Page 121 of Glitterati Omega

“’Xcuse me?” Morgan asked.

“What’s messed up?” Rupert asked between breaths, then cried out.

“Just breathe,” Latisha instructed. “You’re doing fine.”

Rupert gritted his teeth and glared, then cried out again. Morgan and Mama stopped arguing long enough for Morgan to snap on their gloves and peer underneath the sheets. “’Kay,” they said, “you need to stop pushing.”

“What?!” Rupert barked, twisting the sheets between his hands. Every cell in his body was screaming at himtopush.

Morgan shook their head. “Just hang on.”

Rupert stared at them as the next contraction broke over him. He screamed, because he didn’t know what else to do. He wanted to push, but Morgan said not to.

“Hey,” Morgan said, “stop it. Just calm down.”

“You calm down!” Rupert sobbed. There was no space between contractions now, just constant pain.

He barely felt Morgan’s hands on him. Then he heard himself yelling, “Don’t cut me open, don’t you fucking cut me open, Morgan, I swear, I’ll—”

“Now you can push,” Morgan said, backing away.

Rupert glanced around, then cried, “Where’s Winston?”

“Not here,” Mama Thandiwe answered.

Rupert shook his head. “I want Winston.”

“He is an alpha, he can’t be in here.”

“Where is Winston, I want Winston, I want my alpha!” Rupert’s throat was raw, but he couldn’t help the yelling. He screamed until his lungs hurt.

Someone scuttled out of the room. “Just relax,” Latisha instructed.

“You want some drugs?” Morgan asked.

“No,” Mama Thandiwe snapped.

Rupert sobbed instead. “I want—I want—”

“You can’t be in here!” Mama cried suddenly.

“Winston can so be in here,” Morgan countered.

Morgan and Mama were now in a stand-off, glaring at each other, which gave Winston the opening to make his way to the bed. He skidded to his knees and grabbed Rupert’s hand. “Roo.” He sounded so desperate; his gaze was frantic. “Love, I’m here, I am right here with you, I—”

“Oh, shut up!” Rupert spat, before opening his mouth around a silent scream that stretched longer and longer and longer until—

“Here’s baby number one,” Latisha called, and there was a short, startled cry from the infant that she hefted in her arms.

Rupert gasped for breath as the pain released, then clamped right back on. He was stretched too wide, splitting in half; his body wanted to collapse into itself but it was being pushed apart again. He panted, then started to hyperventilate.

“No, goose,” Mama said, “don’t do that.”

“Breathe, Roo.” Winston gripped his hand tighter. “Just breathe, Roo, please.”

He clenched his teeth together and whined, high and tight, wound with all the pain, all the pressure searing through him.

“Baby two,” Morgan announced, and Rupert shoved back from Winston, pushing himself hard against the pillows and forcing himself to breathe. He stared at Winston, who stared back.