Epilogue
Trey woke with a sharp jab to his ribs. “What,” he mumbled, working on figuring what the jab was about.
“The pups,” Cassidy gasped in pain. “They’re comin’.”
Jumping out of bed, Trey kicked the night stand then hopped around in the dark, cursing.
“What you doin’?” Cassidy whined from somewhere on the bed. For the last few weeks of pregnancy, Trey had moved into Cassidy’s cabin while they had renovations made to their new home. The bar was too noisy for Cassidy, who had grown sensitive to many things as his pregnancy progressed.
Also, Trey hadn’t wanted Cassidy to have to put up with the mess at the new cabin. There was too much dirt and dust created by the carpenter while he added a nursery to the back of the cabin, next to the master bedroom. Cassidy had definite ideas about such things. He wanted their babies close so they would know they were wanted. Trey had no issue with that after Cassidy had opened up about his family, about how they neglected him because he was divergent. Made him share with the chicks in the barn rather than in the house.
Trey did his best not to think about Cassidy’s past when his wolf wanted to hunt his family down and tear their heads off. Cassidy being the way he was, he didn’t want Trey to do anything. Cassidy just wanted to move forward and create a happy space for their pups. So Trey focused his anger on making that happen.
Toe throbbing, he found the lamp and flicked it on, then wished he hadn’t with what he could see happening between Cassidy’s legs.
“Oh gods,” he exclaimed and, in panic, stepped back, this time hitting his heel on the edge of the door. “Fuckkkk,” he ground out, hopping forward. Was this the revenge of the universe for impregnating his mate?
“When you’ve quite finished,” Cassidy said around a low moan, “go call the doc.”
Trey swung around and ran out of the room, not noticing he was naked, his feet bare. Down the steps of the porch, he could see the sky was tinging with dawn as he ran towards his truck. He patted his legs, only to groan and curse once more. He ran back into the cabin only to hear mewling coming from the other room, sending him right back into the bedroom.
His wolf went into hiding at the panic coursing through him, which appeared to have stolen the remaining ability to think rationally. He skidded to a halt, his eyes aching with how useless he felt.
Cassidy lifted pain-filled eyes as he faced the end of the bed, rocking on his hands and knees. “Did you… c-call the doc?”
“Fuck,” Trey growled and shook himself, going for his phone. “Sorry, I-I… oh gods, you’re bleedin’.”
“Ring… the fucking… docccccc…” he swayed, his large belly rippling as goo dripped onto the bed from between his spread thighs.
No matter how much they’d talked about this, Trey realized nothing could have prepared him for seeing Cassidy like this. The pain radiated off him and stabbed at Trey’s self-control.
“I’m so sorry, I did this to you.” Hand shaking, he dialed the doctor, his gaze fixed on Cassidy who grew sweatier by the second. His skin glistened in the light, no part of him still as he rocked.
“Trey… Trey… you there?”
Cassidy’s head hung between his shoulders. “Answer him,” he snapped breathlessly.
“Sorry Doc. Cass, he’s in labor. I don’t know what to do,” he cried in panic when Cassidy made a sound that sent all the hairs on his body into fight mode. They lifted as his wolf whined in his mind, Fix this.
You fucking fix it.
“Keep calm. Soothin’ touch, like I showed you. It will help Cassidy deal with the pain. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Trey didn’t say goodbye. He threw the phone toward a chair tucked in the corner and climbed back on the bed, avoiding looking at the mess. He ran a hand down Cassidy’s back, doing his best not to inhale.
“Tell me what you need,” he murmured softly, hoping he didn’t sound as frightened as he felt. Why would anyone want to go through this?
No matter how many times the doctor had assured him that his little chick’s body would adapt to birthing pups, nothing took away the worry. He kept it to himself as Cassidy had grown bigger and struggled to do simple things like bend.
“Not… sure…” he mewled, as his whole body appeared to tighten. “Need to push.”
Wasn’t this too fast? The doctor had said it would take hours.
Is there something wrong?
His animal sniffed at Cassidy. No, the pups are fine. They just wanna meet us.
Well, can you tell them to fucking hold their damn horses as we need the doc?
“Why you stoppin’?” Cassidy demanded in a strangled voice that put Trey on edge.
