Finn smiled slowly. “I sometimes wonder about that.”
“Finlay,” Arabella and Lorna said at the same time.
Thankfully, Layla’s voice prevented any of them from saying more. “Lorna, you should go wait with the others.”
From experience, Arabella knew that Lorna MacKenzie didn’t take orders from many. But she smiled once more at Arabella and said, “If you need me, child, I won’t be far away.”
Arabella bobbed her head and Lorna exited the room. Layla didn’t miss a beat as she spoke up again. “Okay, Ara. I need you to focus and push on this next one. The first bairn is ready to come out.” Arabella nodded and Layla added, “But stop when I tell you to stop. I need to make sure the next lass or lad is in the right position.”
Arabella and Finn had followed dragon-shifter tradition in that they wouldn’t know the genders of their babies until they were born.
Her dragon chimed in. Three boys would be easier. Then Finn wouldn’t threaten the lives of other males wanting to court a daughter.
It also means being surrounded by protective males.
Good point.
The pain returned, but at Finn’s firm grip in hers, Arabella drew on his strength and pushed with everything she had.
Trying not to think of the details, something stretched her in ways she couldn’t imagine. What she wouldn’t give for pain medication, but it was risky because of the amount of dragon-shifter hormones in her body due to carrying three babies.
When the contraction finally stopped, Layla beamed at her. “We have a head.”
“You mean I have to push five more times just to have three babies?”
“It may be less or even slightly more. The first one will be the hardest, most likely.”
Arabella barely had the strength to keep her eyes open. She had no idea how she was going to make it through who knew how many minutes or hours of labor. As it were, she’d barely been able to keep anything down her entire pregnancy, and the result was that she was always a bit lightheaded.
Finn nuzzled her cheek and murmured, “We’ll do this together, Ara. I’ll take care of you for as long as it takes you to fully recover. Let’s just meet our wee rascals first.”
She leaned into his touch. “Then help support me, Finn. My strength is waning.”
Finn moved to wrap an arm around her shoulders. The solidness of his muscles and his familiar scent helped her to relax a fraction.
He kissed her head and murmured, “You can do it, Ara. I know you can.”
Pain raced through her body with another contraction, and somehow Arabella followed Layla’s command to push. After what seemed like hours but was probably seconds, a baby’s cry echoed inside the room right before Layla said, “Stop pushing, Arabella. It’s time to meet your son.”
One of the nurses, a male named Logan, took their son and brought him over. “Just for a second. Say hello, wee one, before I clean you up.”
Arabella looked at the tiny red face topped with dark hair like hers and tears prickled her eyes. She was now responsible for a tiny dragon-shifter. “I’m a mum.”
Finn kissed the boy’s forehead. “Hello, son. Your mum is a bit worried right now, but I know she’ll do a fantastic job.”
As Finn grinned at Arabella, she nearly started crying. “Don’t be too nice or I’ll never finish this.”
Logan moved away, and Arabella wanted to scream for him to come back. She hadn’t even had a chance to hold her firstborn child.
However, Layla’s steely voice garnered her attention. “The next one feels as if he or she is in the right position. I’m going to need you to push again.”
When the contraction hit, Arabella followed Layla’s order. She only hoped she could last long enough to deliver all three of her children safely before she passed out from exhaustion.
Then Finn squeezed her hand and she knew she would. Arabella might be knackered at the end, but she wouldn’t give up. If she could survive being tortured by dragon-hunters as a teenager, she could handle birthing three babies, no matter if they inherited Finn’s stubbornness and penchant for causing trouble.
Her dragon’s voice was weak, but gentle. I am also here.
Drawing on the combined strength of her mate and dragon, Arabella pushed with all she had.