Slow Birth Read online

  Jason huffed and lunged at Urho, but Vale cried out. “Enough!”

  It took everything Jason had to let go of Urho’s shirt.

  Urho dusted himself off, gave Jason a disdainful look, and then said, “If you want to stay in here for the examination, you will get your act together, and you will not touch me again.”

  Jason felt dizzy. The idea of being expelled from this room while Urho touched his pregnant omega, put his fingers in his body…

  “I’ll stay,” he gritted out.

  “Jason,” Vale said sharply. “I understand that you’re scared and angry, but you will not hurt him or interfere in this examination, do you understand me? Or there will be consequences. You won’t like those.”

  Jason wasn’t sure Vale had ever spoken to him in that way, and he jerked as if slapped. The sting of Vale’s tone brought him up short, and he nodded. “I understand.”

  Vale sighed, rubbing a hand over his beard. “You said that there was elasticity now that wasn’t there before. Remember?”

  “Not enough to grow a child, Vale,” Urho said gently with that emotional tenderness he reserved for Vale alone. Jason hated him. Hated this entire moment and hated himself for being such an uncontrolled baby alpha that he’d been unable to prevent himself from impregnating Vale to begin with.

  “Just…check again. I used to feel it on Jason’s knot. But this last heat…” Vale shook his head. “Nothing. Not on his fist. Not on his knot. The scars didn’t hurt at all.”

  Urho gave Jason a dark look. “Behave yourself.” To Vale, he said, “Undress and climb on the examining table. I’ll be back in a moment.” Then he went out the door.

  Jason stood in a corner, shamed and angry, watching Vale take his clothes off and slip on a hospital gown. He left it open in the front, which made Jason nearly vibrate with irritation, but he held himself back. If he hadn’t been able to control himself during the heat, he’d control himself entirely now. His breath came in and out in fast, obnoxious gulps.

  Vale settled himself on the examining table and then reached out to Jason, silently asking for his hand. Jason relented and came to stand by the table, his eyes aching from the tears and lack of sleep the last few nights. Everything seemed to shift and tremble around him as if he were in a dream state and not reality.

  “It’s all right,” Vale soothed. “Urho is going to check me. Don’t get possessive. I’m all yours.”

  Jason bent to nuzzle at Vale’s beard, loving the soft scratch against his cheek. Vale stoked the back of his neck reassuringly.

  A single knock preceded the door cracking open. “Are we ready?” Urho asked gruffly.

  “Yes,” Vale affirmed.

  He entered with a small beta nurse by his side. The man nodded brusquely at Jason, acknowledging him as an alpha, and then stood off where he wouldn’t see any intimate parts of Vale’s body while Urho did his check.

  “This is Henny,” Urho said. “He’s my nurse, and he’ll be here help out.”

  Vale nodded, clearly accustomed to a beta nurse being in the room for a checkup. Jason frowned, not thrilled with yet another person witnessing Vale in a vulnerable state, but he kept his mouth clamped shut. Despite Vale being tender with him and asking for his hand, he suspected that he was on the verge of being on Vale’s shit list right now. Not for his lack of control during the heat, but for his utter and complete panic the last few days. He knew it was his job as alpha to support Vale, to keep him calm and safe. But his stubborn omega was making him crazy by even entertaining the idea of having the baby. Nothing was worth losing Vale. Not even the temptation of a child.

  “Lean back.” Urho gave Jason another glower. “Should he stay or go?”

  “Jason will be calm,” Vale said, and it was an order, not a request.

  Jason nodded and took Vale’s hand again as he settled on his back, his feet propped up on the table. Vale spread his knees wide, revealing everything beneath his hospital gown to Urho. Jason gritted his teeth and watched as Urho pulled on a medical glove, added a touch of lube to his fingers, and then pressed his hand between Vale’s thighs.

  Vale’s breath hitched, and Jason barely held back his growl. But then Vale relaxed, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

  Henny, the beta nurse, stayed where he was by the wall, simply observing the scene while respecting Vale’s privacy as much as possible. Urho frowned, shoved his hand more firmly, and Vale squeaked slightly. Jason gripped his hand tighter, more to keep himself from punching Urho than to reassure Vale.

