Page 233 of Fall Before Her Throne

“Oooo.” I reached for a few dates he’d put on the plate. They weren’t my favorite thing ever, but they were beneficial leading up to labor. Then, I grabbed a couple of Oreos. Just as a treat.

Max grabbed one from my hand. “You should eat healthy food.”

I scoffed, popping an entire Oreo into my mouth. “Are you really trying to tell a nine-month-pregnant woman what she can or cannot eat? The mother of your children, no less?”

He stared at me for a second while chewing his own cookie. “Nope.”

“Didn’t think so.” I settled back into my chair with my plate of snacks balancing on my tummy. We watched the kids playing. Max’s hand reached over to entwine with mine.

“Our summers used to be like this,” he said.

Cas and Nico splashed around until a little too much water landed in Rin’s face. Nico was the first to scoop her into his arms and comfort his little sister. While Nico tossed her into the air and got her to laugh again, Ryu pulled Cas in close for a kiss. Cas squeezed Ryu’s ass when he thought the kids weren’t looking, but I saw Nico gag and scowl. I giggled into my little plate of snacks, joy bubbling up inside my chest right next to the crippling heartburn.

I loved my men, and I loved that they loved each other, too. This was the perfect version of our family. I wouldn’t ask for anything to be different.

“Not exactly like this,” I said with a laugh.

Max grinned. “I guess not.”

“But I know what you meant,” I added with a sigh. “Safety. Family. Fun. Your dad would have loved this.”

Max nodded. “He’d be the first one down the slip and slide.”

Little Massimo tumbled inside my stomach again, and I held back a grimace. “Your son feels like he’ll be the same.”

He went quiet, grabbing another Oreo off my plate. A few minutes of gentle peace passed.

“Thank you, Leona,” he said, breaking the silence.

I gave him a funny look. “For what?”

He smiled, his grey eyes crinkling. “Everything.”

I matched his smile with a crooked one of my own. “Thank me again once I push this baby out—” I sucked in a breath when a contraction laced through my stomach. This one was fucking strong. My eyes squeezed shut while the pain rippled and everything went tight. When I opened them up again, Max was standing.

“That was a bad one.”

“I’m fine,” I said, taking a deep breath.

Obi was by my side in an instant. “Dear one…”

“I said I’m fine,” I replied. Obi became so overbearing whenever I was near labor. “Seriously⁠—”

Another contraction stole my breath. Fuck, fuck, fuck. My heart pounded in my chest, and it took all my effort to focus on my breathing until it passed.

“Yeah, that was a big one,” I said, smiling up at Max and Obi. I’d been through this enough times now to know when it was time. “Who’s ready to go to the hospital?”

Wynn carried over our duffel bags, holding them up. “Let’s go, darling.”

When I’d first gotten pregnant with Nico, Obi had purchased multiple hospitals and dumped millions of dollars into making sure they had top of the line equipment and doctors. He’d wanted to keep them private, for my use, but I told him that was absolutely ridiculous. People needed healthcare, obviously, so he’d instead opened the hospitals as donor-funded and completely free. We were the donors, but nobody needed to know that.

After that, Obi had purchased a private clinic which he kept staffed 24/7 for our family emergencies—which were still more frequent than many of us would have liked. Life in the mafia had definitely calmed down since our younger years, but it was still dangerous.

Willow had trained the doctors at our private clinic, and they were all family friends. We certainly saw them often enough. Obi had my OB/GYN meet us at the entrance to the clinic. He, Max, and Wynn had come with me while Cas, Ryu, and Ciel stayed home with the kids. They’d join us later.

“I’ve got the water running, darling,” Wynn said as Obi and Max helped me hobble into the hospital room while the nurses started taking my vitals. Birth was never easy, but hot water was my favorite way to labor. The shower water running in the background was already relaxing.

Obi and Max talked to our nurses while Wynn got me ready to strip. This part was all about tuning everything else out. My body and my brain sank into now-familiar patterns, but there was always a moment of fear and uncertainty.