13. Zenith Builds A Nest
ZENITH BUILDS A NEST
Zenith felt so damn helpless as he set Emre gently on his bed.
Emre’s labored breathing had returned to normal, but sweat dotted his forehead.
“I need to build you a nest,” Zenith said without thinking.
Emre blinked up at him. “A nest?”
“Yeah. You need to get comfortable, right? Somewhere nice and cozy before the birth?”
Emre rubbed his swollen belly—gods, it was so round. “That would be nice,” he mumbled. Then his gaze snapped to Zenith. “But you don’t have to. You’ve already done so much today—”
On impulse, Zenith leaned in, dropping a kiss on Emre’s forehead. Then he blushed, speaking quickly to cover it up. “I’m okay. Do you have a preference for the nest? Indoors? Outdoors? Close to the kitchen? Water source?”
Emre frowned at his belly. “The water source is starting to sound good. Maybe we should figure out what other species this pup is. In case there’s a difference between seawater and freshwater.”
“Fuck,” Zenith said, belatedly looking down at the dragonet in his arm. “I mean, fudge.” He hurriedly handed her over, then froze. Emre was naked right now, unprotected against any accidental flames. “Let me set Abbie on the floor for a sec.”
He placed her next to the bed, so no accidental fireballs could reach Emre. Then he hurried into his walk-in closet and found a hoodie. “Here, this is fireproofed. She can’t burn you through this.”
Emre beamed when Zenith helped him into the hoodie. Only then did Zenith scoop Abbie off the floor and hand her over.
She shifted back into a wolf pup.
“Of course,” Emre said dryly. “Only after we’ve done everything we could to move her here safely.”
“At least her paws aren’t as likely to scratch you in this shape,” Zenith said. “But she can still cough out a fireball.”
Emre sighed, but he gave Abbie such a fond look that Zenith’s heart swelled.
He was such an amazing dad.
Zenith swallowed, tearing his gaze away from Emre so he could remember what he needed to do next. The bubbles.
He whipped out his phone and called Griff.
“Yello?” Griff crowed down the line. “Lil baby bro! How are you?”
“Hey, Griff,” Zenith said, growing tense now that the urgency of their situation was sinking back in. “I need some help. I have a pregnant omega with an unborn pup—the pup has two species, and we don’t know what the second species is. But we think your mate might have an idea.”
“Oooh,” Griff said excitedly. “You have an omega? Do you need a mating song? I can write you one.”
On the bed, Emre’s eyebrows jumped. He could hear Griff’s voice just as clearly.
Zenith blushed. “Not right now. But this is urgent. Emre’s going into labor soon and we need to know what to prepare for the birth. We think the pup could be a merchild.”
Griff sucked in a sharp breath. “Be right back.”
In the background, he bellowed, “Fireheart! We have an emergency!”
His mate Quinlan yelled back, “A love song emergency, or an actual emergency?”
“An actual emergency! A baby-popping emergency. Here.”
Seconds later, Quinlan’s voice sounded much closer. “Hi?”
“Hey, Quinlan. This is Zenith.” Zenith met Emre’s eyes and received an encouraging smile.
His heart stuttered. Emre’s gaze promptly dropped to his chest. Oh gods, he heard that.
“Um, I wasn’t sure who to ask on such short notice, but I have a pregnant omega who’s been burping bubbles.
Is that a merchild pregnancy thing? Emre’s a wolf shifter, so we know nothing. ”
“Huh,” Quinlan said, his voice so quiet after Griff’s brashness. There was a rustle on his end. “I can’t say I know many non-mer omegas carrying merchildren, but blowing bubbles is a thing we do when we’re out of the water. It happens early in the pregnancy, lasting all the way until birth.”
“Hmm. Emre doesn’t have many symptoms at all, even for a dragon pregnancy. It’s why we didn’t realize his pups have a secondary species,” Zenith said. “So if we’re right and he’s carrying a merchild, how do we prepare for the birth? Is there anything we urgently need?”
“When is he due?”
“His contractions began today,” Zenith said. “This is his second pup, and he just began hiccupping bubbles a few hours ago. We’re in a bit of a panic.”
“You said he’s a shifter.”
“Does that make a difference?”
Quinlan hummed. “Babies are usually born in the same shape as their parents. I’d say to avoid triggering a shift into merchild, if you don’t have the supplies on hand to deal with that.”
Zenith sucked in a sharp breath, meeting Emre’s eyes. “How do we avoid it?”
“No contact with bodies of water, such as a bathtub. But damp towels are fine. Merfolk feel the urge to shift when they’re in water—it’s just that once your merchild is in their merperson shape, they’ll need to be kept in water until they shift back.”
Yeah, neither Emre nor Zenith were keen on spending hours in the tub, if they didn’t have to. “I’ll have Emre stay as either human or wolf, and we’ll avoid the tub.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Quinlan said. “Merfolk need special salts in their bath water to keep their scales healthy over time, but you don’t need that immediately. Don’t worry.”
A huge weight rolled off Zenith’s chest. “Thanks, I needed that. This is all good to know.”
“I’ll send over some bath salts. Those will help.”
“I’ll have Huxton pick them up. Thanks again.”
“Thank you!” Emre said.
