Chapter 121

Chapter 121
My eyes flung open, and a scream escaped as I felt a sharp pain on my left side. I couldn’t turn my back without making it worse, but I was lying on my left side, which I knew wasn’t helping. Curling up, I coughed out sobs as the pain got excruciatingly worse. The door to my room slammed open, and the bed dipped. 

“Nate, what’s going on? Talk to me.” Noah was frantic.

“I…” I tried to speak, but it only made me cough out sobs.

Finn stood in the doorway. “Noah, what’s going on?”

“Call Jake, Finn. Get him here.”

“He’s at the conference. I doubt he has his phone on.”

Noah growled. “Then call the damn school and tell them to find him! Now Finn!”

The pain wasn’t getting any better, and I was trying to take quick breaths through my nose, but it wasn’t working. “Left side…help…flip…” Each word was breathy and pained.

“I don’t know if I should, Nate. I don’t want to make to worse.”

Tears streamed down my face, and I knew I had sweat on my brow as well. Another try, I cried out as I tried to roll to the right.

“Nate! Stop! Fuck!”

Noah’s hands gently reached under my shoulder and at my hip. Slowly, I cried out as he shifted me, but I bit my lip to shut up so he wouldn’t stop. There was slight relief when I was finally on my back. My eyes squeezed shut, but it wasn’t helping the slight shake in my body from the pain.

“Nate…” Noah brushed my cheek.

I opened my eyes as he sat on the bed, face full of worry. Smiling slightly, I placed a hand on his thigh.

“Thanks. I think one or more of my left ribs broke.”

His eyes widened. “Nate!”

“I know, I know. Trust me.”

Finn came in, cellphone glued to his ear. He looked from me to Noah. “He’s asking what’s happened?”

“Nate thinks one of his left ribs broke.”

Finn cursed and repeated it. He nodded before exiting the room for a second. Coming back with a glass of water and a pill bottle, he sat on the other side of the bed.

“Jake says you need to take two of these. Noah and I need to help you sit up to do it. We have to keep your back as straight as possible while we do it.”

Noah nodded and slipped his hand under my back. Finn set down the phone and was ready with the water. As Noah lifted, I tried not to scream, but it hurt so bad that I struggled. His hands were shaking, and his eyes filled with tears. As soon as I was at a good enough angle, Finn put the pills in my mouth and helped me hold the water glass as I swallowed both pills.

Slowly, Noah laid me back down. He turned away from me, but I reached out and brushed a stray tear from his cheek.

“Thank you.”

He nodded and took my hand in his, squeezing it tight. “I…I struggle with this. You know I do…after Sol…”

“I know, Noah. I know.”

Finn had brought the phone back up to his ear. “He said it will take a few minutes to kick in, but the pain should lessen. Once you feel okay enough not to want to throw up every time you move, we need to get you in the bath.”

Noah nodded and got up. He disappeared into the en-suite bathroom, and I heard the water turn on.

“Warm! Not hot! And not cold!” Finn called out. “Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. No. Okay. Thanks.”

Noah leaned in the doorway as Finn put the phone down. “Did he say anything else?”

“No bubble bath. He’s on his way back now. And that if Nate can stomach it, to eat a little something.”

I tried to take a deep breath and instantly regretted it. “I’m not nauseous, so I could probably get away with it.”

Noah nodded. “I just don’t know if you or I could handle moving you up again.”

He made me laugh, but I coughed as I tried to go back to breathing small breaths. Noah gave me a sad smile while Finn glared at him.

“Don’t make him laugh!”

“I think let’s wait until I feel a little better and see what happens.”

Noah turned back into the bathroom and turned off the water. “It’s a little warm, but it should cool down a little by the time we need to get you in. I’m gonna grab my phone and take dinner off the stove.”

I flashed him a smile. He left the room quietly, and as he left, Finn ran his hands through his hair.

“You scared the shit out of him. The last time I felt him that freaked out, he realized Solaris had stopped breathing in the middle of the night.”

“That must have been so hard for you two.”

Finn sighed. “I won’t lie; it was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through. When we were at Magg’s and I had to do compressions on Solaris…all I could think was if she died right now, it would be my fault.”

Reaching out, I squeezed his hand. “Sorry for scaring you.”

He huffed. “I’m gonna go clean up what I was doing and I’ll come back to lie with you. Yell or scream if there are any issues.”

I tapped my forehead. “Or I could just mind-link.”

Finn chuckled. “Oh yeah, we can do that now. I forgot.”

Rolling my eyes, I watched him turn down the hall. I placed my right hand on my babies and rubbed in a circular motion.

