Chapter 23 Ezra
EZRA
“They're not all coming with us, are they?”
Reign had one hand on his swollen belly and the other was clasping my arm. For a human, he had a strong grip.
“They're already in the car.” I could shout at them, but it wouldn’t do much good.
Keane and Rhodes, my brothers’ mates, had already told them as much.
But because they all felt responsible for putting Reign in such a dangerous position, they had clung to him during his pregnancy, anticipating his every want and need.
Reign let out a string of curses, but he experienced another contraction and doubled over, digging his nails into my palm.
“They promised to behave.”
“When have they ever done that?” he hissed as I got him into the car.
We made it to the hospital with my brothers in two cars trailing behind. Though shifter omegas usually gave birth at home, my mate preferred to have our baby in a delivery suite with medical staff and plenty of drugs. The nurse at the intake desk took one look at all seven of us and sighed.
“Family?” Her tone suggested she'd seen this before.
“Brothers,” Boaz informed her.
The nurse pointed out the waiting room and explained that only the alpha father accompanied the laboring omega.
Reign experienced another contraction before I could get him into his hospital gown, and he leaned against me as his belly tightened.
“You’re amazing. Have I told you that?”
“Maybe.” He paced back and forth, saying he preferred to waddle rather than lie down.
There was a crash outside, and Reign told me to check on my brothers.
“They’re adults. My job is to stay with you.” I kissed his hand.
“Go before they do something that gets us banned from the hospital.”
There was a commotion in the corridor, with Lake glaring at a vending machine. “Come on. Give me what I paid for.”
When I asked what he was doing, he told me his chips were stuck. I fumbled in my pocket for some coins, but my youngest brother smacked the side of the machine with his palm using his shifter strength.
The contents of the vending machine tumbled out. Oh gods, it was a tsunami of chips, candy bars, and sodas. They clattered and plopped onto the floor, and everyone in the vicinity stared.
“Oops.” Lake put on his best innocent expression when a nurse strode over, but he pulled money out of his wallet and stuffed it in her hands before scuttling into the waiting room. He was the most popular person in the hospital as he handed out snacks.
I raced back to Reign and regaled him with what happened. Another contraction gripped him, and he grunted that he wanted to smack something, just as Lake had done.
An hour passed, and the contractions were getting closer together. But a loud voice outside demanded to know how Reign was progressing. That was Boaz, and Reign and I shared a glance. He giggled at my brother thinking his Alpha authority extended to a hospital.
“Sir, if you're not immediate family, I can't help you.” That sounded like the midwife who’d examined Reign when we arrived.
“I’m doing fine, Boaz,” my mate yelled.
“So glad to hear it.”
“Owie.” Reign started breathing through another contraction.
“Are you okay, Reign? Do you need our help?” Now Riggs was outside the door.
“I’m good, thanks.” My mate started the hee-hee-hoo breathing.
I cracked open the door. “Go back to the waiting room. Lake has a mountain of snacks to keep you occupied.”
The pair shuffled away.
Reign laughed, and a groan followed. “Your family is something else.”
“They’re your family too.”
He tilted his head. “Yeah, and I’m so glad they are, despite them all being completely bonkers.”
There were many more hours of contractions and breathing. We paced, squatted, and groaned together. Reign liked it when I grunted with them and said it helped ease the pain to pretend I was taking some of it from him.
“Your brothers have been suspiciously quiet. Why don’t you check on them again?”
I protested, saying I had to be at his side, but he said I’d be a few yards away, not in the next state.
Riggs was trying to piece together an armchair when I walked in.
“Are you taking up metalworking?”
“I was anxious about Reign and I kinda broke it.” He held up two pieces of metal but looked over my shoulder and jerked his head. Thiago was pacing, much as Reign had done, except he was moving too fast for a human, and a man was staring at him.
“You should get that looked at,” the guy said, waving his hands at my brother’s legs.
“Sorry, it’s the caffeine.”
