Chapter 23 #3
I looked up to see the smug smiles on Bridgette, Merriam, and Julius’s faces.
They were happy I was losing my babies. They didn’t care that my babies were innocent in this war they had waged against us.
I tried to summon the energy to cause them great harm and was briefly satisfied to see them light on fire.
The people detaining them hastily stepped away as Bridgette’s arms and legs caught on fire.
Merriam and Julius attempted to roll on the ground as their chests and arms went up in flames.
Their pained screams were like music to my ears.
Unfortunately, the pain I was experiencing only made my attack last seconds and didn’t cause as much damage as I would have liked.
Noah attempted to sound professional and cool, but I could hear the slight anxiety in his voice. “We need to get her out of here and to the med clinic. Merci! Bent!”
“Shit, what’s going on?” Troy’s eyes were wide as he ran toward me.
The others weren’t too far behind him. Pops paled when he saw the state I was in, and Miranda stopped short and let out a distressed cry, holding her hands over her mouth.
“Take them away and don’t heal them,” Pops coldly stated, looking at Kurt.
“Gladly,” Kurt muttered before shooting me a sympathetic grimace.
“Twenty-six weeks,” Drake was mumbling to himself. “You’re twenty-six weeks. Babies have survived at twenty-one weeks. These are our babies,” he fervently stated. “They’ll survive.”
I didn’t know who he was trying to convince, the others, me, or himself. I had very little time to process the thought before another wave of pain hit me. I let out a strangled cry, and my back bowed in agony. I closed my eyes tightly, feeling tears fall.
“Please, let them live,” I began to pray aloud. “Take me if you must. Please, let them live.”
I heard a few muffled sobs before I was lifted into strong arms. I couldn’t even look to see who held me when I heard Mercedes’ voice.
“Don’t talk like that, Blake,” she said in soothing tones. “He’ll keep all three of you safe, and you forgot who you are. You’re one tough bitch. Say it. Say, ‘I’m one tough bitch.’”
I snorted, her words temporarily distracting me. She was slowly growing on me. Sure, she was pricklier than a cactus in her personal life and had a sense of humor drier than the Mojave Desert, but underneath it all, I understood why she was connected to Gavin. Somehow, they worked.
“What happened?” I heard Dr. Branch’s concerned tone.
“She was attacked, and the babies are coming,” Noah’s voice wobbled.
I opened my eyes to see we were back at the bunker’s clinic. I quickly closed them again when another contraction hit. Through the agony, I could hear Dr. Branch issuing commands. I was rushed back into a delivery room, and all I could do was pray my babies would survive this trauma.
The room was a hive of activity, and I heard the buzz of concerned voices. “You’ve got this, baby. Our babies will be fine,” Jace’s confident voice broke through the fog clouding my mind.
I felt a brush of lips against my forehead, a kiss to my temple, and two steady hands gripping mine while someone else caressed my arms. My clothes were being cut away from me, and steady tears continued to flow down my face. I didn’t think I could survive if something happened to my babies.
“Blake, I’m going to have to see how far along you are,” Dr. Blake informed me. “Let’s hope we can stop the contractions so the babies can bake a tad longer.”
My legs were gently parted, and I stifled another sob as another contraction ripped through my body. “It hurts,” I whined, biting my lip.
“Breathe, baby, breathe,” Jaxson crooned against my temple, his tears mixing with my own.
Suddenly, a gown was in front of me, and I felt gentle hands removing my top.
There had to be at least six people in the room, not including my guys, and I didn’t care.
There wasn’t a more humbling experience than giving birth.
My legs were spread wide, and my greatest fear before then had been whether or not I’d poop on the labor table.
Now, it was whether my babies could survive.
It put things in perspective. My dignity and modesty were the least important things.
“It’s too late,” Noah anxiously informed us. “The babies are coming.”
“She’s crowning. Baby A is eager to meet us. Are all supplies ready?” Dr. Branch barked out.
“Yes, Doc,” one of the nurses responded.
