by Montana Ash
Ryker laughed a little at that himself. When he had first found the uncut semi-precious gemstone, he knew it was no ordinary stone. Nor had it been pure luck. He couldn’t put his finger on how he knew, but he knew it was destined to be Max’s wedding ring. He had been intending to pop the question after the baby was born and figured they would not be in any hurry for the actual wedding. It had been a spontaneous decision to get married the day before, but it had worked out perfectly. The ceremony had been amazing and even the reception – organised at the very last minute – had been no less fun than one planned a year in advance in Ryker’s estimation. Thanks to Knox, they had managed to secure enough alcohol for Darius to get drunk. And that, right there, was enough said. Any party where Sir Darius consumed copious amounts of liquor was a good party.
Ryker followed Max as she poked around and discovered a well-appointed, rustic yet modern barn conversion with a very spacious bathroom with a giant clawfoot tub, a huge, four poster king sized bed in the bedroom and a spectacular view of the valley from their private back porch. That was where he found Max, staring out at the dense trees and the rolling mountains in the valley below. Coming up behind her, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed the side of her neck, hugging his wife and child close. Their rings flashed like fire in the evening sun and he shook his head, still unable to believe Slate had found an identical stone and had turned it into a ring for Ryker in secret.
“Does this mean you forgive him?” Max asked, leaning back and settling in.
“I guess I’m going to have to,” Ryker replied. He knew Max was referring to Slate’s poor welcome of Max to their society. Slate had treated Max as if she were shit he scraped off the bottom of his shoe. And he had treated Ryker and his fellow paladins the same over the years. But it seemed the new IDC representative had undergone a change of heart.
“He’s a good man,” Max assured Ryker. “Just not as good as the one I married.”
Ryker kissed her. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Chapter Eight
“Are you okay?”
Max looked up at Ryker from where she had been glaring at her legs for the last few minutes. “Yes, it’s just this stupid cramping in my upper thighs,” Max mumbled, rubbing the offending ache.
“They’re back?” Ryker asked, setting aside the Thai food he had been dishing up for dinner.
After spending another wonderful day sightseeing and driving from one lookout to the next, as well as some easy walking along some trails, they had decided to have a casual dinner in their rental instead of going out. Most of that had to do with how tired Max was, as well as the damn cramps she kept getting in her legs all day. Not to mention the sporadic backpain as well. To say she was now feeling a little grumpy was an understatement. Max looked at Ryker as he squatted down in front of her, his big, warm hands rubbing over her thighs. Max sighed, enjoying the feel of her man’s hands on her as always. They also helped alleviate some of the shooting pain. Bonus.
“They never really went away,” Max admitted.
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” Ryker demanded, looking concerned.
Max laughed a little and tugged on a strand of his hair. “Because it’s just leg cramps. They’re common in pregnancy.” Although, she thought they were usually more in the calf region rather than the thigh. But what the hell did she know? It wasn’t like she was an expert.
Ryker was still frowning and looking unconvinced. “Maybe spending a whole week away was a bad idea. Maybe we should head back tomorrow instead of the day after.”
“No way,” Max was adamant. “This is our honeymoon, and I am having a wonderful time. It’s perfect, truly, Ryker. I love you so much.” It didn’t take much encouragement to get him to lean forward and kiss her. She sighed into his mouth, happier and more content than she had ever been. They had spent the last five days exploring, eating, and sleeping. Just the two of them. It had been pure bliss, and she was determined they would vacation together more regularly in the future.
“I love you too,” Ryker murmured, kissing her cheeks. “But I don’t want our daughter getting any ideas to come out early.”
“I still have three weeks until my due date. We’ll be home in two more days. Don’t worry, she’s not going anywhere,” Max promised. Although, the feeling of heaviness between her legs was a little disconcerting. Not to mention uncomfortable. The baby was definitely head down and she felt as big and as hard as a bowling ball.
