Standing near the crowded entrance to the Metro, I stared up at the towering buildings and felt the warm air pause against my already-glistening skin. Central Park was only a block away, and it was even more beautiful than I expected it to be. And packed. Everything in this city was devastatingly crowded. People walked at a near running pace. It was so different from the town I grew up in.

“I can’t believe we made it. It’s so different from what I expected,” I said.

Noah and Adam smiled. I knew how worried they both were, but everything was working out. I felt fine. If the baby wanted out, he’d let me know.

Running my hand across my stomach, I felt his firm kicks of approval. We made it. New York fucking City! This was the place where dreams were cultivated in. Ever since I was a kid, I had wanted to go, but I never got the chance.

“You like it?” Noah asked with a big smile on his face.

“I’m so happy, you guys. Seriously, I could cry.” The tears were already there.

Hank showed me the neighborhood he lived in for over two decades, the exact spot where he met Noah, and some of the spaces where he shot his first photos. The best, however, was walking around the streets of Brooklyn. The feeling I got was like nothing I had ever experienced.

“I’m glad, baby,” Adam said. “We packed in a lot today. Are you sure you’re not tired? It’s almost time to make your debut.”

Sure, I was tired every damn day, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. With the urge to keep going, I smiled big and shook my head. “No, I can make it through the night. I’ve got so much adrenaline, I doubt I’ll be able to sleep later.”

Noah rubbed my back lovingly. “Just try to take it easy. You freak me out sometimes. Let us know if you need to rest, okay?”

“Don’t worry, guys. I can feel our baby kicking, but he’s still relaxed. There’s no way he’s going to come on tonight of all nights,” I said.

Riding on the subway, we took the L train to Bushwick and met up with my friend, Sawyer. “Hank, made it! I didn’t think you’d come. Congratulations on the baby.”

“Check it out,” I said, rolling my shirt onto the top end of my belly. As I stood still, everyone watched as our baby’s tiny hand and footprints pressed against my stomach.

Sawyer leaped back, eyes gaping open. “Okay, what the fuck? That happens?”

Laughing, I rolled the shirt back down. “You can tie men up until their purple, but you see one baby kick, and you jump back in fright? Wuss.”

“You know me. Kids freak me out,” Sawyer said.

“You’ll have one someday,” I said.

Sawyer led us to the doorway, but he paused before opening it. “I doubt I will. You guys are pretty lucky. You found a unique situation and stuck to it. Nowadays, it’s too hard to find a guy my age who’s into this type of stuff, but still wants to have children. They feel like they’ll have to give it up or something.”

“Whether you have children or not, you’ll find someone special someday. You’re a good guy, Sawyer.”

Carefully, we started to walk up the flight of stairs. The strain on my back was incredible, but I wasn’t giving up. It’s just one night, I told myself. Once the show was over, I could go to sleep and then take the mid-afternoon flight home.

“There’s actually this guy who does security for the place sometimes when he’s off duty,” he said.

My hands caressed the dirty handrail. Each step was a full body workout. “Yeah? A prospect?”

“I don’t know. He knows what I do, but he’s probably not even gay. I just think he’s hot as hell, you know? Cops… I don’t know what it is. They rub me the wrong and right way,” Sawyer said, laughing.

“You should ask him out,” I said. “You never know what he’ll say.”

When we reached the door to his flat, he inserted his keys and turned the lock. “Maybe someday,” he muttered. “Would be kinda nice, right? Having someone to lean on sometimes… Anyway, this is it. Let’s go inside.”

The place was enormous, and the decorations were perfectly in line with our first warehouse shoot. Red velvet curtains lined the walls and roses were spread all across the ground. My eyes caught sight of the women’s lingerie hanging from the rafters, tied in complex shapes.

“I can take those down if you want,” he said. “I got a little carried away with the decorations, but it was fun.”

“No,” I said, eyes lighting up. “It’s wonderful. Keep them up.”

Adam and Noah joined me, putting their hands around my waist. “This is better than any boring gallery show I’ve been to,” Adam said.

Walking to the nearest framed photo, Noah looked at my pregnant body. The photos were erotic but artistic. Every vulnerable moment had been caught on camera, and we were unabashedly showing the world.

