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Julian

“Where are we?” a familiar voice asked, and I heard the sound of someone grabbing gloves from the box near the door to the hospital room.

“You are off today,” I groaned as another contraction gripped my back and sent me into a pain spiral.

“I know, but my bestie needed me.”

Her bestie? I didn’t know I was Peaches’ bestie, but sure. I accepted it.

“I need an epidural and to have this baby out of me.” I smiled as completely unhinged as I could.

“But it’s too late. You waited until the absolute last minute to come up here, and now you have to go au naturel. Not a fan myself but to each his own.”

I opened my eyes to see Andreas and Peaches hugging. We had invited her over for dinner, giving the three of them a chance to reunite. Since then, Peaches and Andreas texted each other more than Peaches did me. Then again, I saw her for full shifts.

“Okay.” The nurse-midwife rose to standing after checking me out. “We’re fully dilated. It’s time to have this baby. The next time you have a contraction, if you have the urge, let’s start pushing.”

“Oh, goddess.” I considered myself a pretty stable person, but in that moment, terror struck my entire body. That was when my wolf kicked in.

We know how to do this. This is our pup. Let me birth them. Let me take the lead.

And so I did. Four pushes and no complications later, we had a baby who was, in the words of Peaches, perfect. They laid them across my chest, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Talon and his mate were taking care of Reed for us but would bring him up as soon as we were ready.

“It’s a girl,” Peaches said as I reached for the blankets.

“A girl,” I whispered. She could still share with Reed until they were much older. I hoped he wouldn’t be too shocked she was a girl, though.

“What do you want to name her?” Andreas asked.

“Why don’t you two talk about it while I do the assessment and clean this sweet girl up?”

I let Peaches take her while Andreas leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine. “You did so well, mate. You are so brave and strong. Feisty omega if there ever was one.”

“I thought feisty meant smart-ass,” I laughed.

Andreas stood up. “It means lively. Courageous. Determined. That’s you, Julian. Now what’s our daughter’s name?”

The truth was, I hadn’t planned on a girl. “Amelia,” I said. “Amelia Jane.”

His smile made everything okay. “Amelia is lovely. Just like you.”