28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Robert
Pushing my hands into my lower back, just above my tailbone, I winced. That one had hurt slightly more than the previous ones.
Not wanting to alarm Aiden, I continued my slow trek around the living room. “Do you see his car yet?”
Aiden shook his head, his little face pressed against the front window that looked out onto our street.
Jackson was late getting home from work. The man was always on time, even more so since I had been on a very loose form of bedrest for the past month. Jackson and I called it couch rest, since I was allowed to be out of bed, but I was mostly supposed to be sitting with my feet up. No excitement, just taking it all easy. My blood pressure had been more elevated at one appointment than Finn had liked, and when it hadn’t come down right away, he had said it was time to make some changes. Which meant I had started my paternity leave earlier than I had planned, and after a week of binge watching everything I wanted to, I was bored out of my mind. But if it meant bringing our baby into the world, healthy, I would gladly be bored.
And now, tonight of all nights, Jackson just had to be late.
Glancing at the clock, I saw it was only about thirty minutes past his usual time. Usually, if he had a meeting or something, he would text or call me to let me know. He hadn’t, but I wasn’t about to give into hysterics. I just needed him to get his ass home. It was probably time for me to call and casually ask where the fuck he was.
Because if the off and on contractions I had all day were an indication, we were having a baby. Tonight.
“Shit!” Warm liquid spread over my pants and down my legs. Looking down, I couldn’t see over the huge mound of my belly, but that was definitely my water breaking.
Aiden turned to look at me with huge eyes.
“Sorry,” I told him, one hand gripping the back of the sofa as my belly tightened, and pain spread through my lower half. Closing my eyes, I tried to even out my breathing and stay as relaxed as possible, but I ended up in a half crouch, panting instead .
When the contraction eased up, I gave Aiden a shaky smile, that probably resembled more of a grimace. “I’m okay. Can you find my phone for me, please? I think I left it in the bedroom.”
“You don’t want me to keep watching for Daddy?” His voice showed his own stress. He might not know exactly what was happening, but he knew something wasn’t right.
“You can keep watching after you bring me my phone.”
He took off down the hallway in a flash, returning quickly with my phone. His eyes got even rounder when he took in the wet patch on my sweatpants. “Did you pee? It’s okay, if you did. Accidents happen.”
Chuckling, I told him, “No, but my water broke. That’s something that happens when you have a baby.”
“Well, it looks like you peed,” he told me matter-of-factly, still looking a bit dubious at my assurance that I hadn’t wet myself.
Holding the phone up to my ear, I agreed with him. “It does, doesn’t it.”
The call connected just as headlights turned into the drive, and Aiden yelled, “Daddy’s home!”
Nodding that I had heard his announcement, I relayed my information to Finn’s answering service, then hung up. They would reach him and he would call me back. In the meantime, I was going to change my clothes. And I needed to pack my bag. I should have done it already, but I kept thinking I would when I was closer to my due date and then I sorta forgot about it.
The door from the garage opened and Aiden took off running, yelling, “Robert peed himself, but it’s okay because he’s having a baby!”
Face palming, my laugh turned into a gasp that morphed into a moan. I barely heard the sound of something hitting the ground, and then Jackson was there. Waving my free hand at him to give me a second, my other hand gripped the couch until my knuckles were white.
Jackson, not listening to my silent hand commands, instead grasped my flailing hand in his. Which, okay, was so much better, and gave me something to squeeze.
“Breathe with me, sweetheart,” he crooned softly, “just like in Lamaze class.”
“Fuck Lamaze, and fuck your breathing,” snarling, I nevertheless panted along with him, until the pain eased up.
Straightening, I started to waddle down the hallway. “Where have you been?”
Jackson followed right behind me. “I stopped at the store. I noticed your ice cream was running low, as were a couple other things you’ve been craving.”
Well, dammit, that took the wind from my sails, because I had finished off the last of my ice cream earlier today. “Oh. That was nice of you. ”
Aiden came running into our bedroom, holding out my ringing phone. Taking it, I thanked him with a smile. Seeing it was Finn’s number, I took the call, answering his questions. Yes, my water broke a few minutes ago. Contractions were about seven minutes apart and getting really uncomfortable.
While I was on the phone with Finn, Jackson started the shower, then I heard him talking on his own phone. He must have been on the phone with Wyatt, based on the bits of the conversation I overheard, in between trying to concentrate on what Finn was asking me.
