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Oryn returned with an armful of towels and a bucket of what I imagined was hot water. He’d paid the closest attention to the instructions from the nurse on what to do when laborhit.
“Let’s get her on the bed,” hesaid.
Together, they guided me onto the mattress as Nero rushed into theroom.
“The nurse iscoming.”
Catching my breath as another contraction eased, I panted. Oryn patted my brow with a moisttowel.
“Looks like we’re about to have a baby,” I said. And around me all three men stared at me with awe in their eyes, and considering this was a first for me, I couldn’t be happier to share this experience withthem.
When the next contraction came faster and more intense, I screamed. “Fuck! I think it’s happening.” I was being ripped apart starting at my groin and radiating to every fiber of mybeing.
All three men jumped about, dashing in every direction as if lost, and at one moment, they all ran out of the room. I couldn’t help but laugh in between the cries of pain. Even breathing was difficult, and I panted through the contractions like the midwife had told me. The muscles in my womb cramped down so hard I couldn’t do anything. Everything in me pushed down to my cervix, the pressure heightening like I was going to burstapart.
Heavens, this was reallyhappening.
* * *
For the firsttime since giving birth, I’d left the Den, and returning to Terra brought back familiar memories, both scary andcomforting.
The moment I stepped into a refurbished Get Your Herb On, I gasped with excitement and clapped. There was a counter in an L-shape with a new section dedicated to taste-testing as two jugs sat there with multiple cups. The shelves on the back wall had a mirrored wall behind them, giving the whole place a bigger appearance. To my right stood a display cabinet stuffed with ceramic teapots. They had to have been imported from other realms. And nearby was a small, round table with four seats. Was that for serving customers tea? What a fabulousidea.
Oryn brushed past my elbow. “What do youthink?”
“I can’t believe how incredible this is.” I turned to face him, cradling our little Alexy, Oryn’s pinky finger in her mouth as she suckled it. At just one month old, she already sported a full head of dark hair, and she had the brightest blueeyes.
“Did you see that?” He pointed his chin to the wall behind me. I stepped deeper into the shop and turned around. Between the windows stood my painting of Grandma in thewoods.
My throat thickened, and I wiped my eyes. “I don’t even know what tosay.”
Dagen entered the store, holding our second joy in his arms, Jay, named after Dagen’s brother. That little boy slept through anything and sometimes the hardest part was waking him up toeat.
“Have you checked behind the counter? I built something foryou.”
“Oh.” I hurried back there and found a set of three long drawers built into the counter. I pulled out one and inside lay at least two dozen compartments, each labeled with various herbs, ready and waiting to befilled.
Dagen was next to me. “I found an herb book and tried to add as many of them as I couldfind.
“This is fantastic.” I leaned against his side and stole a kiss before placing a peck on Jay’sforehead.
“Hey, don’t forget to look in the storage room. I had a hand in this too,” Nero said, holding our third munchkin, blowing her raspberries. We’d called her Autumn after my grandma, and I swore when she looked at me, I saw an old soul in her eyes. She rarely cried and laughed more thananything.
Within such a small space of time, I’d gone from being alone and losing everything to gaining a family. Now, there were seven of us. I adored every single one, and I doubted our lives would ever be the sameagain.
“I love you all so much,” I said, pressing my palms to my heart, my eyes watering. “You don’t understand how much this means tome.”
“Oh, we know,” Nero teased. “Now check out the rearroom.”
“Okay, okay.” I strode to the back, unable to believe this place was mine, or how handy my men were. I pushed open the door to a darkened room, and the moment I stepped inside, Bee leaped out from behind thedoor.
I yelped, my heart soaring into my throat. “Oh,crap.”
“Surprise.” She jumped into my arms, driving us both backward. “Girl, did you think you’d keep me away from seeing you little ones?” Bee broke free and stared at me. “Wow. You’re a mom. I still can’t believeit.”
“How long have you been hiding?” To see her after worried she’d gone missing in the mountains eased my concern. She’d tell me what was going on when she was ready, so I turned to the men. “Did you organize all ofthis?”
Nero chuckled, and Bee darted to his side, stealing Autumn into her arms before breaking into babytalk.
