The last week of August came and went without the baby showing any signs of wanting to be born. Maybe he was just as put off by the thought of labor as I was? Whatever the case, it was September now, and I was still pregnant. That hadn't been the plan.

And I was horrible about it, I admit, but I felt kind of justified in my misery. I was big, I couldn't sleep, my ankles hurt—never mind my back—, my hormones were a mess, and I wanted this to be over. My bag was packed, the nursery was ready, Kade and Griff regaled me with stories about labor on the daily, and yet... it wasn't happening for me.

I read somewhere on the internet that spicy foods and chocolate could act as laxatives and start contractions, but all I got from that was heartburn. One star, would not recommend. It wasn't as bad as the castor oil I tried after that, though. That certainly got things moving, but not in my uterus. Suffice it to say I spent a long time on the toilet.

Trying sex wasn't so bad. It didn't help, but at least it didn't hurt either. Well, at least it didn't hurt me. It kind of hurt Zander when I clawed at him in frustration. After that, my mate and I were out of ideas, and frankly, kinda sick of trying.

“It'll happen eventually,” Zander said, running one finger through my hair.

“But when?” I whined. The anticipation was the worst. I was almost ready to drive up to the hospital and demand an impromptu C-section just to get this over with. “I wish it would just start.”

I ended up eating those words when labor did eventually start. My water broke Monday, the second week of September at 1 p.m. sharp, spilling over the rug in our living room and making Betty bark in disgusted surprise (honestly, she was the cleanest of us all). From that point forward, everything happened much too quickly. As much as I'd moaned about wanting to go into labor, I hated it from the moment it actually happened.

Contractions were painful.

I mean, I'd known that, but holy shit.

Squeezing a baby out of your belly was really, really hard!

Made even harder when your mate ran around the apartment like a headless chicken the moment you told him, as if he hadn't had months to prepare for this moment. I didn't know why he was freaking out. Over the last weeks, he'd read every book on childbirth ever written—or at least, that's what the stack in our bedroom looked like to me.

“We need to get to the hospital!” he exclaimed.

“You think?” I snapped, clutching my humongous belly.

“Right. I'll get your bag and the car keys.” He picked something up from the dresser.

“Zander.”

“What?”

“That's not the keys. That's Betty's leash.”

“Oh. Right. I knew that.” He put it down again. Next to me, Betty looked clearly disappointed but not surprised. I took a moment to scratch her behind the ears while Zander got my bag.

“You think Zander's going to be all right on the road?” I asked the dog. “Maybe we should call a cab.” Although I did not want to give birth in a cab like a sitcom character. Oh God, what if the baby came before we got to the hospital?

“I'll be fine,” Zander insisted, coming back with the bag. “We'll be fine.”

I nodded, trying to breathe through a contraction. “I trust you.”

Zander took my hand and squeezed. “I promise I'll get you to the hospital okay.”

And he kept that promise. We got to the hospital a full three hours before our baby was born. Honestly, by hour two, I kind of found myself wishing I'd already given birth on the car ride over. “I want this to stop,” I whined at my mate while we were waiting for me to be dilated enough to start pushing. They’d given me drugs to dull the pain, but they seemed to be taking forever to kick in.

“It’ll be over soon,” Zander promised me, “and then we’ll have a beautiful baby boy.”

“How soon is soon?”

“Very soon.” Zander stroked my hair as I breathed through another contraction. Those birthing classes Kade had made me go to were total bullshit. Who could focus on breathing while they were going through labor pains? I should demand my money back. Kade’s money. Whatever.

Oh God, make it stop.

“I’m never letting you touch me again,” I told Zander as the pain ebbed. “What if it’s twins next time? Could you imagine giving birth twice in a day? Oh God, I have to call my mother and apologize.”

“You can call her later,” Zander promised, and then the nurse came in to check on me again.

“All right,” she declared after a moment. “I think we’re ready to get this show on the road.”

I was so relieved to hear that, I could have cried. I was crying for real a few minutes later anyway, when the doctor was in and I was told to push harder, even though I already felt like my insides were popping out of me.

“Never ever doing this again,” I huffed.

“Come on, one more time,” the doctor said. But he was lying like a lying liar who lies. I wasn’t done after that push, and not after the one that came after it either.

“That was a good push,” the nurse said, trying to placate me. I shot her a death glare. I shot everyone in the room death glares. Funny how the act of giving life made you want to murder someone.

“Push hard,” the doctor instructed.

I did, howling.

And suddenly, I wasn’t the only person crying in this room. I blinked, trying to make out the source of the noise through the haze of pain and drugs. The doctor was holding a baby. My baby. I reached out for the little one as the nurse bundled him up.

“He’s here,” Zander murmured, awe in his voice as stared at our son.

“Yeah, he is.” I exhaled when the nurse finally put the newborn down on my chest. Just like that, it was all worth it. The pain faded from my mind, swept away by the rush of love that flooded me at the sight of my son. Our son. Zander’s and mine. Wasn’t that incredible?

We’d made a baby. And he looked absolutely perfect. Two eyes, one nose, one mouth, ten tiny fingers. Perfect.

After a moment, I held him out to Zander. “Look at him,” I urged. “Isn’t he the most perfect thing ever?”

Carefully, Zander took the warm bundle from me, wonder and adoration mixing on his face. “Oh my God, it's an actual baby.”

“What did you think it was going to be?” I couldn't help but tease my mate. “An egg?”

Zander shook his head. “I just... lost my head for a moment. Of course I know we're not penguins.”

“No.” I grinned, and then I whispered, “We don't bow to each other before sex.”

“That's right. We blow each other before sex,” Zander said, leaning in so no one else could hear him.

I snorted. We had done that just a few days ago. But still... “You're saying that while holding your newborn son?”

“I don't think he understands speech yet,” Zander reassured me, rocking the little one.

“You never know. He might be a genius.” He looked like a genius. He looked like the most precious thing in the world. Zander stroked the baby's cheek with so much adoration that I knew he agreed with me there.

“What are we going to call our little genius?” Zander asked. “I'm assuming you're still vetoing Legolas.”

“I am, but there's other names in those books you adore so much, you know. I found one I like.”

“Yeah?” Zander tore his gaze away from the baby to look at me.

“I'd like to call him Sam, I think.”

Zander's eyes lit up. “That's a good name. Sam's probably the most loyal character in the book.”

“That's why I picked it. I promised to be loyal too, remember? It's an important trait.”

“Oh, I remember,” my fiancé said, eyes dancing with amusement. “As loyal as an emperor penguin in love, how could I forget?”

“I do really think those penguins are awesome,” I said, taking little Sam back from Zander, noticing for the first time that he had my mate's nose. And it was so cute on his face. “They take care of their child together, just like we are going to.”

“Yeah.” Zander leaned in to kiss my forehead. “We're going to be an awesome little family.”

I kissed him back, knowing in my heart that he was right.

We were going to be awesome.