Yes, baby. How are you feeling? Jackson’s gentle voice spoke through their bond.
“I’m a little uncomfortable,” she answered honestly. “I’ve been having contractions for a while.”
What? Jace’s panicked voice shouted through her head, making her jump in surprise.
There was a shimmer of blue around the wolves, and she found herself surrounded by two naked and very worried mates.
“Why didn’t you call to us, Laurie?” Jace admonished, reaching out to touch her belly gently, gasping when he felt the tightening of her muscles as another contraction took hold. “How far apart are the contractions?”
“Baby, you really need to stop trying to shield us from your pains,” Jackson scolded her, counting in his head until he felt her stomach soften under his hands after a minute.
“I’m sorry,” Laurie apologized sincerely. “I just wanted to make sure that it wasn’t false labor before I said something.”
“How far apart?” Jace asked her again, his voice firm, rubbing her belly soothingly as he tried to offer her whatever comfort he could.
“The last one was five minutes ago,” she answered quietly. “I think I need to go upstairs.”
She made the effort to stand when both men reached forward to carefully pull her up until she stood beside them. As soon as she found her footing, she felt a gush of liquid escape her, coating them all in the warmth of amniotic fluid. She reached for their arms as she looked up at them with tears in her eyes, a horrified expression on her face.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, barely able to get out the words.
“For what, baby?” Jackson asked her as he held her to his body.
“For gushing all over you,” she told them, the tears spilling over as embarrassment overwhelmed her.
Jace reached up to place his finger under her chin to make her look up at him. “Laurie, please listen to me.” He waited until her eyes met his before continuing. “Every change that your body has gone through with this pregnancy has been a source of joy to us. We love every moment of this miracle. What’s happening now is just as precious to us. The fluid that just escaped your body has protected our baby for the past forty weeks. There is nothing embarrassing or upsetting to us that we felt its warmth.”
“Open your bond to us, honey,” Jackson told her gently as he leaned down to kiss her temple. “You’ll feel exactly what we’re feeling.”
Laurie closed her eyes and released the box she had been keeping closed around her emotions so the men wouldn’t know she was in labor. What greeted her when her emotions touched theirs was a feeling so filled with love and happiness that her worries were immediately calmed. Another pain gripped her, and she gasped as she doubled over with the power of the contraction.
“Talk. Later. Bedroom. Now.” Her words were clipped as the pain of the contraction overwhelmed her.
Jackson’s panic almost made her laugh. Almost. Jace leaned down and scooped her up into his arms, rushing toward the sliding glass doors that led inside the ranch. Jackson slid it open quickly, following them both through the kitchen, the main room, and up the steps to their bedroom.
“Martha, get Doc Barrett and Nikki,” Jackson shouted as they passed her in the kitchen.
Martha nodded and ran to the phone. It was time. The baby would soon be born. Martha’s eyes filled with tears of happiness that her two adopted sons were about to become fathers.
Pushing open their bedroom door, Jackson rushed to their bed and pulled back the bedding. Jace stepped forward to lay their precious mate down, but she stopped him with a gentle hand on his chest.
“What, sweetheart?” he whispered, unsure what to do.
“Please take me into the shower. I need to stand to get through the contractions, and the warm water will help me relax.”
Jace nodded and turned quickly toward the bathroom, glad to have Jackson there to start the shower and help him undress Laurie then help her into the enclosure. Both men went with her, Jace suddenly glad that he had made the decision to have such a big shower built when he had designed their suite. They immediately surrounded her with their arms as she hung onto them and bent over slightly as each contraction took her. They rocked her and gently rubbed her back and belly as her labor intensified.
“Laurie?” Doc Barrett’s voice called to them from the bedroom.
“In here, Doc,” Jackson called out.
Doc came into the bathroom quickly, standing outside the enclosure, waiting for Laurie’s contraction to subside. Nikki stood by his side, waiting to help. “How far apart?” he asked quietly.
“About two minutes,” Jace said quickly. “She’s progressed pretty quickly.”
Doc nodded quietly, and both men were comforted by his calm. Nikki reached for the large bath towel that hung on the warming rack beside the shower stall.
“How’re you doing, Laurie?” Nikki asked her as she waited to wrap the towel around her best friend.
“I’m good,” Laurie whispered, “but I already feel like I have to push.”
“I think we’d better get you to the bed, Laurie,” Doc told her calmly. “I would say you’re pretty close to delivering.”
Laurie nodded and sagged against her men as the last contraction finally released its hold on her body. “Help me?” she whispered, looking up at both men.
“Always,” Jace answered immediately.
“With everything I am,” Jackson vowed as he helped her step out of the shower.
Taking the towel from Nikki, Jackson wrapped it carefully around Laurie’s body before bending and lifting her in his arms and heading toward their bedroom.
“Jace, please get me the shirts on the back of the door,” Laurie moaned as another contraction took her.
Jace looked behind the bathroom door and grabbed the two shirts that hung from the peg there. Without hesitating, he followed them into the bedroom and stood back as Jackson lowered her to stand beside the bed. Very carefully, Jackson took the towel from her body and began to carefully wipe her down.
