I was a fucking basket case. I was trying to keep it together for Soren, but it felt like my entire existence was cracking apart at the seams. I’d spent the last eleven hours alternating between comforting my mate while he was in the throes of labor, and pacing the floors like a madman whenever the contractions stopped.

This wasn’t right. It was taking too damn long and I was strung out.

“Hunter. Please. Come sit down,” Soren grumbled from the hospital bed. His hair was dark and damp with sweat, his forehead pinched. “It’s not time yet.”

But that’s what he’d been saying for the past several hours, even as he twisted in the sheets with each contraction that gripped him. I knew it hurt, because he’d squeezed my hand hard enough that it felt like my fingers were permanently crushed.

I went over to his bedside and sat down, but I couldn’t keep my knee from jumping with nerves. Soren sighed heavily and rubbed at his belly, then shifted his weight to try and get comfortable. “This sucks.”

“It shouldn’t take this long,” I told him.

“Tell our daughters that,” he replied. “They’re taking their damn sweet time.”

“What if something’s wrong, though, Soren? What if they’re stuck?”

Soren laughed softly and patted my leg. “They’re not stuck,” he assured me, but it did little to quell my nerves. Something was wrong… It wasn’t until the doctor came in, flanked by a pair of nurses, that my fears were brought into the light.

“As you know, there are certain risks with male pregnancies, especially if the father has been under a large amount of stress, which I understand that you have been, correct?” He looked at Soren, whose smile had fled. Soren nodded and the doctor tapped his stylus over the small tablet in his hands.

“The longer the babies are in the birth canal, the higher the risk. I understand that your OB has spoken to you about the possibility of a c-section? In this case, I think that would be wise, not only for the babies’ health, but for yours as well, Mr. Reed.”

My heart rate spiked. Surgery?

Soren grabbed my hand. “You’ll be there, right? When I wake up?” I hated the way his voice quivered at the end. I wished there was some way I could keep him safe, but I’d had the feeling all along that something wasn’t right. Damn it.

“I will be there,” I told him, kissing his knuckles.

His golden eyes glittered with unshed tears. “You promise?”

“I promise. But you have to promise to come back to me, you got it? No gallivanting off into the spirit realm. I need you here, with me, and those babies will need their daddy.” I linked our fingers and squeezed, drawing his hand to my chest. “Don’t you dare leave me.”

His smile warmed my heart. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Love you, Hunter.”

“Love you too.” My throat knotted up, and as they wheeled him down the hall to prep him for surgery, I found myself gazing skyward with a prayer that everything would be okay. Life’s a risk. Wasn’t that what Chance had told me? I breathed in deeply and let it back out in a whoosh.

And I waited.

Huxley slapped me gently on the back. “He’ll be fine, Hunter. Soren’s got a warrior spirit. He might be an Omega, but he’s a fighter. Trust me on this.”

I groaned and dropped my head into my hands, only for Chance to swat at the back of my head with a growl. When I looked up, our gazes locked. “Stop thinking. Here, have a baby. My arms are tired and you’re gonna need all the practice you can get.”

With a small smirk, he pressed Charlotte into my arms. I cradled her to my chest while she grabbed at her feet with both hands. I couldn’t help but smile. Soon. Soon it would be nonstop crying and sleepless nights, spit up and dirty diapers.

“My entire life is about to change,” I mumbled to her.

Chance smiled. “You’re gonna take one look at those babies and melt. So worth it.” He was right, of course. I already knew it. I’d practically turned into a puddle with Anya—and this time, there would be two little does to love and to cherish. This time, it would turn out differently. I wouldn’t fuck up again. I wouldn’t fail Soren and our daughters.

This was my second chance and damn it, I was gonna do it right.

I almost cried with relief when the doctor said the surgery went fine and that the babies were healthy. When Soren came around in recovery, I was right beside him. His lashes fluttered and he blinked up at me hazily, still under the influence of the anesthetic. He weakly squeezed my hand and smiled.

“Hi...”

Once Soren was situated in a room and a little more with it, the nurses brought in two quailing babies, their cries raw and bleating. They were swathed in bubblegum pink blankets. “Here we are, daddies,” a woman in polka-dotted scrubs crooned as she handed a bundle to me. I drew the squirming infant to my chest and pulled the blanket back away from her face, and I swear to god, my heart stopped.

She was perfect. Wide hazel eyes and a button nose, turned up at the very tip, she was like a little porcelain doll. I brushed my knuckle against her soft skin and tried to swallow back the lump of emotion in my throat, but it was no use. In minutes, my vision blurred and I cradled my daughter close as I cried.

How could you love something in an instant like this?

“Oh, Hunter,” Soren breathed out. I sank down in the seat beside him and watched as the other baby suckled hungrily at his breast, her tiny hands making loose fists. I grinned through my tears and leaned forwards to kiss him. “They’re here. They’re ours. We made these perfect little creatures.” He began to giggle and cry at the same time.

I brushed hair out of his face. “We did,” I agreed, though my voice was too tight. “We’re pretty amazing, huh?”

“Yeah,” he whispered.

“Are you ready for this? A future together?” I asked him then, and his smile told me all I needed to know. He’d been ready for a long time. I was the one who needed to catch up and realize what I didn’t even know I’d been missing. An Omega to call my own. A lover to share my bed. A partner to spend the rest of my life with.

I was ready this time.

Bring it on.