When Constellations Form (Light in the Dark 4)

In an hour we could be meeting our daughter.

The nurse leaves us alone. Xander pulls the chair closer to my bed and sits down. His hair and chest is still damp with sweat but he doesn’t seem to care.

He grabs my hand, kissing my knuckles. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Me either.”

I feel absolutely giddy at the idea of meeting our little girl.

“I hope she likes me,” I murmur.

He shakes his head. “Silly girl, she already loves you. You’re her mom.”

My lower lip quivers. “I’m scared again.”

“That’s okay. I am too. Our lives are about to change forever.” He leans over and kisses me. “I love you, and there’s no one else I’d rather take this journey with than you.”

I lean closer to him. “Back at ya.”

“Can I get you anything?” he asks, combing his fingers through my damp hair.

“Water please, and more ice chips.”

The cup I’d set aside is mostly melted now.

“I’ll be right back,” he promises, and heads out of the room.

Shirtless.

He’s probably going to give all the nurses a heart attack.

He’s not gone long and I take the water from him gratefully. I sip it slowly, afraid if I gulp it I might get sick.

“Oh, fuck,” I cry, nearly dropping the cup of water. “This shit hurts.”

I reach for his hand and he gives it to me gladly. I squeeze the life out of it, breathing through the pain.

“Why’d I tell them no drugs?” I ask him. “I’m an idiot.”

I breathe through the pain and when it subsides I let go of his hand. I don’t miss him shaking his hand out. I didn’t squeeze it that hard.

There’s a knock on the door and Nova pokes her head in. “Here are your clothes. Jace grabbed them, and I didn’t check, so hopefully they’re okay. Is there anything else we can do?”

Xander crosses the room and takes the clothes from her. “Would you mind asking Cade to run out the car and get Thea’s bag? It has stuff for her and the baby. It’s in the backseat of the car. He has my keys.”

“Sure thing.”

She disappears again and Xander heads into the bathroom attached to my room to change.

“Oh, shit,” I cry. “Here comes another contraction.”

I grab my stomach, breathing as deeply as I can, but my instinct is to hold my breath.

“I feel like I need to push!” I yell. “Xander, hurry up. Go get someone.”

He busts out of the bathroom, his jeans not buttoned yet and yanking on his shirt.

“I’ll get someone … just hang on.” He flies out into the hallway and I hear him calling for help.