He leaned his head close to her, trying to give her his comfort, his strength. “I don’t know how to handle seeing you endure pain that doesn’t turn you on.” She panted in his ear, then buried her head in his shoulder. “You gotta have this baby for me. Soon.”
“I think it’s going to be soon,” she sighed. “It’s cracking me open.”
The nurse and Mephisto helped her lie back. The next contraction came and Mephisto could tell it felt milder to her. By the third one, she was relaxed with a smile on her face. “You should give those epidurals out in the dungeon,” she said. “The subs could take a lot more. I can’t feel anything.”
“You’re smiling. Joking. It’s a miracle.”
“I’m happy, Master. Thanks for making me get the epidural.”
Lorna tsked from the corner and rolled her eyes. “Deliver me. Seriously.”
“You too, Mistress,” Molly chirped. “Thanks for your kind advice.”
Lorna spoke out of the side of her mouth to him. “Fascinating,” she snarked. “I can hardly believe she’s real.” She spoke to Molly in a louder voice. “You can show me your thanks on some other occasion perhaps. If your Master permits.”
“Really?” Mephisto snorted. “You’re going to hit on my slave while she’s at eight centimeters?”
“Ten,” corrected Molly. “I’m feeling a lot of pressure down there, and the nurse told me that means I might be ready to push.”
“Good God. Let’s get the nurse then.”
“I’ll do it,” Lorna said. “You stay with your wife and catch the baby if it comes shooting out.”
They watched the domme stroll out of the room. Molly’s eyes met Mephisto’s and he laughed. “Go ahead. Say it.”
“I’m just wondering what she was like as a mom.”
He stroked her hair. “I’m pretty sure your parenting style won’t resemble hers. But I bet she was a good mom, and you will be too. Do you need anything?” he asked. She looked tired, but so beautiful. “I’m so ready for this, Molly. Our baby’s coming. No second thoughts?”
Molly shook her head. “I can’t wait to see our child. You and me together in a little human being.”
Mephisto glanced at his watch. “I think he’s going to share your Master’s birthday, strange as that is.” He paused. “No, not really strange. Clayton always engineered everything. He’s probably up on a cloud right now smiling that big ‘I control the universe’ smile.”
“Yes, I can see it. And you said ‘he’ again, for the baby. You really want a boy, don’t you?”
“I told you, kitten, I’ll take anything. Maybe a strong little girl like you.”
Molly held his gaze. “I’m not strong, Master.”
“Aren’t you? You’re handling this like a champ. Better than I would have.” A shriek sounded through the open door from somewhere down the hall. “Better than that woman.” He leaned close to whisper in her ear. “You’re a good slave, giving birth to my baby.”
“I don’t want your baby!” Molly whispered back, grinning.
Mephisto burst into laughter. “I’m going to miss that game.”
“Why?” asked Molly. “We can still play. And you can be a lot meaner when I’m not really pregnant.”
Mephisto felt a tightness of arousal in his middle. “Stop that. You’re about to give birth, you wanton. Don’t turn me on.”
They both fell silent as Lorna returned with the OB nurse. “Would you like to watch in the mirror?” the nurse asked.
Molly shook her head, horrified.
Another nurse entered with a baby warmer and bunch of serious looking gear. After she got that situated, she helped Molly prop herself up. The bottom of the hospital bed came off. It was all happening awfully fast. Now, finally, Lorna was on her feet at Molly’s side, so his wife had a dreadlocked satyr on one side of her bed and a leather-corseted dominatrix on the other as she began to push.
At this too, she was a natural. Mephisto cursed and Lorna wheedled and browbeat the stubborn baby in turn, but Molly was utterly sedate through the whole process. Now and again, Mephisto’s gaze caught on the silver collar around her neck. She’d refused to take it off, even at the urging of the first shift nurse. If he got his way, she would never take it off.