The photo itself was massive in size. The image Noah was staring at was of us together. “Well, that’s a statement,” Noah whispered.

“Having some doubts?” I asked him. Adam silently eyed the photo up and down. I could tell that he was pleased. The shoot was more transgressive than anything he had done in the past. It was a perfect send-off to a prolific career.

We were on the cutting edge with this exhibition. It was a risk to show ourselves like this, but we felt like we had to do it. Noah continued looking at the rest of the photos, quickly focusing on one of us in bed, back when we first met.

“No regrets,” Noah said. “It’s a little scary showing a piece of our home life, but that’s what this is about, right?”

“Right,” I said.

“The attendance is going to be mind-blowing, by the way,” Noah said. “Tonight’s showing has over a thousand guests in attendance. I have no doubts that we’ll sell the original prints within an hour of those doors opening.”

Adam leaned over us. “And then we can afford the payments on the Leather and Lace.”

Sawyer rolled out a cart of some food for the guests. “These photos are controversial. The press is going to eat them up.”

“The press can say or do whatever they please,” Adam said. “I don’t think they’ll ever understand my work, or why I publish most of this stuff.”

“They don’t need to,” I said. “We understand it. We lived it. That’s all that matters.”

Adam kissed the center of my forehead. I could hear the sound of footsteps stomping against the stairway. Looking at the crowd that was now entering the room, Sawyer’s eyes widened. “Oh shit, it’s time already? Let me dim the lights.”

Sawyer turned down the lights and created an atmosphere for the audience. Feeling self-conscious, I made sure to stay by Adam, who had a flood of people already coming toward him. Noah had gone through this so many times before. Taking my body and moving it against his, he whispered, “Let the feeding frenzy begin.”

“Does it really get that crazy?” I asked.

Noah chuckled and leaned over. “Just wait and see. You’ll probably get hounded next.”

“Shit,” I muttered.

“Don’t worry. It’s kind of fun sometimes if the person doesn’t talk to you for hours,” he said.

I could only imagine how that must have been for Adam. Looking at him now, pretending to smile, I got the sense that this was the part of the show he disliked the most. The press, the gallery exhibitions, the fans who always asked the world of you—it must have taken a toll on him. It was no wonder why he had chosen to give it all up.

Keeping myself hidden, I sat in the shadows with Noah. Looking at the growing crowd, I felt humbled. I couldn’t believe all we had done to work through this. In a way, it was humorous to me. I used to be so worried about guys knowing about my kink. Masculinity was something I still had to work through, but this was a huge step forward.

Sawyer eventually came to stand with us. Pointing slightly, he whispered, “You see that guy over there? The guy in the blue?”

I locked eyes with the man in question and quickly averted my gaze. “It’s your omega cop, isn’t it?” I asked.

Sawyer nodded. Hearts were floating around in his eyes, I swear. “Yeah, that’s him. I’d say hi, but I’m kind of freaked out.”

“You? Freaked out?” I asked. Sometimes the toughest dudes were big babies on the inside. Leo was like that sometimes, an emotional boulder.

“I know. It’s sad. I hired the guy, and now I can’t even talk to him.”

“Man up, buddy,” I said, poking my belly out at him.

He laughed. “Okay. By the end of the night, I’m going to ask him out.”

“Don’t let me down,” I said.

Sawyer kept staring until the cop felt it. He looked over and bashfully looked the other way. They were definitely going to bang if one of them ever decided to make the first move.

Near to the cop, I saw a familiar set of bodies walk up the stairs. Before my brain could put the information together, I heard the deep, bellowing voice of a beast resound through the flat. “Hank!”

I blinked my eyes rapidly, adjusting my senses to the darkness. “Leo?” I whispered. Sure enough, Leo and Hayden walked through the dimly lit room.

“We made it!” Hayden exclaimed.

“Holy shit. Wait, what? I did not expect you guys to be here!” I exclaimed.

Leo and Hayden both gave me hugs and kisses, smiling endlessly. They greeted with Sawyer and Noah next. Adam was somewhere in the crowd, but I had lost track of him.

“We got here an hour ago,” Leo said. “We wanted to surprise you.”

