She couldn’t help smiling as the opening credits rolled. They watched the movie together, laughing and holding each other close. Being with Drew, doing something so normal and natural, felt wonderful. She couldn’t believe that she was going to get to have this in her life all the time now. Being pregnant had changed her. Quinn used to be a bit of a party girl, but now, all she wanted was some safety and security.
Drew was giving her all of that in spades. His forgiveness filled her with hope for the future. She rested her head against his chest and felt his strong arms enfold her as the warmth of the fire filled the room.
Quinn looked up at Drew’s face and put her palm to his cheek. He angled down to kiss her. When he pulled back with a smile on his lips, Quinn felt a sharp pain in her belly. She grabbed her stomach and groaned.
“What’s wrong?” Drew asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said, breathing through her teeth. “Maybe pre-labor contractions.”
“Pre-labor? I don’t like the sound of that.”
Just as the movie was coming to a close, wind whistled violently through the forest and smashed against the cabin. The picture on the television went blank and a loud crash sounded outside.
The pain in Quinn’s belly shot through her again and she groaned. She’d had contractions before, but nothing like this. Maybe it wasn’t a pre-labor contraction. Maybe it was the real thing. She moaned again and tried to stand up.
Drew helped her to her feet and a gush of fluid flowed from between her legs to the floor.
“No,” Quinn yelled.
“Did your water break?”
“Yes,” she groaned.
“We have to get you to the hospital,” he said, helping her into her shoes.
In the time they’d been watching TV, it had grown dark outside.
“Okay,” she managed through the pain.
He helped her walk gingerly out into the driving rain and into the front seat of his SUV. She groaned as the next contraction hit. Drew looked worried, but it barely registered. The pain and worry she felt was so intense, she didn’t know what she would have done without Drew.
Drew ran around the other side of the car and jumped inside, turning the car around in a quick motion. As they approached the river, Drew stopped. Quinn could barely see through the pain. She blinked, looking at the raging water.
“Where’s the bridge?” she gasped, barely about to speak.
“It’s been washed out by the river. It’s way over the banks. Fuck.”
“What are we going to do?” she groaned, panting into the pain.
“We have to go back to the cabin.”
Quinn felt panic rising inside her. There was no way out, and she was in hard labor now. Stuck out in the middle of nowhere, her baby was coming two weeks early.
“This can’t be happening,” Quinn protested.
Drew looked over at her, grasping her hand.
“Baby, it’s going to be okay. I’m here. I’ll take care of you. I swear it.”
She nodded vigorously. All she wanted was to believe him. There was nothing else to hold on to. Drew drove back to the cabin and parked the SUV before running around to help her out of the car. She struggled up the steps into the cabin just as another contraction hit her.
She groaned, barely able to stay on her feet. Drew picked her up and carried her to the bedroom where he set her on the bed.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
He took his phone out of his pocket, checking for a signal.
“There’s nothing. I can’t get a connection,” he said.
“Drew. Our baby,” she gasped, reaching up to him.
He took her hand and sat down beside her, kissing her sweaty forehead.
“Everything will be okay, Quinn. I learned about labor when I joined search and rescue.”
“You know how to deliver a baby?”
“Um. Yeah. I can do it,” he said, trying to reassure her.
Quinn was beside herself and barely in her right mind, but she could tell he was less sure of himself than he was letting on.
“Drew. I can’t. I can’t deliver like this. It’s too soon.”
“Baby, your water broke. The baby’s coming.”
Chapter 16
Quinn had a reason to be worried. Drew had never delivered a baby before. But there was no way to get her out of here before it came. He had to deliver the child. It was true that he’d learned a few things when he’d signed up for search and rescue. He knew enough about childbirth that he believed he could help more than hurt. Still, he wished that it didn’t have to happen this way. Quinn needed a hospital and a real doctor.
He helped her get comfortable in the bed and went to the kitchen to boil water. He’d need something sterile to cut the cord. He put the kettle on the stove and watched it for a few moments, trying to calm himself enough to be strong for Quinn. She needed him right now. He couldn’t show her how worried he was.
When the kettle whistled, he poured the boiling water into a bowl and dropped a pair of sharp steel scissors in the water.
With the sterile bowel in his hand, Drew hurried into the bathroom and found clean bath towels. He took everything into the bedroom where Quinn was groaning in pain on the bed. Seeing her this way hurt him deep inside. He could almost feel her pain.
“Quinn, I’m going to look to see how close the baby is, okay?”
“No. I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“Baby. I have to look at you. It’s the only way. Don’t worry. It would take more than childbirth to scare me off.”
He kissed her forehead and moved down to look between her legs. He could tell the baby would be here soon. He sucked a deep breath and let it out, getting into position to help her start pushing. A week ago, he never would have believed he’d be delivering his own child in the middle of a rainstorm.
“Quinn, I can see the baby’s head. I need you to start pushing when you feel the next contraction.”
Quinn groaned and panted, gripping the bedsheets until her knuckles were white. As the contraction started, Quinn started to push, letting out a long, low groan.
“That’s good, baby. You’re doing great.”