“Sorry.” He went through the moves that the doctor had said would help, keeping all the cursing to himself when it didn’t seem to calm Cassidy the way the doctor had assured him it would. The fucker lied to him.
“Go with the feelin’.” He hoped that was the right thing to say, because right then, it was all he had.
Cassidy
Waking with an ache in his lower belly, he had thought it was the pups trying to get comfortable, rather than labor. Over the last week, it had gotten decidedly harder to find a position that he liked. He’d lain listening to Trey breathing, using that in an attempt to lull himself back to sleep, only the ache had fast become a pain in his lower back that just didn’t seem to have a start, middle or end. It also came with belly cramping.
He had done everything the doctor had said, even stopped sitting on the ground so his girls could acquaint themselves with his belly when he struggled to get up and wrenched his back the week before. The pups weren’t due for days, or so the doctor had reassured him after he had gotten the once over after the minor mishap. One he had not told Trey about because his wolf, it turned out, was a worrier. Cassidy was now not doing any ranch work aside from looking after his chicks at Ethan’s insistence—or Trey’s—after his belly got in the way.
So when it had become impossible to hold still, he had given in and woken Trey. Now he could see his wolf had gone into panic mode again. It helped a little because Cassidy had something else to think about as his mate acted so out of sorts. If he’d had the energy, he would have laughed.
He listened to Trey and decided that going with his feelings was his only option when the pups wanted to meet their parents.
Rocking helped, so Cassidy did that. He mewled and panted because that helped, too. But when that failed, he cried and swore up a blue storm. As voices faded in and out around him, he felt his body prepare.
Sweat dripped from his chin and slid down the sides of his face, making him blink furiously to stop it stinging his eyes. There was the sound of cries, except the pain wasn’t stopping, so Cassidy focused and bore down with gritted teeth.
“That’s it, my little chick, you’re doin’ so well, my love.”
“Fuck off,” he ground out on the next wave of pain. “You’re right… this… is all… yourrrrr fault,” he growled breathlessly, his body shuddering violently at the next wave of belly clenching pain.
Unsure how long it was before the pain relinquished its hold on him, Cassidy found himself lifted away from the mess and Trey positioned him to rest, his sweaty back against Trey’s damp body, their skin sticking together. He panted and sank into the comforting feel of Trey’s arms wrapping around him after he tugged up a sheet. Drifting on the exhaustion, his eyes slitted open at the sounds in the room. He could see a huddle of men peeking through the bedroom door. He would let the mortification at being seen like this bother him later, when he got his strength back.
“Have a sip of water for me, my love.” A glass touched his lips, and the iciness got him parting them gratefully. He drank deep when the thirst made its presence known.
When the glass moved away, he searched the room, his pulse fluttering madly. “My babies? Where are they?”
Trey kissed the side of his sweaty brow. “The doc is just checking our girls out to make sure they’re okay.”
“Girls?” he whispered, feeling his world expand with the reality he had daughters.
“Two beautiful baby girls,” Trey murmured softly against his skin, a catch in his voice. “They look just like you, Cass.”
The doctor walked past the ranch hands, cradling the swaddled girls in the crooks of his arms. Trey was wrong, their beautiful burnt sienna skin was just like their daddies.
“No, they look like us.” He held out his arms despite the weakness in them. He didn’t worry because Cassidy knew with every fiber in his being that Trey would be there for him, for their girls.
When the doctor carefully placed one girl in each arm, smiling at them, Trey’s arms cradled Cassidy and held them all. “I love you.”
Cassidy heard chuckles from outside the doorway and ignored them, because hearing his mate say aloud how much he loved him made everything right in Cassidy’s world.
“So, what names did you choose for your girls?” This came from the doctor.
Trey’s body shook with laughter. “Cass, let his chicks choose.”
“Say what?” Ethan muttered as he strode in. “Please tell me you’re jokin’?” His face paled as he got a good look at the bed Cassidy remained on.
Cassidy grinned at the room. “I can’t, they’re my family. They like the letter Z.”
There was more laughter. “So, what did they pick?” Ethan asked, sounding resigned and amused at the same time.
Cassidy looked over his shoulder at Trey’s amused expression, then down at their daughters. “Say hello to Zuri and Zinnia. The newest members of Darling Ranch.”