Three or Not

Three or Not

“You really need to push, Luna. Harder!”
Goodness! These people have easy talking. What do they think I've been doing for half an hour? I'm exhausted, this is heavier than I thought.
Zane sits next to my bed and looks concerned.
“You have to do your best, baby. We should have our first pup in five minutes. I know it's a lot of work, but you must be strong now," he whispers as he wipes the sweat from my forehead.
We've been in the hospital all night. The pups don't seem to be in any hurry to come out. But the last quarter is the worst. The fall of the first one is slow, the doctor considers helping him. But Zane wants to keep trying to let him into the world on his own. He leans towards me. “Remember how we will hold him in our arms in a few minutes, Mercedes. We were so looking forward to this.”
I give him a watery smile. But when I look into his eyes, it seems like his energy flows to my body. Zane leans closer and begins to kiss my face. This feels so good, I sigh with happiness. And then I hear the doctor yell again, PUSH!
With renewed vigor, I push from within, feeling the baby sink between my wide-spread legs faster than before. And then I feel him being born and fall back into the pillows. A loud howl fills the delivery room, the most beautiful sound that ever reached my ears. Zane quickly kisses my forehead before rushing next to the doctor. He takes the midwife's scissors and cuts the umbilical cord of our firstborn.
He quickly grabs the pup, wraps him in a sheet and presses him against his chest. I try to catch my breath but notice our second is in a hurry. “Zane!” I exclaim as I get on my elbows. With a firm strike, I push the second pup out. The doctor catches him deftly. Zane puts our oldest in my arms and rushes back to the doctor to cut the cord. He proudly returns with our second son. “Mercedes! Two boys!” He stares at them adoringly. “I still can't believe you just made me a father. Thank you, my mate, for this great gift,” he explains emotionally. We hold our pups between us until the nurse gets them for their bath.
I take the time to catch my breath, I know it's not over yet.
I lay my head on Zane's chest and enjoy this intimate moment until we have to move on. “I hope she doesn't have to wait too long,” I sigh to my mate. “I want to sleep all day after this. And no more pups in the following years, these are really more than enough”.
And then I think how quickly the six months have gone by. The pregnancy was not complicated, except that Lasagna was all that remained inside until a month before the delivery. Zane was a fantastic mate, I appreciated his patience, especially with my mood swings. Actually, the whole pack was involved. The women came to me with all kinds of advice and gave me an herbal ointment for the stretch marks on my huge stomach. Everything worked perfectly and thanks to all this care, I passed the months without too many problems.
Until the contractions kicked in last night.
We were having dinner with Zane's parents when the first contractions came. I did everything I had learned in the exercise classes, but panic gripped me at that moment. The painful shots shooting from my belly button to my lower abdomen were unbearable, my mother-in-law took me straight to the bathroom for a warm bath and massage.
Meanwhile, Zane panicked and instructed the hospital to prepare for my arrival. Elise took the bag with all the stuff for the newborns from the apartment and headed to the hospital.
Under Luna Jonel's care, I soon felt better until the amniotic fluid broke and the contractions became heavier. I couldn't contain the screams of pain that drove Zane to a rage. Fortunately, his father was able to reassure him until it was time for me to leave for the hospital as well for the big job.
And here I lie in my mate's arms, waiting for our daughter to be born finally. She's clearly having a good time in there and makes us wait a little longer. Elise is now in the other room with the nurse taking care of our pups. I have to smile at her determination to wait for the nurse when she came out of the maternity ward. According to her, the chance that the pups would be kidnapped or mixed up would be slim. My sister-in-law obviously has a vivid imagination or reads too many of those mafia romance books.
And then I feel a kick in my lower part.
The Alpha female is on the way!
"Zane, she's coming!" I report my mate. He looks at me startled, this time I react differently than in the two previous deliveries where I was devastated by pain. “Goodness, this is the first time I see this”, I hear the doctor exclaim in amazement. I feel him free her head and then a short cry is heard. “Luna, one hard push, please”, shouts the doctor. With another sharp cry, she announces her birth. Zane cleans her and also cuts her umbilical cord. A smile comes to his lips at the sight of the angel in his arms. “My daughter, you did well. Your mother was already tired and you helped her a lot," he whispers and kisses her on the lips. To everyone's surprise, she smiles and her eyes flicker open.
My daughter.
This time too, Zane takes the pup to me to see her. Her hair is jet black like mine compared to our boys' blonde. I happily hold her, now that everything is over, I can finally relax. The midwife is waiting for the afterbirth, so we stay in the delivery room for a while longer. Zane then hands his daughter to the nurse who takes her back to Elise for thorough care.
“Mercedes, I am so proud of you. All three are born safe and sound”, Zane sighs. “I think we have enough pups for now, we don't have to go through this again”. I totally agree with him, three at once is enough for a lifetime. Taking care of them alone will consume all our time.
And then suddenly, we hear a loud cheer outside the hospital. Dumbfounded, Zane and I stare at each other. “I think someone broke the news of the triplets to the pack,” Zane says dryly. "They've been outside waiting for a message for almost three hours."
My eyes widen in disbelief. “Zane!” I exclaim.
“Don't worry, my father will take care of everything. When you regain your strength, we will greet our pack as a family”, he smiles, looking at me lovingly.
“Zane!”
This time I get his full attention.
But there's no time to explain what's going on. With a firm push, our fourth pup is born. “A girl! One more!” the midwife screams, surprised and happy simultaneously...