Chapter 575: Isn’t that too early?
Even before Sebastian reached home, he had already contacted Gilbert. By the time they arrived, Viola’s water broke just as he began lifting her out of the car, turning the Alpha into a bundle of nerves.
"Drive her to the healing house immediately! Let’s go!" Gilbert said, hurrying down to join them. He took over the driving so Sebastian could stay with his wife at the backseat, who was clearly in too much pain to be moved around unnecessarily. The Alpha looked as though he might pass out at any moment, his face as pale as a sheet.
"Why did her water break? I thought that only happened when she was due!" Sebastian demanded, clutching his wife’s hand as he watched her struggle through the pain. Seeing her suffer without being able to do anything to help tore at his heart.
"I don’t know, but we might be dealing with premature labor, or her mermaid side could be interfering with her pregnancy," Gilbert explained as he sped toward the healing house. "Mermaid pregnancies last no more than four to five months, while werewolves carry their babies for seven to eight months. She’s already in her sixth month, which is beyond the usual mermaid gestation period. It’s possible her body is responding to that side of her nature, and the babies are coming earlier than we expected."
Gilbert hadn’t considered this possibility when he began treating Viola’s pregnancy as he would a werewolf’s. He hadn’t noticed anything else unusual, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had overlooked something important. Now, with Viola’s water broken and labor beginning unexpectedly, he could only hope they would reach the healing house in time to give her and the babies the care they needed.
"Hurry the fuck up! She’s in pain!" Sebastian growled, his voice rumbling deep in his throat as he looked at Viola’s tightly squeezed eyes and the beads of sweat gathering on her forehead. Her fingers were wrapped so tightly around his hand that, had he been human, she might have torn through his flesh.
"Seb... we haven’t gotten any baby clothes yet..." she moaned as another contraction seized her, digging her fingers into his arm.
Even Viola hadn’t expected her mermaid heritage to affect the duration of her pregnancy. Now that it had, the reality of their situation was beginning to sink in. Their babies were coming before either of them had prepared for their arrival. They hadn’t even chosen a room for the twins, let alone bought a single piece of clothing for them, nor had the baby shower. The past few months had been so chaotic that preparing for the babies had barely crossed their minds until recently.
"They—ahh! They need clothes..." she cried, struggling to get the words out through the pain.
Sebastian immediately began rubbing her arm, trying to soothe her however he could.
"Don’t worry about that, sweetheart. I’ll take care of everything. I’ll get them all the clothes they need. Just let them come into the world safely first, all right? We’ll figure out the rest together."
"Hold on, Luna. We’re almost there!" Gilbert assured her, glancing at the couple through the rearview mirror before focusing on the road again.
Even before they arrived at the healing house, a stretcher had been prepared for the Luna, and news of her going into labor was spreading through the pack like wildfire.
Speculation began almost immediately, as it was too early for her to give birth to the heirs of Silver, and many wondered what could be wrong. Regardless, many were overjoyed at the thought of the Supreme Alpha’s next generation being born, for it was another uplifting moment for Silver, especially now that his prophesied mate had been found and they were certain the curse on Sebastian would finally come to an end.
Soon, the screens throughout Silver began broadcasting the news, and pack members started leaving their homes to gather together, as was their custom, to pray to the Moon Goddess for the safe delivery of the next generation of twins.
"We are going to have a big celebration, just like when the Supreme Alpha was born. I should get my designer to start working on my dress. I want the best of the best!" one of the gathered she-wolves declared as they watched the screen, which showed the Luna being wheeled into the healing house.
Meanwhile, in the High Tower, Laila was just leaving the council room where the she-wolves’ council meeting had been held. She had been presiding over it in place of the Luna, as Viola had given her permission to continue. She saw the news, and her emerald eyes went wide.
"Isn’t that too early?" She wondered to herself, for even though she was ignorant about pregnancy and pups, she had been around Viola enough to know that the due date wasn’t now, and Laila contemplated whether or not to go to the healing house.
She didn’t want to come across the doctor, she thought with pursed lips. She had been avoiding him since she met his mother in his apartment and realized all the more that she shouldn’t be around him, for she had offended his family more than once to be considered anything to him, and just yesterday she had seen him walking with Annie, his mate chosen by Quinn.
Laila would like more than anything to avoid the place where she knew she would come across him, but she had just made a good friend, and that friend was about to give birth. She couldn’t possibly stay away just because she wanted to avoid Gilbert.
"When did you become someone who runs away, Laila?" She scolded herself as she hurried to grab her car keys and then began to run down the hallways in her impossibly high-heeled shoes.
She wasn’t going there for Gilbert, and even if she came across him, she would ignore him and pretend she didn’t see him. That, she was good at, Laila thought.
Meanwhile, in the healing house of Silver.
The moment they arrived at the maternity ward, Sebastian could barely keep still. He had been nervous throughout the journey, and the closer they got to the room where his wife would deliver their pups, the more restless he became.
The thought of watching Viola give birth frightened him in a way nothing else ever had.
He was going to be a father.
The thought should have been enough to make him smile, but all he could think about was the pain his wife would have to endure to bring their pups into the world.