"Jonah, you've got to quit that damn pacing. You're going to wear a hole in the carpet and it's not going to make this baby come out any sooner." Matthew flipped a page in his magazine and gave me the stink eye.

I walked over and joined him on the couch. "I'm sorry." I sighed. "There are just so many things to be concerned about. Childbirth will be much more difficult the longer it goes. The baby is going to be too big for you to deliver if we don't get him out soon, and well… there are so many things to think about."

Matthew looked at me for a long moment, then set his magazine aside and took my hand. "What are you really worried about, Shakespeare? Maybe if we talk about it, you can process and discard some of your worries."

I didn't want to say it. I wasn't going to say it. There was no way I was going to scare him with it. "The longer a pregnancy goes past its due date, the bigger the risk for stillbirth." Shit. I said it.

"Come here, Shakespeare." Matthew held an arm out and patted his stomach with his other hand. "Put your hand right there."

Settling my hand on his stomach, I smiled at the familiar fluttering kicks of our son.

"See? He's strong and he's healthy. So that's one fear we can cross off the list. Now tell me the next one."

"One article I read online says that the longer the baby stays in the womb, the more likely it is that the placenta will stop functioning normally and he could have neurological disorders." I shrugged uncomfortably. "Another article said that many overdue babies have been shown to later have behavioral problems."

Matthew put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug. "And an article I read said that it's more common for little boys and first babies to be overdue. This is our first baby and he's a boy—see where I'm going with this?"

Before I had a chance to say anything else, Matthew's cell phone rang. He held it up with a smile. "Look, it's Dr. Wendy. Perfect timing, right?"

While he answered the call, I plucked Flower up from where she was curled up in a sleeping ball beneath the coffee table. She gave a wide-mouthed yawn then hissed at me for disturbing her. I cradled her against my chest and ran a hand over her soft fur. One thing I'd noticed since she’d come into our lives was that petting our little girl tended to calm me down.

Matthew glanced up from his phone. "Dr. Wendy got us an opening at the hospital. She wants to induce my labor tonight."

I nodded calmly, but my brain started going into overdrive, sorting through the facts I'd read about labor induction. It was safe enough, but it would be more painful for Matthew—at least, according to my research, that was the consensus of carriers who'd been induced. Setting his phone down, Matthew slid sideways and rested his head on my lap. He smiled up at me and propped his feet up over the arm of the couch.

"You're obsessing over everything you’ve read about labor induction now, aren't you?" He reached over Flower and tickled under my chin. "One of these days, I'm going to get you super drunk or something just so I can see you let loose."

"You want to see me let loose?" I smiled seductively as I slid my hand over his protruding belly and cupped his dick in my palm. "I've heard of other ways to induce labor, you know. Much more fun ways, if you get my drift."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "I never thought that I would be the one to say this, but I am not in the mood. I'm bloated, I have a basketball sticking out of my gut, and I've been farting about every thirty seconds since yesterday morning. Sorry, Shakespeare, but I am not feeling it right now."

"What are we going to do to kill time until tonight then?" I set the kitten down and focused my attention completely on my mate. I began brushing my fingers through his hair while resting my palm on his bump.

"Are you kidding me? There's only one thing to do—obviously, we need to take a nap. From what the guys have told me, we won't be sleeping much for the next while after our son makes his appearance. My bag is already packed for the hospital and the only thing that needs to be done is for you to notify your brother. Other than that? Our bed awaits."

I stretched my arms wide and gave a loud yawn. "There's just one problem with that, Agent Sugar Bear."

"What could possibly be the problem with taking a nap?"

I shook my head sadly. "We have to get up and walk back there and you look pretty comfy."

Matthew shook his head and groaned. "Shit. I forgot about that part."

"One more push, Matthew, and I think we'll have him." Dr. Wendy sounded awfully chipper for having dealt with my mate’s seventeen-hour labor.

Matthew smiled radiantly, no worse for wear after all he'd been through. Throughout all of his contractions and the long hours spent walking the halls, he was still super chill and laid back about the whole process. "I love you to pieces, Shakespeare. But you'd better not dream of pointing that camera anywhere near my nether regions."

I glanced guiltily at the phone in my hand. Getting a shot of our son entering the world had been my exact plan. I shoved it in my pocket and pouted. "You think you know me. You don't know me. Maybe I was waiting to get a picture of the nurse handing you our son, did you ever think of that, smart guy?"

Matthew quirked a brow. "If that were the case, you wouldn't have shoved your phone in your pocket so fast. Don't forget, I'm one of those feebs. I'm skilled at interrogation tactics and reading body language."