“It’s too early. It’s too early,” I whimpered.
The next five minutes were a blur of panic, immense agony, and the guys reminding me to breathe and reassuring me. I listened to Dr. Branch’s commands to push. In short, I felt like I was separated from my body and not truly experiencing the situation due to the immense terror wracking my body.
“It’s a girl,” Noah cried, tears streaming down his face.
I tried to open my eyes through the wetness, blinking several times, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. She barely fit in the palm of his hands, covered in blood and a waxy white substance.
Dr. Branch held up a pair of scissors, silently asking one of my men if they wanted to cut the umbilical cord still attached to me and my girl. All the guys exchanged looks and seemed to reach a decision.
“Noah, you delivered her; you do it,” Jace insisted.
“I don’t want to put her down,” he confessed, tears in his eyes. “Troy, you’ve been wanting babies forever. You do it.”
“Thanks, man,” Troy said in a broken whisper before taking the clamps.
Once that was done, I realized I still hadn’t heard my little girl’s cries. I inhaled sharply and watched as Noah held her up to his face, not caring where she had just come from. I knew he was using his gift on her while Mercedes buzzed around him.
I didn’t know when Mercedes had arrived, but I appreciated her presence.
I could see her murmuring reassurances to Noah, and he seemed to soak in the calm she was pouring into him.
Finally, I heard the wispy cry, and I let out another sob, but this time it was one of relief.
Noah refused to hand her over as the other nurses began helping him get my baby girl ready for the next steps to ensure her survival.
I couldn’t see what else was happening to her as another wave of pain hit my stomach.
I cried out, grasping Jace’s and Remy’s hands.
I could see the fear and happiness warring in their eyes.
They knew, just like I did, that our baby girl wasn’t out of the woods yet, and I still had to deliver my son.
“Please, God, please,” I whispered, the words falling from my lips like a litany.
“Okay, take a deep breath. Rest. On the next push, we can meet your baby boy,” Dr. Branch commanded. “You’re doing great, Blake.”
I settled my head back, thankful when someone wiped a cloth across my forehead. I hadn’t even realized how sweaty and clammy my skin had become. I tried to force the tension from my body. My mouth was unbearably dry, but it was the least of my worries.
Little whines escaped my throat as another contraction hit. I grabbed my guys again. I leaned up and felt one of them rubbing my lower back. I groaned in relief; that was where most of the pain radiated from.
“Okay, last push, sweetness,” Noah encouraged.
I bore down, hoping it was enough. I felt my son’s tiny body leave me, and I cried out in relief.
“There’s our son,” Troy said, kissing my forehead. “You did so amazing, amore mio.”
This time, when I looked up, I noticed that none of my guys were unaffected by the experience.
They were all crying or close to it. It made my heart lurch and caused me to cry harder, feeling completely overwhelmed.
My joy and relief were short-lived when a sharp pang of panic hit me.
I knew instinctively that it was a soul-deep gut reaction, and it wasn’t coming from any one of my guys.
For a split second, I forgot to check on my baby boy, and in that moment of distraction, I missed how still he was. I missed how the others assisting Noah had seemed concerned the moment he left my side.
The clamps were held out once more, and Remy reached over to hand them to Jace. “He’s not as dark as our girl. He has to be your son.”
“Or his,” Jace said, shaking his head as he handed the clamps to Jaxson.
“Really?” Jaxson cried, tears coursing down his face. His hands shook as he took them.
I wanted to be touched by this moment, but my eyes couldn’t leave my sons. He wasn’t crying. He was so still, and like his sister, he barely fit in the palm of Noah’s hands. I’d held fruit larger than he was.
“Okay, Blake, I know you’re really worried right now, but we have to get rid of your placenta. One more push, and all your hard work is done, mama,” Dr. Branch instructed soothingly.
I wanted to yell at her to stop rubbing my lower stomach and bossing me around, but I knew she was just doing her job. I realized it needed to be done, but I was out of my mind with worry. I didn’t want to be touched. I went from being scared to feeling overwhelmingly exhausted.
