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“You’re already seven centimeters dilated,” the nurse chirped.

“Seven?” I exclaimed. How on earth could I be so dilated? Sure, the contractions were hurting, but notthatmuch.

The nurse nodded, taking off her gloves. “Let’s get you in a labor gown and into a delivery room. It won’t be long until you’re meeting your baby.”

Cullen came sprinting into the room, his hair a mess. “Did I miss it?”

Gideon shook his head. “Not yet. Get your ass in here.”

Cullen strode over to me, pulling me in and kissing the top of my head. “How are you feeling?”

I bit my lip. “I’ve felt better, but evicting a baby isn’t exactly a walk in the park.”

All three of my alphas settled around my bed, Gideon sitting behind me, lightly massaging my back while Cullen sat at the foot of my bed, rubbing my feet periodically. Jensen sat next to me, holding my hand, reassuring me that everything was going amazingly.

“We still haven’t decided on names!” I groaned.

“That’s something we can worry about once the baby is here safely,” Gideon assured me. “I still love the name Ethel.”

“I vetoed that one!” Cullen cried. “It sounds like an old lady.”

I happened to disagree and quite liked the name, but I wasn’t going to choose a name that any of my alphas didn’t like. I was gaining a newfound appreciation for packs that named children because it wasn’t just two people with opinions trying to name a child.

Still, I couldn’t help proclaiming, “It’s a beautiful name!”

“It sounds like a grandma. I want my child to have a name that works for both a babyandan adult.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at that. “Cullen, you named your daughter Joey. Yourdaughter.”

Cullen grinned. “And it’s an adorable name! She can go by Josephine when she’s an adult.”

Shaking my head, I cocked an eyebrow at him. “If you think that little girl is ever going from Joey to Josephine, then you need your head examined.”

“I still think classic is best,” Jensen said.

Right as I opened my mouth to answer, a particularly violent contraction hit, making me bend with the sheer pain of it.

“Holy fuck! How do women go through this multiple times?”

“We are suffering right here with you,” Jensen assured me.

My head whipped around to meet his eyes, and my anger at his words must have been evident because he shrank back a bit, a sheepish smile on his face. “I just mean, through the bond…”

Gideon laughed, still massaging my lower back. “We can feel the tiniest fraction of her pain. You are a doctor and should know that.”

Jensen grimaced. “Yeah, my bad. You can punch Cullen in the balls, if that helps?”

“Hey, why are my balls being volunteered when you’re the one being an idiot?” Cullen asked.

“I think we all need to stop bickering and focus on Bethany,” Gideon said.

“It’s a nice distraction, actually,” I admitted.

Gideon wrapped his arm around me, pulling my back flush with his chest. I instinctually snuggled into him, letting his familiar papery scent wash over me. There was something about huffing his scent that made the pain a little less intense.

“I swear your scent is crack,” I muttered, craning my head to get a better sniff.

“Alpha biology—our scents can help lessen the pain,” Gideon murmured, resting his chin on top of my head.