“Push. That’s it.” Dr. Evans became animated. “The baby is crowning. He’s crowning.”

Alice fell back, breathing hard. Her hair was stuck to her forehead and her lips were dry. There was pain etched in her eyes. Ash couldn’t believe how well she was doing.

“That was great.” Dr. Evans touched his mate’s arm. “One or two more big pushes like that and he’ll be out.”

Alice moaned something incoherent.

“Have some water.” He reached over and grabbed the cup. It was sealed with a lid and a straw. He held the drink to her lips. “Take a big sip.” His heart was beating like crazy but he worked hard to try to contain his nervous energy.

Alice did as he asked. She was breathing heavily. Her eyes were closed. It was no wonder that she was tuckered out. She’d been at it for over fifteen hours. The contractions had been slow at first. They’d gone for walks to try to speed things up. Her waters had finally broken two hours ago and things had gone relatively quickly after that. “You’re doing so well.” He wiped her forehead with a wet cloth.

Alice moaned, her face contorting in pain.

“Here comes another one,” Dr. Evans said, unnecessarily. They all knew the drill by now.

“Squeeze my hand,” Ash whispered, dipping his head down to her face. Alice lay on him, her head on his belly. Her chin on her chest.

She made panting, moaning noises, her eyes were still squeezed tightly shut. Not for the first time, Ash wished he could take her pain from her. He wished he could do this for her somehow. He refused to let fear take hold of him. He concentrated on his mate’s needs instead. He watched Dr. Evans closely.

The doctor leaned in-between Alice’s thighs. He couldn’t help noticing the blood on her gloves. Not much more than a smear or two, but there. He sucked in a deep breath, looking at the doctor’s face instead of her hands. Although there was a look of concentration, she looked completely calm. Dr. Evans glanced up at Alice. “Get ready to push.”

Alice opened her eyes just a tiny crack and nodded once. She set her mouth and squeezed his hand, groaning as she bore down.

“That’s it. Keep going!”

Alice’s groan turned into a yell. She sucked in a few deep gulps of air before straining again. Then she cried out. It was loud and throaty.

“Here comes the head.” Dr. Evans was smiling. “Keep going.”

Alice growled low in her throat for a second or two before sucking in a few deep lungfuls. Then she screamed, trying to grab between her legs.

"The shoulders are the widest," Dr. Evans said; she seemed quite busy, her hands way more bloody than before. She was frowning but still looked calm.

“It stings,” Alice moaned.

“You’re so very nearly there,” Dr. Evans encouraged, her eyes on Alice. “He is completely bald.”

Alice choked out a laugh. “That can’t be.”

Ash couldn’t help but grin. He looked down between Alice’s legs. He couldn’t see much from this angle, only that Dr. Evans was holding something.

Alice’s stomach pulled tight and she moaned.

“Are you ready to meet your son?” Dr. Evan’s asked, she glanced up at him before locking eyes with Alice once again.

"Yes," Alice half-moaned. Within a few seconds, she was bearing down again. She let go of his hand and grabbed her thighs, pulling them back. Alice gave a hard shout and their son was born.

Dr. Evans was smiling broadly. She used a towel to wipe the little one’s face. “He is bald!” Ash yelled. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the squirming pink baby. His son. “He’s perfect.” Ash took Alice’s cheeks in his hands and kissed her. His mate was sobbing. “Thank you, my love.”

Then Dr. Evans was handing the baby to Alice, laying him on her chest. Alice was both crying and laughing at this stage. “He’s so beautiful,” she sighed. “He looks just like you.”

“Have you thought of a name?” Dr. Evans asked.

He looked at Alice. His mate smiled and nodded. “Yes, we have. This is Holt.” His son gave an almighty wail. Ash had to wipe his eyes. “Ash lost a son a couple of years ago and we decided to name this little guy after him.”

Shit! At this rate he was going to cry even harder than their newborn. Ash wiped his eyes again.

“How are you feeling?” Dr. Evans asked. “Any contractions?”

Alice shook her head.

“There might be a short lull between the births. You should try to close your eyes for a few minutes. Even if you don’t actually sleep. Try to rest.”

“Shall I take Holt?” Ash could see that Alice was enjoying cuddling their son. “Otherwise, let me get up.” He eased out from under her. “I’ll grab a chair and keep an eye on the two of you. I’ll take him if you fall asleep.”