“Uh-huh,” Ryker said, standing up again. “Famous last words. Cali thought she had more time too, remember?”
Max remembered. She had known about the early arrival of baby Maxwell months before it happened. She had done her best to make sure one of her best friends was looked after during her time in need. Max wasn’t going to lie, she could use a phone call with her doctor friend herself. She was just standing up to find her phone when a sharp pain tightened her belly, hard enough to make her gasp. Wrapping her arms over her distended stomach, she rocked back and forth a few times trying to breathe through the pain.
“Max? What’s happening?”
Ryker’s concerned voice penetrated her single-minded focus and she was able to look at him as he rushed over to her. The pain held on for a good minute before it finally eased enough for her to draw in a deep breath and sit back down in the chair. “Oh boy. I think that was a contraction.”
“A contraction?” Ryker practically yelled from where he was once more kneeling in front of her. “A labour contraction?”
Max smiled, though she was sure it was smaller than her usual ones. “Yes, a labour contraction. Don’t worry, I’m sure we have ti –” Max broke off, sucking in a quick breath and holding it as her uterus tried to turn itself inside out. Or perhaps the baby is trying to eat her way out, she thought. The pain was certainly bad enough for Max to believe it. Panting, Max gripped Ryker’s hand hard. “Okay. I take that back. I don’t think we have time.”
Ryker’s eyes were wide and he looked terrified, still he held her close and spoke logically. “Your mother. Contact your mother. She can come and poof us right out of here and back home. Back to Jasminka and the clinic. Right?”
Max nodded, relaxing a little. Yes, she would simply call her Goddess mother. Fumbling for the connection that was usually front and centre in her mind, Max’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock. It wasn’t there. The intrinsic link she shared with her mother ever since she had used her spirit domain to heal Eden, Beyden and her own memory was no longer there. It was just … gone. “Uh-oh,” she muttered, right before another contraction hit her hard.
Ryker stroked Max’s tight stomach in soothing circular motions, instructing her to breathe with him and telling her everything was going to be okay. A full minute later, when the contraction eased, he said, “What did you mean uh-oh? What did Dana say? Where is she?”
Max bit her lip, trying to stifle the panic threatening to bubble to the surface. “She’s not coming.”
“What the fuck do you mean she’s not coming?!” Ryker yelled, jumping to his feet.
Max winced, knowing he wasn’t going to take the rest of the information well. “I can’t contact her. The connection is gone. Like I have no telepathy anymore.”
“How is that possible?” Ryker demanded.
“I don’t know. It just is,” Max said, voice shaky.
Ryker quickly crouched down again, pushing the hair back from Max’s face. “I’m sorry. It’s okay, sweetheart. Call the Order instead.”
Max nodded her head and reached for the soul-bond that connected her to every member of her Order … only to find it just as absent as the one she shared with her mother. Frantically calling up her other powers, she tried to call the air, the earth, even the water in the damn toilet bowl. Nothing. Nada. Zip. She was completely powerless. She was about to flip her shit when another contraction hit her, and she was forced to breathe through another minute of torture. Panting she said, “You call the Order. Use your potentate abilities. Do i
t now.”
Ryker didn’t question her, instead he immediately closed his eyes, snapping them open a few seconds later. His face was incredulous as he shouted, “I can’t reach them. The link – it’s not there!”
Max patted her very hard stomach, trying to calm herself as well as the baby who was kicking quite forcefully. “I can’t access it, either. I think …” she snagged Ryker’s eyes with her own. “I think we’re on our own.”
“On our own?” Ryker looked positively horrified. “Fuck that. I’m calling an ambulance. That’s what a human would do.” Ryker fumbled for the phone he rarely used – because he had a mental link with all the people that really mattered – but it was dead and no amount of shouting and hitting the damn thing would turn it back on. “What the fuck is going on?”
