Page 47 of Their Crowned Mate
"Cole," I breathed half-heartedly. No matter how long we'd been together, each of my mates was still capable of stirring a flutter of excitement within me.
As the evening progressed and I indulged in the sumptuous food the palace kitchen had prepared, surrounded by the people I loved and the lively chatter of the dinner guests, I found myself reflecting on all the blessings that had found their way to me up until this point. And I felt a swift kick in my belly as if to remind me of another that was just on the horizon.
After dinner, musicians began playing upbeat music which prompted many of the inebriated guests to start dancing. I wasn't planning on joining in, considering I was working up the energy to get out of my chair, but Aurelius insisted, and then Marcus wanted to cut in, which caused a domino effect.
I was still dancing to a gentle waltz with Alexander when I felt another twinge in my stomach and grimaced. I thought I'd just had too much of that juice, considering it was heavily carbonated, but now I wasn't so sure.
"What's wrong?" Alexander asked, immediately on edge as he looked down at me. It didn't take much to trigger apprehension in my mates these days, and if it were possible to label one of them the most overprotective, he definitely would have taken that role. Although Cole would give him a run for his money.
"Nothing, I think I just had too much juice," I said, putting a hand on my side. "I keep having this pain."
"Keep?" Alexander echoed in dismay. "How often?"
I hesitated. "Most of the night. But it's not severe or anything."
"Leave it to you to go into labor and say it's nothing," he muttered.
"Labor?" Marcus echoed, appearing out of nowhere with a jumbo shrimp in hand as if he'd stopped with it halfway to his mouth. I thought it was a shrimp, at least. It had two tails, though. "Did you say she's in labor?"
"I'm not in labor," I groaned as I followed them away from the party so we wouldn't get stampeded by the revelers.
"She's been having pains on and off all night," said Alexander.
"Yeah, I dunno, that sounds like labor to me," Marcus said, looking me up and down.
"What's going on?" Cole asked, wandering over with Aurelius. "Did I hear someone say labor?"
I sighed, running a hand through my dark blue hair. I'd worn it down tonight since I really didn't have the energy to sit in a chair for hours while the royal stylists fussed over an overly complicated updo. The one thing I really missed about my old life was a good pair of jeans and the ability to just lounge around on my days off in a sweatshirt.
"For the last time, I am not in—" I froze as I felt the mother of all cramps stretch across my belly like a damn vice constricting it. "Son of a bitch," I hissed, a bit too loudly, judging from the way a few of the fae near me were looking scandalized. At least I hadn't said it in the fae language, which I found the slang and profanities a lot easier to pick up on, much to my tutor's chagrin.
"All right, that's it," Marcus said, taking my hand even though I was pretty sure he wanted to throw me over his shoulder in front of all my subjects. "We're going to the doctor."
"Marcus!" I protested, even though when the next wave of pain hit halfway down the hall, I wasn't complaining about having someone to lean on.
I was still telling the doctors and nurses they were overreacting when they loaded me into a bed in a private suite in the palace's medical wing and started checking my vitals.
By the time the head doctor was offering me a choice of the various drugs they could give me for pain relief, I was beginning to entertain the possibility that this was real. And as the denial collapsed, the terror set in.
I was going to be a mom.
The thought made my head spin and my stomach flip, and I felt the cold sweat of fear break out along my forehead. I wasn't ready for this. I didn't know the first thing about being a mother. What if something went wrong with the baby? What if I screwed everything up? What if—
That's when Alexander stepped in, taking my hand in his and squeezing it gently. "It'll be okay," he said softly, meeting my eyes with an intensity that could only come from a vampire. "We're here for you."
"Yeah, you're not doing this alone," Marcus said, stroking my hair.
"You've got this," Cole assured me, squeezing my hand as Aurelius came over to stand on my other side, leaning in to kiss my cheek.
"Whatever you need," Aurelius said.
While I was still plenty anxious, realizing they were all around me helped sooth me. I could feel their energy—strong, reliable, and reassuring—and I realized I could do this. Because for once, I was surrounded by people who cared about me and were willing to help me through this process. It didn't matter that none of us had any idea what we were doing.
We'd figure it out. We always did.
I took a deep breath, feeling some of the tension leave my body as that understanding settled in.
From that point on, everything seemed to move quickly. The doctors and nurse kept a close eye on me, making sure I was comfortable as my labor progressed. I had never given birth on earth, obviously, but I was willing to bet the fae drugs had them beat there, too.
