“I guess it could be frightening, especially if you’ve never gone through it before.” Skye sighed and came up close to Ann to tilt her chin up with one finger. “Look, it’s messy, it’s sometimes smelly, and sometimes, it’s downright frightening, but in the end, there’s a baby, and that’s why we do this. For that tiny little face and the person that they will grow up to be. The process is hard, it can be really long, and your mom needs you, Ann. That’s another part that makes this beautiful. You and your mom will share a bond after this. Come on, she needs you.”
“Fine. But if I pass out, none of you better laugh at me.”
“We won’t, I promise.” Skye took her to a room where they scrubbed their hands clean, put on gloves, and then walked towards the birthing room, where Skye had set up the medical robot Rager sent down to them. “I don’t know if your mom is early, on time, or overdue, so that robot thing will come in handy. I suspect her babies are breech too, so this could get difficult.”
“Okay.” Ann took a deep breath, dread a real thing in her mind. Her heart pounded, her head ached, and her mouth was dry. Panic was about to set in, but she took another deep breath and pushed it down.
“Hi, Mom,” Ann called out as she walked in to find her mother on the edge of a bed they’d found in a hospital’s labor ward. It was designed especially for mothers that were about to give birth, but Skye encouraged all of the pregnant women to do as they pleased while in the throes of labor.
“Hi, baby.” Ann’s mother, Mary, smiled over at her daughter, and reached out her hand. “Hold my hand. I feel another contraction coming.”
“I thought the medicine Rager brought down took the pain away.” Ann’s eyebrows knitted together as she took her mom’s hand. “Why does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t, honey, but I can still feel what’s happening. It just doesn’t hurt, that’s all.” Mary smiled, a lot more congenial than the woman Ann saw a few weeks ago.
“That’s a relief, then,” Ann sighed and sat down beside her mother. “Where’s Dad?”
“Skye? Have you seen John?” Mary asked and gripped at Ann’s hand lightly as her body went tense.
“He’s just outside, on the phone. He’ll be back in shortly,” Skye said and came up to feel Mary’s stomach. “Hard one?”
“Yes, and coming closer together too.”
“Let’s let the robot have a look at you. Can you lie back for me, Mary?” Skye shooed Ann away and Mary lifted her legs onto the bed.
The robot wasn’t an android, it was a rather large contraption with four long arms that extended from a large metal box, two of which had delicate mechanisms that acted as fingers, and the other two were empty. They were for exchangeable parts that might be needed throughout whatever procedure the robot’s computer deemed necessary. Right now, the two arms took a scanning device out of one of the many compartments contained in the large metal box, and began to scan Mary’s abdomen.
“I see the boy is breech, Mary. His little bottom is stuck, his legs over his head. The robot will try to turn him.” Skye read from a screen at the top of the box.
The delicate hands of the robotic arms came up to Mary’s stomach and gently began to apply pressure in different places. Ann watched, fascinated, as the hands on the robot moved, and then the fingers, to adjust the baby’s position with precision. When the baby boy had turned and was facing in the proper direction, the arms pulled back and folded up so that they were out of the way.
Skye laughed as she read out the robot’s directions. “Proceed with vaginal birth.”
“I’m so glad it gave me permission,” Mary laughed with Skye. Ann smiled, still not comfortable being there.
Mary pushed back up to sit on the edge of the bed, but then began to walk around instead.
“Should you be doing that?” Ann was alarmed. What if the baby came out while she was walking around like that? Would she crush its head?
“Yes, Ann. It’s alright, darling. I’ve done this before, remember?” Mary’s voice was patient but understanding. “It’s scary, I know. I’m a little nervous, even though I’ve done it before. At least back then I had a lot more knowledge than you do now. Pace with me.”
Ann frowned and watched her mother, terrified the baby would just fall out of her mother and smack the ground.
“It’s not going to fall out of me, I promise.” Mary smirked at her daughter, and Ann sniffed with mock annoyance.