Alice nodded.

"I'll just go and double-check that we're all set for whatever comes our way." By that, Dr. Evans was talking about performing a C-section if needed. Unfortunately, as of a month or so ago, performing a scan no longer worked. The screen looked completely dark. There was no way of knowing precisely what was happing inside Alice. Their heartbeats had remained strong and true, so everything was fine. Ash held onto that. There was a device attached to the side of her stomach with an elastic band monitoring their heartbeats even now.

Holt was staring up at his mother with adoration in his eyes.

“Isn’t he cute?” Alice smiled, tears in her eyes.

“Very.” Ash put the chair next to the bed and took a seat.

“I’m going to try to rest now.” Alice’s smile grew. “To think just a little while ago I was starting to think I might not make it.”

“Don’t say that,” Ash growled. He couldn’t help it.

She turned serious in an instant. “I didn’t mean it like that. I was exhausted and now I feel wide awake. Energized even.”

“It’s all a lie,” Dr. Evans piped up from across the room. “It’s the adrenaline from having Holt. It’ll wear off soon enough. Close your eyes. Try to relax.”

* * *

Alice woke up to a shout, realizing in that instant that the shout had come from her. Ash was holding a baby. Their baby. Little Holt. She tried to smile but it hurt too damned badly. She gripped her belly with both hands. It was hard and pulled tight.

“Showtime.” Dr. Evans walked back to the bed.

“I’m going to put Holt down,” Ash said. He turned to one of the nearby cribs and carefully placed their precious son inside.

The contraction seemed to go on and on. She breathed through it. Ash was soon at her side, propping her up with a pillow, offering her something to drink. Wiping her forehead, offering words of love and encouragement. She wasn’t sure what she would have done without him.

One contraction rolled into another and then another. She barely had time to breathe. Alice kept glancing at the monitor that showed the baby’s heart rate. Baby B.

A couple of contractions later and Dr. Evans removed her gloves. “I’d like to check on something. Lie flat on your back.”

Alice did as she was told. Dr. Evans began palpitating her belly, using firm strokes. Her frown slowly deepened.

“What is it?” Ash asked with a growl. He cleared his throat, his jaw tightening. “Is everything okay?”

Dr. Evans nodded. “Yes. Baby B still has a strong heartbeat. Everything is fine, however …”

Ash gripped her hand tighter.

Dr. Evans pulled in a deep breath. “He is lying breech.”

“What does that mean?” Ash spoke softly, carefully. Alice realized that he must be using some restraint. His brow was creased and beads of sweat had begun to form there. In short, he was crapping himself but trying not to show it. He was trying to be strong for her. For both of them.

“It means that he’s lying the wrong way. He’s lying like this …” Dr. Evans drew a line across her belly. “His head is here.” She pointed to a spot about midway between her hip and armpit. “His feet are here.” She pointed to the opposite side. “I need to try to turn him manually.”

Alice felt the next contraction startup. She clenched her teeth, trying hard to hear what the doctor was saying. “It’s a procedure called external cephalic version or ECV …” She couldn’t make out anymore. Alice groaned, her stomach pulling so tight that she was sure it would rip right open at any second. She concentrated on panting her way through it. When that didn’t help, she made growly, groaning noises until the pulling slowly subsided.

She was panting hard when Dr. Evans put her hands back on her stomach. “This might feel a bit uncomfortable, but it shouldn’t hurt. You tell me if at any point it becomes painful. We’ll keep a close eye on the baby’s heart rate.”

She began to push on Alice’s stomach. It felt weird and definitely uncomfortable. More than uncomfortable. Alice grit her teeth.

“Does that hurt?” Dr. Evans eased off.

Alice nodded.

Then she went at it again. That weird pain came back instantly. “Shit!” Dr. Evans cursed. Up until now, she’d been nothing but professional.

“What’s wrong?” Ash instantly lost his cool. He growled the words, eyes narrowed and dark. Muscles bunched.

“It’s okay, honey. We’re still fine, aren’t we doctor.” A horde of butterflies took off in her stomach. “No,” she moaned, clutching her belly. This wasn’t the time for another contraction. It was a biggie too. Alice panted and groaned and grunted her way through it. It left her feeling shaky. Her mouth felt dry.

