Chapter Two #2
Rache stayed with her and went through holiday spots on Wonder Island. Things that they could see and do.
She laughed between the contractions. She had left her phone at the teahouse.
Eva was sitting near the doctor and watching it all with wonder. “I can’t believe how casual she is.”
Oriel grinned. “Every pregnancy is different, just as every woman is different.”
Luna watched Eden between checks. “You move very smoothly.”
“Oh, thanks. That’s where I met Rache. Ballroom. I also met another fun beta. Haravin. We were competitors, and we reunited as friends. Well, Rache and I did. I am not sure if Haravin is going to forgive me for that last championship.”
Rache laughed. “She’s good with it, and super excited to see us when we arrive. We just have to tell her which ferry we catch, and they will be at the dock, waiting.”
Eden crossed her fingers. “Please let it be a dance off; please let it be a dance off.”
Luna laughed. “Okay, going in for a check.”
There was a pause, and she pulled her hand back. “How do you like to bear?”
“Ideally? Squatting with a rope to hold.”
Eva asked, “You can choose?”
Oriel laughed. “Yup. Back labour is most convenient for the doctor. No animal in nature gives birth on its back. Even other bipeds.”
Eva paused. “Right. I guess... right. My labour with Liella was agony. I couldn’t get pregnant again after that.”
“Sometimes it goes wrong. Having a good team is helpful— What the hell is that?”
Rache made two webbed strands and wove them down from the edge of the four-poster bed, down to where Eden could grip them. She tested her weight with them, removed the adhesive, and handed them over to Eden.
Eden grinned. “This will work. Thanks, Rache.”
She wrapped the webbing around her hands, and Luna got into position. “I see the head.”
“Okay. I am going to size up in three, two, one.” The labouring beta turned into a labouring Elite omega a moment later.
Rache smiled as the others were startled. “This is her manifestation. She can’t hold it long. It came too soon, and now she has a block.”
Luna said, “Eva, you want to get in here and hold your son?”
Luna leaned back and held the baby. It protested the cool of the room a moment later.
Eva skidded to her knees and reached for him with shaking hands. The light wail continued, and the placenta detached a moment later.
Eden wrecked the mood. “Whew. Right. Let’s get healing. Rache, do you need your passport?”
“I had a feeling, so it’s in my purse. You just want to go?”
“Yup. Our winter clothing isn’t any good there.” Eden stretched and stepped away from the child. “Is he good?”
“Apgar score is a solid ten. He’s amazing,” Oriel said.
The baby was holding his mother’s finger, and Eden chuckled. “Is there anywhere I can grab a shower?”
Nora nodded and led her to a bathroom. “Do you need a spotter?”
Eden paused and nodded. “Yes, please.”
The door closed, and Rache looked at what her friend had just delivered.
The boy was big; his fists waved.
Penny came in and said, “We stopped to get you infant formula.”
Oriel said, “There are lactation medications if you want to breastfeed. No pressure, but it’s an option, but they won’t kick in immediately.”
“Could I really?”
“With the right hormone mix, your husband could breastfeed.”
Eva giggled. “No. If I can, I want to try. I wasn’t up for it with my daughter.”
Rache smiled and saw them tie off the umbilical cord, and then they let Thomas in.
He took a few steps, thudded to his knees next to his wife, and looked at his baby. “Oh, he’s perfect.”
Rache looked at the parents, and the baby blinked its eyes, rubbing a small fist against his face.
Nora came out of the room and grabbed Eden’s bag. “This is astonishing.”
Nora and Eden came out a few minutes later, and Eden was back to beta and in a dress with long sleeves. “Ta-da! It’s the only magic trick I know.”
Rache blinked. At no time did she think that her friend would come out looking like she hadn’t just had a baby. “Wow. How long until bikini body?”
“About a day.”
Luna stared at her. “I get healing via a dragon, and I still don’t bounce back that fast. Colour me jealous.”
Nora chuckled. “I recover quickly, and it still isn’t that fast.”
Eva and Thomas were in a world of their own. Jax came in and smiled. He looked at Penny. “She was always meant to be ours all along.”
“And so was her little brother. Is the legal all squared away?”
“Yup. Her brother is scrambling around from hospital to hospital trying to find her...with a legal team.”
Eden was looking at the baby. “Told yah. I know I came off like a nut job, but I didn’t want him just to disappear. He’s yours. He’s cute and squeaky.”
Eva looked up at her. “Did you want to hold him?”
“Oh, definitely not. He’s out of me. He’s safe. That’s all I wanted for him.” She smiled at the happy parents.
“Right. Where do I sign to make sure that I authorize them to have him?”
Jax shook his head. “Right. I set it up outside on a coffee table.”
She looked at him. “Great. Show me where.”
He laughed, and he and Penny followed her out. Rache grabbed her bag from the bathroom and followed them to the place where she was signing all claims to the child and declaring the surrogate contract complete.
She smiled. “And now, we need to look for flights to the islands before he starts watching the airport.”
Jax sighed. “They already are. However, we have an alternative transport for you.”
Eden frowned. “What?”
“Thomas and Eva have offered to fund your escape.”
Eden dug in the lining of the bag and pulled out a phone that had a plastic covering on it. “They don’t have to do that. I have thirty thousand that I have managed to squirrel away.”
Jax frowned. “How?”
“I sold the car that was registered to me in my name.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, I didn’t take anything from Ryan or Nicky.”
Luna had wrapped up the placenta, and she walked it out of the house to bury it on the grounds.
Luna came back in, grinning. “Did you tell them?”
“Only the broad strokes.”
“Right, well, in ten minutes, a helicopter is going to land, you are going to get in it, and it is going to fly you three airports away, where a private jet is waiting to take you to the islands. You are going to land at Emerald Island, spend the night with Penny’s sister Ven at the royal palace, and then the next day, you are going to be taken by private ferry over to Wonder.
Haravin is very excited to meet Eden and is delighted that you are getting to travel in style. ”
Eden asked softly, “Can local clothing be ready? I am way hot for a few days until my blood balances out. If it is too much of a request, forget it.”
“Funny you should mention local clothing. A seamstress is flying with you, and she will have clothing that meets your needs. In either height.” Luna grinned. “As both of you have Elite characteristics. Do either of you have elves courting you?”
Rache said, “Well, I met my match, but it was only a bit of dancing, and he doesn’t know my name or my address. So, he can wait until I get home.”
Luna nodded. “Okay. Is there any indicator of what he is?”
“Big spider. Big fucking spider.”
Luna nodded. “Right. The webs. Okay. I will be on the lookout for a giant spider.”
“And possibly a scorpion, but that is less certain. Xeti and Terus.”
Luna nodded again. “Got it. Well, your ride is here.”
The whup whup of a helicopter got closer.
Eden frowned. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I have been trapped before, and I wished for someone to help me out. You already have a plan, so off you go.” Luna hugged them, and then Nora did the same.
Penny followed up and said, “If you are on Emerald and meet Ven, ask her politely if you can give her a hug from me. I won’t see her for a few more weeks.”
Jax looked at Eden. “You did a very good thing.”
“Do what I said, though. Go get the testing done immediately and get the results notarized. Pay for whatever you have to speed it up. He can’t claim the kid is mine if it isn’t.”
“Got it. The doctor is doing it right away on a video call with a judge.” Jax grinned. “He has to witness some really odd stuff.”
Eden watched as the helicopter came in for a landing. “Gotta go.”
They were shown out, and Rache noticed that Eden never looked back at the baby. They had their id with them and wallets, and Eden had her bag. They met the pilot named Rayd, and off they went.
Time to hit the islands.