Book 11: Big Baby

Ryan

Spring.

I try to flatten my back against the wall of the impossibly narrow corridor in the depths of the castle in Moonrise. It’s nearly street level, and dim, with witch nurses in starched white uniforms darting from door to door tending mother’s and new babies. 

I’ve been here all morning long. Since last night, actually, when I woke up to Aviva clutching the dresser on the far side of the bedroom in our Moonrise suite, screaming in pain, and then the sound of water hitting the floor. 

She’s two weeks overdue. For a while, we considered just having the baby in Silverhide. During the course of her pregnancy, when her morning-sickness waned, things had been… fine. Amazing, actually. I’ve never seen my mate look more beautiful than she does now…. Well, maybe not right now. 

I edge into her delivery room as silently as I can, not that it matters. Aviva screams, her face dripping with sweat. Her eyes are bright, however