Page 240 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

The room slowly comes back into focus. The low golden lights. The pale walls of the private birthing suite. The medical equipment arranged nearby, and the chair in the corner where Jayce had refused to sit for more than a few minutes since we arrived.

Beyond the closed door, most of our family is waiting. My parents, Uncle Liam, Jaddati, his grandparents, his siblings, Allie, Heaven, Aunty Ri, Aunty Kiara, Grandpa Al, Azura – they’re all here.

“Can they not just use magic?” Jayce asks the midwife for what must be the fourth time. He already asked me this before…

She gives him the same calm look she gave him the previous three times. “The baby is doing well, and Luna Sienna’s body is progressing naturally. She’s going to be fine.”

His jaw clenches. He doesn’t like the answer, but he nods.

I rest my head back against him, closing my eyes as his hand moves over my stomach. Our son shifts beneath his palm, and the movement sends a different kind of ache through my chest.

Our son.

For months, I’ve felt him grow inside me. I’ve listened to his heartbeat, watched him move on the scans and spent far too many nights wondering whose eyes he’ll have, whether he’ll inherit Jayce’s control or my stubbornness, and what kind of powers he might possess with our combined blood.

And to think very soon he’s going to be here. A real little person.

Ours to love.

Ours to protect.

I hope I can be a good mother… I whisper through the bond as I turn my head and look at him.

His expression softens as he brushes his thumb along my arm.

“You’re going to be an incredible mother,” he answers without hesitation. “Just like Mom was.”

I look up at him, seeing the shadow of the boy who lost his mother, of the man who still carries that loss no matter how much time has passed.

He looks away for a moment, blinking hard before his gaze returns to mine.

“I can only strive to be as good as Mama Raven,” I say softly as another contraction begins. He doesn’t reply, kissing my shoulder tenderly.

I barely have time to draw a breath before it consumes me. The midwife checks me again before looking up at us.

“It’s time.”

My heart thunders, and Jayce’s arms tighten around me.

We both know what that means. My nerves are sky-high as I continue focusing on my breathing.

The midwife moves to the end of the bed, calmly giving instructions whilst Jayce helps reposition me. He doesn’t move away when he’s asked, remaining beside me with one hand locked around mine and the other supporting my back.

“When the next contraction comes, Luna, I need you to push.”

I nod as the pain builds again.

“Now,” the midwife orders. “Push.”

I push with everything I have, a scream tearing from me as the pressure becomes unbearable.

“Push,” the midwife says.

“I am!” I gasp, drawing on every ounce of strength left inside me. Jayce braces me against him, whispering encouragement through the mind-link when his spoken words are lost beneath the sound of my cries.

That’s it. I’ve got you.

The pressure burns through me.