by Honor James
“Oh shush it,” Maya grumbled and tried to slow her breathing. “Let me force a watermelon out your cock hole and then you will have a right to tell me what to do. Medical, Q, quickly please,” she added with a scream as her water broke and drenched her legs.
“As soon as you stop that whole water business,” he said, trying to stay calm. Unfortunately he only had a few modes, relaxed, sarcastic or freaked out of his bloody mind. He was in the last mode at the moment but was trying to stay in the second to keep his mind calm. Wrapping her up, he lifted her into his arms and opened a slip Vortex straight to medical where he settled her onto a bed. “A little help in here,” he hollered out to the medical staff.
As soon as the doctor walked in, Maya started to cry. “It’s too early.” It was too early for her to give birth to their son. She was nearly a full month early and that was so not good. “Why is this happening? Why in the world am I going into labor so early?” she asked quietly.
“Maybe we got the date wrong,” Quincy suggested, sliding right back toward full panic mode. Sitting down on the stool, the doctor pushed toward him. He held onto Maya’s hand. Okay, he knew that was a little far-fetched but still, it could happen, right? Right?
“The date isn’t wrong,” Dr. Mahon said as she took her place at Maya’s feet. “Maya, I need for you to focus. You need to calm your breathing down. Your heart is racing too fast and you’re about to hyperventilate. Slow your breathing. Don’t worry. We will take care of your son. Yes, he is early, but babies are born early all the time,” she said softly, and they all heard the NICU unit being moved into the room, the pediatrician right there with the unit. “See, Dr. Aba is here as well. He’s going to have the best care possible, but first we need to bring him into the world, all right?”
“See, it’s all good,” Quincy said to no one in particular as he nodded happily. Holding Maya’s hand, he pressed it to his heart as he forced the rhythm to slow. “Breathe with me, babe. Nice and slow, nice and easy. Keep a calm rhythm just like we are always practicing.”
Maya was gasping for air. She was crying now. She knew that if Dr. A was already there then their baby was in trouble. “How bad?” she asked the doctors. “No bullshit. How bad?” She watched Quincy, tried to focus on his voice, and tried to calm her breathing.
“Bad enough,” Dr. Aba said as he came to her side. “Just focus on bringing your son into the world and I will focus on ensuring that he’s got the best care and treatment out there.” He then looked to Quincy. “I need you to calm her. The stress isn’t good for the baby, and he’s already in enough trouble as it is. Calm her or Dr. Mahon will knock her out and we will do a C-Section.”
Standing, Quincy took Maya’s face in his hands and forced her to look at him. Letting the power come up and layer his voice, he spoke softly. “Slow your breathing, baby,” he whispered in the multi-tone of magic. “Ease your heartbeat down and be calm, my love. Be with me in the moment, right here, right now.”
Maya’s eyes were wide and on him. Quincy felt her heart slowing, felt the fear receding as she looked up at him. “Quincy,” she whispered. “No matter what happens, don’t let our baby die,” she begged with tears falling freely. “Please. We both love him so much already. Don’t let anything happen to him.”
“Nothing is going to happen to either of you,” he said, not letting go of the power. He had to keep her calm so that the doctors could do what they needed to do. “Just keep focusing on your breathing. Keep it slow and steady, in and out. That’s right, love. Little man is doing fine. His heart is slowing and evening back out to where it should be. He’s much more relaxed now that you are, too.”
Maya nodded and held to Quincy. “All right.” Another contraction was winding up in her back and she panted. “I have another contraction coming.”
“I know, Maya,” Dr. Mahon said as she, with Dr. Aba’s help, got Maya undressed from the waist down and covered with a sheet. “Now when it comes I need you to push. You’ve been through the classes so you know what to do. I need you to push because you are already at nine centimeters.”
“Push, right. Okay.” Maya panted and looked to Quincy again. “Promise me, Q. Promise me you won’t let him die.”