“I’m so fucking happy you’re here,” I said.

Then, glancing at the giant photos of me in my lace panties, I blushed. “So, uh, we’ve got some interesting shots here,” I said.

“Hot.” Hayden winked.

“I’m proud of you, man,” Leo said. “This is some subversive stuff. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Well, I did help you open the only BDSM club in our state,” I said.

“Oh, that reminds me! What’s happening with all of that? Did you sell the place, yet?” Leo asked.

“I’ve been making payments. I guess I’m not going to sell it,” I said.

“Ah, okay. I was thinking that I could throw some money into it again. The family is doing pretty well right now, and I’d love to get my hands dirty again,” Leo said.

Hayden frowned. “What kind of dirty are you talking about?”

Leo bit his lip and pulled him closer to him. “You know, maybe we could have another baby. Round two in the dark room, my dear?” he said.

“Leo, do you really want in? I’d love to have you on as a partner again,” I said.

Leo looked around the room and smiled. “I am beyond serious. Remember how it used to be? As soon as we walked in this building, I realized that I needed to be doing something,” Leo said.

Noah chimed in too. “We’ll help too. Whatever extra money we get here can go into the club.”

But before I could react, I felt the strain of something odd pull me down. In the darkness in front of me, I saw him. Kenny Lorel.

“No,” I whispered.

Noah grabbed my hand and pulled me back. “Stand back here. I’m going to go talk to him. He can’t be here,” Noah said.

I felt a pain shoot inside of my belly. “No. We need to go,” I whispered.

The shock of something familiar hit me. Fuck. I fell forward. An odd sensation of pressure ran through me, finally cracking like a thin-shelled egg.

Looking at Noah, I panicked. The worst had happened. My water broke all over to the floor beneath my feet.

“I’m so sorry, Noah. I’m so fucking sorry,” I said.

Kenny smiled and waved in our direction. “That’s it. I’m going to kick his ass,” I said.

“I said, no! We have no time. My water… it just broke.”

Noah looked down at me and jumped forward. “Baby! Oh, fuck. Okay. Let’s go. Sawyer, where’s Adam?”

Sawyer was talking to another guest, but when he turned around, he dropped his plastic cup of wine. The red liquid splashed against my water, slowly mixing together. “Hey, we need to get you to a hospital,” he said.

The contractions started to squeeze down into me. Lurching forward, I held onto Noah’s body. “I have a doctor,” I panted. “Noah, we can take a cab.”

“Fuck that. It’s going to take you ages to get there,” Sawyer said. “I’ve got a better idea. Come on. Follow me.”

“Leo, find Adam. Tell him what’s going on and to hurry. We’ll be outside,” Noah said.

But as soon as I lost sight of Kenny, I heard the commotion. I turned and saw Adam. “Get out, Kenny,” he said.

Kenny wasn’t moving. Standing still, he laughed and shoved him out of the way. He grabbed a cup for a drink, but Adam shoved him into the cart. Everything came crashing onto the floor. The audience gasped.

“Adam! No!” I screamed.

He quickly glanced in my direction, and Kenny took the opportunity given to him. He got a clean uppercut against Hank’s jaw. “I’m jumping in,” Noah said.

“You know what? Do it,” I said.

Running as fast as he could, Noah dove into Kenny’s body. The thump of his back against the floor was loud and jarring. The crowd had already started to filter out and away from the fight, but suddenly, Adam was on his feet and throwing every punch he had in him.

I felt dizzy and confused, alone and unprepared, even though I had all the help from those around me. No amount of Lamaze classes could teach me how to control the panicky feeling I was currently experiencing.

Sawyer’s cop friend had had enough. He started to walk forward, but Sawyer put his hand out to stop him. “Marcus, don’t. I’ll take care of it.”

The whole crowd relocated downstairs. Breaking up the fight, Sawyer dragged Kenny’s knocked out body to the side of the room. He grabbed a set of ropes and tied him up tight. “Okay, Marcus. We all saw the same thing. This man started an assault. He’s here for you when we get back.”

Marcus stepped forward, shaking his head. “What the fuck, Sawyer? I’m not going anywhere. I have a job to do.”