“Get Gavin and Sierra,” Mercedes insisted, looking at one of the nurses.
“There are already too many people in here,” Dani huffed.
“I don’t give a damn. Get Gavin and Sierra,” she snarled.
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to like that?” Dani snapped. “I’m a real nurse. Who the hell are you?”
I stiffened, my hackles rising immediately.
Honestly, I didn’t want that bitch in here to begin with, and I’d be damned if she talked to Mercedes that way.
It was bad enough knowing she was so thirsty for Noah’s cock, and yet she still relentlessly flirted with him.
If she weren’t such a good healer, I would have asked for her transfer out of here.
“She’s the woman speaking sense,” Dr. Branch snapped. “Go get Gavin and Sierra, and then stay out.”
“But,” Dani began to stutter.
Remy stood with a growl, his face filled with rage. “But nothing. Go get Gavin and Sierra. You’re wasting time arguing, knowing my son’s life hangs in the balance.”
Dani paled but scurried out as directed. I sighed in relief. I had no energy to argue with someone on a power play who had never respected me to begin with. I wished I had the forethought to come up with a birth plan that didn’t involve her, but I assumed I had time.
“Noah, give him to me,” I rasped, barely intelligible as I tried to stifle my cries.
I lowered my top in preparation to place him against my skin. Even if Mercede’s plan didn’t work, I needed to hold him for a little while.
A look of indecision crossed his features before he brought him over to me. He gently placed him against my skin and stepped back so the others could take a look at our boy. My son had been wiped down, so I could see the shock of dark hair on the top of his head and the fine fuzz covering his body.
“Hey, Andy,” I sobbed against his forehead. “I need you to breathe for me. Your daddies and I would love to hear you cry.”
My voice trailed off as a surprisingly strong wail pierced the air. I had to smile through the tears. My daughter was making her presence known, and I had never heard a sweeter sound.
“You hear that, buddy? Your sister would love to be reunited with you too.” Jace didn’t even try to stem his tears as he leaned over, trailing one forefinger over his downy back.
I closed my eyes and placed a hand over his tiny body. He felt so fragile, and I had to stifle another cry. There were no words to describe the feeling of holding my son for the first time. I tried to shove all the fear and panic from my mind and had to open up my gift of healing.
I heard a shocked gasp and a muffled cry, and opened my eyes to see Gavin and Sierra poised by the bed. I could see how heart-wrenching the state of my tiny boy was for Sierra. I also saw the fear in Gavin’s eyes, hoping he never had to experience this.
“Let’s do this,” Noah insisted.
Gavin and Sierra pressed closer while my guys stepped back. Noah placed a hand over mine, and Gavin placed a hand over both of ours, while Sierra rested both of her hands on his broad shoulders. My guys then stepped back in and found places to put their hands on me.
I was bolstered by the confidence in their eyes. I took a deep, cleansing breath and closed my eyes. The room seemed deathly silent, as if the world had paused. I emptied my mind of everything but my little boy. There! There! It was faint, but I saw the light and the slight thump, thump.
“There you are, little man,” I crooned silently to him.
I saw the light brighten, as if he were comforted by my words.
I vaguely heard a gasp above me, but wasn’t deterred, gently “reaching” out and prodding the light.
The more I touched it, and the longer I spoke to him, I saw several more strains of light reach out to the main source.
I smiled when I realized they were like little veins and ventricles reaching out to his heart.
Once the light surrounded me, I began to “feel” for another dark recess. His lungs. Where were his lungs?
I saw them. I wanted to cry out when I saw how underdeveloped they were.
They weren’t ready to function, but they were valiantly trying.
As I began working on one of them, I recognized Noah’s signature beside mine.
He was gently massaging one lung while I massaged the other.
The faint grey tinge surrounding them turned pink.
I wanted to continue rubbing them, but knew instinctively to take a step back.
Seconds later, I heard the sweetest sound as my son drew his first breath and let out a fierce wail.