Page 26 of The Lab: Rigg

While I was here, I grabbed a bunch of throw-in-the-oven meals so no one had to worry about cooking—especially me—when the baby came. And I got some of Connor and Lily’s favorite treats too, because I had a feeling that, as much as they were looking forward to this baby, once the baby actually arrived, they were gonna need a little something to remind them we were thinking of them. And right now, their favorite snacks were the best I could do.

Three aisles later, another contraction hit. This one was a little stronger—strong enough I barely kept the pain inside.

It was time to go.

My mate was going to be pissed when he found out I’d decided the grocery store was a good idea while I was basically on my due date. I cashed out, and when they offered to have someone walk me to the car, I found myself doing something I never did and accepted their offer.

They could load the groceries because that was one last thing my swollen body needed to do. In the beginning of my pregnancy, I could still shift into my wolf, but those days were long gone and wouldn’t come back until after the baby was born.

Which left me in this swollen, waddling, back-aching skin I was currently in. Sometimes I’d catch my reflection in the mirror and be shocked at how different I looked. But every day, my mate looked at me like I was sexier than I’d ever been. He must’ve had weird pregnancy glasses or something, because that was not reality.

I drove home without stopping for anything else on my list. I even pulled over any time I felt a contraction coming. That took a bunch of extra time but was a whole lot safer than trying not to crash while in pain. When I pulled into the driveway, I was glad to see Grandpa Joel outside with the kids.

They helped carry things in.

The little ones were less helpful and more participating, but we got it all inside.

“No offense, but you look like shit,” Grandpa Joel whispered in my ear.

“Yeah, well, you’re not supposed to be here.”

“This was a surprise, Grandpa Joel. It’s your birthday!” Lily whisper-shouted. Not sure why she pretended to whisper at that point.

“You know what my favorite thing to do for my birthday is?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“To bake my birthday cake with you two.”

That was a bit of a stretch, but he would say anything to make those kids smile. And they were so excited to have him all to themselves. When I offered to help, he told me I wasn’t needed and winked. He might have also said something about a shower doing me some good.

I hadn’t fooled him at all. He knew the baby was coming—and coming fast.

Rigg was in the nursery, putting together a crib. We hadn’t planned on using one until the baby was a little older, and we had a mini crib for our room, but this one had been backordered and just arrived. I was grateful it was here because it gave him something to be distracted by.

My mate was just a wee bit overprotective lately.

I heard a couple of cusses coming from the nursery and knew things weren’t going particularly well.

Taking a shower was a good idea after all.

I turned on the water to let it get steamy and climbed out of my clothes. That’s when I noticed just how bad my swelling was. The line from the elastic indented on my belly.

“My goodness, little one.” I rested my hand there on my tummy. “It’s about time you come out. Look at what you’re doing to me.”

But honestly, I didn’t care. Give me all the worst side effects of pregnancy, as long as at the end, I was holding my sweet baby.

I stood under the water for a long time before I made any move to wash my hair or body. I was just going to be sweaty again soon anyway. But the contractions weren’t as bad under the warm water, and the only reason I finally stepped out was because it was starting to cool.

We’d talked to the midwife about different ways to give birth—hospital, water birth, things like that—but we’d planned to have the baby at home. I wasn’t quite sure when my ability to shift would come back or how much control I’d have when it did. I could see it now—the doctor freaking out because suddenly I was a wolf. That hadn’t happened since puberty, but pregnancy hormones seemed just as chaotic. Maybe worse.

Being at home sounded right, but without the water element. I didn’t want to deal with the mess. We had a birthing ball I could bounce on, and the midwife said pacing was good, even though I just needed to rest.

The grocery store had taken a lot out of me. I climbed into bed—not quite asleep, but relaxing for sure. I stayed there, managing contractions the best I could, until suddenly, it was no longer viable for me not to make noise.

That’s when I called for my mate and told him what was happening.

He was not as chill about the birth as I was and screamed for Joel like it was an emergency. It was not.

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