Page 39 of Knot My Omega

The midwife put her ear to my belly, grabbed me in all sorts of places I’d rather no one but my mates touched me, and then decided I needed to drink some special tea. And I drank it trustingly, not asking what it was. I’d still have taken it, even if I had known. She was the midwife. She knew better than I what needed doing, but a warning would’ve been nice.

It didn’t ease me into labor. Nope. It was a jump-start. I hadn’t even finished the entire cup when my water broke, and then, when the last drop was down, the contractions started, hard and fast. So hard that I worried. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe labor wouldn’t involve pain, but I’d expected it to ramp up, not slam into me.

I wanted to have our babies in my nest, and going from the kitchen to there had taken the help of all three of my mates, and Rumor. But once we were inside and settled in, I was grateful. Because they were coming.

Harlan and Benji sat on each side of me, holding my hands tight. And Roan? He shifted, resting just above my head so I could feel his warmth and fur. Rumor helped the midwife, who assured me that this wasn’t too fast, and that everything was going as it should.

But even if I wanted to argue, what could I do? Nothing. Because this was happening.

We weren’t in my nest five minutes when the burning began.

Then she and Rumor told me to push. And I pushed. And I pushed, and just when I thought I couldn’t do it anymore, our first baby, a daughter was born.

I didn’t even get a chance to look at her pretty face when the urge to push came again. Rumor cleaned up my daughteras the midwife guided me through the second birth, a son. And the third baby came in the same rapid succession, our second daughter.

And soon, I had two babies on my chest, having their first meal, and a third being doted on by my mates.

“We don’t have three names.” I looked down at their sweet faces, feeling like I’d already let them down.

“No, but we have two.” Roan kissed the top of my head.

Our first daughter we named Calla. My mates insisted, saying that she needed to be a flower as beautiful as their omega. I rolled my eyes at their sappiness but also loved it.

Our son we named Ryder, for no other reason than we had liked the name.

And then it was time to name our second daughter. I looked at Benji. “What do you think of the name Rose?”

His sister was Sylvia Rose, and I didn’t want to take a name that she might want for her own child someday, but also, it was a name dear to my heart. I was going to defer to my mates on this one. “My mom’s middle name was Rose.”

Harlan picked up our sweet daughter. “You look like a Rose. The name is perfect.”

As I looked at my three beautiful babies and my three amazing mates, the name wasn’t the only thing that was perfect in my life. Not by a long shot.

Epilogue

Lily

Having three babies when I was expecting one had been a huge adjustment. All the plans I’d made from furniture to schedules to sleeping arrangements had been tossed out the window. We’d had to purchase additional baby gear from cribs to car seats to carriers. I’d planned on wearing our little one from the beginning, but I couldn’t carry all three. Maybe, if I had help, I could manage to wear two, but three wasn’t going to happen. I thought about getting a stroller, but didn’t love the idea. Not with our terrain.

So we did the only rational thing we could think of—we bought a baby carrier for every adult in the family, including Sylvia. We’d never ask her to do child care; she had enough wounds without feeling like we were using her. But as their aunt Sylvia, it felt fitting that she had a baby wrap just like her brother’s. Our sweet babies were rarely put down, and they were thriving.

Today was our first day at the farmer’s market since I gave birth, and I was excited. I wanted to see everybody, let them know that I was back. I didn’t need anybody finding new places to get their canned goods. But also, I wanted to show off the babies.

The last time I was there, everybody, including me, thought there was only one little one on the way. They were going to be as surprised as I had been. Maybe notassurprised, but pretty close.

My mates set up my table, each of them wearing one of our sweet babies on his back. It was the hottest, sexiest thing I’d ever seen. I loved watching them go full-on dad mode.

While we were deciding to finally name the pack, I teased that we should call it The Three Papas? That was a hard pass for them. I still kind of loved it.

We ended up compromising. And by compromising, I meant, I didn’t really have a say. They decided we were going to be Flower River Pack.

“It sounds like a bakery gone wrong,” I protested.

“Nope. You’re wrong.” Benji shook his head. “It’s as beautiful as our mate.” There was no getting around it. We had the silliest pack name to ever exist.

But also, it did sort of fit. So much more than Rumor’s pack, Darkshadow. They were neither. They’d been the sunshine in my world for a long time and would continue to be Rumor’s sunshine for the rest of their lives. There was nothing dark about them.

I sat down at our table, taking Rose from Harlan so he could set up his art. He didn’t have very many pieces this time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his time at the farmer’s market was coming to an end. He’d been picking up more and more commissions, and he loved those. He loved that he was able to create exactly what someone needed out of things that others discarded. He’d still come, maybe have a few things, but his income base was definitely shifting.

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