“Here.” Ash put the straw to her lips and she drank, feeling the cool liquid soothe her throat.

“We’re still fine, aren’t we?” she panted the words out.

“Technically, yes.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Ash said, he swallowed thickly.

“I would prefer to perform a C-section as discussed.”

Ash shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t think that’s going to be possible. I know we discussed it as a backup option, but I hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.”

“I know you have your reservations, but we’ll stick to the original plan. I’ll do a local anesthetic instead of a spinal block.” Dr. Evans looked her way. “You won’t feel anything. I don’t have an anesthesiologist, so we have no other option.”

Oh god! It wasn’t supposed to go this way. Alice had planned everything. The babies were supposed to come one right after the other. This was her first pregnancy, so she’d expected the labor to go on for a bit, which it had. The actual pushing part was supposed to hurt like mad, which it had. Then she was supposed to go into labor for the second time right after and the first, that birth was supposed to be smooth. Easy even.

“I’ve performed hundreds of C-sections. You’re in good hands.” Dr. Evans rolled up a trolley of equipment, which she unrolled. “Normally I would scrub up. Normally we’d be in a surgical ward, but we’ll make do with what we have. The good news is that you’ve developed superpowers. You won’t get an infection and you’ll heal really quickly, so we don’t have to worry about any of that. The baby is doing really well, but we need to get him out ASAP.”

“Okay.” Alice made sure that she sounded confident and relaxed. She smiled at Ash.

“I’m concerned …” Ash said, but she didn’t hear much more of what he had to say because another contraction hit. They seemed to be getting bigger and lasting longer.

Her muscles finally relaxed and she was able to breathe and think again. “Do you feel this?” Dr. Evans asked.

“What?” Alice felt a bit out of it. She was still trying to catch her breath. “I can feel that you are touching me.”

Dr. Evans was rubbing her pubic bone area. “Does it feel cold?”

“No.” Alice shook her head.

“Good.” Dr. Evans picked up a scalpel and she felt her knees weaken even though she was lying down. Thank god she was lying down or she might have collapsed. “Just relax. I suggest you look away.”

Alice did as the doctor ordered. Watching someone cut you open didn’t seem like a good idea. Not at all. She felt a tug in the region where the doctor had been rubbing just minutes earlier. There was a pulling feeling.

“Any pain?” Dr. Evans asked, her voice calm.

“No.” Alice risked a look at Ash. He was watching what Dr. Evans was doing. His expression didn’t give anything away.

There was another pulling feeling. Then there was a pause. “What the …?” Dr. Evans said, voice high-pitched.

Ash cursed under his breath.

“What?” She tried to stay calm, but it wasn’t working this time. Her voice was shrill.

“The good news is, you’re healing.” Dr. Evans smiled down at her. “The bad news is, you’re healing.”

“You can’t operate because the wound is already healing?” Her voice was laced with shock.

“Yes,” Ash said. His eyes were filled with concern. “Your hearing has improved. You can see better and your healing has improved by a whole hell of a lot. You’re still more susceptible to certain elements because of the pregnancy but you’re also stronger. I guess it’s a catch twenty-two in this case.” He turned his gaze to Dr. Evans. “What do we do now?”

“The baby is still doing well but a C-section isn’t going to work.” She chewed on her lower lip. “I suspect that the umbilical cord is around the baby’s neck. That’s why, when I tried to perform the ECV earlier, it caused immediate stress in the infant and it’s why it hurt so much. The cord pulled tighter as I tried to turn him down head-first.”

“Oh god!” She covered her mouth with her hand, folding almost double as another contraction hit. It hit hard. Growling and moaning and panting ‒ none of it ‒ helped. Finally … finally … just when she thought she could take no more, it eased.

Ash was looking at her strangely. There was pity in his eyes. “What?” Alice asked.

There was a similar look in Dr. Evan’s eyes as well.

“Just tell me already!” Alice yelled.

“We don’t have much choice here.” Dr. Evans shook her head. “The only way for this baby to get out is by vaginal birth. The baby is breech though, if we do nothing, he will eventually die.”

Her heart hit her throat. Alice realized that she was making strange noises, like a cornered animal. “I’m here and we’re going to get through this.” Ash clasped her jaw so that she had to look at him. “I love you so much. So very much. If nothing else, you need to know that. I need you to fight.”

“I’ll fight for him!” she yelled. “For our baby.”

