Page 310 of One Winter Knight
We walked in and the woman in scrubs looked up at us. “Are you here for someone in labor?”
“My mate, Saoirse Woodrow-O’Halloran,” Dusty said.
She checked our IDs and gave us wristbands. We were led to the birthing suite. There were two rooms–a living room and the actual birthing room. The door between them was closed.
Hale was rummaging through the mini fridge. “Thank goodness. I adore Saoirse, but I don’t want to see her pop out a baby in a bathtub.”
Somebody came out of the adjoining room. “Just in time. I think the baby is just about ready to meet you. Which one of you is Dusty? She’s asking for you.”
“That's me. Wait, the baby is ready to meet us? It’s happening so fast. I thought we’d have like hours and hours,” Dusty said, looking a little panicked.
Me too. Beatriz had been in labor for thirty hours with one of her kids.
“That baby is coming. Come on, Daddy.” She looked at us. “Any other daddies want to come in?”
“You go. Let us know when you need us,” I replied.
I’d pass on this one. Saoirse had Dusty, Fiona, the midwife, and the nurses, and was doing a water birth.
Dusty was pulled into the birthing suite. We heard a bunch of swears in Irish and music as the door closed.
Hale grinned. “She’s cussing him out in Irish, right? Saying sheregrets letting him put a baby in her?”
“Probably.” I leaned my head on his shoulder as we sat on the couch.
“You got here really fast,” I added.
“I happened to glance at it right as Dusty texted. The professor asked me what was so interesting. I told him that one of my packmates was in labor and he said,Congratulations, have fun, don’t forget to do the reading, and pay the baby tax.So, I grabbed my shit and left. What’s the baby tax?”
“Probably like the pet tax?” I replied.
“Oh, photos. That makes sense.” He nodded.
We heard more very loud cursing in Irish through the door, along with a reassuring voice.
“Shit, I’ll ask Mercy to get Ispín and take care of him for a few days,” Hale said. He texted Mercy.
I grabbed us some snacks and drinks. There was a nice selection.
“You know, in eight months that’ll be us being yelled at,” I commented.
Fiona got her wish and got pregnant during her heat. Baby Peace and Beans was on the way.
“The idea of having two babies like eight months apart is going to be a lot… a lot of fun. Did you know they make baby seats for motorcycles?” His eyes gleamed.
Hale had a motorcycle now. Dusty, too. I’d been considering getting my motorcycle license, so I could join them.
“Oooh. We’ve got this,” I agreed. “Maybe Baby Lovely could come to opening night.” I’d already ordered a tiny jersey and ear protectors. After all, Tenzin’s babies had started going to hockey games fresh out of the package, why not ours?
Hale was on his phone. “Tru is very much adjusting to being at Grace’s.”
“Oh, good. What about the others?” I was really worried about them. It turned out his dad was dealing with a corrupted bond.That seemed horrifying.
“Grace, Verity, and Mama are working on it. They know we’re here if they need us.”
There was crying.
Oh, my goodness.