“Your job is to help this pregnant omega here, and he’s due in any second,” he said. “You can deal with this asshole later.”

Marcus sighed. “If I get in trouble for this shit, I’m going to—”

“You guys can kiss later!” I screamed.

My contractions were growing stronger every second. I practiced my breathing as best I could, but I wasn’t prepared.

“You heard him. We need to go,” Sawyer said.

“Okay,” Marcus said. “Come on. We’re going to get you to the hospital fast.”

“I have a doctor. Noah, show him the address. Please, I don’t want to give birth to our child a random hospital in the city,” I said.

As strong as Sawyer was, he couldn’t carry me on his own. Adam and Noah helped, alongside Leo. It was such an embarrassing sight to see, and the people partying on the staircase only made it worse. “Coming through!” Leo yelled. “Outta the fuckin’ way!”

When we were finally outside, Noah showed Marcus the address as Adam nursed his facial welts. The way Marcus’s was looking at the map didn’t make me feel any better about the situation. “This is all the way in Staten Island,” he said.

“Then take me to Staten Island!” I yelled.

Sawyer put his hand on his shoulder and whispered, “Come on, man. We can take the 79 all the way there. It won’t take any longer than thirty minutes with your siren on. Please.”

Marcus frantically nodded his head. “Alright. Let’s go. I can only fit four of you at most. Okay?”

Leo looked at me and said, “We have a rental car. We’ll meet you there.”

“Okay, let’s go,” I said, straining against the cop car. “This is unbearable.”

Adam, Hayden, Sawyer, and I piled into the car. It was totally insane. Everyone at the show got to see me at my most vulnerable, down to the actual pregnancy. Great.

Closing my eyes, I felt the speed of the vehicle whip through the traffic. New York City was not the place for this. I didn’t realize what it would be like, but the city was too congested, making me feel crazier than I should have. I thought of our home. There was so much space there, and I had a doctor that actually knew me. Who knew what this person was going to be like?

Looking over at Adam and Noah’s bruised faces, I started to cry. “I don’t know what came over me,” Adam said. “I’m sorry, Hank.”

Tears just kept coming and coming. “You idiots. I’m not sad. I’m a little overwhelmed, but I’m happy. You defended me.”

“He needs to know there are rules,” Adam said, flexing his arms. I ran my hand around his biceps and leaned into his body. I felt his heartbeat and tried to focus on that, but it was impossible. Noah slumped over and held me too, but my emotions were hitting me so fast.

“Marcus, how far are we?” I grunted.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to get you there,” he said, focusing on the road.

“I asked you how long, dammit!” I didn’t mean to yell, but the words came pouring out like a thousand daggers.

“Ten minutes,” Marcus said.

I took ten deep breaths before saying, “Marcus, I’m going to need you to do something for me.”

“Anything, pal,” he said.

“After all of this is done, I’m going to need you to go on a date with my friend Sawyer here. Then, I’m going to need you to suck his—”

“Okay, now.” Sawyer coughed and shook his head. “He’s in a lot of pain and…” Adam and Noah both started snickering to themselves.

“Don’t deny yourself, Marcus!” I shouted.

“Uh, yeah,” Marcus muttered. “Noted.”

Pulling off the freeway, we saw the hospital on the map. It was just a few blocks away. “Almost there,” Marcus said.

“Adam, when we pull over, run to grab the doctor. I’m going to help Hank get out of the car and situated,” Noah said.

“There’s no getting situated. I’m a fucking mess,” I moaned. Then, another shooting contraction ricocheted against my insides. “He’s coming, dammit! He’s fucking coming!”

Marcus was finally able to pull over. Adam, of course, ran to grab a doctor, and Noah helped me walk toward the doors. Sawyer and Marcus merely scratched their heads. “Ask Marcus out on a date, dammit!” I yelled.

I heard Sawyer whisper. “He’s a feisty one.”

Turning to Noah, I felt a quick sense of calm rush through me, followed by the pounding of my baby. The hospital doors opened. I felt the stale air hit my body. I closed my eyes and walked forward, no longer hesitating.

I smiled to myself, despite the pain. This was it, the place where life came to be.