“I swear to you he won’t die,” Quincy told her as he stared into her eyes and helped her to control her breathing as she pushed through the contraction. “That’s good, love,” he spoke as he stroked his thumbs to her cheeks. “Calm your heart,” he whispered and smiled as she settled down. “You’re doing great, Maya.”
“Where are the freaking drugs?” she demanded. “Dr. M, you promised me drugs for the pain! It would be good. I really would like to have them, now please.”
“That was before you went into labor early and began to have issues with your heart. Sorry, my friend, but you are going to have to do this all natural,” Dr. Mahon said as she worked.
“Maya, look at me,” Quincy demanded, pushing more power through his voice. Catching her gaze again, he eased her pain and kept her calm. “Stay focused on me love and just push!” he demanded. He was focused on her, the doctors, and the baby. He was trying to keep everyone calm but it was damned hard when they weren’t cooperating!
Maya looked to Quincy and found herself breathing with him again. “God, this hurts,” she said with tears rolling down her face. “Remind me of how much this hurts if I ever want to have another child.” She screamed with the next contraction, bearing down and panting as she did so. “How do women do this?” she demanded even as Quincy wiped her brow. “How?” she screamed when another contraction hit, and another.
Cupping her face, he whispered softly to her, part spell, part soothing words for the woman that was his very heart. He couldn’t let her hurt, not now, not ever. The spell was tricky but it worked since all her pain was sent to him and filtered through him so all she felt was a mild ache in comparison. It was the best he could do in the circumstances. Pressing his hands to the bed on either side of her head, he stared at her. “Breathe,” he whispered out through his teeth as the next contraction she felt was like a sledgehammer coming down on his balls.
She knew that he had taken her pain when the next contraction slammed into her. Leaning forward, she pushed, her whole being in this moment. She felt it then, felt their son’s head, and then it was like a pop when she finally pushed her son out with the doctor pulling him.
Trying desperately not to whimper in agony, Quincy turned his head as Maya collapsed back and watched as their child was pulled from her body. Shifting, he kept a hand on her to ease any lingering pain and because he needed the connection. The first shuddering cry that grew into a full-volume scream had his knees going weak and he collapsed onto the stool in relief.
Dr. Mahon smiled and passed the child off to Dr. Aba. “You did wonderfully,” she praised. “Dr. A is going to take your little man now and take care of him. He will likely need to be in a cube for a while, but we will deal with that later. For now, let’s get you stitched up and then walk you down to the recovery room, all right?” she asked more to Quincy than Maya. “Are you all right, Skittles? You are looking a little flushed.”
“I’m good,” Quincy wheezed out softly. The last waves of her pain were sliding through him still and breathing was still a bit of a chore. “How is Maya?” he asked, squeezing Maya’s hand in his lightly. “And our son, is he well?” He had to force his mind to work. It was shorted out that badly.
“She’s just fine,” Dr. Mahon said as she helped Maya deliver the afterbirth and then began to sew her up. “You will have to take it easy because you tore when you delivered. I will give you instructions on how to take care of the wound later.” She then turned to Quincy and shook her head. “He’s small. He did scream and cry and that was good, but his color was bad and his Apgar scores weren’t very good, a five, so he will likely be in an oxygen mask when you see him.” She spoke bluntly, knowing that they wouldn’t want anything candy coated. “It’s a dome that sits over the baby’s head, so he will lo
ok like a little astronaut,” she murmured. “His IV will be through his belly button and then once he’s out of the woods with his lungs we will work on the jaundice that he seems to have. Dr. Aba is the best though. Believe in him and the lifesaving machines that we have here. We will do all that we can for your son and if it’s not enough”—she looked to Quincy—“then you can step in and help, but only if we ask you to. We never know how magic will react inside of a baby, so no trying to help him as you did your bond-mate.”
Nodding even though it went against his every instinct, Quincy sighed. “I won’t do anything unless it’s absolutely necessary and you tell me so,” he said. But he wasn’t happy about it. He knew that magic had its quirks. He’d fought long and bloody hard to find a rhythm with his, he knew. He wouldn’t risk their son unless it was all there was. Unlike with Maya, who was magical herself and an adult, their son was new to the world and therefore he didn’t have the balance yet, and it could have horrible repercussions.