Push, relax. Wait. Push, relax. Wait. As the ordeal stretched on for twenty, thirty, forty minutes, Lorna became the mom she pretended not to be. She stroked Molly’s face, urged her on with gentle encouragements. Finally Dr. Willetts breezed in wearing delivery scrubs, pulling on gloves. He gave Molly the praise that Mephisto was too overwrought to summon up.
“You make this look easy, Mrs. Tennant.” Molly was bearing down, concentrating. Her strain and exhaustion showed on her face, but she grasped their hands and kept smiling. Smiling. And just like that, in her silent, persevering way, without any rants or screams or moans, she brought their child into the world. Molly cried, Lorna bawled, and even Mephisto felt his eyes tearing up.
The baby was...scary looking. A little red, a little blue, a little messy. A lot messy. There was a cry and a wail that sounded completely alien to Mephisto, and yet was the most awe-inspiring sound in the world.
“It’s a boy,” said Dr. Willetts. “Do you have a name picked out yet?”
Mephisto and Molly exchanged looks. “We didn’t know what we were having,” Mephisto explained. “So, no. Not yet.”
“He looks just like you,” Molly sighed as the nurses laid the baby across her stomach. Wonder of wonders, he did, as much as a shriveled-up, wailing baby boy could look like a grown man. Molly gazed at Mephisto and smiled, looking very proud of herself. “I knew you wanted a boy.”
*** *** ***
Her Master was too nervous to hold him for a while, which she understood completely. Molly was nervous too. Luckily Lorna was there to reassure her, and the two of them alternately cooed over and snuggled the tiny bundle. The baby looked much better now that he was cleaned up. And yes, he was his father’s son. His bold features were little miniatures of Mephisto’s. As Lorna jokingly said, her Master’s genes had dommed Molly’s into submission.
When Lorna finally ordered Mephisto over to hold his son in his arms, he reached for him gingerly. The baby was so tiny and fragile. So light, like a feather. It frightened her, the vulnerability of their delicate child.
But then, Molly always thought herself weak and vulnerable too—but now she felt so, so strong. She had to be strong now. Already, after just a couple hours, she’d fallen in love with her son. She’d do anything for him, anything on earth, and she had to be strong to take care of him. Not that she was worried. Everything felt right. She was tired but happy, and her beloved Master was holding their baby, rocking him gently in the rocker beside the hospital bed.
“He’s so beautiful, kitten,” he said. “You did a really great job.”
Molly flushed at his worshipful tone. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Mistress Lorna laughed. “Literally. But I think you did most of the hard work, little slavegirl.” Molly’s eyes widened as the brassy Mistress thunked her Master square on the head. “Now you’ll need to let her rest. Get up for the night time feedings. The Master/slave thing doesn’t apply when there’s a newborn in the house. For now, you serve her.”
Molly thought that sounded crazy, but then she realized it would have to be that way for a while. She couldn’t do both...take care of a newborn and be a perfect slave. But it was Master Mephisto who’d convinced her, finally, that she didn’t have to be a perfect slave all the time. That she could be Molly too, sometimes, and everything in the world would still be okay. It was a long sought, deeply relieving realization. She would adore him forever for that alone.
Oh, and for how tenderly he held their baby...
“Earth to Molly.” Lorna waved a perfectly manicured hand in front of Molly’s face. “Did you hear what I said?”
Molly smiled. “Yes. I have to make my Master do everything for the next few days.”
“T
he next few weeks,” Lorna corrected her. “I’m serious, girl. I know enough about you to know you push things too far sometimes. Now you’re making choices for two. Motherhood comes first, always. Well, until your baby’s out of the newborn stage. Then you two can work on striking a balance.”
Her Master regarded the dominatrix with a sardonic smile. “Yes, Mistress. I live to obey.”
“You live to irritate me, Mephisto.” She looked at her watch. “I suppose I should swing by my shop to be sure everyone’s behaving, and to start spreading the news, if you don’t mind?”
“That would be great, Lorna, thank you. And thanks for coming to help out tonight.”