But she felt like it was essential to her happiness that they get the chance to see their baby before they left.
She couldn’t allow herself to think they might not come back, but it tormented the fringes of her mind.
Struggling to push those thoughts away, Emma rolled from the bed with an effort and headed into Nye’s room to check on him and then to the bathroom Valee hadn’t told her about.
It was her favorite room since she’d moved in because she’d spent a lot of time worshipping at the porcelain altar with morning sickness and then in the hot shower to soothe her after a long, restless night.
She’d barely cleared the threshold when she had her first contraction.
And there was no doubt that it was ‘real’ labor.
It was a hard contraction, hard enough she gasped out loud and sank to the floor.
Kadin was with her in a matter of seconds. “Is it …?”
“Yes,” Emma groaned.
He scooped her off the floor.
“I have to pee!” Emma complained.
“Wet the bed,” he ground out. “More likely pressure from the infant.”
She would’ve argued, but she had another contraction before he could get her back to the bed.
He made her as comfortable as he could, climbed into his breeches, and left. By the time he got back with Gaelen, Hauk and a doctor, Emma hardly knew where she was.
Gaelen settled beside her and began to stroke her and make a sort of humming noise, almost like he was humming a tune—except it didn’t seem particularly tuneful.
Amazingly, the pain began to lessen.
Enough that Emma started to worry. “It doesn’t hurt so much now. That isn’t good, is it?”
The doctor examined her. “Dis good.” He looked at Gaelen. “She ready. Bath not.”
“I do not think she can wait,”Gaelen said.“The child is coming now.”
They stripped her together and wrapped her in a large towel and then Gaelen lifted her from the bed.
“Where are we going?” Emma asked a little drunkenly, discovering she felt a weird sort of floating sensation.
They carried her into the room where the tank was and Gaelen passed her to Hauk and got into the pool. Kadin followed him. Then Hauk lifted her up and passed her to Gaelen and Hauk.
Thankfully, the water was warm—not hot, just not frigid—most closely body temperature, and low in the tank and still filling.
As huge as the tank was, it was damn crowded when the doctor joined them.
Hauk climbed to the rim and settled there.
“You’re not coming in, too?” Emma asked hazily.
Hauk’s eyes gleamed. “I will greet our son from here, dear heart.”
He was being born in the water, Emma thought in confusion. But they were water people, she reminded herself while she could still think straight.
Gaelen eased her pain. She wasn’t certain of how he did it, but he rubbed her and hummed and it eased the pain every time she began to get uncomfortable.
It seemed to go on forever and then, abruptly, she felt … she felt the baby slip from her body. Horrified, she looked down, struggling to reach for him, but she saw he had already begun to paddle his legs and arms.
Kadin caught him as he surfaced and lifted him out of the water.
Everyone examined him and admired him and then Kadin and Gaelen climbed out, took the baby and left while the doctor delivered the after birth and, when she’d recovered enough to feel up to it, lifted her from the birthing tank. Hauk, who’d waited for her, wrapped her up snuggly in a thick towel and then carried her back to the bedroom where Kadin and Gaelen were making faces at the newborn.
Hauk rolled his eyes, but as soon as he picked the child up, he made a face at him, too.
Emma shook her head, but she smiled.
Reluctantly, they handed him back when he started to fuss and watched while she put him to her breast. They left her to rest then.
Right! Like she was going to get any rest!
But she did. She discovered that they took their parenting very seriously and they not only helped her with the newborn son, they helped with Nye and pampered her until she felt like a princess.
But not like Princess Bitch.
The End.
