Fraser kissed her brow. "That's my female, always thinking of others before herself." He laid his forehead against hers. "Just promise me that if things turn south, you do what's best for you, regardless of how it affects the experiment."
Before she could answer, she closed her eyes and sucked in a breath.
Another contraction had hit.
He murmured soothing words until it passed. Holly opened her eyes, and he wished he could erase the pain in her golden-brown eyes. Her voice was faint as she said, "Call the doctor. I think we're getting close."
Before Fraser could do anything, Ross rushed to the call button and then raced out of the room to probably find someone just in case. He and the human male might have their differences of opinion, but Fraser would've done the same thing.
He's also quick for his age, his beast added.
"Fraser." He focused back on his mate, and she added, "Be nice to Dad. He's merely worried. I'm his only child, after all."
"I know, honey. But acting normal with your dad helps to calm me down and not think about the worst-case scenario. I don't want to lose you."
Raising a hand, she cupped his cheek. "I'll be fine, Fraser. I know what it's like to grow up most of my life without a mother and I'll be damned if I'll let that happen to my children."
He kissed her. "Good. Because I like having you around, too. It'd be an absolute madhouse at dinner without you there."
She pinched his cheek and he flinched. "Good to see I'm only useful to bring truces to you and your sister."
"Don't say that, honey. I love you." He kissed her slowly. "I don't want to ever imagine my life without you."
"Oh, Fraser."
She sucked in another breath and gripped his hand tighter. By his count, the contractions were coming fairly close together.
He debated going to find a doctor himself when Dr. Layla MacFie rushed in, tugging on her second glove. Before he could ask what had taken so long, Layla spoke. "Right, then let's check and see how dilated you are, Holly. It's not every day I have a midwife in labor, but I imagine it feels a bit differently from the other side of the coin, no?" Layla placed her hand between Holly's thighs and then nodded. "Aye, it should be any time now. Let's get you situated." She glanced at Ross. "And I want you to wait outside. One alpha male is enough for me to handle during a delivery."
Ross rushed to Holly's other side and kissed her cheek. "I won't be far, Holly-berry. Shout for me and I'll come running at full speed."
"I'd like to see you try running that fast. Maybe you could set a time record on Lochguard," Holly said, humor dancing in her eyes.
"Cheeky lass." Ross touched his daughter's face one last time before exiting the room.
Never taking his eyes from Holly, Fraser asked, "What should I do, Layla?"
"Stay out of my way and support your mate. I'll give you one warning before I kick you out, too."
He met the doctor's gaze then. "I'm not going anywhere."
Layla shrugged. "Then behave and we won't have a problem."
A good dragon-shifter doctor needed to be able to put any dragon in his place, alpha or not. Seeing as Holly wasn't the first female to give birth today, Layla had probably perfected her technique earlier with Hamish Boyd.
Holly tensed again, and Layla went into motion. "Since Sid and Gregor had to help with another patient and are now on call, Logan should be coming soon, so let's get you up."
Fraser helped Holly sit up as the doctor placed her legs into the stirrups.
As the minutes ticked by and Holly rode out the contractions, Fraser murmured soothing words about his bonny lass.
But deep down, he worried. A normal human female's chances at birthing a dragon-shifter child was fifty-fifty. Holly's hypothesis was that injections of dragon's blood increased a human female's chances of survival.
Increasing her chances wasn't enough, though. He wanted a guarantee.
His dragon said, She will be fine. Believe in our mate.
I'm trying.