Mateer brought the swaddled bundle to her, carrying the baby as if she was made of the most delicate china, so tiny in his arms, although Megan could tell she was on the large size for a human newborn. His eyes were glowing amber, radiant with joy as he said, “She’s perfect, beautiful like her mother.”
Megan held out her arms and Mateer laid the baby in them. Megan stared at her daughter’s red face, and the baby regarded her with the solemnity of the newborn. “She has your amber eyes,” she said, marveling. “I want to see all of her. I have to count her fingers and toes.”
Mateer helped her undo the blanket and the happiness sweeping through Megan as she took her daughter’s tiny hand and the baby curled her delicate fingers around Megan’s was incandescent. “We did it,” she said to Mateer. “We made this tiny perfect person.”
“The credit is all yours,” Mateer said fondly as he leaned over to kiss her forehead. “You were amazing when you were pregnant and during labor and giving birth—you’re a warrior.”
The baby bumped her head against Megan’s chest.
“She wants to nurse,” Gemma said. “You can go ahead, no reason to delay and the natural process helps you both.”
Megan didn’t care who else was in the room besides herself and her tiny family. With Mateer’s help she loosened the medical gown to bare her chest. The baby latched on with vigor and closed her eyes as she attempted to nurse. Megan’d never experienced such a pure sensation of joy as the realization and relief she was able to provide what Hope needed to survive and thrive.
After several minutes, a tremor ran through her body’s core, like a mild contraction and she couldn’t catch her breath. “Why am I having cramps now?”
“You have to expel the placenta, and if you can relax a bit, the process will go faster for you.” Gemma rubbed Megan’s stomach. “Everything’s proceeding fine. Just get past this last necessary hurdle and then you can enjoy the baby and your mate.”
“No, listen to me, something’s not right,” Megan said, struggling to sit upright. Goosebumps rose on her arms as a wave of coldness wept over her and her vision narrowed. “I can’t breathe.”
She heard Gemma snapping orders with urgency in her voice. Mateer took the baby and he was attempting to talk to her but she couldn’t find the strength to form words. So tired. He reached for her through the mate bond and mentally but Megan had no energy to respond. I need to rest.
“She’s hemorrhaging,” Gemma said, voice professionally calm, underlaid with tension. “I need to operate now or we’ll lose her.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Holding the baby, Mateer watched in horror as Megan closed her eyes and sprawled limply in the bed. One minute she’d been fine and the next she went as pale as a cloud in the sky and the doctor leaped into action. He allowed himself to be moved from the room, Aydarr and Jill at his side. As if aware of the emergency, the baby scrunched up her face and wailed. Mateer sent her waves of reassurance mentally, murmuring in his head and rocking her instinctively until she quieted, staring at him with glowing golden eyes.
“I need to be with Megan,” he said abruptly, as sure as if the goddess had told him so.
“Gemma is doing everything she can,” Jill said, pacing in the waiting room like a caged tiger.
He shook his head. “I must be there, my mate needs me.” Mateer kissed the top of the baby’s head, marveling all over again at the soft, fine hair and the special sweet smell of a newborn, and then forced himself to hand the child to Lily, Megan’s twin. “Guard our child.” He looked at Aydarr and the Alpha nodded.
“With my life,” Aydarr said, fist on his heart.
At a dead run, Mateer rushed to the operating room and stopped inside the door. He had a terrible flashback to the Khagrish lab and his knees weakened as he reminded himself this was not the same situation. Gemma and her team were working hard to save his mate’s life.
Gowned, with a cap and gloves on, Rik came to him. “Dr. Madarian says you can stay but you have to be wearing sterile scrubs. And you must not interfere. Come with me and we’ll get you outfitted quickly.”
“She needs my blood,” Mateer said, raising his voice to get the doctor’s attention.
“We’re giving her human blood from her twin,” Gemma said, not diverting an iota of attention from the medical procedure she was in the midst of. “A perfect match. From the stock we cached ahead, just in case.”
