Page 58

“Everything looks good here,” Dr. King said. “The placenta was in one piece, it came out without any issue, and the omega line actually started closing on its own. I did give it a bit of magic to help it along, just because you didn’t spend very long contracting, and I didn’t want it to remain open for longer than necessary.”

“Thank you, Dr. King.”

“Of course. Vaughn, if you would like to help Lewis to sit up a bit more, but not too high, I think it’s time for the two of you to meet your daughter.”

I smiled at my mate, and he carefully helped me move into a more upright position. I had a couple of pillows behind me now, and I was in the perfect reclining position to finally see around the room. Dr. King carefully picked up Elowen and then moved closer. “Who would like her first?”

“Lewis,” Vaughn said as I pointed to him. “Lewis carried her, and he’s the one who has had to go through so much more than me.”

“But you were so supportive,” I said in response.

“All right, so to Lewis she goes,” Dr. King said. Vaughn stepped back, allowing Dr. King room to hand the baby to me. I’d held Cooper many times when he was a baby, and we’d actually visited Beau just last week, and I’d gotten to hold Dean.

“Oh, she’s so much smaller than Dean. He feels heavier and longer.”

“She is,” Dr. King said. “Dean was close to two pounds heavier than her when he was born. Your little girl there is nineteen inches long even and weighs six pounds and nine ounces. She’s a perfectly healthy size for a little fae girl.”

I grinned down at Elowen. She had a head full of dark hair, and I sighed. “She has Vaughn’s hair, obviously,” I said. She opened her eyes, and my smile widened. “And my eyes and nose.” I reached out and gently touched her cheek. “And of course, my ears. Yes you do, little miss.” I sighed before I looked up at Vaughn. “She’s perfect,” I said to my mate.

“Of course she is, little mate. She’s part you, and you are amazing and perfect.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not, but my baby girl is,” I said as I looked down at our daughter again. “I already love her. She’s so precious.”

I heard Dr. King and Vaughn talking while I sat there and stared at the baby. She was beautiful. She was the perfect combination of me and Vaughn, with my features but Vaughn’s hair, and it looked like his darker skin tone as well. I heard what sounded like a phone camera, and when I looked up, I found Vaughn holding his phone up as I sat there looking down at the baby.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “Did Dr. King leave already?”

“I’m taking a picture to send to your brothers, and Dr. King is just downstairs. He’s going to fill out the paperwork for her registration with the council. He’ll be in to check on you and Elowen before he leaves.”

I smiled again. I couldn’t seem to do anything but smile. “Do you want to hold her? I’ve been hogging her.”

“I’ll hold her in just a bit,” Vaughn said. “I love seeing you with her in your arms. You should see how beautiful the two of you look.” Vaughn sat back on the bed beside me and showed me the picture he’d taken. Actually, it was several, and my eyes started to get watery as he thumbed through them to show me.

“It was such a horrible start to the labor,” I said, suddenly crying in earnest.

“Oh, cutie, don’t cry,” Vaughn said. “It happens, and I don’t love you any less because you got sick again. I’ve always taken care of you when you were sick, and I’ll do it again and again if that’s the case with the next pregnancy. It’s part of it.” Vaughn rubbed my back before he pulled me close to his side. “I love you more than anything, and that’s not going to change just because you got sick at the beginning of your labor.”

“I don’t even know why I got sick,” I said.

“Dr. King said most likely because your omega line opened quickly, and you were hit with a sudden and intense pain. That can cause vomiting, and it’s perfectly normal.” Vaughn moved enough to make eye contact. “How are you feeling? Any better?”

I took the tissue he somehow had and wiped my eyes with my left hand. “Yeah, but I’m still numb from the waist down.”

“You will be for a bit longer. You were so into Elowen that you didn’t notice Dr. King using magic to start decreasing the blocker. He said it should be completely worn off within an hour. You’re not to stand until you can move your legs and can feel them completely.”

I nodded. “I don’t see me as needing to get up for any reason.” I tossed the tissue toward my knees and moved Elowen toward Vaughn. “You need to hold your daughter though,” I said. “And are you going to send your family the message too? They should know she’s been born, shouldn’t they?”

Vaughn sighed. “I can, but not if you insist that I hold the baby.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled her back to me and cuddled her against my chest. “Fine. I’ll hold her; you send the messages out to everyone.” I wasn’t actually upset that he wanted me to hold her longer. I knew we were both going to have plenty of opportunities to cuddle with our little miss.

“Here’s Evan’s response,” Vaughn said, holding the phone out for me to see.

Evan: She’s adorable. Congratulations to both of you, but especially Lewis since he did all of the work.

I laughed at that. “I’m sure Beau is busy, and I don’t expect him to respond anytime soon.”

“He does have a two-week-old and a toddler.”