“Okay, we’ll head there now,” I told Finn, when he said we should go to the hospital.
Jackson finished his call and effortlessly managed to strip me out of my wet clothes, along with his, and get us both into the shower. “Wyatt was still at the daycare. He’s going to leave and come pick up Aiden.”
Without fanfare, he squeezed some body wash on a cloth and gently washed me.
Bracing my arms against the shower wall, I let the hot water cascade over my lower back, trying to relax my muscles. Jackson made quick work of getting me cleaned up, and out of the shower. Wrapping the towel around me, he sat me on the closed toilet seat. Pointing a finger, he ordered, “Sit. I’ll bring you some clothes.”
“We need to pack Aiden’s bag,” I nibbled on my bottom lip. “I’m three weeks early. We aren’t ready. ”
Returning with a bundle of clothes, Jackson knelt at my feet and got my feet into another pair of soft, warm sweats. For the last month, I hadn’t been able to stand certain fabrics on me, or anything that felt too tight.
“Sweetheart,” Jackson assured me with a smile, tugging one of his sweatshirts over my head, “I have a bag packed for Aiden. I have for two weeks. Your bag is packed and by the door. Another bag is ready with stuff we might need while you’re in labor, and the outfits we picked out to bring the baby home. Everything is ready.” Placing a soft kiss on my lips, he assured me, “We’re ready.”
We had opted to not find out the sex of the baby, but Aiden had started calling my belly Hudson weeks ago. Since Jackson and I hadn’t hated it, we had landed on it for a boy. I didn’t know what we would do if we had a girl, since we couldn’t agree on anything. He liked Giselle, which I argued sounded too much like gazelle.
What if she’s an actual gazelle , I had argued. Giselle the gazelle? Hard pass.
“What if I’m not ready?” I whispered. “We were supposed to have three more weeks. And why are you so on top of things?” Waving a hand in the air, I whined, “You have all the things ready, and I’m just over here falling apart.”
Swinging me into his arms like I weighed nothing, which I knew wasn’t true because I had a mirror, Jackson carried me into the bedroom. Sitting on the bed, he cuddled me in his lap.
“I have things ready because I’ve done this before, remember?” he nuzzled his nose down my neck, nudging at my scent gland and my mate mark. “And because I noticed you were carrying a lot lower than last week. I had a feeling we weren’t going to make your due date. And because I didn’t want you worrying about any of it. My job is to make your life easier. To take care of all the things.”
He placed one of his hands on my belly, tightening with the beginning of another contraction. Glancing at his watch, he frowned. “Still seven minutes, but I’d like to get to the hospital sooner rather than later.”
As if on cue, there was a brisk knock on the door, followed by Wyatt’s voice telling us he was here.
“Let’s go have a baby,” Jackson whispered to me, standing with me still in his arms.
Clinging to him, I said, “I can walk.” Not that I really wanted to. Jackson’s arms holding me close, were about as close to perfection as I could get.
He shook his head, kissing my forehead. “Nope. Not on my watch.”
Sighing, I leaned into him, letting all his alpha pheromones wash over me, and the scent that was all Jackson. “I love you. Thanks for taking care of all the things.”
“That’s it, Robert, you’re doing fantastic.”
Twelve hours later, Finn’s voice washed over me from somewhere at the end of the hospital bed. “One more big push and your baby will be here.”
Leaning into Jackson, I shook my sweat soaked head. “I can’t.”
My voice was weak, my strength gone. This was so much harder than I remembered it being with Wyatt. And why had I refused an epidural? Oh, because my dumb twenty-something ass had already given birth without drugs and thought my nearly fifty-year-old ass could too.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
“Grrrr!” Gritting my teeth, I prepared for another push as the contractions that barely gave me any room to breathe in between them, rushed at me again.
Jackson braced my back, steadying me with his strength. “That's it, sweetheart. Push!”
“I am fucking pushing!” I growled. “This baby isn’t cooperating!”
The pain intensified, burning and stretching, and I was sure I was being torn apart and then suddenly it stopped. Panting harshly, I lay back against Jackson, who wiped at my forehead with a cool rag.
“Your baby is almost here, Robert,” Finn assured me.