Ignoring Rik, who was trying to chivvy him out of the operating room, Mateer shook his head. “She’s had my blood before, in the lab, and right now she needs more. Badari blood holds special healing capabilities.”
Timtur, who was standing beside the operating table, hands raised, directing pale green healing energy toward Megan, said, “I believe he’s right, doctor. She did deliver a Badari child. The answer has the ring of truth and logic. Her previous transfusion from Mateer might have altered aspects of her immune system or her own bone marrow.”
“I’ll get the Alpha in here to insist if I must.” Mateer raised his voice to make the point. As the precious mate bond attenuated he knew Megan was weakening despite Gemma’s best efforts. Time was running perilously short.
“All right. Rik, get the transfusion unit out of Walt’s room. He should have received all of the donated Badari blood by now. Sterilize and let’s get Megan and Mateer connected to the right ports. Stat!”
Megan opened her eyes to an endless vista of blue sky, dotted with puffy white clouds. As she sat up, she realized she was wearing a short green dress she’d certainly never seen before, made of a silky material the emerald color of the grass. Her pregnancy weight was entirely gone—So I know I’m dreaming—and she was perched atop a large boulder. The spot was familiar and when she looked around, she beheld the Great Mother’s circle of ancient, towering trees close by. It was the place she and Mateer visited once when they were prisoners at the Khagrish lab and she smiled as she remembered the special afternoon. She’d had a deep discussion with him about his past and his beliefs and she’d come away from the excursion with a deep appreciation for the thoughtful, caring man in the giant, muscled tough warrior’s body.
Hearing voices, she shielded her eyes with one hand and saw Mateer in the distance, playing with a young girl, lifting her high into the sky while she laughed and begged for more.
“Your mate and your daughter,” said a gentle voice behind her. “As they will be.”
“You’re showing me the future?” Megan watched the pair having fun and wished she could join them, but the boulder where she sat was like an island in a sea of green grass and lavender flowers. Somehow she knew she wasn’t allowed to stray.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a misty form, with a feminine outline, but when she turned her head, there was no one.
“A glimpse of the future, yes. You’ve done well, daughter. You’ve given hope to so many.” The voice was melodious, warm with praise.
The breeze caressed Megan’s cheek and she made another attempt to focus on her mysterious companion, who she was positive must be the Badari goddess. “We’re going to name her Hope.”
“A well-chosen name.”
“Will there be more children?” Megan asked. She didn’t want her daughter growing up without friends and playmates and others who would understand being half human and half Badari. Having a supportive community was nearly as important as having loving parents, and aunts like Jill and Lily.
“Now you’ve shown the way, yes. The blood bond is necessary, I fear.”
Arms around her knees, Megan pondered the answer. “Not simply the mate bond then? The human women need Badari blood as well?”
“I wish it were not so but even I can only do so much in the face of what has occurred to give my brave, lost Badari their existence.” Now the voice was low pitched, sad and a bit reflective. “Perhaps the next generation, like your daughter, won’t need any extra assistance.”
“Am I dying?” Megan posed the question hesitantly, afraid to hear
The goddess’s reply was fierce and immediate. “No. I intend you to live.”
Above Megan’s head thunder rumbled through the cloudless sky and the huge boulder under her vibrated as well.
“My healer and your human healer are working hard to keep you in the world. Your will to live, your mate’s blood and the Alpha’s power will hold you there with them. When the next child is born to a human woman, you need to be prepared for complications and provide the mate’s blood sooner. Mateer waited almost too long to step forward and insist, although he had no way to know. I tried to tell him but he wasn’t listening, being so fearful about losing you.”
Relief about not being literally at death’s door gave Megan welcome strength and she asked, “Does one have to be near death to encounter you?”
Sounding like silvery bells or maybe a trill of birdsong, the goddess laughed. “Fortunately no, although when the connection between life and death frays, it becomes easier. Your time here in my circle is nearly ended – your mate and child and the pack need you.”
