Lily
A few days after our visit to the school, I’m sleeping peacefully in my bed when a voice in my head causes me to stir.
'Luna?' It questions. "Luna?!' It says louder and I groan. 'Luna are you there?' I recognize the voice as Dr. Sommers from the pack hospital.
'Dr. Sommers?' I question groggily.
'Yes, Luna. I’m sorry to wake you up, but there’s a situation with a mom in labor. Could you come to the pack hospital? I think she could really use your help.'
'Sure, I’ll be there as quickly as I can.' I respond.
I push myself out of bed and into the closet to dress when I feel around with my spidey senses to see if Liam’s here. I don’t feel him at the house, so I check my alarm clock. It’s one in the morning. Where on earth is he? Well, if he doesn’t feel the need to make me aware of his whereabouts at this God-awful hour, I’ll return the favor.
Luckily the pack hospital is only a few minutes’ walk away from Liam’s house (as I still refer to it even though I know it pisses him off) so I walk quickly. Partly because I want to get to the mama to help as quickly as possible and mainly because it’s fucking creepy out here at night.
I enter the hospital and mind link Dr. Sommers again. ‘What room, Doctor?’
‘Birthing room three.’ She responds.
I find the room quickly as I have become familiar with the pack hospital. It’s the one place I can go that makes me somewhat feel like my old life again. I knock on the door and hear a strained “come in” so I push open the door. On the bed, I see a young woman, maybe mid-twenties with long brown hair, brown eyes and a swollen belly. Her face is taut in a grimace of pain and she’s holding hands with a man also in his mid-twenties with sandy brown hair and hazel eyes who has a look of absolute terror on his face. Dr. Sommers, the older woman with brown hair fading into grey is sitting on a stool in front of the woman’s spread legs wearing a white coat with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows over her navy blue scrubs. The little blue booties covering her shoes are a signal to me that she expects the baby to be born soon.
"Luna!" The mom sounds exhausted, but excited to see me. I give her a reassuring smile and go to her side to hold her hand.
"Hi there. What's your name?"
"Hailey." She answers. I squeeze her hand to give her some encouragement and try to send as many calming waves to her as possible. Her rigid body relaxes a little and she takes a deep breath.
"Well, Hailey. How about we get that pup out of you?"
"Yes, please!" She shouts as another contraction shows on the monitor.
"Don't push yet, Hailey." Dr. Sommers says. I can tell by the monitor that Hailey's heart rate is very high and the baby's heart rate isn't returning to normal after the contraction as quickly as it should.
'What's going on?' I ask Dr. Sommers in the mind link so as not to concern Hailey.
'I'm not sure. The pup was descending well and seemed to be progressing normally and then she stalled. It's possible the baby is in some kind of breech position making it difficult for her to travel down the birth canal.' I nod and look back to Hailey who is drenched in sweat and grimacing in pain.
"And dad, what's your name?"
"Jake." He croaks out with wide eyes, obviously freaked out by the situation.
"Jake! That's our Luna! Show some more respect!" Hailey hisses at him through clenched teeth. I chuckle a little and pat her hand
"It's ok. First time dad I'm guessing?" He nods and looks at me with pleading eyes.
"Don't worry, we'll take good care of them both."
I sit with Hailey and Jake for another two hours, sending the anxious dad to fetch cool washcloths and glasses of crushed ice when his anxiety gets to be too much. Dr. Sommers continues to monitor the baby closely, but doesn't seem happy with the progress. I feel almost completely useless. There's really nothing we can do but wait. I rub Hailey's shoulders and remind her to relax in between contractions as much as she can. Even though I've never had a baby, I know that's easier said than done.
As it nears four in the morning, Dr. Sommers decides to have Hailey try pushing. She has resumed her place on the stool and is counting down for Hailey while I remind her to breathe.
"One, two, three PUSH!" Hailey screams in agony as both Jake and I hold her hand.
"You're doing so good, doll. I'm so proud of you." Jake murmurs in her ear while I continue to push as much calm towards her as I can.
All of a sudden I feel Liam's presence in the building. My heart leaps a little but I ignore it. I'm a little busy at the moment.
"I'm going to grab a new fetal monitor, this one isn't sticking well anymore." Dr. Sommers says as she exits the room. Hailey's legs are still in the stirrups and she tilts her head back and starts to cry.
"Hey, hey mama everything is gonna be just fine. We just need you to stay strong for a little longer." She nods and chokes back a sob as I get distracted by Liam's presence again. He's getting closer.