Leaning up, I glared down at him. “You said that five pushes ago!”
Our labor nurse chuckled softly, patting my hand.
Finn, the asshole, grinned up at me. “Yeah, but this time I mean it. One more gentle push and the shoulders will be out.”
Jackson leaned down, then whispered in my ear. “You’re almost done, sweetheart. You can do this. You’re so strong.”
Gripping my knees, I pushed, growling and yelling as I did and was rewarded with feeling our baby slip from my body. Panting, I sagged against Jackson like a limp noodle, waiting anxiously to hear our baby cry.
A minute later, the angry pissed off wail filled the hospital room, and I laughed in relief.
“Congratulations,” Finn told us, laying the baby on my chest, “you have a son. ”
Gathering the baby close to me, I couldn’t stop the tears of happiness that slid down my face. When I looked up at Jackson, his own tears matched mine, as he stared down at the both of us, love shining brightly in his eyes.
Reaching out a hand, he cupped the baby’s head full of dark hair, wet across his round little head. “Welcome to the world, Hudson.”
Blinking my tears away so I could see, I counted his tiny little fingers and toes. Took in his dark hair that might be lighter when it wasn’t wet. His round cheeks, his pert little nose.
“He has your lips,” Jackson murmured into my hair. “Perfect pink bow.”
“He’s perfect,” I sniffed, my heart filled with more love than I knew what to do with. “Just perfect.”
Chelsea, our nurse, scooped the baby up before either of us could protest. “We’ll get him cleaned up, weighed and measured, and bring him right back to you. You can watch us the entire time, alpha daddy.”
My arms felt empty without the sweet weight of Hudson, but I knew they had to do all their things with him. Didn’t mean I had to like it.
Finn finished up with me just before they finished up with the baby. Chelsea placed him in the crook of my arm, diapered and swaddled, and I brought him up to get a whiff of his baby scent .
“Did I hear this little one’s name is Hudson?” she asked.
Nodding, I couldn’t take my eyes off my new son. He was staring at me with big eyes, just taking it all in. “Hudson Levi Sobek.”
Jackson gasped, and I peeked at him. I hadn’t discussed giving the baby Levi’s name with him, but it seemed like the right thing to do. It was a way to honor the man who had loved Jackson before me. Who had given me another son in Aiden. Whose death had led Jackson to me. “Is that okay?”
He swallowed hard, nodding. “It’s…wonderful. Thank you.”
He stretched out on the extra wide bed, made specifically so alphas could stay with their omegas. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, I leaned into him, my head resting on his chest. Stifling a yawn, I mumbled, “I’m exhausted.”
“You were amazing,” but he stood, taking the baby from my arms, and placing him in the bassinet. The nurses had lowered the lights for us, giving us time alone with the baby. “Let’s try to get some rest, before his first bottle.”
We had opted to keep Hudson with us rather than go down to the nursery, which was so different from when I had Wyatt. He had been whisked away, and when we had realized my milk wasn’t coming in and he would need to be bottle fed, they had kept him in the nursery even for feedings.
Now, I realized Jane likely had something to do with that, but at the time I hadn’t realized that was what was happening.
Jackson lay down next to me, wrapping me in his arms. “How’s your pain?”
“I’m okay.” They had given me something not too long ago, and it was working well. Yawning, I mumbled, “Did you let Wyatt know?”
“Yep.” Jackson yawed loudly. We were both exhausted. “They’ll be by later and bring Aiden. He said they’d give us a couple of hours of peace and quiet.”
“Thank you,” I whispered into his chest, and he raised his head up. Looking up at him, I saw him giving me a questioning look.
“Thank you for Hudson,” I told him. “Thank you for not letting me let any of my reasons for us to not work get in the way. Thank you for being the gentle, patient, kind alpha that you are. Thank you for loving me. And thank you for not eating me that day in the woods when your crocodile charged me,” I tacked on with an impish grin.
Jackson chuckled, squeezing me tighter. “It was your scent, I’m telling you. It still makes me go crazy. I love you, Robert Cooper. Thank you for bringing me back to life and making me feel again.” He bent his head, his lips brushing over mine in a kiss that was as gentle as it was possessive.
“I love you so much, Jackson. You’ve given me everything I ever wanted. You’ve made me happier than I ever knew was possible.”
“You’ve given me the world, Robert.”