Megan felt as if she was being hugged and a kiss was placed lightly on her forehead and then the sun vanished, her surroundings grew gray and indistinct and she could no longer hear the delighted laughter in the distance.
A baby was crying insistently, her baby, and Megan took a deep breath, opened her eyes, to find herself staring at the ceiling of a room in the valley’s clinic. She struggled futilely for a moment to sit up. “Someone hand my daughter to me for goodness sake!”
Mateer had obviously been pacing the floor holding their child. He paused in midstep, eyes opening wide as he rushed to the bedside. “You’re awake, thank the goddess.”
“Yes, we must thank her but right now I think the baby needs me more.” Distracted and woozy, Megan finally sat up, ignoring a considerable amount of discomfort in her midsection but she held out her arms. “Give her to me, she probably wants to nurse. Unless she needs a diaper first.”
“We changed her a few minutes ago,” Lily said as her twin propped pillows behind Megan and helped her adjust her position. “Lords of Space, I’m glad to see you with your eyes open. Kinda scared us there for a while.” She kissed Megan’s cheek and moved out of the way so Mateer could reach his mate. “I’ll go give the waiting room crowd the good news. Let you have your privacy.”
“Gemma will be in here any second, once she hears I’m awake,” Megan said. “If I know her—she’s thorough.”
“I’ll stand guard,” Lily blew a kiss and left.
Mateer placed baby Hope in her arms and hovered as Megan parted her gown to let the baby nurse. His eyes were like molten amber fire as he gazed at the two of them. Megan reached with her free hand to wipe a tear from his cheek, unable to believe her fierce indomitable warrior was shaken to the point of weeping. “Hey, I’m here, it’s all going to be fine now.”
“I’ve never been so terrified,” he said, tips of his fangs showing in his distress. “Not in combat, not in any situation growing up in the labs. Not even when you were near death before in the Khagrish lab. I can’t lose you.” He captured her hand and held tight as he leaned in to kiss her lips with exquisite care.
“We two will never lose each other, I promise.” Megan relished the sweet kiss but broke it off apologetically to help the baby latch on more efficiently. ” I’ll be fine now. Thank you for the blood transfusion.”
“How do you know about that? You were unconscious—” His eyes widened and he sat on the foot of the bed as if his legs had lost their strength. “You saw the goddess? I knew you were close to leaving this world but to meet the Great Mother under such circumstances and return is a huge blessing.”
Megan nodded. “She said the transfusion will be required for the mothers, at least for the birth of all first generation of children. I-I don’t remember much else about it honestly, except for flowers.” She rubbed her forehead. “Like a beautiful dream, fading now I’m awake. Oh, she did say she approves the baby’s name.” Megan smoothed Hope’s wispy hair and kissed the top of her head lightly. “Time for you to burp and then we’ll see about the other side,” she said to the baby. Switching her focus to Mateer as she gently patted the baby’s back, she asked, “How long was I out?”
He handed her a thick burping cloth and she worked it onto her shoulder under the baby. “Eight of the longest hours in my life. Gemma said there was nothing else she could do or any of us could do, but watch and wait. Timtur and Keshara both exhausted their healing powers temporarily, trying to revive you. I held our child and prayed. Hope and I stayed right here by your side, even when she napped or fussed.” He shook his head. “I could feel your presence through the mate bond but it was so faint I was afraid to breathe. Even Aydarr did his best to send you power but he said there was a barrier.”
“You and Hope are the best medicine a person could ask for.” Megan smiled at her mate. “Thank you for rescuing me from Harker, if I forgot to say so earlier. I was kind of distracted, all things considered.”
“The entire pack rallied to rescue you,” he said, “But I would have come alone if necessary. I’ll never abandon you.”
They kissed again and she patted the bed invitingly. “I think there’s room for you to sit next to me. I’d like the Badari warmth.”
Cuddling together she and her mate admired the baby, who’d drifted off to sleep, snoring slightly.
“She’s so tiny,” Mateer said in a near whisper. “Gemma kept telling me she was big for a human baby but I can’t believe it.”
