Page 167 of Omega's Flight

Julius seemed to accept that—I imagined that he thought we'd done the traditional tearing of the branch over my belly, and not the entirely technological peeking (cheating?) with an ultrasound.

"Go wash your face, my dear," I told him. "You're all pink." But not blotchy. I sighed as he disappeared down the hallway. He really was too, too beautiful. Maybe it would be better to keep him in the apartment.

The baby stretched, as much as he was able. "Not long now," I crooned to him, and smiled, thinking of my own birthing day, so soon to come.

Julius came out of the bathroom, face shining and hair combed. "I'm ready," he said, and if he didn't smile, well, the hug he offered me as we walked to the door let me know he was going to be all right.

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J ason let us in. "I'm glad you came!" he cried and threw an arm around me, our swollen bellies bumping together. "And you!" he said, adding Julius to the embrace. "Come in. I just came out to

get some ice."

"How's it going?"

"He's doing well. This one's just decided it wants to be here now, so he's not very comfortable." He turned to Julius. "You might hear some words that good omegas don't say in public."

Julius gaped at him and I realized that I'd been right—he was very sheltered. "Well, let's go in and find our places."

"There's not a lot of room, but they've saved a seat for you," Jason told me and swung into the kitchen. "I'll be along in a minute. Just follow the swearing."

I laughed and Julius looked shocked. "Down here," I said, taking his arm. "He's just teasing."

We walked into the room right on the end of a contraction, it appeared. Bax had indeed managed to talk Holland into the birthing shirt, though I noticed he'd hiked it up in the back to give himself a little more freedom to move. Bax was discreetly checking Holland's omega line, and Quin was settled with his back to the headboard of the bed, Holland leaning on his chest with a relieved look on his face.

Felix was sitting on a stool by the head of the bed looking like he wanted to be helpful, and Cale was busy pretending he was already a doctor, from what I could gather, asking Bax all sorts of questions and peeking underneath the stained skirt of the birthing shirt over and over again until Holland finally slapped his hand and sent him to sit at the foot of the bed.

"Oh, shit," Holland said and grabbed for Quin's free hand. Julius' eyes widened and I guided him to a chair in the corner with a stack of towels on it.

"Hold these," I said, handing him the stack of towels. "You can hand them out whenever Bax needs them." I met Bax's eyes and we both hid smiles.

Holland leaned forward into the contraction, his face screwed up with the pain. Quin tried to coach him, to keep him calm, but Holland wasn't there, but locked instead in that other world where there's nothing but you and the baby and that inexorable force controlling your body.

Jason came up behind me. "I brought ice. And more water. We should crack a window open—it's getting hot in here with all these bodies."

Holland let out his breath in a great whoosh and leaned back against Quin's chest. "Ice?" he asked.

Jason held out the bowl. "I brought fresh."

"Thank you," Quin said gratefully. He dug a few pieces out and cupped them in his hand, feeding them slowly to his mate.

"Bax," Jason said in a low voice. "There's a window here we can open, right? It's getting really hot."

Bax glanced up to the top of the windows. "There's one. The place was built with safety in mind, and it was cheaper not to have windows that opened." He made a face. "It's in the living room."

I leaned back in my chair and hid a smile, then wondered just how hot this little room would get with all of us crammed into it.

"I'll go open it," Felix rushed to say and disappeared. I wondered how long he'd been waiting for a chance to escape—certainly the room felt less crowded with him gone, and then I chided myself for the meanness of those words. He had no more choice over his appearance than Julius had, and he seemed gracious enough dealing with it.

"Oh," Holland said in choked voice and even from where I was and with the loose birthing shirt obscuring my view, I could see his stomach rising up with the contraction.

"Here we go," Bax said calmly and reached behind him for a towel. Julius, keeping his presence of mind despite the terrified expression on his face, blindly passed one of the towels over to Bax, his eyes fixed in horrified fascination on the damp stain spreading across the front of the birthing shirt. I got up from my chair to go stand beside him, one hand rubbing his back to comfort and distract him.

"You've never seen a baby born before?" I asked quietly.

He shook his head. "They said it wasn't proper, that all that would come when I was mated." He swallowed, looking slightly green. Holland groaned again on the bed and the sweet scent of birthing fluid filled the air.

"It's going really well," I told Julius. "Fast and no problems. Did you want to move closer to see?"