Maya looked to Quincy and pulled him closer to her body. “Q.” She whispered his name. “Thank you. For everything.” She had known what he did, had felt it flowing over her skin. “We will go see our son. I don’t want to go to a recovery room. I need to see him,” she whispered with tears in her eyes. “That way we will know that he’s safe, that he’s all right.” She pulled Quincy closer and in her mind whispered, We need to assign guards to him. Take your personal guards and give them to our son. We need him to be protected, even here in medical, please.
Nodding, Quincy looked to the doctor. “We will need to see him before going anywhere,” he said softly, his head starting to pound. “I’ll also be assigning Guards to watch over him. I want to limit the number of people near him if at all possible, so I will need to know who will be approved to attend him.” He stroked his thumb up and down Maya’s knuckles lightly as he held her hand over his heart.
“For now it’s going to be myself and Dr. Aba. The nurses on staff here are well equipped to deal with shifters and Dragons but not so much Magic Users. Since both Sinclair and I have Magic Users in our family trees we will ensure that your son is cared for. And yes, you can both go and see him.” She paused and lowered her voice. “Two guards in his room, two outside. No more than that if you wouldn’t mind, please.”
“I’ll agree to that as long as I can have others stationed outside and around the building,” he told the doctor. “I want everything blanketed by the Guards. Not only for Maya but my own sanity as well.” Otherwise he’d be planted there twenty-four-seven himself and Talon would really have his ass in a sling.
“Fine.” Dr. Mahon relented. “You know that Talon will want it anyway so that’s fine.” Talon had been almost as excited about the new babe as Quincy and Maya had been, which was weird in and of itself. “Do what you need to. Can you arrange that from here or do you need to go to your office and gather your guards?” She knew that the Royal Guards were close. The shadows that Quincy had picked up when he became King of the Magic Users always seemed to be around, but it was as if they were just out of view.
Pointing just past the doctor, Quincy smiled slightly “They’re already here,” he said as four males appeared outside the door. “I wasn’t planning on taking no for an answer.” Kissing her fingers, he smiled for Maya. “My family is too important to take no for an answer.”
That had Maya smiling and she nodded. “I couldn’t agree more. I want to see our son.” She looked at the doctor. “Am I good to walk or should I take a wheelchair?”
“You should move as much as you can, but slowly, as soon as you can,” Dr. Mahon said. “So take a walk and go see your son, just walk slowly. Use your bond-mate and the wall for support. If necessary, bring one of the shadows forward to have him help you as well but you should be good.”
Maya looked to Quincy. “Help me up so that we can go and see our son?” She watched as the doctor grabbed a thick plush robe and brought it to her. “Thank you,” she whispered softly to the woman and let them help her into it. Nodding, she said, “I want to see him.”
Wrapping one arm around her waist, Quincy held her hand close to his body and helped to balance her as best as he could. “Nice and slow,” he reminded her of the doctor’s words. “We’ll get there, stake out our spots, and they’ll need TNT to get us out of there,” he murmured with a grin at the doctor, who overheard his words. Quincy was only partially kidding. He nodded to the Guards, who he’d been in mental communication with. He waited for them to fall into step behind them for the walk through the hall. He knew the other two inside were already in their son’s room. The remaining Guards surrounded the building with many of Talon’s there as well.
Maya moved slowly, her body aching and feeling as if part of her insides were falling out, but she knew that was to be expected. “I love you, Quincy. I’m so happy you are mine,” she whispered softly. From where they were, they both started shuffling toward their son’s room, the room that was damn well going to be theirs as well because she wasn’t leaving her son. Period.
Squeezing her hand gently, he smiled. “Still loving me even after birth. I must have done something right.” Moving slowly, he watched how she moved and adjusted his steps for her tiring muscles. “So I can sleep in the bed? I’m not banished to the doghouse we don’t have but I’d have to build so you could banish me there?”
