AIDEEN

“I’m going to switch into midwife mode now, okay?” Bra

I nodded and found myself smiling when Nico and Alec kissed my head in unison, followed by Damien who kissed my nose.

“Let’s do this, Ado,” Alec said excitedly.

I chuckled. “Can you call Kane and have him come home?”

Alec kissed me once more. “I’m on it.”

He moved away from me and jogged out of the room with his phone pressed to his ear. I looked at Bra

“Your liquid has a slight yellow tinge to it which is completely normal,” Bra

I nodded. “Okay, then what?”

“Then I’ll check the baby’s heartbeat and we can have a chat.”

Check the baby’s heartbeat and have a chat.

“Got it.”

Bra

“Can I shower?” I asked Bra

She shook her head. “Wait another hour. I just want to watch your water to make sure there is no colour change.”

I nodded my head. “Can you go wet a cloth then so I can wash down my legs, please?”

Bra

I flushed. “I’m sorry you have to do this, I’m so embarrassed.”

Bra

I got emotional. “I’m so happy you’re going to be deliverin’ her.”

Bra

When she separated, she got me a knee-length baby-blue nightie. She got a pair of gra

I sighed. “I feel better knowing it will catch the water. It felt so weird when it just came out with no warnin’.”

Bra

When she returned to my room, Nico, Alec and Damien were hovering by the bedroom door looking in. I smiled at them and waved them in.

“Come in. I’m decent.”

They entered the room but quickly made a show of looking up at the ceiling when Bra

They hesitantly peeked at me then fully looked when they saw I had nothing private on show. Alec climbed onto the bed and sat next to me while the twins stood a metre or two away from the bed, watching me warily.

“Where is Kane?” I asked Damien. “Is he on his way home?”

He licked his lips and said, “He didn’t answer his phone, but we left text messages and voicemails. We’ll keep on trying until he picks up.”

I frowned. “He is with Ryder, why don’t you try—”

“Already did.” Nico cut me off. “He isn’t answering either. They’re both probably doing sets and their phones are on silent.”

I blinked. “What if he misses the birth?”

Bra

I nodded my head to Nico and said, “Did he take his injection this mornin’? I can’t remember if he did or not.”

“He took it,” Alec confirmed. “He bi

I nodded my head and relaxed a little.

I glanced at Nico. “Did you ring Bronagh?”

“She and Keela are in town searching for a new bed since our base... broke.”

I snorted. “You broke the base of your bed?”

He shrugged, smirking. “It was bound to happen at some point. I’m actually surprised it lasted so many years of us having sex on it without caving in.”

I laughed.

My attention was brought to Bra

There was some static, then almost straight away there was a beautiful thudding sound.

I smiled, and so did Bra

“The heartbeat is as strong as ever.”

“Is it just me,” Alec murmured, “or does the heartbeat sound scary similar to the beat of the song Jingle Bells?”

We laughed and listened for a minute more before she put the machine to the side and wiped my belly free of gel. We chatted then for a few more minutes, until everything stopped when a pain struck.

“Oh, shit,” I winced and hunched forward, gripping onto my stomach as if it would somehow help ease the pain.

“Breathe,” Bra

Right, my breathing.

Big inhale, long exhale, big inhale, long exhale.

I dropped my head back to my pillow when the pain eased. “Shit, that really hurts.”

“That’s labour, darlin’.” Bra

I hoped it was because of the baby coming and not because I was in pain because that’s what the next four hours consisted of. Pain, pain, some laughter, and more fucking pain.

It was excruciating.

I had never felt anything like it before in my life, and there was no let-up to it either. I had some gas and sucked in air for pain relief, but even that only minimised it slightly by making me lightheaded.

Through my pain I noticed Kane still wasn’t with me, and the more pain I felt, the more irritable I became about it. I needed him here, and he was nowhere to be found.

Damien even left at one point to go looking for him at the gym, but he came back alone and told me the manager said they left a few hours ago.

We had no clue where they were and all sorts of horrible things ran through my mind. Things like what if Big Phil somehow had him?

I tried not to think about it as the contractions came faster, and lasted longer. The entire time Bra

It really helped me relax, or relax as much as could.

I was in the middle of pulling my nightie off my body and fa

I was too far gone with pain to even consider the brothers being uncomfortable. I didn’t care about them or anyone else; I just cared about myself and my own comfort.

“Fuck, fuck, fuucccckkkk,” I all but snarled as I bent forward and placed my hands on my bed. I swayed from side to side and tried to focus on the music instead of the pain that stabbed me.