Conrad
THIRTY-THREE
“Are you sure you want to sleep?” Madd was tucking me into bed.
“Why not?” I’d been experiencing mild contractions all week, and this evening, they’d been closer together and more urgent. “We’re about to become fathers, and sleep is low on the agenda for new parents.”
“Okay.” My mate furrowed his brow. He wouldn’t close his eyes tonight but would keep a close watch on me and my bump. He’d listen for every gasp or sniffle, and if I turned over, he’d check the time. Those were the skills that’d made him an efficient undercover guy.
Madd already had a note opened on his phone, and he’d recorded the length and frequency of the contractions.
I yawned and winced as a small cramp tightened around my belly. “You can take your eyes off me. I’m not going anywhere.” I rearranged my pillows and gave one a punch.
“I’m your mate, and we’re in this together. I just wish I could share your pain.”
“Don’t worry. That’ll happen after the birth.”
He covered me with the quilt and turned off the lamp, but he didn’t join me in bed but sat in the armchair opposite.
I must have slept, maybe for five minutes or fifty, but a contraction was wrapped around my bump and squeezing so hard, I yelped. I was lying on my side, and Madd was with me, rubbing my back.
“Help me up.” The cramping had passed, but I felt like a rung-out rag, and there were a lot more contractions in my immediate future. I grunted. “That hurt.”
My dragon asked how he could help, but this was all on me. I hate seeing you in so much pain. But he was no longer curled around my spine as he had been.
“This is the real thing.” Madd was scrolling through the notes he’d been making for months. He leaped up. “Ice chips.”
I didn’t need them right away, and I suspected they might melt before I did, but Madd was desperate to be useful. He rushed back in with a photo of the island resort we’d promised each other we’d visit when our lives reverted to normal, not that either of us had any idea what that was.
And he put my phone on the dresser with the playlist he’d made after asking me for suggestions.
Twelve minutes after the first, the second contraction took hold.
I pressed my head on Madd’s chest and scrunched my eyes closed.
After it passed, I wondered if dragon shifters could survive the pain associated with a live birth.
We were supposed to lay eggs and sit for weeks waiting for them to hatch.
“Is it time to call my brother?” Madd had his finger on the phone screen ready to dial.
I gulped in a mouthful of air. The plan had been for us to be alone until I wanted to push. And Madd was my mate, birth coach, partner, and cheerleader, but as well as a midwife supporting me, my mate needed a professional to assure him that the birth was progressing as it should.
“Call him.”
He had the phone to his ear and yelled, “Conrad’s in labor,” before Treyton could say, “Hello.” He said a few more words before telling me his brother was on his way.
My mate had spent the last few months preparing for this moment. He'd read the books Treyton recommended and memorized the stages. He even had a bag packed in case I had to go to Treyton’s clinic or the hospital.
I beckoned him closer. “I’m not going to break.”
Madd tilted his head. “I know. My brother told me.” Uppermost in his mind was a dragon shifter delivering a live baby which was rare. “But I’m trying not to lose my mind.”
“Oh, here’s another one.” I breathed in through the nose, out through the mouth, the way Treyton had taught me. This was how my dragon could help me, and he breathed with me, kindling a gentle heat inside my body.
“Where do you want to be?” Madd asked. We’d prepped the second bedroom and covered the mattress with old sheets and towels.
“I don’t know.” I shuffled over the floor toward the door but nothing felt right. I was so uncomfortable and grumpy that I couldn’t speed up the process. I wanted to meet our baby. Lying down, squatting with Madd supporting me, or on the bed, nothing was right.
“When Treyton was born, my father delivered him because the midwife got stuck in traffic. Dad told me he was so calm, and when the midwife arrived, my parents were tucking into Thai food.”
Was that supposed to make me feel better that Madd could deliver the baby? Most shifters gave birth without a midwife present.
“Are you calm?” I wasn’t convinced by his composed exterior.
“Nah. But I’m hiding my hysteria well.”
That was how his undercover training became useful.
My brother-in-law arrived, and Madd caught my eye. We were both relieved to have a trained professional here.
“How far apart are the contractions?” Treyton was already washing his hands.
“Eight minutes.”
“Great. You might have your baby in your arms before dawn.”
The next few hours were a series of cramps, walking, wailing, gritting my teeth, and yelling at the universe about the unfairness of it all. The contractions were closer, and each one was more severe than the last.
But between them, there were quiet moments. Madd told me about the time Ranger tried to assemble a crib and it took four hours and related how Treyton hadn’t been let into the room when Storm was born.
There was a change in the contractions, and I wanted to push.
“Don't fight it.” Treyton had done this many times, and his voice was soothing.
Madd helped me onto all fours, and my thoughts went to my omega dad. He'd carried one egg containing two babies, and the delivery had taken his life. For thirty-one years, that story had defined my life.
But me giving birth was different. My mate was here and so was Treyton. And I had one baby inside me, not an oversized egg. I wasn’t my omega father.
“I want to push,” I grunted.
Madd was on his hands and knees beside me, and we were breathing in tandem, but the pain was nothing like what I’d experienced, not in human or dragon form.
“You’re doing so well. On the next contraction, push again,” Treyton instructed.
Madd was encouraging me as I pushed again and then more pushing. I should have pushed the baby out by now, but this was never-ending agony.
“One more,” Treyton urged me. “The baby’s head is out. Come on, another great big one.”
I bore down. One push and another and a third. And the room was filled with yelling. But it wasn’t coming from me. Madd was sobbing at my side, and he helped me onto the mattress.
Treyton placed a squirming furious little bundle on my chest. “You have a son.”
I kissed the baby’s brow. “I know, sweetheart. You liked being inside me, and now you’re in a new place.”
“Durands are loud,” Treyton noted.
Madd covered me and our son with a blanket. “Our little man is here.” His forehead was on my shoulder as he placed a hand on the baby’s back. Tears spilled over his cheeks and onto the baby.
Our son was warm, and I suspected warmer than a newborn wolf pup or a human, though I had no experience of either.
He’s got some fire in him for sure, my dragon told me.
The baby found my finger and gripped it. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Madd and I had made this little miracle.
Madd’s hand was on my mating mark, and he traced around the scar with one finger.
“I’ll leave you, but I’ll be back tomorrow to see how you’re both doing.” Treyton eyed his brother. “Maybe I’ll need to check on all three of you.”
Our son's complaining was now a grumble, but he was still clutching my finger.
“Does he look like the name we chose?” Madd’s face was beside the baby as he studied him. Our son opened his eyes and stopped crying as his alpha father stared at him.
We decided that as the baby was most likely a wolf because I’d carried him, not an egg, we’d pay homage to his dragon blood by giving him a name that represented fire.
“Tyson.” I held the baby up, and his gaze shifted from Madd to me. “I’d say he’s demonstrated a fieriness since his birth.”
My mate held Tyson and helped me up. The crib was beside our bed because our son was not sleeping by himself tonight and maybe not for many nights to come. With both of us cleaned up, Madd and I climbed into bed beside me as I placed Tyson on my chest.
“He can hear your heartbeat as he did for nine months.” Madd brushed Tyson’s full head of hair. “He knows he’s safe.”