Chapter 200

Shawna POV

I exhaled and closed my eyes. The pain that wracked through me was nothing I'd ever felt in the past. I had been tortured, raped, and treated like an animal; I had felt pain. This pain was entirely different. Despite that, I wasn't scared. I was nervous, maybe a little bit anxious, but no fear. If anything, I was worried that Michael wouldn't get to me in time, that our baby would be born before he arrived. "Where is he?" I panted out after my contraction stopped.

"He's on his way," Doctor Constance assured me.

Michael had gone to Tennessee to assist another pack with training. I wasn't due for another week, so he thought the two days he would be gone would be okay. Unfortunately, he was wrong because this morning, my water broke. I panicked and called Doctor Constance to come to my house. Lynn and Clint were busy with their new baby and had moved into their home just two days ago. I didn't want to bother them with this, so I called the Doctor immediately when it was clear that I wouldn't be able to get to the clinic on my own. Michael had taken his truck to Tennessee, so I got extremely anxious with the thought of walking to the clinic when I wasn't sure how quickly this baby would come. Not that I would have driven myself to begin with. I wasn't a complete idiot.

Constance patted my hand, "He is on the way." I had called him as soon as I hung up from the doctor, and he had climbed into his truck and was racing back. Thankfully, he wasn't far across the border and said that he'd be home in six hours and to tell our son to hold on for him. My mother-in-law was presently in the kitchen making tea for me and coffee for the doctor. I could hear her softly singing, in between the blood roaring in my head with my contractions. "We still have time," the doctor said. "Your contractions are ten minutes apart, so I'd say this little man will be coming into the world in a few hours. You aren't fully dilated yet either", she assured me.

"A few hours?" I asked sheepishly. It wasn't really that long, but these contractions, albeit still far enough apart, were ripping me in half. At least that was how it felt. My belly had grown very heavy in the past few weeks, and the doctor said he was a big baby, probably ten pounds, she had said with a smile. I wanted to wipe that smile off her face. It sounded dreadful. Who tried to push out a baby that big?

"A lot of women have babies that big," Janice had told me. "All three of my boys were ten-pounders or better. That's what happens when you mate with an Alpha," she had shrugged.

"And Natalie?" I had asked.

"Oh, she was small, the easiest birth and the easiest baby," she had said. "She was only eight pounds, which, after having James and Michael, Natalie pretty much fell out with two pushes. Peter, on the other hand, didn't want to come out, and he gave me the worst labor. After him, I swore no more babies." She had stared off as if remembering and then turned back to me smiling. "It's going to be beautiful, Shawna, trust me." Then she had trotted downstairs to make tea and coffee.

I lay in my bed, naked, save for a sheet that was draped over me. The doctor had unceremoniously covered my mattress in plastic and then put the sheets back on top. "To save your bed," she had said. "It's perfectly safe to have the baby at home," she had assured me. "One of the nurses will come in a few hours to assist me; you're not the first to deliver at home."

To distract myself, I asked Constance about her life and how things were going. "So, when is Cedric due back?" I asked.

Doctor Constance had broken out in a beaming smile. "Tomorrow," she said. "He wanted to stop home on his way to talk with his parents; he should be there now, actually," she said, looking at her watch. "I told him you were in labor, and I'd call him once our little Alpha here," she touched my belly, "made his way into the world."

"Does he know?" I asked her. "About your own baby?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I told him over the phone, since so many were suspicious of it. It's hard to hide from other werewolves once your scent changes. My mother noticed first and has no qualms about speaking her mind. She told me my mate better get his ass home, she wasn't helping me raise a baby," she laughed. "She would, of course, if I needed her to."

"Of course," I said. Mabel was an interesting lady, always flitting about the pack, trying to drum up others to join her yoga classes, which she held at the hilltop during sunrise. When she had asked me, I pointed to my oversized belly and said I didn't think it was going to work out until after the baby was born. She had told me that it was nonsense, yoga was great for pregnant women. I had gone once and was oddly energetic afterwards, but then I had gotten busy preparing the baby's room, and then Michael had told me I should stay close to home because I had been having what the doctor called Braxton hicks. Michael was worried something would happen, and he was probably right, because here I was going into labor early, and he wasn't here. "Where is Mabel's mate?" I asked Constance.

"You mean my father?" Constance said with a grin. I shrugged. I wasn't sure if it was her father, I mean how would I know, I was new to this pack.

"My father is in Canada," she said. "He's been up there for a few years now. He's helping his old pack. They had a huge fire and most of it burned to the ground. He's a carpenter," she said. "He comes home once every three months and stays for around five weeks. Long enough for his wolf to calm down. It's why my mother is obsessed with yoga," she says. "It keeps her and her wolf grounded. Just be warned," she holds up a finger, "when my father is around, stay away from their house, it seems they spend a lot of time having sex and walking around naked." Constance laughs and then leans in conspiratorially, "I once walked in on them in the living room, both butt naked. They were watching some strange movie on television, taking turns petting each others privates. Or so it appeared, I didn't stay long enough to find out what exactly was happening. I had screamed in surprise to see my old parents sprawled out naked on the floor of the living room. My mom had laughed, and my father threw a pillow at me, and I was gone."

"Oh, my goddess," I had gasped. "I'd die with embarrassment. When was that?"

"Last time they were home," she admitted. "It was a few days before you arrived, actually, so it means his visit is coming up," she said. Right then, a contraction tore through me, and I sat up, grabbing my belly. "Breath through it," Constance said.

Janice walked in with the tea and set it on the bedside table. "Michael called," she said. "He's four hours out. Is he going to make it?" she asked Constance as she watched me grimace.

"I think so," Constance said. "She's still ten minutes apart."

"Are you sure?" I panted. "It feels like they are so much closer."

"No, it just seems like that because it hurts," she smiled. "You're doing great."