Bonus | The Concort: Epilogue

Heloix & Adeline birth scene

A/N: I've never given birth so take this all with a grain of salt. I've tried to make this accurate but please lmk if anything is wildly off base. 

RIP to my search history.

Heloix’s POV

“Heloix, I love you but if you don’t get out of my way I’m going to strike.” Addie threatens as I block the door to our wing.

Her face is red and hair a mess as she hunches over in pain. Panicked, I reach out for her but she swats my hands away and leans against the wall for support.

My Beast screams at me to get her back to bed, reminding me that I’m the stronger force here, but he fails to realize the fury my little mate holds. Addie takes in a deep breath and holds it for a moment before exhaling slowly. I purchased her every human pregnancy book I could find and am glad to see that she is taking what was written in there to heart.

“You need to stay here until the doctor arrives.” I remind her as she moves away from the wall and clutches onto my outstretched arms for support.

While I haven’t witnessed many births before, this one is by far the most stressful. Beast women don’t experience even close to this amount of pain and despite the rumors that human women have it worse, I didn’t quite understand the extent of it until now.

My nose crinkles as I smell the scent of her internal fluids leaking, and I glance down to see a clear liquid trickling down her legs.

Adeline doesn’t seem to have noticed yet as she lets me pull her into my chest and walk her backward towards our bedroom.

“Will you go get the doctor?” She murmurs as I lay her back on our bed. “I think I’m in labor.”

I’m happy to see that she’s finally giving in and accepting that this is really happening, and I quickly nod my head as I adjust her pillows. My Beast and I work together to ensure that her body is comfortably supported before I rush out of the room in search of the doctor.

The woman has been living in our castle on call for months now and can almost always be found in her temporary office. The guards chuckle at my outward panic as I rush through the halls in only my pajama pants, but I give no care to their judgment.

It’s not their mate that is in labor so they don’t understand.

The doctor glances up from her desk as I barrel into the room panting, her eyebrows raising in shock at my current state.

“I’m assuming that Adeline has gone into labor.” She murmurs to herself as she puts away her current work and stands.

I tap my foot in impatience. I’m not paying this woman to be slow and unhurried.

“Yes, and her water has broken and she is having contractions every fifteen or so minutes.” I rush to give the doctor all the information I feel is essential. “She’s in bed and I put a pillow under her back and she’s not very happy with me right now and-”

I’m cut off as the doctor raises her hand and walks past me in the hallway. My chest rumbles in displeasure at her disregard and disrespect for my feelings, but I follow after her like a lost puppy anyways.

“If you could just hurry up and walk faster that-” I begin to urge but am cut off once more as she spins around to face me with a frown.

“Look, you may be the King in this land but I am the King of your mate’s birth.” She snaps in my face. My eyes darken, but I remain silent as she scolds me. “She is going to be in labor for hours before she’s anywhere close to delivering this baby and you acting like a young pup unable to control your emotions is only going to make this situation more stressful for us all.”

The guards nearby laugh as I allow the small human woman to speak to me in such a way. She doesn’t seem to notice as she spins back around and begins heading towards my wing once more.

“I have spoken to Adeline about this and she has agreed to allow Axis in the room in case you get in the way and need to be held back.” She murmurs in a much quieter tone. “Not many half-breed babies are born and if something goes wrong I will need to concentrate.”

I know she’s trying to be quiet in an attempt to keep me calm, but my heart only breaks as she suggests the unspeakable.

My footsteps falter a bit as I think about the dangers of Adeline delivering my baby, panic and regret coursing through me as I acknowledge just how scary this must be for her. I’ve refused to allow myself to think about it and pretend that everything is okay, but now that the time is here I cannot do that any longer.

Axis is already outside my wing waiting for us when we arrive. The doctor heads immediately inside but he grabs my arm to stop me as I move to follow her.

“We need to talk.” He murmurs.

I shut my eyes and nod as he pulls me down the hall into his office. I’ve smelt his and the doctor’s scent on Addie these past couple of days and know that they have been having secret meetings without me. I assume that they were discussing ‘what-if’ plans and, despite my hurt that my mate didn’t want me present for them, I pretended as if I didn’t notice.

“Get it over with.” I murmur as he shuts the door behind me.

He gestures for me to sit but I remain still by the door. I’m eager to get back to Addie and don’t want to waste any time sitting down. The sooner we get this over with the sooner I can get back to her.

“Clearly you are in a hurry so I’ll just spit it out.” Axis sighs. “Addie has decided that if things turn south that she wants you knocked out. I’ve got a lot of drugs prepared, and since I’m the only person that comes close to you in strength, that’ll be my job.” He explains.

I nod and gesture for him to continue. My foot taps against the floor as he is slow to get to the point. My Beast is angry with me for allowing Axis to distract and take me from my mate at such a pressing time, and I can’t help but also feel angry with myself as my Second continues to waste my time.

Axis glares at my feet in annoyance before spitting out the words I know he’s avoiding saying. “If they both die would you like me to kill you before you wake, or after?”

I blink, dumbfounded that he would even ask me this.

“I obviously want you to kill me before, Axis.” I spit out as my eyes darken in annoyance with him. “Are there any other stupid questions you’d like to ask me or can I go now?”

Axis frowns and gestures to the paperwork on his desk. I glance at it quickly, noting that it’s a pardon from me for my murder, and sign it without a second thought before leaving to go to my mate.

I spin around and point an accusatory finger at Axis last minute. “Don’t fucking kill me if just Addie dies. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I ever let John raise my baby.”

