Page 69 of The Magic of Eternity
“You think I’m a fancy stallion?” I puffed my chest out, pleased with that compliment.
“It’s... not... a compliment!” She threw herself back against her pillows, huffing a breath of irritation.
Balor had given her some medication and used some of his healing magic to lessen her pain, but my mate was exhausted. When he’d predicted her labor could last days, he wasn’t wrong. It had been over twenty-four hours now. He’d assured us that the girls were in an optimal position for a safe, natural delivery, but with each passing hour, we were all growing more anxious. Fischer had needed to go sit in the fucking woods twelve hours ago because if he was in the same room as her, it debilitated him.
Turns out Balor was a demon of many talents, and was able to place some kind of physical block on Fish’s ability to actually feel her pain, but it wasn’t enough. Between Goldie crying and screaming, Kai’s relentless whining and pacing, Sloane’s nervous scowling, Cam’s helicopter daddying, Faris’ ridiculous questions and my own excitement.... It was too much for our empath to handle.
We opted to all leave the room for an hour at a time so Fish could have time with her alone. She told him she didn’t want him going through the mental torture of it, but he said the real torture was sitting alone in the woods and not getting to be a part of the birth. We were to call him inside when it was time for the delivery.
“This is taking too long. I don’t think this is normal. Where is that damn demon? Balor?!” Kai roared, storming out of the bedroom that had been turned into a makeshift delivery room. Faris slipped in past him, proudly carrying a large loaf of bread and a jar of grape jelly.
Goldie’s narrowed eyes tracked him with the precision of a serial killer, and I was starting to get concerned for each of our lives if these babies didn’t come soon. We were all watching as he sat everything down on the pink loveseat before rushing from the room again, muttering curses.
“What the hell is he doing?” Sloane asked, arms crossed.
Faris flew back into the room before anyone could respond. Not that we had answers. Faris did whatever he wanted. He proudly placed a six slice toaster on top of her dresser and plugged it in. Balor and Kai returned, the doctor assuring the shifter that yes, this was actually normal. Especially for a first-time mom. It was going to take some time for her body to get to where it needed to be for delivery. Kai didn’t want to hear it though, and Cam grabbed the back of his neck just in time to stop him from tearing into Balor.
The sound of the toaster lever being slammed down brought the focus back to Faris.
“Hungry, are ya?” Balor inquired, opening up his bag of supplies.
Faris’ face screwed up in disgust. “Like I’d ever eat this shit. This is for my Firefly. As you will soon see, she’s become quite... ferocious. Bette told me in the kitchen that she suffers from hanger. A disease easily cured by snacking.”
“Gonna... kick... his cute ass...” Goldie panted. Sloane ran a hand down his face and groaned. Faris narrowed his eyes at Sloane, and I took that as my cue to intervene.
“Baby Fang,” I murmured, walking up to him and smiling in an attempt to diffuse the tension. “That was nice of you. Where’d you get a toaster this size anyway?”
He smiled widely at my interest and started rattling off the specifications of this supersize toaster. “I thought it’d be good because you know, we have a supersize family.” His eyes widened. “I probably should buy another one. We’ll have two more to feed soon. I won’t stand for breakfast fights over the toaster usage. That doesn’t seem like a healthy environment. Plus, I read that babies really like toast and stuff. They had strawberry jelly too, and it kind of looked like blood so I thought maybe I would like it?”
I couldn’t believe my ears. He’d tried jelly? Of all the foods? “Well? Did you like it?”
A full body shiver overtook him and he shook his head. “Fuck no. It’s all... jelly-like and jiggly. One tiny lick was all I needed to know it wasn’t for me. How does anyone eat food like that? Fucking psychos.” He was so serious I couldn’t help the full belly laugh that escaped me. “I knew you’d agree with me. I never saw myself being sexually involved with a demon who has a loose butthole, but here we are.”
He clapped me on the shoulder and sauntered off to the bed. “What the fuck?” I cursed and glanced over to Sloane, Kai, and Cam. All three of them were shaking with laughter, trying to be quiet. I stormed over to them. “My butthole is not loose. Keep laughing, fuckers. One day, we’ll have a tightest butthole competition, and I guarantee you that I will win. It will be a whole event!”
They laughed harder, and Kai grinned. “Did you hear that, guys? He wants to have aholeevent.”
“Oh, I heard. I bet there’ll be some tight competition.” Sloane smirked at me.
I leaned down and whispered, “Okay, you shits. Laugh all you want... but mark my words, I will win by a wide margin. There’ll be no stretching the truth then!” I flipped them all off and stormed away to their roaring laughter.
Dropping down beside my queen, I took her hand in mine, and she smiled up at me. Her face was flushed and shiny from the work she’d been putting in over the last day. “You’re gorgeous, Goldie.”
“Ha. You’re funny, Bram. What were you guys laughing about?” Her eyes briefly fluttered shut as Balor palpated her belly, his hands glowing softly as he worked his magic.
“Nothing, princess. They’re all just jealous of my superior physique.” I tossed a scathing look over at the laughing fools.
“How’s she doing, doc?” Cam asked, composing himself as he joined us at the bedside.
Balor removed his hands and smiled down at Goldie. “Perfect. Everything is perfect. Can you have Bette bring up the supplies we prepared for delivery? I need someone to fetch a stack of clean towels and it would be best to get Fischer in here.” Every male in the room was surrounding the bed in the blink of an eye, except for Faris who leaped to his feet and took off, yelling about his brother.
“What? It’s time? Finally?” Goldie practically whimpered.
“Yes, my queen. Your body is ready. Have you been feeling an urge to push?”
My beautiful mate paused. “Uh… well, I’ve been feeling like my butt was going to fall out or something during the last few contractions…”
My wide eyes flicked across the bed to Cam, Kai, and Sloane, who were all mirroring my stunned expression. If I wasn’t mistaken, big Thunder Daddy was looking quite pale.