“You and I both know that you took my pain, honey,” Maya told him softly. “Thank you for that. I honestly wasn’t sure that I could do it. But to answer your question, no. I will not now or ever send you to the doghouse.”
“Oh thank the Gods—because the instructions on one of those things had to have gone through about twelve languages before some fool with English as their fortieth language translated it.” Pressing a kiss to her temple, he breathed her in. “I only did what I needed to for you, my love. You were busy and unfortunately we didn’t time it all well enough for the drugs. I’m sorry about that, Maya.”
“It’s not your fault. He came far too early. Which has me worried Quincy. Our son’s color wasn’t that good and his Apgar scores were really not that great. However as long as they are taking care of him, I know he’s in good hands and will be well cared for. That’s what I’m worried about right now honey,” Maya told him softly.
“I still should have been there,” he said quietly. His bad feeling had proven right, again. He really needed to learn to listen to it no matter what others told him. “But he’s here now and we will do whatever is necessary to ensure he gets healthy and strong so he can come home with us.” Which then brought up his next random thought. “What are we going to name him?” he asked.
“I honestly haven’t really even thought of names. Every time that we have tried to think of names I have ended up with a migraine, so names hadn’t even been a thought in my mind. What would you like to name him?” It was clear that Maya wanted Quincy’s input on this as well. This was their son and their job to name him.
“I was kind of hoping you’d have some ideas.” Quincy chuckled softly. Stopping where he spotted two more Guards, he pushed the door open and helped her in. “We should think on it and bat some ideas around. See if we get any ideas with being around the little man,” he murmured, easing deeper into the room where the doctor and a nurse were still huddled around the NICU cube.
“I agree.” Maya cleared her throat. “Can we see him?” she asked quietly.
Pulling back, Dr. Aba smiled and nodded. “Of course. I know that the dome around his head will shock you, but it’s oxygen and he needs it right now. The lines in his navel are necessary as well because we are giving him meds, and it gives us a place to take blood that won’t hurt him. You can touch him, but don’t move the dome off of him, all right?” he asked and cleared the nurses from the room. “Call us if you need us,” he said before looking to the guards, back again, and, shaking his head, walked out.
Maya looked into the unit and bit back a sob. Their little son, and he was so very tiny, was lying on a bed wit
h only a diaper covering his backside and front, not even fastened. The dome on his head was fogged over from their little man’s escape of breath. She laid her shaky hand over their son’s chest. “Hello, darling, it’s mommy,” she whispered, biting her lip to keep from sobbing.
Resting a hand on her neck lightly, Quincy stared down at the too-tiny boy. “He’s so small,” he whispered in deference to the small babe in the cube, the too still little boy. It was clear that he was terrified to touch him, not that Maya could blame him with all of the tubes and wires attached to their small boy.
“Touch him, Quincy. Let him feel you, too.” Maya spoke without moving her eyes from the small child. Gently, lovingly her thumb caressed the small boy’s chest and she spoke softly to him, a bunch of nothing but everything all the same. “He needs to feel the connection to both his parents, honey. Touch him. You won’t hurt him, I promise.”
Glancing up at him, Maya watched him chew his lip and then as he reached out to touch their son but stopped right before he touched the tiny foot. She heard him sucking in a shaky breath. He touched the softest skin she was sure that he’d ever felt. She watched him as he held his breath though. “Breathe,” she whispered with a half smile, even if it was a watery smile.
Turning back to see their son, she leaned back against Quincy and continued the gentle strokes on their son’s skin as tears rolled down her face. This was her fault. This had to be her fault. If only she had been able to hold up the pregnancy for longer their son wouldn’t be in the trouble that he was now. She knew it.
“It is not your fault,” Quincy murmured against her ear softly, very aware of the others in the room. His Guards wouldn’t say anything but he didn’t want the doctor and nurse hearing. “He was too impatient to wait any longer. That’s all there is to it.”