“All the best with the birth,” Quinlan said. “Send pics!”
Zenith was feeling so much better when he hung up.
“I think I can handle this,” Emre said, straightening his shoulders.
“You’re so fucking strong.” Zenith’s chest filled with pride.
Emre blushed a lovely pink. So adorable.
“First things first,” Zenith said even though his instincts bellowed for him to build Emre a nest. “We prepare for the birth.”
Emre’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“What do you need for it?” When Emre only gaped, Zenith continued, “It’s the most urgent thing right now.” Considering how Emre kept having contractions, Zenith was half-afraid that Emre would go into labor the very next minute. They were completely unprepared.
It was enough to make him anxious.
“What are the essentials for a wolf pup birth? A doctor? A midwife?”
Emre shrugged. “A towel?”
Zenith waited. When there was no more to Emre’s answer, he stared. “That’s it? A towel?”
“Well, yeah. There isn’t much you can do. It’s not like classical music relaxes me or anything.”
“Well, fuck.” Zenith hurried to the linen closet and picked out the softest towels. Then he stashed them on a chair next to the bed, within easy reach.
He hurried to the kitchen next, gathering some bottled water and light snacks. In the bedroom, he presented them to Emre.
Emre grinned. “Thanks.”
Zenith’s heart fluttered again. “Anything for you, really.”
“Even your toenail?” Emre froze, looking horrified at himself.
Zenith blinked. “You’d want my toenail?”
“I mean, it’s the least desirable thing I can think of right now. But it’s also kind of gross.”
“If that’s what you want, I will gladly give it,” Zenith said, trying not to laugh. A toenail was such a small thing compared to all that Emre was.
Emre wrinkled his nose. “I appreciate the sentiment, but no thanks.”
“That’s a relief.” Zenith stood up. He didn’t feel right, providing only towels for something as huge as a birth, but he didn’t want to be presumptuous and force Emre to accept things he didn’t want.
“Now, your nest. Quinlan said the pup shouldn’t have contact with too much water.
Where would you like me to build your nest? ”
“Here?” Emre petted the bed.
Zenith’s eyebrows crawled up. “You’d want your nest to be in my bed?”
Emre hesitated. “Is that something you don’t want?”
“No, it’s something I would love to have.” Zenith’s instincts rumbled under his skin, pleased. “Let me see what I can do.”
Before he could race out of the bedroom, Emre’s face pinched again. He curled around his belly, breathing hard.
Oh fuck, he was going into labor, and soon.
Zenith hurried over, rubbing Emre’s back and kissing his ear. “You’re doing so good,” he whispered. “So beautiful.”
“I’m fine,” Emre panted. Zenith didn’t leave his side until his breathing evened out again.
For a long, wistful moment, Zenith wished he could’ve had more time to prepare. He would’ve built a glorious nest and filled it with pillows made with the finest silks. He would’ve sawed, hammered, and polished, to make a nest like no other.
Right now, what he did have were creature comforts. They weren’t plentiful, but Emre was small, and Zenith’s bed couldn’t fit very much, anyway.
Zenith was going to surround him with some of the best things he could find.
He hurried from one guestroom to the next, grabbing pillows and duvets.
He brought them back to his bedroom and moved Emre and Abbie off his bed.
The pillows went on the mattress first. He built a circular boundary with them and draped several blankets over the pillows to hold them in place, before filling the inside of the nest with more soft pillows.
When the basic nest was done, he scooped up Emre and Abbie, placing them gently in the nest. Then he presented Emre with a sweet soap he’d picked for one of his guestrooms, and some colorful stuffed animals he’d managed to order for Abbie over the past few days.
“It’s not much,” Zenith said apologetically. “I would’ve put in a thousand times more effort for your nest, if I had more time.”
Emre’s mouth fell open. For a second, he looked... shattered.
“Sweetheart?” Zenith asked, leaning in worriedly. “Did I do something wrong?”
Emre ducked his head. “No, no. It’s just...”
He drew a deep breath and lifted his chin; his eyes were wet. Zenith’s stomach dropped.
“No one’s ever built me a nest before,” Emre said, choked. “You didn’t have to; I’m not going to be pregnant for much longer.”
“But you will have pups with you,” Zenith pointed out. “You can use the nest to rest and recover.”
“Yes, but don’t you see? No one’s ever wanted to give me something so amazing. And here you are, doing the best you can with the little time you have.”
Zenith shot him a tiny smile. “You’re worth it.”
Emre’s breath hitched. He reached up, rubbing his chest.
Zenith frowned and drew closer, his worry growing. “Is something wrong?”
Emre shook his head. “I’m okay. I just... feel a lot of things right now.”
“Good things, I hope.”
“Definitely good things.” Emre gave him a warm, tearful smile.
“Good.” Zenith pulled off his shirt and used it to dry Emre’s cheeks.
He made sure Abbie was settling down fine in the nest. Emre was slowly relaxing, running his hands over the different textures of the pillows.
Zenith moved the snacks so they were within Emre’s reach.
“I’m going to bring Buttwheel up; I left it out on the front steps. It’s probably missing you.”
“Sounds good—” Emre began. Then he gave a soft cry, hunching over his belly. “Fuck. I think my water broke.”