Not two minutes later I hear an enraged "LILY?!" Out in the hallway. Before I can stop him he opens the door and his eyes lock on me.
"Lily, where in the hell have you..." Then his eyes travel to the situation in the room, particularly Hailey's widespread legs.
He jerks his head up and points his eyes at the ceiling, which is unfortunate because I'm throwing a glare at him that could kill.
"Oh my God I'm so sorry." He mutters.
"GET. OUT. LIAM!" I scream at him and he retreats like a dog with his tail between his legs.
"Oh my God!" Hailey sobs. "Did the Alpha just see my vagina?!"
"No, sweetie no the sheet was covering you."
It wasn't.
Liam got the full frontal view.
But I'll never admit that to her.
"Oh thank God." She sighs in relief.
'What the hell are you doing?!' I shout at Liam in our mind link.
'I fell asleep at my desk and when I came home I couldn't find you. I tried to mind link you but you have everyone blocked. Sam didn't know where you were either so I panicked and started wandering around the pack until I felt you. You could have left me a fucking note or something!'
'Well it was one in the morning and you hadn't bothered to come home or tell me where you were so I figured I wouldn't bother to tell you. And I didn't realize I had a block up. I don't even know how to do that.'
'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep. You probably but a block up unknowingly. It seems like a... tense situation in there.'
'It is. And I told her you didn't see anything of importance and you're going to back me up on that.'
'Yes ma'am' he responds. I sigh and look down at Hailey.
'I don't know how much longer I'll be, you can go back to the house.'
'No, I'll wait. I don't like you out and about the pack at this time of night by yourself.'
His concern is touching for a moment until I remember that it is probably just his wolf pushing him to feel that way.
Dr. Sommers comes back into the room and hooks up the new monitor. It doesn't look good. The baby's heart rate is all over the place. She looks over at me and I nod my head that I'm seeing the same thing.
"OK, we're gonna watch her for a little bit longer and see how things go. No more pushing for now." Hailey groans in frustration and I can't blame her. I'd want that kid out too if it were me.
I can feel Liam's anxiety in the hallway as he paces back and forth.
'Sit down. Your pacing is making me anxious and I'm the only thing keeping this woman from losing her shit.' I tell him in our mind link. His pacing stops immediately.
'I'm sorry I'm just worried. I can't imagine how that poor dad feels if just standing out here is this stressful.' I chuckle a little and both Hailey and Jake look at me like there is absolutely no reason for me to be laughing right now.
"Your alpha isn't used to child birth. He's very anxious right now." They both smile a little and nod.
Dr. Sommers comes back into the room and looks at the newest strip for the baby's heart rate.
"I'm sorry guys, but we need to do a c section. The baby's heart rate is dropping and I don't think you can deliver vaginally safely." Hailey looks at me with wide terrified eyes, and I grab her hand tightly.
"It's ok. This is safest for you and the baby. You'll be meeting your little girl soon." I give them both a reassuring smile as nurses come in to prepare her for transport to the operating room. I walk with her gurney down the hallway past Liam who stands and gives me a concerned look as we pass.
"What's going on?" He asks.
"C section." I yell back as we pass him.
I help Jake put on his gown, cap and gloves before putting my own on and entering the operating suite. They have already started the procedure as I make my way to Hailey's head. She looks from me to Jake and we both put a gloved hand on her shoulder. Another couple of minutes and a sweet cry rings out as a little ball of pink goo is lifted over the sheet separating Hailey from her lower body.
"Say hello to your baby girl!" Dr. Sommers says smiling. Hailey and Jake both let out grateful, relieved laughs as they swaddle the baby and hand her to her dad.
He looks down at her with love and absolute devotion and it is the most precious thing. Tears gather in his eyes as he looks at me.
"Would you like to hold her, Luna?" He asks.
"I would love to, but you let mama go first." I say. Hailey shakes her head.
"I'll be in no shape to hold her for awhile, you go ahead." I nod and take the little bundle from her dad. I stare down at the sleeping angel, a dark smattering of hair across her tiny head. I know she's fresh and hasn't had a bath yet, but I can't stop myself from leaning down and nuzzling her precious little cheek. This sweet girl has me wrapped around her finger already.
"She's perfect." I smile at her parents. "What's her name?" I ask. They give each other knowing looks and look back at me.
"Lily." They respond. I can't stop the sob that escapes me.
"Thank you." I say quietly as I stare at her some more.
After Hailey and little Lily are settled back in their room I go back out to where Liam is waiting.
"How'd it go? Is everything alright?" He asks. I give him a tired smile before responding.
"It's perfect."