Chapter 165

Ryan

When Lexi said it was time I think my brain lost all normal function because the words that came out of my mouth proved it. “ Time for what, honey.” I swear Stone smacked his paw on his head and  called me an idiot. Val, Luther and my father looked at me like I was the dumbest person on the planet. Christine looked like she was trying back a laugh. 

Before  Lexi can say anything she places her hands on her stomach and groans. That puts us on high alert. The next thing that happens gets us all in gear. Lexi groans again and a second later there is a puddle on the floor between Lexi’s legs. Lexi looks at us and very calmly states “ My water broke.” In the blink of an eye Val has her in his arms and is racing out the door. 

I froze for a second. Should I get her bag or just follow Val? I didn’t get a chance to decide because Belle shoved me. “ What are you waiting on? Go.” she shouts. I didn’t waste another second. I take off towards the pack hospital as fast as I can. I rush through the hospital doors and head to the maternity wing. I know what room Lexi is in. We have a plan in place for a few weeks now. A room set up just for Lexi’s needs. A full staff and three extra nurses. One for each baby. 

Val is helping Lexi in a gown. Luther is talking to the doctor. I hear a groan come from Lexi and rush to her side. I must look like I’m in a panic because even though she is in pain Lexi manages to push out some of her calming glow out to me. “ Nice of you to join us.” Val grunts out. Other than that his focus is on Lexi. “ It’s over Val. Be nice.” Lexi says with a sigh. Val and I help her into the bed and help her get her as comfortable as possible. 

“ Ryan, try to relax, love. We have prepared for this.” she says, still trying to calm me. I hate seeing her in pain. I can’t believe I froze when she told us she was in labor.  “ Get your head out of your ass and help our mate.” Stone growls at me. “ This isn’t the time to worry about you. It is about Lexi, Arya and our pups.” Diesel snapped. Shit what am I doing? I need to get out of my head. 

I feel Lexi rub her thumb over the top of my hand. She always does this when she thinks I’m stressed.  Sometimes I fake being stressed just so she will do it. She knows what I'm doing but she plays along. I smile at her. “ I’m good, my sweet.” I told her. Before Lexi can respond Dr. Cantor comes over. “ My queen, I need to ask you a few questions and do an exam.” Luther, Val and I go to stand at her head. We have seen Lexi naked more times than I can count but for this we give her some privacy yet still staying at her side. 

We did this with all Lexi’s check ups as well. When Dr. Cantor finishes his internal exam he says “ My queen you are six centimeters dilated and in full labor.” Lexi grins then looks at the three of us. “ We are going to be parents soon.” she giggles. Before anyone of us can say anything Lexi is hit with another contraction. I take one hand. Luther takes her other and Val is rubbing her shoulders. The contraction lasts a minute before it begins to fade. We encourage Lexi to lean back and rest. 

“ My queen, judging by your last contraction your labor is progressing fast. I don’t think you will have long before you can meet your babies.” Dr. Cantor states. “ Good, I don’t want my mates in pain for long.” Diesel grumbles. I’m with him on that. I hate seeing her in pain even if it is for a good reason. “ Can I still do a natural delivery?” Lexi asks after she catches her breath. At the last check-up the babies were in the perfect position to have a vaginal birth. However we were warned that the babies could move and a c-section could be necessary. Lexi wanted to avoid that if she could.

She didn’t like the idea of being cut open. Neither did I. I know Luther and Val feel the same way. We have several talks about this. We agreed to support Lexi’s choice. Lexi said she only wanted a c-section if it had to be done.  “ I’m going to do a quick ultrasound to double check.” Dr. Cantor says. A nurse rolls the portable ultrasound machine over to Lexi’s bed side. Knowing what to do Luther helps Lexi pull her gown up over her very large stomach. I cover her bottom half with the sheet. 

After he preps Lexi he moves the wand back and forth over her stomach. I keep my eyes on the screen. We have had over ten of these scans but I still can’t get over seeing  our babies on the screen. I can’t believe they will be here soon. I want to hold them all. I know I will have to share and I’m okay with that. “ Baby A is in a good position.” Cantor says then moves the want again. “ So is baby B. Baby C is a little high up but that should change once you deliver the first two.”  he says.

As he wipes off Lexi’s stomach another contraction hits her. Six minutes apart now. Damn. They are coming faster. We help Lexi ride out the contraction. When it's done Cantor tells us he doesn’t see any reason that Lexi can’t have the natural birth she wanted.  He tells Lexi to try to relax in between contractions. It is now just a waiting game.

“ Stone, how is Arya?” I ask. I know he is beside her helping her through this as well. Lexi and Arya feel the labor. “ She is excited. Our mate is strong. They will be fine.” he tells me. “ You worry about your human mate. Let us worry about the wolf.” Diesel chimes in. That’s what we do. When Lexi wants ice chips it’s a race to see who can get them first. She wants a back rub to help with the contractions. We got you sweety.

Want to place bets on how many people are in the waiting room. No problem. Want to talk about training new recruits. Sure. Anything to help pass the time and take Lexi’s mind off the pain. We do this for three hours. The contractions keep getting closer and closer. Five minutes, Four minutes. At the two minute mark I feel myself getting nervous. The babies are about to be here. I can’t wait and I’m a little scared. 

