73. Sienna
SIENNA
I was lost in a haze of panic and fear. “I’m scared.”
“Baby, I’m going to be honest here—I’m scared shitless and I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Even in my pain-shadowed mind, that made me pause. I squinted through my tears to see the warmth in Dimi’s blue eyes.
“What I do know is that you are the strongest person in the entire world and that you’re not alone. I’m going to be right here with you. Just catch your breath and then we’ll drive to the hospital and meet our daughter.”
The pain split me apart until I thought I’d die. Just the thought of being moved anywhere right now was unbearable. My vision blurred with a new onslaught of tears. “Don’t leave me.”
“Never. Never fucking leaving.”
Another endless wave of contractions took over, layering on top of each other until the pain became endless, inescapable. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t fucking handle this, but Dimi’s arms around me—his thumbs digging into my back, his murmured encouragements—kept me anchored.
A wail beyond any sound I’d ever made before burst from my chest and I had the deep, primal urge to push—something my body had never done but knew exactly how to do.
Dimi let out a string of curses and questions, but it all faded into the background.
Right now, it was me and this baby. I dragged in a breath and bore down.
Burning fire was followed by an involuntary rush, and my baby girl shot out of me.
I stared in disbelief, unable to make sense of what had just happened.
But then Dimi was there, hands reaching around me to lift our baby from the tub and onto my chest. He rubbed her back until she let out a cry.
That sound, that beautiful, miraculous sound, was like a shock to my heart, bringing me back to life again.
My body unfroze and I wrapped my arms around her, my chest heaving with sobs.
Dimi let out a string of words in Russian too rapid for me to understand, except for his repeated ya tebya lyublyu.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
“Boss? Sienna? Is everything okay?” Sergey’s tense voice came through the doorway.
“We have a daughter,” I sobbed.
“Fuck. Congratulations!”
“Don’t fucking swear around my daughter!” Dimi shouted, which just made me laugh.
I was delirious with pain and shock and relief. All I could do was focus on the feel of my daughter curled up against my chest, her cries softening as I ran my hand down her back.
“Here.” Dimi leaned forward to turn off the water before wrapping a towel around her wriggling body. He surrounded me and I slumped back into his chest. “I’ve got you,” he murmured. “I’ve got both of you.”
I pressed my face to the top of my baby’s head and breathed in deeply. She was here. She was safe. We’d both made it.
A groan rose from my chest as another low pain squeezed my uterus. I leaned back into Dimi’s chest, listening to my body’s urge to push again.
“What’s happening? Is something wrong?” Dimi’s frantic hands gently wrapped around my legs, supporting me as I birthed the placenta. A small amount of blood stained my inner thighs, turning Dimi’s hands red.
I kept one hand around our girl and entwined our fingers with the other. “Do you see this?” I asked. “Not all blood is bad. Not all pain is for nothing. We created something beautiful.”
A shuddering breath shook his chest, and his lips pressed against my cheek. “You created something beautiful.”
“And you guided her into the world.” I kissed the scars on the back of his hand. “Your hands were made to hold your two girls.”
The warmth of his body sunk into my skin.
“Our family will be safe because of you,” he murmured. Vovk’s nose nudged his arm and he let out a low laugh. “And because of Vovchyk. Thank you for protecting Sienna and your new baby sister. Our Liliya.”