“I don’t know,” Max replied, eyeing the front door. “The car? Hospital?” She wasn’t overly afraid anything bad would happen to her or her daughter. She had it on good authority that her little girl was destined for big things, after all. Still, Max had no intentions of pushing the baby out without a shitload of drugs. She was only experiencing early contractions and they were truly horrible. What would they be like an hour from now? Nope, Max decided. Drugs.
Ryker went to the front door of their accommodation and found it to be stuck. Not only stuck, but the handle wouldn’t even move. He turned disbelieving eyes on Max, “We’re locked in.”
Max watched helplessly as Ryker tried the side door, and then all the windows. Even going so far as to throw a chair at a window. It didn’t so much as crack the glass, let alone smash it. Max felt a hysterical laugh bubble up, but it quickly morphed into a groan when pain tore across her abdomen once more. Forcing all thoughts of being trapped inside a converted barn, hours from her friends and family as she laboured with her first child with no pain relief aside, she breathed and counted her way through the intense contraction.
“Max,” Ryker said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “What are we going to do? Why is this happening?”
Max took his hand, leaning her flushed face into the coolness of his palm. “I don’t know. It’s like I have no powers at all. Like I’m a regular human. But what is keeping us from getting out? It’s like …” she trailed off, her eyes widening when she saw a translucent, shimmery waterfall covering all the walls and windows. It hadn’t been there moments before but unless she was hallucinating, the veil was now inside their holiday rental.
“Uh, Max? I don’t mean to add more to your plate, but do you see that?” Ryker pointed to the walls.
Max looked at him, surprised. “You can see it?”
Ryker nodded. “It looks like the place has been wrapped in rainbow clingwrap. What the fuck is it?”
“It’s the veil,” Max replied, still shocked Ryker could see it.
Ryker whipped his head around to face her. “The veil? The doorway between worlds? That veil?”
Max nodded. “Yes, that veil. I mean, I’ve never seen it like this. It’s usually a doorway like you said. This, this is huge. It’s more like a dome. No wonder you can’t open the doors or windows. I think …” Max broke off, biting her lip.
“You think what? Max? Honey, don’t go silent on me now. I’m trying really hard not to freak the fuck out here,” Ryker revealed, cupping her face in his hands.
Max gripped his wrists and looked straight into the chocolate depths of his eyes. “I think we’re between worlds.”
Ryker sat back so fast that he fell on his arse. “Between worlds? But how?”
The question gave Max something to focus on as she cursed her way through another contraction. If she was timing it correctly, her contractions were lasting for a minute, give or take, and were less than five minutes apart already. She had a feeling she was going to be holding her daughter in her arms in less than an hour. When she could talk again, she asked Ryker to help her to a more comfortable position, which ended up being on the floor in the living area on the thick, plush rug with a stack of pillows piled up behind her. Her poor husband looked a fright, with his hair a tangled mess from his constant tugging on it, his wide eyes, and his unnaturally pale face. Reaching out a hand to him, she urged him to sit next to her. She felt some tension leave her when Ryker immediately drew her close and placed his big hands on her tummy.
“I think it’s the baby,” Max then started verbalising what she intuitively understood – now that she had stopped panicking and started thinking. “I think she’s the one doing this with the veil. I believe she needs to be born straddling both worlds. And that is why we can’t communicate with anyone.”
Ryker looked down at the mound that was his soon-to-be-born daughter and frowned. “She’s not even born yet. How can she be doing this? And ‘straddling both worlds’? I don’t understand.”
“One of our biggest concerns for her future role was that she would have to abide by the same rules as the Triumvirate, right? She would have to spend more time in Otherworld than here? And given she is being born like a regular human from largely human parents, albeit immortal ones with powers, who knows if she can even cross the veil with ease. Well, I think maybe she’s creating a loophole,” Max explained.
“A loophole,” Ryker repeated, wheels clearly spinning in his brain. “By creating this veil bubble, she will be born in both worlds and therefore able to live in both?” There was both worry and hope in his eyes.
