-fifth week, alpha. You and Mase haven’t stopped whispering to them while pressing your ears to my stomach for weeks now. This is…holy shitty hell! Fuck! Oh, crap. It…it hurts.”
Mason stared at him in shock. “What…what should we do?”
“Call the doctor, alpha,” he half-yelled at Mason as he panted through another contraction.
He ignored his alphas, who were running around and grabbing all the bags they’d prepared weeks earlier. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table before turning toward Mason, who was talking to the doctor on the phone. It was almost six in the morning. He sighed and did his best to calm down.
He should have told the alphas to drive him to the hospital the previous evening when he felt signs of contractions, but he thought he had imagined them. He didn’t want to cry, but he was terrified something might happen to his babies. He loved them already, and he didn’t think he could survive losing them. Maybe he was being irrational, but he was in too much pain to think clearly.
Ten minutes later, he was thankful to reach the first floor of the house. It took longer than normal for him to put on a shirt amid the periodic contractions, not to mention the heaviness of the babies inside his womb. He wondered if pregnant women felt the same way he did when they were ready to give birth. After all, women and omega males had that one thing in common, which was a womb. The only difference was the women’s ability to have natural birth, while a pregnant omega male had to undergo a C-section to get the babies out into the world.
It was a random thought, but it distracted him from thinking about possibly losing his babies. He didn’t like that thought at all, but he couldn’t control himself. He was sweating like crazy as he caught his breath. Mason left him alone with Kian in order to get the car from the garage. Getting into the car in his present condition was a chore, but he managed with some difficulties. He could smell the sour odor of his alphas, especially Kian, who was seated right next to him. He knew they were worried, but the stench of their fear would amplify his own.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?”
He nodded at Mason, who was looking at him through the rearview mirror. “Just…just drive a little faster, alpha. Please.”
“Of course.”
“Alphas, the two of you have to try to calm…oh, shit!” he shouted when the pain hit him again. He huffed and puffed as he regulated his breathing to the best of his ability. “Don’t…don’t be frightened, alphas. You’re…you’re both releasing an overpowering odor. Your anxiety isn’t…isn’t helping me at all.”
The alphas didn’t respond verbally, but within minutes, he was able to breathe better. He could detect the normal scents of his alphas once again. They helped to ease his nervousness. For the remainder of the journey to the hospital, he was bombarded with multiple contractions, but Kian continued to kiss his forehead and whisper soothing words in his right ear. He squeezed his alpha’s hand and thigh whenever the pain overwhelmed him.
In all honesty, he had no idea when they reached the hospital. All he was aware of was the immense relief he felt at the sight of his doctor. He didn’t even know when he was wheeled into the operating room, but he heard his alphas screaming outside the room. He was informed the alphas weren’t permitted entry into the room because it was highly likely they’d go feral when he was cut open for the C-section, which would put him, the babies, the nurses, and the doctor in danger.
Fortunately, his alphas stopped shouting after a minute or so. His heart beat faster and harder when the IV was placed in his arm because he’d soon be meeting his babies face-to-face. Then there was the epidural to numb the lower half of his body. Time passed in slow motion after that. He didn’t know how many minutes drifted by as the doctor and nurses performed the C-section, but he lay his head down and attempted not to think about the blood or the fact that his stomach was sliced open.
He couldn’t deny he was more than a little scared, but he had faith in the doctor and nurses. All his fears disappeared when his first child was placed in his arms after the baby had been cleaned up. He sobbed as he placed a gentle kiss on the baby’s forehead before rubbing his nose tenderly against his son’s cheeks. He repeated the same scent-marking process with his two other sons. He was still carrying his third child in his arms when Kian and Mason rushed into the room.
“Baby.”
“Sweetheart.”
“Hello, alphas.”
The alphas were about to approach him and the baby when two nurses gave one son each to the alphas. Blake smiled and cried while watching his alphas nuzzling and kissing the babies in their arms. He was delighted when Kian and Mason approached and stood on either side of him.
“What