He could see the head crowning. This was it.
“Stop pushing now, Quinn.”
“I can’t.”
“You have to, baby. Wait.”
She screamed, and Drew started to help the baby move through.
“Okay, push,” he said.
She clenched her teeth and groaned. The baby’s head started to push through, and Drew was there to catch the child as it slid from his mother’s womb. He came out covered in goo, completely quiet.
Quinn started crying, reaching for the child. Drew put the baby on its stomach, and he started to pat him vigorously until the cub let out a mewling cry. Quinn reached down and took the baby in her arms, holding him against her chest as she cried. Drew cut the cord and tied it off with some string before he wrapped the baby with a clean towel.
“Oh my God, Drew. We did it.”
“You did good, baby,” he said, kissing her forehead.
“We did good,” she corrected. She looked up at him with those chocolate eyes that melted his heart.
“We did good,” he whispered.
He slid into the bed beside her and watched his son taking his first breaths.
“What do you want to call him?” Quinn asked, nuzzling into his shoulder.
“My father’s name was Maxwell. Everyone called him Max.”
“Max Bock. It’s perfect.”
Drew helped Quinn feed the baby for the first time, loving the glow in her eyes as she watched her child. He couldn’t help thinking about how much they needed to get to the hospital. The baby had been three weeks early. He was a thriving shifter child, but Quinn was a human. She needed to be tended to by a trained physician.
“I need to get you out of here.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m
going to get across to a phone.”
“How?”
“I have my ways.”
He kissed her again and pulled a warm blanket over her and the baby. Before he left the house, he turned up the heat and stoked the fire. He went to put on his boots and coat and left the cabin. Drew had equipment that he kept in the SUV. The rain poured down on his raincoat hood, and he could barely see in the darkness.
After he jumped into the car, he turned it around and drove to the river. When he got there, he stopped the SUV but left the motor running and the lights on. He would need to be able to see. He went to the back of the car and pulled out a grappling gun.
Walking to the flooded river bank, he took aim at a tree across the river. It was hard to see through the rain. But he focused all his heightened senses on his aim and pulled the trigger. The spike sailed through the air, taking his cable with it. The metal spike sliced into the trunk of a strong tree and stuck hard. Drew pulled against the cable, testing its strength.
It was a solid hold. He took the other end and tied it to the winch on the front end of the SUV. With the cable tied off, Drew pulled a hook out of the back of the truck. He slung the hook over the cable and got ready to run.
With a running start, Drew sailed over the water and landed on his knees on the other side. Standing quickly, he threw off his clothes and jumped into bear form, not stopping when he hit the ground. He used every ounce of his bear’s strength and speed, sprinting down the wet road to the next house. The electricity and phones didn’t make it out to the cabin. The whole thing was powered by a gas generator. But the next house up the road should have a landline phone. He could finally get a hold of the rest of the crew and get his family to a hospital.
After a few miles, he could see a light coming from a driveway off in the distance. He turned onto the road and hurried up the gravel drive. When he came to the steps of the farm house, he shifted. It was driving rain, and he was naked. He’d terrify anyone who opened the door.
He hurried up onto the porch, pulled a flowery flag off the side of the house, and tied it around his waist. Drew let out a deep breath and knocked on the door, bouncing nervously on his heels. An old man came to the door and looked up at him skeptically.
“Sir, the bridge over the south fork went out, and my wife just had a baby. I need to use your phone.”
The old man lifted his bushy white eyebrows and opened the door for Drew to come inside.
“What is it, Henry?” an old woman’s voice came from the living room.
“This man says his bridge is out and his wife had a baby. Needs to use the phone.”
“Well, get it for him, Henry.”
The old man handed Drew the phone, looking up at him through those bushy brows. He quickly dialed Levi’s number and waited while it rang.
“Hello?” Levi’s voice came over the line.
“Levi, the bridge went out over to the cabin. You’ve got to come quick. Quinn had the baby. We need to get her to the hospital.”
“We’ll be right there,” Levi said.
Drew hung up the phone and thanked the couple. He hurried back into the night and shifted, running on his bear’s feet until he made it back to the river. He took the hook across to the other shore and turned off the car. When he got inside the cabin, he was dripping wet and panting. He hurried into the bedroom and found Quinn slumbering with the baby sleeping on her chest. He breathed a sigh of relief and went to get himself cleaned up. By the time he was dressed, he could hear the sound of motors over the driving rain outside.
Drew looked through the front window of the cabin to find the whole crew with rescue vehicles on the other side of the river. He turned back to the bedroom and roused Quinn.
“Baby, the Rescue Bears are here to get us out of here,” he said.
“All right.”
He helped her up from the bed and wrapped her and the baby in warm clothes and blankets. He gingerly helped her out of the cabin to waiting EMTs. They hurried her and the baby across a makeshift bridge and put them in the back of an emergency vehicle. Drew got into the ambulance beside her as it started to turn around on the narrow road.