“Yes.” His eyes hardened up. They darkened up. “You fight for our son, but you also fight for yourself. You fight for Holt. You fight for Ethan and you damn well fight for us.”

“I will,” she sobbed. Alice rubbed a hand across her face. This was no time for tears.

“The only option we have is to try the ECV procedure again, only this time, I’m turning your baby so that he stays breech.”

“What?” She shook her head.

“That makes no sense,” Ash growled.

“No, no, no!” Alice yelled as another contraction hit. They were getting so bad. Too much. Too hard. Too tight. She screamed this time, her back bowing. Her head flung back. Alice could barely get air back into her lungs. It hurt too much to breathe. Once the air made it into her burning lungs, she screamed again. She slumped back onto the pillow when it finally subsided. Her hair stuck to her face. There was a piece in her mouth, which she spat out.

Ash tried to get her to drink but she pushed the cup away. “Explain. Quick.” She could sense that they were in trouble. Could feel it with each hard pull of her uterus. Could feel it on a deeper level even than that. Right now, they needed a miracle. Alice was still holding out for one. She wasn’t giving up. There were still two heartbeats inside her. They could still make it. Both of them could.

“When I tried to turn him earlier it was head down. It was the ideal. I didn’t try and turn him the other way. We still had time and at that point, I didn’t want to take any undue risks. A C-section was the way to go. However, that path is not available to us. I’m going to turn him feet down. I’m hoping he can be born that way.”

“If not?” Alice had to know. She didn’t want worst case, but she needed to be prepared.

“It’s going to work out.” Ash was trying hard to put on a brave face and she loved him even more for it, especially when she knew he was dying inside. Thing was, she was dying inside too. She needed to be strong for her baby.

There was that weird, awful feeling on her belly as Dr. Evans went to work. She’d barely begun when another contraction started up. Little Holt started to cry. She wanted to go to her son. Hold him. The contraction knocked her upside the head. It seemed to wrap itself around her whole body. Everywhere and all at once. Whether it lasted five minutes, or only two, she didn’t know. It finally subsided. This time she accepted a drink.

One of the healers held Holt. She walked, bouncing him against her chest.

“How are you feeling?” Ash asked.

“Fine.” She turned to the doctor. “How’s the baby?”

“Doing okay,” Dr. Evans said.

“What do you mean ‘okay’?” Her voice was shrill.

“He’s showing some signs of fetal stress.” She pointed to the heart rate monitor.

“Oh shit!” Alice felt tears fall. It couldn’t be helped.

“I’m going to try the ECV again.” Dr. Evans immediately began to push on her stomach.

Ash’s face was drawn and pale. His eyes were filled with pain. Not the kind she was feeling through her body but the deep-seated kind.

“We aren’t giving up,” Alice reassured him.

“Don’t you dare.” Ash put his forehead to hers, but yet another contraction was building.

“What can I do?” Ash growled. “Tell me what you need.”

“Hold my hand,” she choked out. “Stay with me.”

Ash gripped her hand in his. “I’ll never leave.”

This time, when the contraction fully took her, she felt something else as well. “I need to push!” she yelled.

“Go!” Dr. Evans yelled back. “Push! We need to get him out now.”

Alice gave it all she had.

“Dammit!” Dr. Evans swore. “He’s a little fighter,” she added. “He won’t let me grab his feet, keeps pulling them up. Listen” she looked Alice in the eyes, “I need you to push with all you’ve got. He may be a fighter but he’s also in distress, his heart rate keeps dropping. His coloring is also not what I would like it to be.”

Ash clenched his teeth so hard Alice heard them crack.

Alice felt the next contraction. She welcomed the pain. The second she felt the urge, she pushed with all her might and kept on going.

“Got it!” Dr. Evans yelled. “Push! Push hard. Yes! That’s it.”

Alice felt the moment he plopped out. In some ways, it was easier this time around. Just like she had imagined, only she could have done without the drama in the middle.

His little body looked limp though. He had a grey tinge that worried her.

Ash was still gritting his teeth. His eyes were hard and yet so filled with emotion. She had to look away for fear of completely losing it.

There was a soft intake of air and his little chest moved.

“Thank god!” Ash yelled. “Please tell us he’s okay.”

Their baby gave a tiny wail as Dr. Evans rubbed his chest and face. He wailed again, louder this time. “He’s okay,” Alice whispered.