I scooted back to my mate and left my brothers to it.
Reign was on the bed, trying to get comfortable and complaining that it wasn’t possible. “The bed, that bouncy ball thing, warm water, none of it makes me feel better.”
“How about I rub your back with the rolling pin?”
He nodded, and we enjoyed a few minutes of calm before the next contraction.
There was a knock at the door. I rolled my eyes and wanted to ignore it, but Reign yelled, “What now?”
“I’m being escorted outside by security.” Maynard sounded exasperated.
“What did he do?” Reign mouthed.
I had no clue.
“For some reason, they thought I was going to hurt someone. It’s all a big misunderstanding.”
I smacked my brow, and Reign got the giggles, saying my brother might go to prison.
“All I said was, ‘If he runs, I’ll track him down.’”
I went outside and convinced the security guys that my brother was talking about his dog. “The pup has a habit of running to his best friend’s place on the next street.”
They didn’t look convinced but stopped manhandling Maynard.
“Stop discussing a hit while my mate is giving birth.” I slammed the door in his face, but the loud noise annoyed Reign. “Sorry, sorry.”
The contractions were now so strong, Reign was whimpering and holding my hand in a vice-like grip, but there were loud voices outside the door. I refused to leave him as Boaz was arguing with someone, a voice told Thiago he had furry arms, and Lake yelled there was no more soda.
I expected Maynard to be arrested next and wondered why Riggs was so quiet. He was probably off somewhere welding the chair back together.
“Help me out of bed.” Reign tried to sit up.
“Bathroom break or more pacing?”
“Help me to the door.”
This wasn’t a good time to decide he wanted a home birth.
“That’s it. I’ve had enough.” My mate was yelling at my brothers. “I’m trying to give birth to your nephew or niece, and you're out here destroying hospital property, scaring staff, and acting feral.”
A nurse tut-tutted. “Sir, please keep your voice down.” But one look from my mate and the guy backed off. He probably knew better than to argue with a laboring omega.
But Reign doubled over and let out a sound that my beast said was very wolf-like.
“The baby's coming. Take me back inside, Ezra.”
Gods, this was it. I steered him toward the bed, where he announced he had to push. My brothers and their antics faded away as I supported Reign bringing our child into the world.
“I’m right here.”
Midwives swarmed in as Reign pushed and sweat poured from his brow.
I dabbed at the sweat and pushed with him.
My mate had stood up to Viktor, survived an attempt on his life, and refused to let his father sell him off.
But bringing a child into the world was different.
It was a combination of the most beautiful thing in the world and the most terrifying.
“Ready? Big push,” a midwife told him.
Reign bore down, and I sensed how exhausted he was, but he wasn’t giving up. He gritted his teeth as he leaned forward, and the midwife said she could see the baby’s head.
I had to restrain my beast, who wanted to lick Reign’s face and tell him he was doing well.
“You're almost there.”
“I’m so tired.” Tears slid over his cheeks and mingled with the sweat.
“You can do this for our baby.”
“Okay. For the baby.” He pushed again, and then, there was crying. Not from me, though I was close to tears, and Reign was lying flat on his back, and there were no tears from him.
Our baby. The little one was in the big, cold world, and they weren’t happy.
“It's a boy.” The midwife placed a red, squirmy bundle on Reign's chest.
Our son was waving his clenched fists in the air, and I fell in love with him. But I had no words. There was nothing that could describe this moment. I put my arms around my mate and our son, kissing them both and telling Reign how proud I was of him.
I got on the bed and snuggled with my mate and the baby, ignoring the frantic pacing of five pairs of feet my shifter hearing picked up outside.
“Let them wait. We’re a new family and this is us time.”
“Please tell me they won’t insist on naming him Maynard Boaz Ezra Riggs Thiago Lake Grey.”
I scoffed at the suggestion. “Don’t be silly. It’ll be Ezra Maynard Boaz Riggs Thiago Lake Grey.”
We settled on Archer.