“Fine.” Ann put her hands over her own burgeoning stomach and began to pace with her mother.
“I don’t know exactly what this robot will do, but I guess I’ll have to do most of the work. Back then, we still had a lot of things to worry about, even if our birth went smoothly. Problems could occur after the birth, for baby and mother, but Skye assures me this robot thing is pretty good at what it does.”
“It detected a heart rhythm problem with the first lady that gave birth here. It attended to the problem before I even knew there was a problem.”
“Really?” Ann remembered Rager said that it could, but she hadn’t quite believed him.
“Yes. And it caught a hemorrhage I didn’t know about in another case.” Skye looked completely confident.
“Good.” Ann walked with her mother, and the hours began to pass.
They would walk for a bit, her mom would lie down for a while, Ann played a few dozen games of checkers with her father, until finally Skye said her mother had to decide how she was going to give birth.
“I want to sit up. They had me flat on my back last time, and I hated it.” Mary’s hair was wet, despite the lack of pain, and her face flushed. “I’d like gravity to help me out a little this time.”
“Okay. Let me just settle in.” The lower parts of the bed opened and Skye settled down between her mother’s legs. Mary’s feet were pressed into straps against a panel on the bottom and Skye took a look at what was happening.
“Yep, I can see his little head.” She began to give Mary instructions while Ann stood to her mother’s right. Her dad was on the left, and they both held Mary’s hands as she strained to give birth to the baby. “Rest now.”
Mary leaned into Ann, and Ann wiped at her mother’s face with a wet washcloth. “You’re doing great.”
“I think I’m too old for this,” she sighed, but then sat back up again. “It’s coming again.”
“Push for me, Mary,” Skye said, and they were right back at it.
There was no screaming, gnashing of teeth or swearing, just the sounds of a woman doing her best to push a baby out of her body. Ten minutes later, cries broke through the silence, and Ann looked down to see a squirmy little body covered in white stuff.
“Ann, clean him up over there,” Skye said after she tied the cord and cut it. She handed the baby to Ann, and Ann took him, amazed at how quiet he was.
“Weigh him once you’ve cleaned him off. And there’s an instruction sheet too, that will tell you how to test for problems we need to know about right away.”
Ann took the little boy to an area on a counter, where there were cloths to wipe him clean with, and a blanket ready to wrap him in. Ann followed the instruction sheet, gave the results to Skye, and asked what else she should do.
“Put a diaper on him and hand him to your Dad. He wants to meet his son.” Skye grinned at Ann, and Ann laughed.
No, this hadn’t been so bad. Not nearly as bad as she thought it would be. She put a cloth diaper on the baby and handed him over to John, who stared down at the baby with surprise.
“I was almost convinced this wasn’t real, you know, Ann? But here he is.” He looked down at the baby with a look of love Ann was quite familiar with. It brought tears to her eyes, and she touched the baby’s still damp hair.
“Get ready for the next one. I think you’re about to have your hands full.”
The little girl came surprisingly quickly, and Ann took her as the robot stepped in for Skye and did another checkup on Mary. “Everything looks good, Mary. You didn’t tear, there are
no heart problems, and no internal bleeding.”
There was a moment of confusion for Ann when the placentas were moved away and covered, but she didn’t ask. She didn’t want to know about all of that, she just wanted to clean her new little sister off and hold her. She did the same procedure as she’d done with the baby boy and then handed the girl to Mary.
“Here’s your new baby girl, Momma,” Ann whispered as she handed the girl over. She was bigger than the baby boy, but she was quiet too. She looked around, her hand in her mouth, and then caught sight of Ann. That made the baby girl smile.
“May I still call her Sarah, Ann?” Mary asked, and Ann looked confused.
“What?”
“We talked about their names. Remember?”
“Yes, you can name her Sarah.” Ann smiled, glad her mother had decided to stick with that one for the girl. “Are you still naming him Amos?”