“What does she weigh, did anyone tell you?” Megan wanted to know all the facts about her beautiful baby.
“Fifteen pounds. 5% of the weight of a grown Badari like me.” He took one of his daughter’s dainty hands in his and studied the miniature digits. “She has tiny talons, did you notice? Luckily they’re soft right now.”
Megan’s heart was so full of joy she couldn’t speak. The sight of her mate and their child together overwhelmed her with happiness and she could hardly believe she’d achieved this peaceful time after all the horrors of the Khagrish labs and the recent kidnapping. Not to mention the sheer work of labor for her. We deserve this beautiful time together. She was grateful the pack and even her sisters were being thoughtful and remaining outside the room.
Of course Gemma would have to come in eventually, to do her job as the attending physician, and Megan suspected many well-wishers would follow. “I’m tired,” she said. “Can you ask Aydarr not to allow visitors tonight? I mean, my sisters of course and him, if he needs to see me as the Alpha, but I want the three of us—you, me and Hope—to be alone.”
Tilting his head for a moment, Mateer concentrated. “He says of course, whatever you wish, and offers his congratulations again. You can’t hear him?”
She shook her head. “As a faint echo maybe. I think right now all of me is concentrating on this little person right here, you know?”
“We did feed Hope while you were unconscious,” he said. “The special mixture you and Gemma and Sandara the chef had figured out weeks ago. The baby took it well enough but better by far for her to have her mother’s milk.”
“There’s so much to do and organize and think through before anyone else has a baby,” Megan said, her brain briefly switching into medical mode. “A lot of lessons learned from my case. Number one of which would be not to get kidnapped literally as the woman goes into labor.”
“You make light of it but you must have been terrified.” Mateer hugged her. “There may be nightmares or other stress reactions later. We must be watchful and speak to the healer, or to Gemma, if anything manifests.”
“I think the stress of labor burned all the other anxiety-inducing events out of my head.” Megan laughed and rubbed her still rather prominent stomach area. “Funny though, I don’t really remember much of the actual labor process any more. Probably Mother Nature’s way of making sure the species continues.”
“You would do this again? Take this risk?” His voice held awe.
“Oh yes. I’d like Hope to have a brother or sister. But obviously we’re not making any decisions today.” Laughing, she punched him in the arm. “It’ll be quite a while before I want to even think about more children.”
“You truly are a warrior and I was so proud of you, watching you giving birth.”
A memory struck Megan and she asked, “How is Walt? He was such good moral support for me when we were in Harker’s hands and my last conscious memory of him was how badly wounded he was. I was so frustrated not being able to help him but the contractions were overpowering.”
“He’s doing well. In the end Aydarr provided a blood transfusion for him, partly so he could consider Walt a pack member and push power at him through the pack bond. Walt’s been a good ally since we first met him in the Khagrish lab, remember?”
Megan considered the ramifications, although she found it hard to concentrate on anything but Hope’s beautiful face, peaceful as she slept and snored. “So now Walt’s going to be able to talk mind to mind with the pack too?”
“Presumably. He began to heal as soon as Aydarr’s blood flowed into his arm.” Mateer laughed. “The Alpha is rather bitter Jill hasn’t yet had a transfusion. He says he’d rather be able to talk to his own mate, the way you and I can do, or how Darik and Nicolle communicate, than to be linked to Walt.”
“We didn’t have a medical reason to transfuse Jill,” Megan said, stifling a yawn. “But if she ever wants to have a baby, we’ll have to. I have the instruction straight from the Great Mother in fact.” She held up a hand. “Can you hold off on telling him? I’d like to tell Jill first. Or the two of them together.”
“Aydarr says Gemma is insisting on entering the room now, to check on you.”
“Fine, let them all come in. Briefly.” Megan ran her free hand through her hair, desperately craving a bath. With longing, she wondered how long it would be before she could go into the hot springs. Right now I’d settle for a shower and a prettier nightgown.
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