Page 92 of Labor of Love

“I think Auden Holt-Prescott sounds better,” I said.

Silas bent and kissed the baby on his downy head, then turned and sat back down in the chair at my bedside. Silas watched us while I watched the remarkable creature we’d created.

Welcome to the world, Audie.

“Mr. Prescott?” the doctor called from the partly open door.

“Yes, please come in.”

“The nurses told me you were up and about now. How are you feeling?”

“I’m all right but sore.”

“That’s to be expected. When we had to take your little guy, the quickest c-section comes with less preferred incision locations.” While the doctor spoke, she logged into the room’s computer and checked some notes. “You’ve been up and walking?”

“Five, maybe ten minutes at a time.”

“I know it doesn’t feel like that would be a significant amount, but your body has been through a lot. Our shifter heritage only protects us so much. We can still get sick and injured.” The doctor glanced between Silas and me. “And you’ll have help at home, correct?”

“I’ll be doing most of it myself,” I answered.

The doctor narrowed his eyes and focused his attention on Silas. “Sir, your partner has been through a difficult process to bring your baby into the world. His body needs time to recover. Being an alpha doesn’t give you free rein not to help because of outdated ideas about who should do what at home.” The doctor’s steely voice didn’t invite discussion.

“I’m not his partner,” Silas said with his hands in the air in the universal sign of surrender.

“Isn’t that your child?” The doctor glanced back at me, then returned his attention to Silas.

I started to speak, but Silas held up a hand for me to wait. “Doctor, you’re absolutely right. Rowan’s been through a lot, and Auden is my child. We’re not together, but I intend to support him in any way he’ll allow and accept.”

That mollified the doctor as it related to Silas, but then he turned his gaze to me. “And you’ll need to accept the help. One of the more serious complications that needs monitoring is sudden onset blood pressure spikes. It can be dangerous and requires that you seek medical attention immediately. The good news is that issues almost always happen within the first two weeksafter giving birth. You’ll need someone to stay with you as a precaution.”

“I’ll be there,” Silas interjected. I whipped my head around when he spoke. What I knew about him was limited to how he made me scream when we got it on and that he made pretty babies. Even with that sparse knowledge, I recognized the resoluteness in his tone. There was no reason to argue because I wasn’t going to win this one.

Silas was moving in.

6

SILAS

“Baby Audie, it’s time to take your grown-ups home,” the nurse announced when she swept into the room. In her hand were reams of discharge papers and a hospital-supplied gift bag.

“Oh my goodness, I cannot wait to sleep in my own bed again,” Rowan said with a groan.

Thankfully, the nurse took it in the spirit it was intended and laughed. Her fingers flew over the computer keyboard while she entered the last bit of information before allowing us to escape.

“We hear that every time. And you have a car seat to put the baby in, yes?” she asked, looking between Rowan and me.

“Yes, and here’s the certificate of inspection. I stopped at the fire station and had them clear the seat for me,” I answered, pulling a folded piece of paper from my wallet and handing it to the nurse.

She copied some information off it and handed it back. Rowan looked surprised, and I realized I hadn’t mentioned anything about getting one.

“Oh jeez. I’m already failing at this parenting thing because it hadn’t even crossed my mind that I’d need a car seat to get the baby home.”

“Nope, we’re not doing that. You didn’t drive a car here, so there’s no reason for you to have thought about it.”

Rowan shot me a grateful smile, and I returned it with a grin.

“Perfect. That was the only thing I needed to bust you three out of here.” She turned to me and asked, “Papa?” I nodded, and she continued, “If you want to get the car and pull it around to the front entrance, we’ll meet you down there. Hold off on just a second, though, while I go grab a wheelchair. It’ll take us longer to get through the halls than you.”

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