“You guys are super bad, you know that. Hurting your dad like that.”

After only a few minutes, I was already feeling a little better. It didn’t hurt nearly as badly to breathe. Closing my eyes, I tried to ignore the discomfort of being on my back because there was no way in hell I was going to move.

I must have dozed off a little. In and out of sleep, I tried shifting my hips a bit when I felt a rush of liquid come out and soak into my sweats. My eyes widened, and suddenly my panic spiked.

‘Noah?’

‘Yeah? You okay?’

‘I…I think my water just broke.’

A heard a pan fall in the kitchen and clatter to the ground as a string of curses followed. It took him a couple of minutes, but he slid down the hall, barely stopping at my door. Walking in, he brushed my cheek first before he pulled up the covers. I shifted slightly, and he nodded.

“Finn!” I called for him, knowing he was probably listening from the office.

It took Finn a minute, but came to the door. “Everything okay?”

“What were those pills?”

His brow furrowed. “Pain medication, baby safe. Doc left it with us last week in case they bruised something worse. Or I guess…broke something. Why?”

I sighed. “My water just broke.”

His eyes widened. “How long…how long do we have? Doc is coming, but he’s still like forty-five minutes away.”

This time I cursed. “Noah, can you pick me up and put me in the bath?”

“Can you take me moving you?”

I chuckled. “Yeah, the pain medication did work, but it wouldn’t matter. I need you to get me in.”

He nodded and rolled up his sleeves before he thought better and just pulled his whole shirt off.

“Sweats off first, well, clothes off. Hope you can handle that.”

Noah chuckled, but he didn’t say anything. I wondered how he was with the births of Leah and Hailey. Finn came around and I could help the two of them get my clothes off. A few times I had to bite my lip, but I held it together.

Slipping his arms under my knees and grabbing around my waist, Noah braced me as much against his chest as he could. He lifted me off the bed as gently as he could. I cried out as I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to pass out from the pain. Noah kept apologizing until he slowly set me into the bath.

My arms came out, and I grabbed the edges of the tub to hold myself up.

“What else can we do?” Finn stood in the doorway. “I’ve never done a home birth. Noah ferried me up to the hospital in the pack both times I went into labor.”

I smiled. “Um…in the closet is a box. There should be some candles and an incense burner. Can you bring those in?”

Finn disappeared only to reappear moments later with the box. He and Noah set up the candles around the bathroom, lighting them and the incense.

“Are they all different scents?”

I smiled, leaning back and inhaling. “Yes, and no. They are complementary scents. To calm the mind. My mother had a journal that I brought with me. One of the few things I have left of my parents. This mix was what she swore by that helped get through labor. Apparently, I wasn’t ea….” My stomach clenched, and I felt the first contraction. “…sy. So, I tried it with the twins, and I will never go without it.”

Noah smiled, but it was strained. He was on his knees at the edge of the tub, looking a little lost. I could see the strain in his arms as he clenched his hands.

“Noah, relax. I’m okay.”

“Yeah, but…”

I raised my eyebrow. “Are you arguing with your Alpha?”

Finn snickered as Noah hung his head. His hands finally unclenched, and he slumped a little.

“Noah.” His eyes met mine. “I need you to be strong for me. Because I’m going to send Finn out. So it will just be you.”

I tightened my grip on the tub as another one hit. They were too close together. Jake was still a half an hour away if we were lucky. Even on a good day, that’s pushing it for time. This was going to end up being a repeat of the last time I gave birth. Except way worse. Goddess above, could I not just have something normal for once?

Finn started to argue, but I put my finger up. “Right now, Finn, I’m the first example you’re going to see give birth at home. I can’t let you do that. It’s going to scare you, but it’s only because I’m going to give birth with broken ribs. And as much as you tell me you know that it’s the extra pain and that it won’t be you, you’re going to freak out. So I don’t want you in here.”

Finn looked from me to Noah; begging Noah to argue. He didn’t, though. Noah kept his eyes focused on me.

“But…”

“Finn, please. Don’t make me command you. I don’t want to. I never want to, but I need you to understand how serious I am.”

He slammed his fist into the doorframe. “No! I get you want to protect me, but I’m not fragile! I can handle it! If Noah stays, so do I!”

I waited for the contraction to pass before I let my Alpha power fall onto Finn.

“Finn, go give Leah and Hailey a kiss.”

His eyes widened, and I saw his jaw tighten as he tried to fight the command.

Tears fell from my eyes. “Please don’t fight it. Please, just go. Don’t make me…”

I watched him take a deep breath and grip the doorframe tight. Closing my eyes, I used it again. 

“Now, Finn.”