Dr. Wendy chuckled. "Are you boys going to banter all night or is somebody going to push? There's a baby trying to make his way out to the world, you know. Not to interrupt or anything, but perhaps we could put a pin in it for now?"

I shook my head at the sight of my mate laughing good-naturedly while he bore down and pushed our son into Dr. Wendy's waiting hands. She passed him off to the nurse who laid him across Matthew's chest while Dr. Wendy went to work on the afterbirth. After the cord had been cut, the nurse carried our little boy away to be cleaned up and weighed while Matthew flashed me a wink.

"Now's the time to pull that phone out, Shakespeare. Maybe you could zoom in on what the nurse is doing over there and get some good pictures to embarrass our son with when he's a teenager and pissing us off."

I excitedly turned around to do just that, tuning out Dr. Wendy's chuckles while she and Matthew joked around like nothing momentous had just occurred.

By the time we made it back to Matthew's room, my brother and Ezra were there waiting for us. Cain beamed from ear to ear when he saw his nephew in Matthew's arms as the nurse pushed his wheelchair into the room. I smiled knowingly as Cain barely restrained himself while Matthew got settled into his bed. Once the nurse was gone, Cain was right there sitting at Matthew’s side and eagerly reaching for the baby.

Matthew passed him into Uncle Cain's hands. "Here you go, allow me to be the first to introduce you to Timothy Cain McKiernan."

Ezra leaned over Cain's shoulder to admire Timothy. "It's a good thing he looks like you, Matty. I was worried for a minute there that he would look like old Jo-Jo there with that perpetual worried frown."

Cain looked up at me with a radiant smile before sticking his tongue out and winking. "No, that comes from years of practice; I'm pretty sure it's not genetic. At least, I don’t think so? We'll have to keep an eye on that as he grows up, though, just to make sure."

"McKiernan, huh? Are you both taking Jonah's last name now, Matty?" Ezra couldn't take his eyes off of Timothy as he spoke.

Matthew rolled his eyes. "It's Matthew, bonehead. Quit trying to drive Jonah nuts, that's my job. And yes, I was thinking of taking Jonah's last name legally—in fact, I’d planned to do a whole romantic proposal, but—” he turned to face me “—I can just ask you right now while we’re already celebrating the happiest moment ever?"

Cain and Ezra's heads both popped up, their attention off of Timothy for the moment as they looked back and forth between the two of us like the meerkats that Matthew loved so much. I walked around the other side of the bed and sat down at Matthew’s side, taking his hand in mine and ignoring the two jokers behind me.

"Are you asking what I think you're asking, Agent Sugar Bear?"

"I am. I love you and you love me and now we have Timothy and he made three, and don’t forget our adorable kit-tee… I can go on with the rhyming, how much more do you need?" He stopped and shook his head. "Sorry, I think that last dose of pain medicine may have hit me a little harder than I thought. But seriously, I love you, Jonah. I want to make it official and not just with claim marks. I want to wear your ring, share your name, and have our union legalized by human society too. So what do you say? Will you marry me, Shakespeare?"

"I'd love to marry you, Matthew. And I will happily buy you whatever ring your heart desires. You're already my mate, I would be honored to make you my husband."

Matthew clapped his hands together. "Perfect. And then I can get you and Timothy both on my insurance. The federal benefits are amazing."

My jaw dropped as my head spun and the room grew fuzzy around me. Ezra clapped a hand on my shoulder. "You alright there, Jo-Jo? You’re looking kinda peaked all of a sudden."

I looked over my shoulder at the two laughing clowns who were clearly enjoying my discomfort as I began rambling and stumbling over my words. "I… I mean… Matthew… He… I… Holy crap, he wants me to go into a federal database!"

Matthew reached out and grabbed my chin, turning my face back to look at his. "Eyes on me, Shakespeare. Now listen, nobody is going to do anything with your information. I promise that you will have your very own big, bad Agent Sugar Bear to protect you."

"But…" My mind raced as I still tried to make sense of this. "Team ALPHA's benefits are really good too, you know."

"And having both will be better for us as a family. Besides, I doubt that your pension is as kick-ass as mine. Despite the bullshit Chad was spouting there toward the end, the federal pension package is actually to die for."

Looking into his shining eyes, I did the only thing I could. I swallowed my fear and leaned forward to kiss my mate. As I kissed him, I knew that things would be okay. Just imagining sliding a ring onto his finger made it all worthwhile.