“I am. I don’t care if you don’t like it,” Mary said imperiously, but grinned. “I like it and so does your dad.”
“Then it’s a good name. Sarah Ann and Amos. My brother and sister.” Ann grinned, tired, but happy.
Her parents became lost in their new babies and Skye was busy making notes, signing forms, and checking Mary periodically.
“Why don’t you head home now, Ann? It’s been a long day, and you need to have your dinner. And some rest.” Skye gave Ann a look that said the suggestion was an order.
“Fine! Are you sure I’m done here?”
“Yes, I have a helper coming in to stay with us through the night, and your dad is here too. We’ll be fine. Take care of yourself. You’ll be in that bed in another month or so.” Skye pointed out.
“Alright. But if you need me, just call me.” Ann picked up her things and prepared to go. She thought, and then turned back. “It’s still scary as hell, but you’re right, I’m not as worried now. Thanks.”
Ann had spent the last couple of days in turmoil. She’d been terrified of what was about to happen to her, to her mother too, and she’d wondered if she kept her legs closed if the baby inside of her would refuse to come out.
She still didn’t know what gender the baby was. After that last scan Skye did was interrupted, she and Rager decided to wait to find out. She was glad she had now. She knew that no matter what, she would love her baby. She loved her brother and sister already and they were only her siblings. Her heart had swelled enormously when she’d held each baby, cleaned them, and then checked them over. She had a feeling that would double when it was her own baby.
She went upstairs when she found Rager wasn’t home and sprawled out on the bed after a shower. She couldn’t get the image of her mom’s smile out of her mind and wondered if that’s how she’d smile once her baby arrived. Watching a birth actually happen had terrified her at first, but now she knew that she’d focused on the wrong things. The end result was worth all the parts that came before.
She fell asleep and dreamed about making more babies in the future. Dreams that were hot, vivid, and full of the only man she wanted. Rager.
He was always on her mind, even when she had other thoughts to think. He’d introduced her to the world of adult pleasures, and pregnancy hadn’t slowed them down. In her dream, Rager guided her, brought her to those same earth-shattering heights he always did, with a smirk that made it all the more intense.
“Wake up, Ann. You’ve driven me mad for the last 45 minutes.” She heard his voice behind her and turned her head.
“How did you get there?” She blinked, swiped at her eyes, and then turned to him. “Oh, I’m awake?”
“Yes, you are, my dear,” he whispered against her neck, his hot breath a gentle touch that stirred her already inflamed passions to full life. “I was in a meeting when you started dreaming. I kept getting images of your dreams, and I had to cut it short finally. I wasn’t slow about getting here either.”
His left hand went to her hip and slid down to grasp at her bottom. He kneaded the muscles there and bit at her neck gently. Ann groaned in response and, her head fell back to invite him in for more.
“You know I want to be gentle with you, Ann, but when you invite me, so very prettily, to bite your neck, gentle is the last thing I want to be.”
“Then don’t be, Rager. I won’t break.”
“You might not, but your water might.” He nuzzled at her favorite spot while his free hand slid around her hip, to the aching spot between her thighs. “I can’t do what I want to with you. Not yet.”
“As long as you get me off, I don’t care how you do it,” she responded, her focus on his fingers now, as they delved beneath the blanket to find her completely naked. His fingers stroked her slick flesh until she sighed in delight.
With an eager move, his head pushed the blanket away from her full breasts to swipe at a tight nipple. Ann couldn’t stop the shiver that raced down her spine as his lips closed over the bud, or the way her fingers dug into his hair to hold him still. Electricity raced up and down in the wake of the shiver, pure pleasure that jolted through her as his lips tugged at her nipple and his fingers stroked at her clit.
His tongue flicked at the nipple, teased her into a delighted purr. When she stretched to push the nipple deeper, he bit down, gently, but enough that she felt it. Her body pulsed somewhere deep inside, and she felt a light sheen of sweat break out on her skin.