“He’s more than okay.” Ash grinned. “He’s great, isn’t he, doc? Please say he’s fine.”

“He’s absolutely perfect.” Dr. Evans finally smiled. “Give me a minute or two and I’ll hand him to you. What’s his name?”

“Luke.” Alice beamed. “And for no other reason than that we love the name.”

There was a knock at the door. Ash walked over there just as Dr. Evans handed her the baby. He was smaller than Holt. His eyes were bigger though. Then again, maybe they were just open wider. He yawned. “Oh, yes.” Alice smiled down at her tiny son, “Birth is tiring, isn’t it?”

Little Luke yawned again and Alice laughed.

She heard a familiar voice. “Can I see Alice, Daddy?”

“Yes, I’m sure she would really like to see you too. We want you to meet the babies.”

“He was missing you guys.” She heard the apology in Gage’s voice. “I heard the wonderful sound of babies. Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Ash responded. She heard rustling and the slap of a hand as they hugged.

Ethan walked up to the side of the bed, he pulled a face when he caught sight of Luke. The healer handed Ash Holt. “They’re small,” Ethan stated, not looking too thrilled.

“Yes, they were only just born.”

“Oh.” Ethan looked from one baby to the other. “Are you their mama?” He locked eyes with Alice and her heart felt like it might break.

She nodded. “Yes, I’m their mother.” She wanted to say something more, but what exactly?

Ethan seemed to ponder this for a few moments. “And you’re their daddy?” He looked at Ash.

“Yes, and I’m your daddy too.” Ash ruffled Ethan’s hair like he always did, which made the boy smile. “That’s never going to change, you know that, don’t you?”

Ethan nodded, he still seemed to be deep in thought though. “My mommy is in heaven.”

She watched Ash’s Adam’s apple work, saw his eyes become glassy. “Yes, buddy, yes she is.” His voice had a hoarse edge.

Ethan nodded. Then he looked at Alice with those beautiful big, green eyes of his. “Please, will you be my new mommy?” They filled with tears.

Alice could hardly breathe. Could hardly move. Love filled her up. Choked her up too for a few seconds. “Of course I will,” Alice finally pushed out, she put her free arm around Ethan. “I would love to be your mommy. We can still talk about your mommy in heaven, even though you never met her. We can still look at her pictures, but, yes, I want that very much.”

“I’m going to watch a movie with Uncle Gage now,” Ethan announced. “It’s the one about the bunny and the fox.”

“Sounds really good.” Ash walked Ethan back to the door. “I’ll see you a bit later, buddy?”

Ethan nodded like mad. “Bye, Daddy.”

“Bye, my boy.”

“Bye, Mommy.” He giggled and ran out of the room.

“I’m sorry.” Alice widened her eyes. “I should have checked with you first, but it just felt so natural, it felt so right. I—”

“No need to explain or to ask permission.” Ash leaned down and kissed her. “You’re already his mother. You tuck him in at night and read him stories. You take him bike riding and put Band-Aids on his already healed cuts and scrapes. That’s what moms do. Quite frankly, I’m surprised it took this long.”

“What do you mean, this long? It’s only been a few months.” Alice raised her brows.

“We shifters know. We don’t need a whole lot of time. Months …” He shook his head and made a snorting noise. “My bear knew you were mine the moment I caught a snoutful of you. That’s why I couldn’t let you just walk away. I had to have you. I even resorted to stalking you.” Ash narrowed his eyes on hers. “I still can’t believe you let a stalker into your house.”

“More than just my house.” She grinned. “You’re lucky you’re so darned hot.”

“Maybe, despite being a mere human, you knew too. Somewhere deep down.”

Alice shook her head, she couldn’t hold back a massive grin. “You were hot and I was horny. It had nothing to do with fate.”

Ash frowned so deeply that it made her laugh. When his jaw fell open, she laughed even harder.

“Take that back,” Ash said.

“You’ll have to make me.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Kind of tough when we both have a baby in our arms.”

“The good news is, I’m here for a long time to come.”

Ash brushed his lips against hers. “I love the sound of that.”

“Me too.”

Ash deepened the kiss just as Holt gave a mighty yell. “I think someone’s hungry,” Alice chuckled; she couldn’t stop smiling. Didn’t want to.