They made it back to town quickly and stopped in the emergency lane outside Fate Mountain General. The EMTs got Quinn and the baby out of the ambulance and hurried them in to be seen by doctors. Drew followed behind them, finally able to breathe right for the first time since Quinn went into labor.
He would have died if anything had happened to Quinn or the baby. Now they were safe and sound in a medical facility. He made it to the room where Quinn and Max were being examined. The doctors said they were both doing well but wanted to keep them for the rest of the night.
The nurses put Quinn and the baby into a room where they could rest for the night, and Drew sat beside her next to the bed.
“You did it, Drew. You got us out.”
“All in a day’s work for a Rescue Bear.”
He leaned down and kissed her full lips. The baby rested in a cradle on the other side of the bed, and Quinn slid down under the blankets.
“I’m so tired,” she whispered, turning over on her side.
“Rest now, baby. Tomorrow, we go home.”
Chapter 17
Quinn opened the front door of Drew’s house while Drew carried baby Max in his car seat behind her. She was anxious to get home and start their new life together. The journey home had been a long and winding one, but Quinn finally felt like she’d arrived. She flipped on the light inside the front door and found herself in the middle of a surprise party.
The entire rescue crew and all their mates jumped out from behind the couch. A banner hung over the doorway that said, “Welcome Home Quinn and Max.” It was the sweetest thing ever, and Quinn started to tear up. She put her hand to her chest and started to sniffle as Juliet waddled across the room to give Quinn a massive hug.
“Congratulations, honey,” Juliet whispered in Quinn’s ear.
Juliet rubbed her back and they held each other for a long time. Drew strode into the room, the picture of a proud papa, and set little Max’s car seat on the dining room table. The sweet baby was sleeping now. Quinn smiled at her mate and child as she pulled away from Juliet’s embrace. The guys were all slapping Drew on the back.
“You’re a dad now,” Corey said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Congrats, bro,” Shane said, giving Drew a big hug and slapping him roughly on the back. “Fatherhood is the bomb.”
Quinn could see that Drew was as touched as she was. She walked over to the baby and checked on him. Lily was there with her and Shane’s son Theo. All three women looked down at the baby. Poppy joined them, sighing with longing.
“Whose turn is it next?” Juliet said, eying Poppy.
“We’re not expecting yet,” Poppy said, smiling over at Angus. “We’re just enjoying this time together as mates first.”
“Shane and I aren’t ready for another child yet. Maybe someday.”
“Do you know if your baby is a boy or girl?” Quinn asked Juliet.
“It’s a girl,” Levi said proudly.
“We need more girls around here,” Angus said, encircling Poppy’s waist with his big arms.
Levi looked pointedly at Zach and Corey. “When are you two going to find mates and settle down?” he asked them.
“Never,” Corey said.
“As soon as she signs up for Mate.com,” said Zach.
“You’re looking for a mate?” Quinn asked him.
“I have been as long as anyone else. I just have to wait until she shows up. Right?”
“That’s right,” Angus said, kissing the top of Poppy’s head.
“I hope I have your luck,” Zach said to the rest of the guys who’d found mates on Mate.com.
Drew held Quinn close and leaned down to nuzzle her cheek. She felt the gratitude in his heart, and it filled her with the same emotion. She loved him so much. Being here together with all their
friends and family made up for all the trauma and pain that came before.
She could put her past behind her and finally move forward. She was mated to a shifter now. She adored and admired him more than words could possibly express. The only way she could even contain it was through the connection they shared. Quinn felt all choked up but warm and fuzzy at the same time. She would never let her parents’ hatred control her again. As the new mother of a shifter baby, Quinn had to become an advocate for the shifter cause.
Now she knew exactly what she was supposed to do with her life.
Lily and Shane uncovered a buffet of food they’d brought for the surprise homecoming/baby shower the gang put together for them. A stack of baby presents sat in the corner of the room, piled almost to the ceiling. She took baby Max off the dining room table and put his car seat in a quiet corner of the living room. She and Drew hadn’t had time to buy a single thing for the baby, but she had a feeling all those gifts contained just about everything they’d need. Including a crib. If she was right, that massive gift shaped like a giant rectangle was probably just that. She giggled at how cute the whole thing was.
Quinn might be totally exhausted from childbirth and everything else, but being surrounded by the Rescue Bears and their mates made her feel relaxed and loved. It was good to have them there for her and her new little family.
Drew brought her a plate of simple foods, a sweet roll and some fruit. It was exactly what she was craving. She patted his hand on her shoulder and looked up at him with love in her eyes. He returned the same gaze. Quinn let a long breath out, so full of joy.
Levi sat down across the dining room table that was somehow big enough for everyone to squeeze around. He took his cellphone out of his pocket and looked down at a text.
“Looks like we found a buyer for your condo, Quinn,” he said.
“Really? That was fast,” she said.
“We shifters are resourceful,” Levi said.
“Maybe you can have your friend help me buy a house,” Zach said.
“You want to be a home owner, Zach?” Levi asked.
“Sure. I’ve still got almost all my shifter veteran’s benefits. I’m ready to settle down and buy my own home. I figure, if I really want a mate, I should get ready for one.”