Page 30 of His Pretty Omega (Sweet Alps Mates #7)

Chapter Twenty-One

Seth

Surprisingly, I did manage to doze between the contractions for another two hours.

Finally, the back labor made me groan out loud, and I told Alex it was time to fill the tub. I was hoping floating in the soothing water would ease the pain in my back some.

My contractions were about seven minutes apart now but lasting the same amount of time as they had been. The pain was at about a six on the pain scale.

But because of the back labor, I couldn’t even lie on my back, which was why I couldn’t wait to get into the birthing tub.

It took another forty-five minutes or so for the tub to be filled and heated to the correct temperature.

Alex kept checking it like his life depended on the temperature not going over the recommended range of ninety-seven to one hundred degrees Fahrenheit.

“It’s ninety-eight,” he called over his shoulder, and I nodded, pacing the length of the bedroom, my hands pushed into my lower back.

“Let me text Bennett and then you can help me in.”

Shooting off a quick text to my bestie to let him know all the things were happening today, I shuffled over to the tub Alex had set up in a corner of the room.

He had cleared out a spot weeks ago in preparation, going so far as to even get his measuring tape out and plotting it all out. Which had been super cute. Alex made one hell of a sexy handyman. Well, handyman wannabe, because honestly, he wasn’t all that handy when it came to things like that.

But he knew how to dial and call someone to get things done like a pro. Which was just as sexy in my book.

My phone dinged with an incoming text. It was barely six a.m., but I knew Bennett was likely up with baby Brodie. At just barely eight months old, Brodie wasn’t sleeping through the night yet.

Bennett: OMG FINALLY! I thought you were just going to be pregnant forever! Let me get things settled here and I’ll be over. I’m so excited! But hey, at least it’s Saturday. That kid may be late, but it’s convenient for me. LOL

Me: No rush, B. I’m getting in the tub now. This back labor is a bitch! I’ll tell Alex to unlock the door for you.

Bennett: Love you, Sethy!

Me: Love you, B! Can you believe I’m about to have a baby? A baby! Me! Who would have thought?

Bennett: You’re going to be a fantastic dad, Seth. *Heart emoji*

Me: *heart emoji* *crying emoji*

Alex was watching me as I sat my phone down, a frown on his face. “Everything okay?”

Nodding, I gave him a trembling smile, and I knew from the heat behind my eyes they were glistening with tears. I wasn’t sure I could put into words all I was feeling in that moment, or just how much Bennett’s faith in my ability to be a good parent meant to me.

Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I held onto his arms as I put a foot over the edge of the rubber pool .

“Bennett’s going to get the kids and Shay taken care of and be over. Can you make sure the door is unlocked for him?”

Once I was settled into the blissful water, he kissed the top of my messy hair. “I’ll do it now, so I don’t forget. Okay here for a minute?”

“Yeah,” I whispered, “I’m good. This feels amazing. Just what my back needed.”

He frowned, “I hate that you’re hurting this much.”

The unspoken I could be in a hospital enjoying a nice epidural hung unsaid in the air.

“It’s all part of having a baby.”

Sighing in pleasure, I leaned my head back against the rim of the tub, closing my eyes and letting the warm water relax me.

Running my hand over my belly as it tightened with another contraction, I focused on getting through the pain. Alex’s large hand covered mine in the water, soothing small circles into my skin until I opened my eyes and gave him a little nod to indicate it had passed.

“Your stomach is like a rock,” he observed, still running his hand over my skin.

“Go unlock the door and come get in with me,” I ordered him. “I want to lean on you. Besides, Bennett says I’ll forget the pain once the baby is here.”

Alex stood, shaking his head and his arm, displacing droplets of water onto the hardwood floor .

“Not sure how that is even possible,” he muttered.

Shrugging, I told him, “Probably nature’s way of making sure the human race doesn’t die out. Just make sure you stay up by my head when I’m actually pushing this baby out. I don’t want you traumatized by anything you might see down there.”

I swished a hand in the water in the general direction of my nether regions. “My hole is a thing of wonder and beauty, and I don't want what’s going to happen ruin your thinking on that.”

Bending down, he kissed me on the tip of my nose. “You are a thing of wonder and beauty.”

