“I’m right here, you jerks,” I say, and then burst into fresh tears. “I can hear everything.”
Josie’s giggle is smothered behind her hand when I give her an angry look. “I’ll just…put the privacy screen up.” She rushes to the front of the cave.
I squat down over the furs and rest on my haunches as Maylak’s strong arm goes around my back.
“When you are ready, bear down,” Maylak says. She touches my belly again and I feel my khui hum in response. Not like resonance, but just responding to the healer. “Almost here. You are very close.”
“I don’t want to be close,” I sob again, but no one’s listening. I want my mate.
Just then, someone pushes aside the privacy screen over the cave entrance. Another contraction rips through me, and I point, because the last thing I want is someone barging in when I’m about to push a baby out of my body. “Door,” I pant. “Door.”
Tiffany gets up and races over. “Hey, that was a damn privacy screen—“
The figure steps forward and it’s a tall sa-khui, positively covered in iced-over furs. His face is hidden behind a hood, and as I watch, one big hand reaches up and claws at the fur. It’s frozen and makes a crunching sound as he pulls it away, and then I see my mate’s beautiful smile.
“Cashol!” I gasp and try to get to my feet, but another contraction is coming.
“I am here,” he says, but there’s exhaustion in his voice. He staggers forward a step, pulling at his furs. Ice and snow drop from his clothing as he unwraps layers from his big body. “Haeden was right behind me—“
Josie squeals and leaps to her feet, dashing out of the cave.
I struggle to get to my feet, but another contraction is coming. Oof. Everything is pressing hard and the intense need to push is returning. I’m torn between bearing down and reaching for my mate.
“Stay here,” Maylak says in a soothing voice, squeezing my arm. She gestures for Cashol to come to where I am. “You, come sit. Your kit is almost here.”
The look of pure delight on Cashol’s face makes my chest hurt with love. I want to smile and laugh at the same time, but the breath hisses out of me and I pant, focusing on the baby.
Then, cold fingers touch my face. I look up into Cashol’s tired smile as he kneels at my side. His arm goes around my waist from the opposite side of Maylak, and then they are both supporting me. “I said I would be here,” he murmurs. “Our son is ready to join us.”
“Might…be…girl,” I wheeze. He takes my hand and I squeeze his fingers tightly as another contraction comes. It feels like they’re all running together now.
I’m wrong, though. Two minutes later, I give birth to the most perfect, most beautiful baby boy who is the exact same shade of blue as the father that is the first person to hold him in this world.
I start crying again, this time out of sheer happiness. I want to hold the baby but there’s the afterbirth and the healer with her hands on my belly, talking my khui into easing the aches and pains a bit. She’s speaking, but I’m not listening. I’m fascinated by the look of sheer joy on Cashol’s face as he wipes down our son with a soft fur cloth. Tiffany and Maylak help me get up from the birthing furs, which are bundled up with the afterbirth for Cashol to go bury later - a sa-khui ritual. I’m tugged into a new, soft tunic, wrapped in blankets in bed, and then my mate is at my side with our son.
I take the baby gently into my arms. My breasts are leaking and he begins to squall, but I want to look at him first.
“He is perfect,” Cashol tells me in a thick voice.
He is. From the teeny tiny horn nubs on his forehead to the shock of thick black hair on his head, he’s his father’s son. His broad nose and brow are ridged, his little tail flicking against my hand when I go to support his bottom. He doesn’t look human in the least bit, and for some reason, I find that utterly enchanting. “Look at how cute our son is,” I breathe. I unwrap his blankets because I want to see his tiny feet. He’s got five toes instead of four like his father - the only sign that there’s a little of me in this child. “He’s wonderful.”
Cashol nods and just touches my cheek.
I look up and see that his eyes are wet with emotion, and I feel all weepy all over again. Damn, all this crying.
Maylak touches Cashol’s shoulder. “I will return shortly to heal you so you can finish the birth ritual. For now, I must check on Haeden.”
“Heal?” I ask, casting a worried glance over at Cashol. He looks good to me. Tired, but good. “Are you okay?”