“No, baby bear. I'm just a little wet because your sister wants to come out and see you.”
“Oh yay!” Uriel cheered, galloping and whooping his way inside, helpfully heaving opened the door for them on his way. “Heya, uncle! Guess what? Mommy's all wet because my sister's comin’ out!”
Ivy looked up to see Ilex coming through the patio doors just as Uriah was carrying her into the house. It was a skill she hadn’t been able to learn, and was still confounded as to how he could travel almost instantaneously from one end of the forest to the other in just a few steps.
Something about the ground giving way to his will, he said, but it was a good thing today because she definitely needed his help to keep Uriel from climbing in the tub with her, or all up in her baby business to inquire about the process and how long it would take.
Ilex really was the best uncle ever. He grinned like crazy, not missing a trick when Uriel launched himself into Ilex's arms. “I heard. Are you excited?”
Uriel shrugged, dusting some leaves off Ilex's shoulder. “Yeah, but only cause of the cake.”
Uriah shook with laughter, heading up the stairs toward the master.
“There's cake?” Ilex asked, looking around the kitchen with wide eyes.
“Well, not now. Auntie Ro said I can have cake and ice cream after muh sister shows up, and I gotta be good. Is it gonna take long? I really am hungry. Mama, I'm hungry!”
Uriah snorted now, calling out over his shoulder as he hit the second-floor landing. “You are not; we had two cheeseburgers on the way home. With fries, and a shake!”
“Papa!” Uriel whisper-shouted. “You said dat was a seekrit!”
Ivy pretended to glare at her husband for allowing their son to eat food from a drive-thru, and he did pretend to be sheepish for a half a second. “Yeah, well, your mom could smell the French-fries on you before you even got out of the truck, so it wasn't much of a secret.”
Ilex laughed, and before Uriah turned down the hallway, she caught sight of her brother ruffling her son's thick hair. “How about you and I go pick some berries to go with your ice cream? Maybe by the time we get back, your sister will be here, along with the cake.”
“Okay! We gonna pick berries, Mama. Hurry up with my sister!” Uriel hollered.
“Uriah, I've sent Enna to fetch the sisters. They'll be here shortly,” Ilex added, doing something to Uriel that made him squeal with glee.
“Thank you!” Uriah shouted back.
A tight contraction gripped her, but it was weak compared to what was coming. It still hurt like hell, and Uriah didn't even wince when she dug her nails into his shoulders.
He kissed her sweaty hair and encouraged her to breathe, not setting her on her feet until the pain subsided. He helped her out of her wet clothes, leaving her sitting on the edge of the bed only long enough to get a cool, wet washcloth from the bathroom and quickly wiped her down.
“Ice, ice. I should have brought up some ice. Don't move, I'll grab it so fast and come back up here to braid your hair, and I'll get the big ball, and that alien music Astrid sent over for you, and your robe.
“No? You're shaking your head. No ice? No braid? No, what? Tell me what you need, whatever it is, I'll get it for you right now.” He started to panic again, but it only made her feel loved and adored that he remembered all the little things from Uriel's birth that had made her feel better.
“Just hold me for a while.” Ivy lifted her arms up, and he was there in an instant, grounding her like the roots of a tree dug deep into the earth.
It steadied him as much as it did her, his sigh feathering across her throat, his hands roaming to lovingly knead at the muscles knotting in preparation for labor. “Have I told you today how much I love you?”
Ivy smiled, thinking about the way she'd woken up to him whispering he loved her, right before he did his level best to induce her labor with glorious morning romp. She was nearly two weeks overdue, despairing that she'd be pregnant forever, and here they were, mid-afternoon and ready to go.
“You did. I love you, too. You ready for this?”
He didn't even hesitate, and she could feel his smile against her shoulder before he pulled back, grinning from ear to ear, practically quivering with excitement. “Hell yeah.”
Tears filled her eyes, and not because she was unhappy. Just the opposite. She was so happy her hormones couldn't process it any other way than to cry a little. “Good, cause the gang just arrived, and shit's about to get real. Could you get my robe, so I'm not naked when they come up here?”
“Absolutely.” He'd barely said the word before the sound of the front door flying open to bang on the wall below cracked like a gunshot through the house.
“We're havin' a baby, witches!” Juliet declared with as much exuberance as Uriel, loudly announcing her arrival, as usual.
“That's five. How many more times do you think she'll say that today?” Callie sighed.
Astrid's laugh tinkled up the stairs. “After she arrives, it'll be, 'we had a baby, witches.'“
“We should make a drinking game out of it,” Kerrigan suggested. “I brought enough booze to put Uriah down for the count. We could always nip a few bottles. For funzies.”
“I read somewhere midwives are supposed to be stone-cold sober for births,” Rowena drawled sarcastically, their footfalls echoing on the wood floors as they headed up the stairs.
Kerrigan's snort was distinctive. “Well, you don't have to play. You're the midwife; the rest of us are referees and gophers. We can drunkenly fetch things.”
Uriah shook his head disparagingly while he helped her into the ultra-soft robe she'd worn during Uriel's birth, kissing her gently. “Your girls are batshit crazy, honey. They're gonna teach our daughter terrible things.”
“You should be so lucky,” Juliet announced wryly, her arms laden down with all the snacks and goodies Ivy might possibly want.
Callie followed with heaps of linens, Kerrigan had more pillows and blankets, a camera around her neck, and a tote bag filled with what Ivy guessed were bottles of expensive whiskey thrown over her shoulder.
Astrid was armed with an array of candles, aromatherapy herbs, and oils for when Ivy wanted a bath later, and somewhere in her basket of treats, she probably had more space music.
And finally, Rowena came through like the last of the wise women bearing gifts, with her medical bag, a folding table, and all the things the baby would need once she made her entry into the world.
Uriah finished knotting the tie of her robe, absently pressing a kiss to her forehead as he watched everyone drop their stuff around the bedroom, raking one hand through his hair nervously. “Did you bring enough towels? Ivy was pissed when we ran out and had to use the good ones last time.”
Callie snorted and giggled. “Trust me, we remember. I've got two more baskets in the car and the massage table for later.”
“And I got a rubber sheet to go on the bed,” Kerrigan promised, holding up a slick black sheet. “Hopefully, we won't have to destroy your mattress again. You gonna braid her hair, or should we?”
Ivy rolled her lips together to keep herself from laughing at the affront on Uriah's face, but having all of her sisters here calmed him down. She let him pull her off the bed, and both Kerrigan and Callie instantly stripped it down to wrangle with the rubber sheet.