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His omega was writhing and crying out with pain beside him, obviously in hard labor, and Tiberius was stuck in traffic, failing in his role as Reese’s alpha, his protector, alpha father to his babies. He was failing to bring him to the birth center in time for the birth because some asshole drivers were taking their sweet time scratching their balls, moving slower than tortoises, and wouldn’t let him pass.
He honked at them again, cursing a blue streak, wishing there was a sign he could stick to the car saying ‘Emergency, omega in labor.’
Or maybe some flashing lights.
This was his worst nightmare come to life. Failing his Mate in such an important, difficult moment, not making things happen, fixing the problem.
“Almost there,” he said, glancing sideways at Reese who was moaning and straining. His sweater was riding high on top of his bare belly. It was so damn big. Their babies were about to come and they were stuck inside the damn car.
Another contraction was obviously starting, as Reese held on to the grab handle, jaw clenching, gritting his teeth.
“Hold on, love,” Tiberius whispered, torn between keeping an eye on his omega and the road ahead. “Hold on.”
“I can’t! Oh god...” Reese cried, the sound thin and high. “Oh god!”
“Almost there,” Tiberius said again, his own mantra. “Hold on, Reese. Don’t push yet, do you hear me? Don’t push.”
Reese nodded, but then he gasped and arched back. “I’m pushing. I can’t stop! Ohh!”
“Fuck. Fuck!” Tiberius banged his fist on the wheel. “Okay, just... try not to push. Try, love, okay? Just two minutes longer. We’re arriving.”
“I can’t! Ty, help me. Oh...” He writhed on the seat, gasping for breath, moaning. “Ow.”
Tiberius had never felt so helpless in his whole damn life. “Shit. Is it coming, Reese? Push down your pants, let me see.”
But Reese just cried out again, his face contorting with pain.
Fucking hell.
This drive from hell would never end. He hated seeing his omega in pain. It tored him apart. They had to find the doctor so he could give Reese some drugs, give him some relief, and check that everything was going smoothly.
The fear Tiberius had done his best to push away, the fear of anything going wrong, was resurfacing, pressing on his chest.
Finally, the birth center appeared at the end of the street. As they parked in front, in the emergencies, Tiberius threw the car into park and turned to face Reese, fully expecting him to have given birth already. His hands shaking he pulled down his omega’s elastic pregnancy pants, but... nothing.
Incredibly, the babies were still inside Reese’s belly. They had made it in time.
Oh, thank fuck. Tiberius wanted to laugh but stopped himself. It would probably turn hysterical, and besides, his Mate wouldn’t appreciate it.
It was fine. They were fine. Everything was going to be okay.
“We’re here,” he told his red-faced, panting Mate. “Just wait there. I’ll carry you.”
For once, he got no resistance from Reese, just a terse nod. Tiberius went around the car, opened the door and gently lifted Reese in his arms.
Reese moaned, grimacing, wrapping an arm around Tiberius’s neck, the other around his belly. “Fuck...”
It almost made Tiberius laugh. His omega rarely swore. It was cute. But it probably meant that Reese was at the end of his rope right now and Tiberius hurried inside the center, calling out for a nurse.
“Hello! My Mate is having a baby now. Can you help us? Hello?”
They’d almost reached the reception desk when a nurse, a beta with a reddish mop of hair, intercepted them.
“Sir, please come with me. We need to take down your details, look at the medical history of your omega—”
“It’s urgent. His water broke and he says the babies are coming now.”
“They can’t be coming so soon—"
Reese wailed, his belly dipping as it contracted. Tiberius could feel it tighten, pressed to his chest. “Oh shit, help!”
The nurse frowned. “He does seem to be in a lot pain. We can see about an epidural if you like. When did you say the contractions started?”
“I don’t know. Reese?”
Reese cried out, writhing in Tiberius’s arms. “It’s coming. Oh!”
“He says the baby’s coming,” Tiberius said, frowning. “Call the doctor now, I don’t think there’s time for an epidural.”
“I will call him. But labor usually lasts quite long, alpha, so don’t worry. Better settle in and wait. Everything will be okay.”
“Just get the doctor. If my omega says the baby is coming, then you’d better hurry.”
***
And yet it took forever to get a bed. There were many forms to fill and questions to answer, and meanwhile Reese moaned and panted and gritted his teeth.
Tiberius’s hackles were rising. “Look, I’ll fill all this out once you have him on a bed with the doctor checking him,” he snarled. “Can’t you see this is urgent?”
But the nurse kept assuring him that babies took a long time to come, and if two hours ago Reese was having lunch and could talk normally, then he probably had time.
“You won’t know until the doctor takes a look, though, will you?” Tiberius snapped as he pushed Reese on a wheelchair into the birth ward where various omegas with pregnant bellies lay or sat on narrow beds, reading magazines or talking with their alphas.
“Well, that is true.”
“Ty...” Reese was moaning continuously now, his eyes scrunched shut, his brow shining with sweat. “It hurts... It’s time...”
“If Reese says it’s time, then it’s time,” Tiberius said. “I trust my Mate to know what his body is doing, damn it.”
“Okay, okay.” The nurse shot him a harassed look. “Here is the bed. Settle him here, put the hospital gown on, and I’ll go see if the doctor is free.”
“You do that.”
He watched the nurse go, pissed as all hell, fists clenched at his sides, until Reese’s loud groan brought him back to the present.
“Reese.” He helped his omega up on the bed and started pulling off his clothes. “You’ll be fine. As soon as you’re settled here, I’ll go myself, find that doctor and drag him here by the hair if need be.”
“Ty,” Reese grunted as he lay back, letting Tiberius remove his shoes, socks, his drawstring pants and his undies. “Ooh. I feel it...”
“What? What’s wrong? What do you feel?”
Reese didn’t seem to be hearing him. He grunted again, spreading his legs wider. “Oh god. Ooh, shit.”
“Reese?”
He stared at his buck naked omega, the paper gown the nurse had left them still lying there. Reese was propped on one elbow, holding on to the big belly with the other hand, his face red and sweaty. “Ooh, it burns! Ty... it’s coming now!”
Fuck.
Tiberius hurried to the foot of the narrow bed, between his omega’s legs, and cursed. The baby’s head was crowning. He could see it.
Where the fuck was the fucking doctor? He was going to kill him, and that nurse, too.
Damn it.
“Just... one second.” He swallowed hard. “Reese, I’ll be back. In a second. Okay? Hold on.”
Fuck. Fuck!
Turning around, he ran out of the room, glancing right and left. Nobody was there.
“Doctor! Nurse! Fetch the doctor now!” he bellowed down the corridor. “The baby is coming now! It’s coming now, damn it!” Then without waiting to see if anyone had heard him, he ran back inside and skidded to a stop at the foot of the bed, between his omega’s legs, his heart racing. “I’m here, love.”
Reese’s dark hair was plastered to his forehead and his temples. Sweat rolled down his neck. His harsh breathing filled the space between them. “Ooh, I have to push! I can’t stop. Ty!”
Tiberius drew a deep breath. “I’m right here. The doctor is coming, but I’m here, love. Do what you have to do.”