Sin City Baby

I whipped my head up at Liam’s voice.

“Samantha! Where are you?”

I heard the guys thundering through the house, but I couldn’t call out for them. I groaned as the water filled up behind me, and I tried to take my shirt off. I hated clothes. I wanted to be naked. As quickly as I could get there, I wanted to be naked. I heard the footsteps growing closer as tears rose in my eyes, and soon I felt a pair of hands underneath my arms.

“I gotcha,” Logan said. “Come on. Up we go.”

“It hurts,” I said with a whimper. “Naked. I can’t get my clothes off. I have to be naked.”

“I’ve got it,” Liam said. “Let me get your shorts off.”

They eased me into the tub as the doula and midwife got there. I leaned against the edge of the tub, my stomach filling the space in front of me. Levi took the first shift, removing his clothes and getting into the bath in nothing but his boxers. The doula was trying to calm down the other guys while the midwife took my vitals.

And Levi’s hands were digging into the small of my back.

“Harder,” I said weakly.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Levi said.

“Fucking harder, Levi!”

“Listen to the woman,” Luke said.

I rocked. I groaned. I bucked, and I cried. Levi got out of the bath and let Logan in, and I felt his arms drape around me. They each had their own tactic to try and coax me through birth. Levi kneaded my lower back, but Logan ran his fingertips along my body. Around my stomach. Up my back. Goosebumps shot along my skin, and it relaxed me during my contractions. His lips fell between my shoulder blades time and time again, and I could feel his worry. Feel his anxiety.

“Logan,” I said whispering.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Buck the fuck up,” I said.

He chuckled into my skin before pressing one last kiss against me.

He moved, and Luke got behind me. But then I felt my body being moved away from the side of the tub. Luke spread his legs to accommodate my swollen body, and I fell into his chest as he stroked my hair.

I knew what was coming.

“Take a deep breath,” the midwife said.

I groaned as she checked my dilation. My body was exhausted. Tired. Spent. I was into hour five of my labor, but I was almost there. Luke stroked his fingers through my hair and moved with my body as I arched from my contractions.

Then, it was Liam’s turn to get in with me.

With each contraction, his thumbs slid up the side of my spine. Every time I rocked, he moved with me. Every time I thrashed, he thrashed with me. It was like he was riding a bucking bronco, and he’d memorized all my movements.

The mental image caused me to laugh as tears formed in my eyes.

“What’s so funny?” Liam asked. “What’s got my beautiful baby girl so tickled?”

“You on a bucking bronco,” I said. “Fuck, I’m as big as a damn bronco.”

“You’re beautiful,” Liam said as he kissed my cheek.

When I was ready to push, Logan climbed out of the tub and I got onto all fours, which felt like the most comfortable position for me to be in. I pushed and I breathed and I yelled and I cursed. All the while, the guys never left my side, murmuring encouragement.

“You can do this.”

“Come on, Sam.”