Swatting at him, because my emotions were all over the place right now and I couldn’t deal with him being all sweet and swoony, I made a shooing motion at him.

“Door. Go.”

Less than ten minutes later, Alex eased himself into the tub behind me, wearing a pair of black swim trunks.

He spread his legs around me, and I floated peacefully, the top of my head resting just under his chin, his heartbeat in my ears where I rested against his chest.

After what seemed an eternity but probably wasn’t all that long, my contractions were seven minutes apart and lasting a little over a minute each time, growing more painful. Alex placed another call to Naomi. She arrived shortly after, Bennett right behind her, chatting away .

Naomi smiled her bright smile at me, watching as I leaned forward in the pool on my knees, my head resting on my arms across the top. Alex rubbed my lower back for me, as the pain in my back had gotten more intense.

“We’re going to get the bed made up, and then I’d like to check how far along you are,” she told us.

In the middle of a contraction, all I could do was make a humming type noise and nod my head against my arm, acknowledging I had heard her.

“His back is really hurting him,” Alex told her quietly, his fingers kneading the soft flesh of my lower back.

I could hear them moving around the room, the rustling of sheets and things being set out, but I concentrated on my breathing, of riding the waves of pain out, until finally they subsided. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes to survey the room.

Since I had insisted on Bennett being here, Naomi had asked if he would help her with some simple things like making sure the bed was covered and washing the baby after I had them.

They were even covering the dressers and nightstands with drop cloths painters used, which I found a bit funny, but whatevs. She was the expert on these things.

“Can I get back in the water after you’ve checked me?”

Alex held me tightly as I got out of the pool, until I was steady on my feet .

“Absolutely,” she assured me. “You can stay in the water until closer to delivery if that’s what you’re comfortable with. Or get out and walk and get back in. Whatever you need to do.”

Alex dried me tenderly, kissing my rounded belly, and looking up at me from under his dark lashes.

“You’re so beautiful like this,” he whispered, his voice tight with emotion.

He had made me feel beautiful my entire pregnancy, always touching me, kissing me, and telling me how attractive he found me. But to hear him say the words now, when I had been laboring for hours, sweating and pruning from the water, nearly made me glow inside.

The next few hours passed in a blur of floating in the water, and using different positions to ease the pain of the contractions, which were growing more intense with each one.

After one contraction had me crying out, clinging to Alex for dear life, I felt something shift inside me, low in my belly.

Naomi, sensing the change in my panting or just because she was an awesome ass midwife, knelt down on the floor next to the pool.

“Do you want me to check you again?” she asked quietly .

She had just checked my progress only about twenty minutes before and I had been about seven centimeters dilated and not quite fully effaced yet.

But something was definitely happening inside my body. There was a pressure between my legs, and it felt like the baby had dropped down even further in my pelvic region.

“Yeah,” I gasped, biting my lip, “something’s happening.”

She nodded her head, her eyes fixed on Alex, speaking words without saying them aloud. He seemed to understand as he quickly got out of the pool, not even bothering to dry off before he was helping me upright.

“Argh!” I cried, pain searing across my lower back and wrapping around my front. My legs felt like jelly and my knees started to buckle.

Alex deftly swung me into his arms in a bridal carry and gently laid me on the bed.

I had long ago stopped worrying about who saw what when Naomi examined me. I mean, it was just Alex and Bennett anyway, but any small piece of modesty I had–which truthfully wasn’t much–was gone.

Naomi waited for the next contraction before checking me, and I cried out with the pressure and pain. Both my hands were engulfed, one by Alex and one by Bennett, and I squeezed each of them with all my strength. Beyond thankful they were both here, giving me an anchor to hold on to.

“Alright, Seth,” Naomi spoke so softly and calmly I wondered how she managed it, “it’s showtime. This baby seems to be out of patience and is ready to meet the world. You’re fully dilated and effaced. No more walking or water, it’s baby time.”

Panting as the contraction eased off, I barely had time to catch my breath before the next one hit.

“What do I need to do?” Alex asked, wiping my sweaty brow with a cool cloth.

“On his next contraction I’m going to have him push. I want you to get behind him and give him something to lean against. Bennett, you count him through the contraction. Seth?”

“Hmm,” panting, I let them all maneuver me just how they wanted, spreading my bent knees wide.