  “Feel that?” Urho asked.

  Vale said, “Yes.”

  “That’s still a bit tight.”

  “But less tight?”

  Urho sighed and said nothing, moving his arm around, and feeling up inside Vale. “This doesn’t hurt? When I push here?”

  “No,” Vale said quietly. “It’s not entirely comfortable. But it doesn’t hurt.”

  “Hmm.”

  Urho didn’t withdraw his hand, and Henny stepped up closer, obviously curious now.

  “Before, there was some scar tissue,” Urho said to him, explaining. “Dangerously tight flesh that would not have expanded with a pregnancy.”

  “And now?” the nurse asked.

  Urho’s brows drew lower, and he moved his hand inside Vale again. Jason shifted so he could see where his hand entered him and then had to step back quickly. The sight of another alpha penetrating his Érosgápe was absolutely maddening, even though, logically, he knew it was a medical examination only.

  “There seems to be more flexibility than before. It’s still tight, but there’s a good deal of release when I press against the flesh.” He checked Vale’s face. “Truly. Be honest. That doesn’t hurt? Don’t be stubborn, Vale.”

  “I told you, it’s not comfortable, but it doesn’t hurt.”

  Urho sighed and withdrew his hand slowly, and Vale let out a soft sound that made Jason’s knees a little weak. Vale squeezed Jason’s hand again as though to reassure him, and Jason gave a tense, closed-lipped smile in return.

  Urho removed his gloves and moved up then, spreading open Vale’s gown and revealing his cock, balls, and stomach. Henny turned away, suddenly busy with organizing a drawer in the corner. Jason held his breath as Urho pressed around on Vale’s stomach, his eyes on Vale’s face, gauging reactions.

  “It’s possible…” Urho said, and then his eyes cut to Henny. “You can leave us now. The exam is finished.”

  Henny nodded politely to Jason and Vale, and then exited the room. Vale sat up and adjusted the gown so that he was completely covered. As soon as he was decent, he put his hand out for Jason to take again and tugged him to stand very close to the exam table where he sat.

  “So?” Vale asked.

  Urho sighed and sat down in a small chair that he pulled from the corner. He rubbed at his forehead and didn’t meet Vale’s eyes, his lips pursed in thought.

  “Urho,” Jason said. “What did you find?”

  “The scar tissue is definitely looser now. There is give and stretch that wasn’t there before. This is personal, and I apologize in advance,” he said, with an eye toward Jason, “but have you been stretching it?”

  “Jason likes to fist me,” Vale said. “It used to ache and hurt—shh, in an enjoyable way,” he said, forestalling Jason’s worry on that front, “but lately it hasn’t hurt at all, even when he pumps his hand hard.”

  Urho’s face was quite red now and so was Jason’s if the burning in his cheeks was any indication. “I see. That’s interesting.” He furrowed his brow and tapped his chin, finally saying, “During heats, would you say that Jason knots you for longer than former partners?”

  Jason shifted from one foot to the other, determined to stay in control, but feeling incredibly irritated to have the image of other alphas sharing knots with Vale pushed into his mind. Especially of Urho himself.

  “Definitely. I assumed it was his youth and our Érosgápe connection that caused it. At the height of a heat, the knot can
last well over an hour.”

  Urho nodded again. “Well, we know that Alpha semen has anti-inflammatory properties, and some researchers speculate that there are other agents in the semen, too. The building blocks of humanity, certainly, and therefore, perhaps healing properties. We don’t need to get into further details, but it seems clear to me that between the stretching from Jason’s knot and fist, as well as his semen acting on your old injuries, your scar tissue has changed, relaxed. It’s less likely to tear from the weight of a growing child. If labor were induced strategically before the child is at full weight, but still viable, then it’s possible you could survive the birth as well.” He sounded hesitant, unsure.

  “But…?” Jason prompted.

  “But I can’t guarantee any outcomes. Not yet. I’d want to continue to check you internally as you grow and change. I’d want to monitor this pregnancy closely.”

  “Of course,” Vale said, stunned happiness in his tone. “Are you saying that I don’t need to abort? That I can have this child? That we can?” He looked up at Jason, his eyes shining, and a bright smile in his dark beard.