I feel it coming from Val and Luther as well. During Lexi’s latest contraction something changes. Lexi bellows “ Get Cantor now.” A nurse rushes out of the room to get the doctor. I want to ask what’s wrong but Lexi is focused on her breathing. I don’t want her to lose focus. A minute later Cantor runs into the room. “ My queen?” he asks. “ I think I need to push.” Lexi grunts out while she rides out the contraction. This one seems longer than the ones before. 

Cantor doesn’t question Lexi just gets in to place to do another exam. He lifts the sheet that covers Lexi’s legs and stops. He waits for the contraction to stop. He says “ Lexi, the baby is crowning. On your next contraction I need you to bare down and push as hard as you can.”  That once sentence has everyone running around. Cantor is putting his gloves on. The nurses are checking monitors and getting the bassinets ready. Cantor just sat between Lexi’s legs when the contraction hit. 

I swear only thirty seconds have gone by. Val and I help Lexi sit up. We angle ourselves so we are both sitting behind her for support. Luther is holding Lexi’s hand. Something I believe he will regret later. “ Lexi, I need you to push now.” Cantor instructs. Lexi pushes for just a few seconds when Cantor calls out “ The head is out. Keep pushing Lexi.” Next the shoulders. After that the body of  baby A slides out. Then I hear a noise that is music to my ears. A high pitched cry coming from our baby. 

Cantor lifts the baby up for us to see. “ Congrats my Queen and kings. A boy.” he says. Our first child is a boy. Lexi is smiling and crying happy tears. “ Andros.” she says. We picked out three names for both boys and girls. “ Who wants to cut the cord?” Cantor asks. We had talked this out and came to the decision that Luther would go first, me then Val. In the order of when we met Lexi. It seemed fitting. With the way Luther is shaking I’m starting to question if this is a good idea. But with Cantor’s guidance he does just fine. 

The first nurse takes Andros to get his vitals and clean him up. We focus back on Lexi. Cantor is checking her out. “ Lexi, you don’t have much time to rest. Baby B is ready to go.” he says. Damn that was fast. We were told it could be hours between babies. I guess that’s not the case. As soon as the contraction hits Lexi is pushing again. Five good pushes and the second baby is out. “ Another boy.” Cantor calls out. “ Artio.” Lexi says. I trade places with Luther and cut the cord. 

Just like before a nurse takes him. Good thing too because the last baby is already on its way out. Seven pushes and a scream later Cantor holds up the baby and announces “ A girl.” “ Artemis.” Lexi sighs and flops on the bed.All her energy is gone. She used everything she had to bring our babies into the world. I brush some hair off her soaking forehead. I lean down and kiss her quickly. “ Two boys and a girl. Thank you my queen for making all my dreams come true.” I told her. Because that is what she did. Lexi gives me a sleepy smile. “ Thank you, my kings.” 

Luther and Val take a turn kissing her and telling her how happy she has made them. Val is full on crying. He never thought he would be able to father children. For vampires it is supposed to be impossible. The three of us curl around Lexi the best we can in the small bed. We all want to touch her. Hold her. The nurses step up to the bed. Each holding a swaddled baby. “ My queen. My kings.” The say. The nurse that took the first baby gently places the baby in Lexi’s arms. “ Hi, Andros. I’m your momma. These guys you see around me are your dads.” Lexi tells him. 

Then I see Arya push forward to have a look at her pup. I let Stone do the same. I see Diesel come forward. This will do for now. They will want to shift later to spend time with the babies. “ My pup. My son.” Stone says with pride. Not that I blame him. The second nurse places our other son in Lexi’s other arm. “ Happy birthday, Artio.” Arya and Lexi say. “ Here is your little princess.” the last nurse says. With some careful moving around the nurse was able to place our daughter in Lexi’s arms. “ Hi, Artemis.” 

Lexi kisses each baby on the top of their heads then looks at us with a watery smile. “ Look at what we did. They are perfect.” she says. “ Just like their mom.” Luther told her. Val and I agreed with him. Lexi giggles at that. She then looks at Cantor “ And they are healthy?” “ We will take them for a full screening and a bath in just a few minutes. However, from what I have seen so far. I believe they are perfectly healthy even though they were born early.” he said.

That’s a relief to know. I look down at our babies who are resting comfortably in Lexi’s arms. It hit home. I’m a dad. To three babies. Wow. My wonderful mate has made all my dreams come true. “ My loves, before they take the babies away for their first bath I think they need to meet their dads first.” Lexi says as she looks at us. 

Luther steps up first and takes Andros. I take Artio. Val takes Artemis. I swear Luther and Val melt. I know I did. My life is complete.  Artio opens his eyes and looks at me as I hold him to my chest. His eyes are definitely from Lexi. They glow aqua marine. Just like Lexi’s does. Stone nudges me and I pull back to let him meet him pup. I know we will have to shift soon so he can get to meet them close up but this will do for now. 

“ He is perfect. Thank you my mate.” Stone told Arya. “ You know, I thought I was used to the glowing thing with Lexi. But seeing it the kids is definitely different.” Val says. Lexi giggles.   I look up and can see the other kids’ eyes are glowing too. “ This is definitely in the top five best days of my life.” Luther says. “ Top five?” Lexi asks. “ The day I met you.agreed to be my mate. The day you  The day I mated you. Your Luna ceremony. And now.” I couldn’t agree more with what he said. Every day with Lexi is great so I don’t have a list but if I did the ones Luther said would definitely be on the list.

We bonded with the baby we had before the nurses took them away for their check-up and bath. We noticed Lexi was getting sleepy so we let her rest while we gave everyone an update.