He would make her feel good, he would take her worries away, he would make her forget the world, as long as she allowed him to do as he wished. As long as she took the things he offered.
He moved, his tongue a stiff, wet finger that slid into her cleavage and then over, to the other nipple. With a moan of his own, he wetly took the other nipple into his mouth and used it to make her moan for him, all over again. She reached down, frantic to touch him, frantic to know he wanted her, and pushed her hand into his pants. She found him, thick and hard, ready for her. Ann opened her eyes and found the orange glow ablaze in the darkness that surrounded them.
Her heart was a dull thud in her ears as she thought the words she couldn’t say.
I love you.
10
His little earthling was on fire tonight. She was always a distraction, a thing he needed, even when he was at work, neck deep in responsibilities. Images of her filled the silences that came at meetings, memories of her taste, of how she moved, took over his mind as men with boring voices presented statistics to him and his teams. When his mind flooded with the taste of her sweet pussy in the middle of a meeting on housing practices, he’d left and come straight home.
He’d been hard from the moment he got in his transporter. Now he was more than hard, he was an aching length of stone that needed the silky depths of his mate’s tempting body. He growled as he inhaled her scent, a scent that only she gave off. A scent that could drive him wild if he didn’t control himself.
He loved the seductive little sounds she made as her excitement grew, and they were only fuel to the fire that she started in him simply by existing. She was his woman and he was her man, that was that all that mattered for now. He was restless, though, ready for action, but he knew he had to be gentle.
Even before her pregnancy, Ann was more delicate than the women of his world. He had to be careful not to bruise her as his passion consumed him, to not hurt her. Sometimes, she pushed him, drove him over the edge of what he could control, and made him a little rougher than he would normally be. She wanted it now, she wanted to walk that edge between pleasure and pain, but she was close to her time, and he didn’t want to leave her sore. Satisfied, but sore. So, he’d wreck her in other ways.
Her hips started to rotate beneath the mound that was her belly, a dance that matched the rhythm of his hand. He let go of her nipple with a rough pop that made her bite her lip. He knew because he moved up to look into her eyes.
They were two soft eyes that stared at him with need, a need that she would only ever show to him. There wasn’t a person on this planet that could make her look like that and his
dick throbbed in response. His woman.
“You smell so damn good,” he said to her and buried his nose in her hair. He gathered up more of her scent and groaned as his body reacted with more want. More need. Because she made him need her, even when he didn’t want to.
“If you could handle me taking my fingers out of you right now, I’d let my tongue do all the work. But I think you’d bite my nose off, so I’ll just kiss you instead.” His lips moved onto hers swiftly, before she could respond, and swallowed the moan that escaped her open mouth.
Her skin was hot against his, slightly damp, but it only heightened his awareness of her. Even big with his child, she wanted him, and that was something he never wanted to miss.
His brain exploded when her soft lips pressed into his, when her tongue met his immediately to dance in a slow, sensual dance that only made his dick harder. He was certain his dick would be permanently injured if he waited much longer, but he had to get her off first, he had to make sure she got hers before he could even think about letting go.
He slanted himself over her, to press her chest down into the bed as he kissed her deeper, harder, until he thought he’d suck her very soul from her body, the kiss was so deep.
He’d waited too long, ignored those dreams of hers for too long, but he’d have to pay the price. His mate needed him to be gentle, to take his time, and that’s what he’d do. Her hand left the front of his pants, to cup his face, and he realized he’d completely blanked on her hand being down there. It had been too much and if he’d allowed himself to feel it, he’d have lost all control.
He wanted that hand back around him, her grip tight as she squeezed him over and over again. She hadn’t moved her hand at all, she’d only squeezed, and he missed that now.
Rager felt a tremble go through Ann, felt her hands grip at the back of his head as she writhed beneath him, eager for the rest of his attentions. He groaned a sound of pure torture, but he had to wait.
His to Save Page 7
