Page 27 of Christmas Kane

With his tight grip on my hand and the way his forehead creased, I could tell that my mate had a hard time holding back the urge to push. His resistance made me admire him even more. I understood it was painful to have a baby, but I didn’t realize how strong omegas and women were to go through the process. Seeing it happen brought a whole new understanding and appreciation.

“The head is crowning,” the doctor announced after a couple more contractions. “Careful. Control yourself. Not so hard.”

With the sneer Kane made as he bared his teeth, I expected him to tell the doctor off, but he squeezed my hand again instead.

“Okay, good.” The doctor gave a silent nod to the nurse. “We’re almost there. Just a couple more contractions and you’ll be able to hold your baby.”

With the next contraction, our baby’s head came out.

With the one after that, our baby was fully born.

“It’s a boy.” The doctor laid the tiny, slimy body on Kane’s chest. Then he busied himself in between Kane’s legs. I didn’t know whether to keep an eye on him or to watch the nurse as she scrubbed the little wonder and made him cry.

In the days before his due date, Kane had told me to go wherever the baby went and not to worry about him. I followed those instructions and stood by our son as the nurse took him, weighing him and doing other tests that I’d read were all part of the process.

Within an hour, we were left by ourselves with our new baby. A little boy with a wrinkly red face and dark, fuzzy hair, swaddled in a tight blanket.

With a soft smile and tired eyes, Kane held our bundle of joy against his chest. “We did this.”

I ran my fingers across his forehead. “I can only take credit for the beginning. You did all the rest.”

“Yes, but I know you’re going to be a good dad.” He reached for my hand. “Why don’t you hold him for a bit. I think I need a nap.”

I’d never held a baby before, but Janice had brought in a doll to work to teach me how to properly pick up and hold a newborn. I appreciated the help since my own parents weren’t around to give me guidance. Once thing I did know was that I wanted to be in our child’s life. Every part of it. I never wanted to be absent or too busy for him. I understood some of that came with privilege,but I refused to waste it. I had a mate and a baby, and they were my life.

Chapter Nineteen

Kane

“This is Joel.” I held my son, all bundled in his tiny snowsuit, while sitting on the marble bench alongside his grandmother’s grave. It was Christmas Day and the first time we’d brought our son with us to the cemetery. Desmond usually visited once a week, while Joel and I stayed home where it was warm.

On our way to my parents’ house for another festive dinner, Desmond had asked if we could stop to visit his mother on our way.

“I told you he was cute.” My mate sat beside me and wrapped his arm around my back. “It will be a while before we know what kind of shifter he will be, but I’m sure he’ll be a reindeer. He’s got that on both sides of his family.”

I wasn’t as sure as Desmond, but since he had two reindeer shifter grandparents, one on each side, the odds were slightly greater than him being a wolf or an arctic fox like my father. We would have to wait and see on the day of his first change.

“It’s another Christmas without you, Mom.” He leaned down to brush away the frosted leaves that had gathered in front of the tombstone. “I still miss you so much. This year is easier though, with Kane and baby Joel. Thank you for bringing them to me.”

I knew Desmond talked to his mother as part of his healing, but I didn’t realize he believed his mother had brought us together. Perhaps she did. I’d attributed it to Fate. Maybe their energies had worked together. Either way, I was so happy with my little family. My mate had taken three weeks off to be with me before returning to work for only a couple days before Christmas. In that time, he’d traded off with me on feedings, diaper duty, sleeping, and so much more. He often said how he wanted to be there for everything his own father had missed with him. I didn’t doubt him for one second.

On top of that, he still looked at me as if I was the most beautiful person in the world. Even on my worst days when we’d both barely slept, and I had some kind of baby waste on me. I loved him more than I ever thought possible, and I was so glad he showed up to the Good Neighbor House that day and never gave up on me after I’d brushed off his flirtations.

“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Banks.” Getting close to Joel’s next feeding time, we decided to head to my parents’. “We’ll see you again.”

“Merry Christmas, Mom.” Desmond blew a kiss toward the grave.

Just then, a light twinkling of snow floated down from the sky, sparkling as it reflected the light.

Desmond smiled as he looked to the sky and held out his hands. “I love you, too.” As we walked back to the car, he held our son against his chest and hummed a song he’d said his mother used to sing to him when he was little.

Last Christmas, I never expected to be so close to having a family with Desmond. I simply wanted to share my family with him because he didn’t have anyone to spend the holidays with. This year, we ended up busy with all kinds of requests to visit family and friends over the holidays. Especially since we’d spent the Harvest Celebration in the hospital. We were going to Desmond’s grandparents’ home tomorrow for his family dinner. Plus, Janice had requested we come over so she could see Joel. All this meant zero prep time for me. No one expected us to bring anything except ourselves. I simply had to make sure I had enough baby supplies, and we were set.

It was the second Christmas I would never forget. All because an employee from Adan Records decided to pet me while I was in my reindeer form. Something I would never let him live down.