  Jason’s heart caught along with his breath, and he touched Vale’s chin lightly, stroking his thumb over the softness of his beard. He didn’t want to hear what Urho said next. No answer that would make him happy. Vale, though…Vale seemed ready to celebrate.

  “I believe it’s possible,” Urho agreed. “I underestimated the value of regular internal stretching. I apologize. I should have prescribed regular use of alpha dildos to stretch the scars.”

  “I think the semen is key,” Vale murmured softly. “Daily exposure.”

  “Sometimes two or three times a day,” Jason offered, a stupid surge of pride within, and wanting Urho to know how often he pleasured Vale. And then he felt stupid and young all over again because all it took was one word from Urho to sum it up.

  “Teenagers.”

  Vale rolled his eyes. “Jason’s been out of his teens for several years now. I’m just saying that in the past, I could have used alpha dildos to attempt to stretch the scar tissue, but I think the semen has played a role in making it receptive to being stretched.”

  “Possible,” Urho agreed.

  “Jason,” Vale said, turning to him and offering a shy smile. “Do you know what this means?”

  Jason clenched his jaw. He knew exactly what it meant. Vale was going to try to do this. Outcome and risks be damned. “Yes.”

  “Jason…” He shot a glance toward Urho who rose and left the room with the polite excuse that he would be right back. As soon as Urho shut the door, Vale grabbed Jason’s hand hard. “Jason, it means that you’re going to be a father.”

  Jason’s throat worked. He tried not to cry again because Vale had to be tired of that. He needed to be a strong alpha. A man. “Does it?” he croaked.

  “Yes, and I…” Vale broke into a smile that cut Jason to the quick. “I’m going to be a pater.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Jason, you’re being very dramatic,” Miner Hoff said, fiddling with the toothpick he tended to keep in his mouth since he’d given up smoking.

  Vale almost laughed at that but managed to hold it back, not wanting to hurt his baby alpha any more deeply than he was already hurting.

  Jason gaped at his pater, seemingly unable to understand his words, much less his feelings.

  When they’d arrived at the Sabel-Hoff house, Jason’s pater, Miner—sensing something was deeply wrong—had hustled them both back to his conservatory and plied them with tea and questions. Jason had spilled immediately, even though his father, Yule wasn’t home yet. He obviously believed that Miner would immediately take his side after all he’d been through himself with dangerous pregnancies.

  “Dramatic?” Jason asked coolly—a tone Vale had never heard him use with anyone, much less either of his much-beloved parents.

  “If Vale believes, and the doctor believes that he should try—”

  “There was no should!” Jason exclaimed, pacing in front of the sofa, his shoes clacking on the wooden floor. Music, mainly consisting of horns and brass instruments, played from the record player in the corner. Vale thought he’d always associate this rolling, nauseous feeling with the sound of jazz now. “Urho said he thought it possible Vale could carry nearly to term and deliver safely. Possible, Pater. Not likely. Not definitely. There was no certainty involved in his predictions, and definitely no should!”

  Turning to Vale, Miner’s hazel eyes shown with bright interest. “Possible? Truly? That’s wonderful. And you want to pursue it?”

  “Of course, I want to pursue this baby,” Vale said quietly. “More than anything.”

  Jason threw up his hands. “Where is Father? He’ll talk sense into you both.”

  Miner snorted as he lifted his tea, saying under his breath, “Oh, I highly doubt that.”

  Vale tended to agree, but he didn’t say more. He found that as the days after the heat had passed, he’d tended toward depression. But now, with Urho’s assurances, he felt a lightness he couldn’t describe. A surety he didn’t share with Jason. He needed to find a way to calm his alpha, but he couldn’t seem to reach him. Jason was too lost in fear.

  Jason continued to pace and curse under his breath as Miner peppered Vale with light, unobtrusive questions that cut to the heart of the matter.

  “So, you love him already?” Miner whispered, trying to pitch his voice low so that Jason might not hear, but unable to contain the bubble of excitement the news had blown up in him.