Max shrugged, covering Ryker’s hands with her own. “I guess so. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Ryker finally grinned, his eyes lighting up with what could only be called pride. “Our daughter is a genius.”
Max grinned with him, giving him a moment of happiness before dropping her next bombshell on him. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
Ryker shrugged, “She’s already powerful?” he guessed.
“That she is,” Max agreed, her body tensing up for another contraction. “But I meant in terms of her delivery. You’re going to have to do it.”
Chapter Nine
Ryker went so still he was sure even the blood in his veins stopped moving. Him? Deliver a baby? And not just any baby? His baby. “Nope. No way. That is not happening, Max. You just tell her to wait or to drop her bubble or something.” He knew he sounded like a moron, but he couldn’t help it. Max clearly thought he sounded like one too, because she glared at him through red hair fast becoming slick with sweat.
“I don’t think she’s listening to either one of us, Ryker,” Max said through gritted teeth, before slumping back against the pillows.
“Max, I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not trying to make this harder than it already is. But I can’t do this,” Ryker ended on a whisper, pushing the hair back from Max’s forehead.
Max searched his face for a moment before sighing. “You’re really scared,” she noted.
“Babe, I am bone-deep, piss my pants terrified.” He wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
Max smiled at him, “You know, that makes me feel better. I feel better knowing you’re more scared than I am.”
Ryker chuckled darkly. “Really? I’m glad to help any way I can. But I gotta say, it should not be a comfort that the man who has to catch your baby is about to hyperventilate.”
“You’ve always been a comfort to me. From the very first time we met, with you lurking in the shadows of your kitchen and telling me I looked like shit,” Max told him.
Ryker shook his head. “I was scared then too. Scared of the way my body reacted to yours. Scared of the way I wanted to touch you and keep you safe. I was scared of what you represented, even in my repressed state.”
Max reached out and touched his face lightly with her fingertips. “What did I represent?”
“My future,” he responded with simply eloquence. “I didn’t want a reason to come out of the dark hole I had buried myself in. But I knew, just from one look at you, that you were my future.”
“And now we’ve created a new future together,” Max said, linking her fingers wit
h Ryker’s and placing them over her stomach. “So, how about you help get her out?”
Ryker blew out a sharp breath, feeling his daughter move under Max’s very tight abdomen. There was no doubt his baby wanted out and she wanted out now. There was not going to be any Great Mother or Order running to the rescue. The sooner he accepted that, the sooner he could be there for Max and his child. “Okay. I’m going to boil water and get some towels and the sheets off the bed.”
“Boil water?” Max looked amused as she raised her eyebrows.
“Hey, I may not be immersed in human society, but I’ve watched my fair share of movies. Boiling water is always integral to an impromptu birth.” He winked at Max, telling her to call for him if she needed him.
He then went to the small kitchenette and filled up the kettle, turning it on. Next, he got a few bottles of cold water out of the fridge and checked the freezer. He was relieved to find ice cube trays already filled and frozen, so he tipped the cubes into a bowl before getting all the towels from the bathroom and stripping the sheets from the bed. By the time he went back into the living room, it was obvious Max had just gone through another contraction. He hadn’t exactly been counting but he knew they were close together. Really close. He took off his watch and placed it next to Max, telling her to press the stopwatch function when her next contraction hit. He wanted to know precisely how far apart they were as well as how long they were lasting. Running back into the bedroom, he got one of his t-shirts, Max’s hairbrush, and a hairband. He picked up the bowl of ice on the way through the kitchen and knelt down beside his frazzled-looking wife.
“Come on, let’s get you undressed and into something more comfortable,” he urged, helping Max out of her maternity shirt and leggings. He stripped her bra and underwear off, kissing her naked belly once before pulling his shirt down over her head. He eyed the mound that was Max’s stomach warily, wondering how it was possible for her to look bigger than she had just minutes before.