“Give me your shirt,” Laurie told Jace, reaching out and taking his black T-shirt that she had worn so many months ago when she had fallen into the stream. Once he helped her lift the shirt over her head and settle it down the length of her body, she reached for the red flannel shirt that belonged to Jackson and quickly put her arms through the sleeves.
Both men smiled down at her, all the love they had for her shining in their eyes. That she wanted their shirts on during the birth of their baby touched them in a way they could never have imagined.
“Are you ready to get into bed now, Mate?” Jace teased her, reaching up to touch her face gently.
She nodded, smiling at the two men who had given her so much happiness, and settled back against the pile of pillows that had been set up for her so she could sit at a bit of an incline while she delivered their baby. The men took their places at her sides, pulling the shirts she was wearing to her hips and gently holding her legs beneath the back of her knees. The feel of their strong hands on her soothed her, and she leaned back against them as they carefully pulled back on her legs and helped her to hold them in place while Doc Barrett examined her.
“The baby is already crowning, Laurie,” Doc told her calmly. “With the next contraction, I want you to push as hard as you can.”
Laurie nodded and took a deep breath as the next contraction hit her, bearing down with all her strength. Her mates helped her to sit up, and she was thankful for their strength as each push took more and more energy out of her. They could see Doc’s hands reach forward, and then Laurie gave a final push. Their baby entered the world in a rush of fluid. Both men couldn’t stop the tears that were falling freely down their faces.
“Would you like to cut the cord?” Doc asked them, offering each of them an instrument.
Laurie smiled at both men as they carefully took the scissors from Doc and reached forward to make the necessary cut to the umbilical cord. When they looked at her, she saw t
he way they were overcome with emotions, and her heart swelled with love for them.
Watching Doc carefully wrap their crying daughter in a blanket and hand her to Nikki, they were overcome with the miracle of what had just happened.
Nikki cleaned off the baby quickly and wrapped her in a clean blanket. Both men watched silently as she checked the baby’s heart and respiration efficiently, thankful for her nursing skills. Nikki smiled widely at the strength of the baby, walking back to Laurie and placing the sweet little girl on her chest. Tears filled her eyes as she saw that her best friend was finally a part of the most loving family she had ever seen.
“Congratulations, honey,” Nikki told her, reaching out and touching Laurie’s face gently. “You did good.”
“She’s beautiful,” Laurie whispered, tears falling down her cheeks as she looked down at her daughter.
Both men leaned down and kissed her forehead gently, reaching out with careful hands to touch their daughter’s cheeks. The adorable face she made as she scrunched up her lips and let out a howl of protest at being taken from the warmth of her mother’s body made them smile.
“She’s perfect,” Jackson whispered.
“Yes. She is.” Jace’s voice was rough with emotion.
Laurie looked from their daughter to the men who had helped create her and couldn’t stop the love and warmth that poured from her and surrounded them through her bond. They smiled down at her, accepting and returning their love.
“Thank you for our daughter,” Jace whispered, leaning down to kiss Laurie’s lips tenderly.
Laurie smiled and leaned into his touch. Jackson held her against his side tightly, leaning down to claim her lips as soon as Jace released her.
“Thank you, Laurie,” Jackson spoke against her ear, unable to say more.
* * * *
Laurie sat on the cushion in the middle of the couch in front of the fireplace. Both men sat on either side of her, reaching out to touch their daughter, holding her hand and petting her hair as she fed at Laurie’s breast.
“She’s getting so big,” Laurie said quietly as she looked down at their five-month-old daughter. She looked up at both men and winked. “You both make beautiful babies.”
Jace smiled as he moved to kneel before her and watch his daughter suckle at Laurie’s breast, reaching up to trace his index finger across its gentle swell. “It was definitely our pleasure, sweetheart.”
“You just let us know when you’re ready to make another,” Jackson told her, winking playfully. “Do you think you want to make another baby with us?”
Laurie laughed and reached out to touch each man’s face tenderly. “I think that would be a wonderful idea,” she told them, smiling at the instant growls that escaped them. “I think we need to practice every day. What do you think?”
The absolutely feral expression of desire that consumed both men made her heart do a funny flip. Without hesitation, she sent them a vision of the three of them in their bed, a mass of arms and legs entangled as they loved each other.
“Aw, hell!” Jackson moaned against her temple.
Jace laughed, reaching out and hugging Laurie to him as he placed gentle kisses across her available breast. “I agree, Jackson,” he growled.
Laurie smiled down at Jace, reaching up to gently card her fingers through his midnight black hair, the delicate bracelet with the charm of her and her two wolves dangling against his neck as she caressed him. It was a beautiful symbol of their life together. Leaning back, she offered Jackson her lips and sighed contentedly as he tenderly claimed hers.
She was happier than she had ever been in her life, thanks to the two men who had given her unconditional love and acceptance. Her mates. Her loves.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lynnette Bernard is a fan of Broadway, the ocean, science fiction, romance, music, movies, books, and babies. She has two babies of her own that were the perfect children, who have turned out to be outstanding adults. She is a staunch advocate of “happily ever after” and changes the endings of any movie that she sees or book that she reads that doesn’t follow that rule. She has the hots for cowboys, shifters, vampires, and really nice guys, and lives her fantasies about them through her writings. The cowboys of Colorado will always hold a special place in her heart.
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Bernard, Lynnette - Laurie's Loves [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 33
