He didn’t laugh, and she didn’t blame him. They were both on the verge of a mental breakdown as it was. He left her to get her things, and she sat alone in his Rover, her hands over her belly.
“Okay, little squirt,” she said as calmly as she could. “This is going to be scary for both of us, but we’re going to make it through. You’re going to come into the world with a mommy and daddy who love you.” She couldn’t help but tear up at that. “I’m so happy Malik is here for you when you come into the world, because despite what I might have muttered about him before, he’s a good man. He’s going to be a good daddy to you and I’m going to do my best to be a good mommy. Now, just don’t freak out in there and we’ll be okay. Let me make it to the healers or whatever Malik called them, and then you can make your presence known. Can you do that? Can you wait just a little bit more?”
The baby gave her a slight kick and she took that as an agreement. At least, she hoped that it was because she knew she sounded more than a little crazy talking to her unborn baby.
Malik walked quickly out of the house with her purse and bag in one hand and a phone in the other. She hadn’t told him which bag it was, but considering Lily had labeled the freaking thing ‘Baby Bag,’ she figured he’d found it easily enough.
After he’d put her bag in the back seat and handed her the purse, he got into the front seat and started the engine. “I called Tristan. He said he’d let the others know.”
She let out a relieved breath. “I was going to call Lily and have her start the phone tree, but Tristan is as OCD as Lily so that works. Are they coming? And where exactly are we going?”
She scrunched up her face at another cramp, but it didn’t turn into a contraction. She kind of wished she’d been able to change out of her clothes because she was pretty sure she was ruining Malik’s car as it was. He’d moved too fast when her water had broken for her to care about practicalities like that.
“I can’t open a portal to get into my realm. We have to go through a warded area much like your wolf friend Hunter has to.”
“So the lions are inside the human realm like the wolves are?”
He shook his head even as he drove toward wherever they were going. “We have our own realm, but the entry points for each realm are different. So we have to go to the edge of the forest for this particular point. There are thousands of entries to the lion realm around the world and this is one of them. The others will meet us there as I’ve already relayed a message to my hunters that your friends have permission to be there. Normally, they’d have to go through a process, but I’m a royal and it’s about time I use that to my advantage.”
Another contraction hit her then, and she nodded even as she held back a scream. “I’m glad they will be there,” she panted. She reached out for his leg and dug her nails into his thigh. He let out a curse, and she couldn’t help but feel proud of that. Because having a baby hurt. “I’m glad you’ll be there, too.”
He put his hand over hers and patted it. “Just a few more minutes and then we’ll be at the ward edge. Just breathe, okay? Pregnant women in labor are supposed to breathe, right?”
She couldn’t help it, she laughed. “Is that all you know about giving birth?”
He looked over at her with panic in his gaze, but with more determination than had been there before. “If I hadn’t been a fucking idiot, I would have had more time to research and plan. But since I wasn’t and we can’t go back and change things, I’m going to freak out a bit now.” He squeezed her hand. “But I’m not going anywhere. There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
Tears filled her eyes and she pressed her lips together, not letting her gaze leave him even as he turned his attention back to the road. They might have had the oddest courtship to date, but they were in this together no matter what. It didn’t matter that they were going about all of this backward. They were finally together, finally a couple with a future. And now they had another life depending on them.
They could do this—and not just because they had to, but because they could.
Malik pulled over near a wooded area and turned off the car. He had the Baby Bag on his back and her door opened in the next instant. After he’d helped her take off her seatbelt, he didn’t immediately help her out of the car. Instead, he stared at her.
“What is it?” she asked, ready to be somewhere safe and near drugs to help her through this pain.
“I love you,” he said firmly. “I love you, Eliana, my phoenix, my mate. I just thought I’d say that before the baby comes.” He swallowed hard before putting his hand over her belly. “Happy birthday, baby.”
Tears fell down her cheeks and she hiccupped a sob. “I love you, too, Malik.” She couldn’t lie to herself any longer and hold things back. “And I’m so happy you’re here for his because while I could have done it one my own, I really didn’t want to.”
He cupped her face and kissed her firmly. “Let’s go have a baby.”