Adeline’s cries are heard from down the hall as I rush down them, the noise sending a wave of panic down my spine. I speed up into a sprint as her groans grow louder, my body busting through the front door and seconds later through the bedroom door.

Both Addie and the doctor turn to glare at me as I intrude on their moment, their anger seemingly stemming from two very different places.

The doctor merely seems annoyed by my presence and grand entrance, but Addie seems upset that I was gone for so long as she reaches for me and pulls me down to her level. I smile at her love for me, my lips quickly falling into a frown as her face transforms into one of fury.

“I hate you.” She groans as she moves her face inches from mine. “You put a big fat baby in me and yelled at my doctor.”

I turn to glare at the woman who sits by my mate’s feet, unappreciative of her tattling. Addie is in no position to be playing middleman between the tiny human and me.

Ignoring her mean words, I grab onto her hand and reach up to wipe off some of the sweat that has pebbled up along her forehead.

“Would you like me to get you some cold towels? Are you hungry?” I ask, desperate to help soothe her in any way I can.

“She can’t eat right now.” The doctor snaps from down below.

I turn to glare at her. If my mate wants food then she’ll get food.

Adeline squeezes my hand as another contraction hits her. I whisper assurances into her hair as she cries out into my neck.

“It’s okay. You’re doing so well.” I murmur.

She sags back against the bed as the pain eases, and I take the opportunity to move and duck down next to the doctor. The woman moves out of the way slightly so I can see.

“She’s only two centimeters dilated. It’s going to be a while.” She assures me.

There’s a small trickle of mucusy blood pooling out of my mate and I quietly point to it in question. The doctor barely glances at it before chuckling and patting me on the back.

“That’s normal.” She whispers.

Addie sits up on her elbows and glares down at us both.

“Stop staring at my vagina, Heloix.” She snaps, clearly upset with my questioning of what’s oozing out of her.

Not wanting to anger her any further, I hold up my hands in defeat and move back up to her head. Despite my begging and pleading, she has remained firm that I am not allowed to watch as my baby is delivered. I know that she fears that I will be disgusted with the blood and stretching, but I couldn’t care less.

I just want to see my baby.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I lean back against her pillow as Addie adjusts to rest her head on my chest. I close my eyes and listen to the loud beating of her heart as she relaxes against me, my body filled with so much pride and love for my mate.

She will be such a good mother to our little babe, and I hope that she will think me a good father. My dad cared only about strength and power, but that’s not the message I want to instill in our family. Addie has made me realize just how much more there is to life than that and I want my children to share that sentiment.

I remain still by my mate’s side as the doctor helps her through her contractions. Despite trying to stay calm, I find myself on my feet panicked as the woman claims my mate to be ready to push.

Addie squeezes my hand as hard as she can as she lets out her first push, her muscles trying to force out our baby under the doctor’s direction.

I go between trying to soothe her and staring down at the blanket that covers her lap. The sheet almost entirely covers the doctor’s head, her face red as she pops up every couple of seconds to encourage Addie.

A particularly loud grunt falls from my mate as she gives us her most arduous push yet, her body clearly feeling motivated by the doctor’s assurances that she is almost there. Tears fill my eyes as I reach forward and push her wet hair back from her face.

“You’re doing so good my little love. You’re so close.” I whisper as she crunches my knuckles together.

Her face is covered in tears as she looks up at me in pain.

“It’s okay.” She groans. “I know you want to see.”

I stare at her confused for a moment before I realize that she’s permitting me to watch my baby be born. I can’t hold back the wide smile that spreads across my face as I kiss her forward and shuffle down her body.

Axis steps forward from along the wall as I move below the blanket, concern evident on his face as I get a view of what’s happening to my mate.

I’d completely forgotten he was even in the room, his posture stiff and uncomfortable as he watches the doctor work on Adeline.

I understand why he looks so unnerved as I take a look and see the horror that is happening to her. The doctor gave her an episiotomy earlier due to the baby’s size, but despite my extensive research on them I was not at all prepared for all of the blood that my mate would spew.

My eyes darken as my Beast forces his way into the forefront of my mind, his presence having been kicked out by Addie after he tried to take away her pain. She fears that if she lets my Beast help her that I will die, and although it’s possible it is quite unlikely.

I am unhappy that she refuses his help and am more than willing to take the risk of death, but my mate made it very clear that I am not to argue on her decision.

Axis moves forward and grabs onto my shoulder as my Beast forces me to intrude on the doctor’s space. The woman shouts and pushes at my chest to move me away, her actions doing nothing but notifying Axis that I am losing control. I turn and snap at him as he forces me back up to Addie’s head.

She barks out a laugh and grabs my hand before screeching in pain as her body forces her to push once more.

I drop to my knees at her side as she pants and cries beside me. The doctor yells at her to push once more, and in the midst of my mate’s cries and the doctor’s orders I hear the wailing of my baby.

Addie slumps back into the bed as the doctor stands and puts my baby on her chest. Its screams make my ears ache but I hardly notice as I reach forward and poke at its belly before lifting its leg to see the gender.

I wipe away the wetness on my face before finding my voice.

“It’s a girl.” I murmur.

Addie laughs and runs her hand along the infant’s back. Her skin is red and wrinkly, but she’s easily the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. The doctor shuffles around us to cut the umbilical cord before sitting down and getting her suture kit ready.

“My family.” I laugh as I reach out once more to touch my baby.

She screams bloody murder as I run my finger along the length of her arm. I can’t help but to think that it’s the best sound I’ve ever heard.