  “Yes,” Vale agreed. “It’s so strange. I don’t even know him at all, don’t even know if he’s an alpha, beta, or omega. But I know he’s perfect.”

  “Of course, he is.”

  “Like Jason.”

  “Just so,” Miner agreed, casting a loving gaze on his incredibly agitated son. “Though, I doubt he’ll look that much like him. He’ll likely have your dark hair, certainly. Most pairings with similar coloring to the two of you go that direction. But, with your green eyes, I suppose we could hope for blue like Jason’s and Yule’s.”

  “Stop,” Jason ordered, his hands raised in front of him. “You’re both investing your heart in fairytale dreams. And they won’t—can’t come true. It’s not worth the risk.”

  “What isn’t?” Yule asked, stepping into the room with a kiss for his omega and a furrowed brow for Jason. “What’s the problem, son, so big that I needed to rush home?”

  Jason gestured at his pater and Vale, his cheeks flushed, and his sleepless eyes red. “They’re the problem. You need to talk to them. Make them see.”

  “Really, Jason,” his pater said softly. “It’s up to Vale. It’s his choice.”

  “No!” Jason exploded. “You know wolf-goddamn well that I’m the one who will suffer.” He threw his hands in the air again. “Why did I think you’d be on my side? You tried to do the same thing to Father!”

  Miner winced, and Vale put his hand on his pater-in-law’s knee, offering a gentle, sympathetic squeeze.

  Yule’s eyes zeroed in on his Érosgápe and then darted back to his son. He stalked to the liquor cabinet and poured a drink for himself. Sipped it, and then, on second thought poured another and brought it over to Jason, pressing it into his hands. “I think you need this. Drink it up while I find out what’s happening.” He turned his intelligent gaze on Vale then and lifted his brows. “Well?”

  “I’m pregnant,” Vale said softly. “And the doctor thinks it’s possible I can carry him to term.”

  “Possible,” Jason repeated with despair.

  His father nudged his arm and indicated the drink. “Finish it.”

  Jason returned to sipping the dark liquor, most likely brandy, and Yule guided him into one of the chairs by the coffee table Miner had tried to get him to sit in earlier. Then Yule sat down opposite, and they all looked at each other. Eyes darted face to face to face, and around again.

  “You’re pregnant,” Yule said slowly. “How?”

  �
��The usual way.” Vale couldn’t resist the retort. He wasn’t a child, and he didn’t like the slightly scolding tone in Yule’s voice. The man was barely older than he was.

  Yule rolled his eyes. “You know wolf-damned well what I meant by that. Why weren’t precautions taken?”

  “I’m coming up on forty now,” Vale said, sipping the tea that had grown cold as they’d waited for Yule to arrive. “My heats aren’t as predictable as they used to be.”

  Yule flashed a glance toward Miner, a look exchanged, and Vale was quite sure Miner had endured at least one surprise heat before Urho had removed his womb in emergency surgery after his last miscarriage. “I see. There are such things as markets, though. Phones. Someone could have called for a condom delivery to the house before the heat became unbearable. Though why you don’t have condoms in your home at all times at your age, I don’t know. Or was Jason unable to control himself?”

  Jason let out a little hurt sound and Vale took his hand. He was, admittedly, a bit tired of soothing Jason, and wished that he would get on board with Vale’s decision and begin offering up the alpha care and attention that a pregnant omega deserved, but he knew Jason was still in shock. He needed some time yet.

  “We were at my parents’ chalet in the mountains,” Vale said since Jason seemed unable to talk.

  “The snowstorm,” Yule said darkly. “I see.”

  “The phones were out,” Jason said.

  Vale felt Jason’s guilt eating away at him, and he was going to have to take him to task for that. But not here. Not in front of his parents.

  “The doctor says that my scar tissue has healed beyond his expectations,” Vale went on. “He believes it’s possible—”

  “There’s that word again!” Jason shouted, standing up to start pacing. “Possible! Vale, that’s not enough. I need you. I can’t live without you.”

  Vale rose then, setting his teacup aside, and went to Jason, putting his arms around him. “I know you think that, but alphas do it all the time. Urho, for example, lost his Érosgápe, Riki, and he still lives—”

  “Like a shadow of a human being!”