Destined Bear (Windridge Den #3)

19. Epilogue

Epilogue

Finn

My mate was officially on paternity leave—as was I, though mine had started two weeks earlier. At first, I thought I could work until the end. I’d already missed so much work, and I didn’t have a lot of time, because as my pregnancy progressed, my ability to focus declined.

When my boss asked when I’d like to start my leave, I found myself saying that I wanted to finish up my current projects and begin then. It just made sense to spend my last two weeks of pregnancy preparing for our child’s arrival. I didn’t want to worry about what to do if I went into labor mid project, who to pass the project off to, and any of that. This was so much better.

The nursery was set and ready. The house? Completely clean and organized, thanks to my strong nesting instinct that had kicked in ten days ago. I hadn’t stopped moving and organizing since. It was getting to the point of being ridiculous, but at the same time, oddly satisfying.

My mate and I had had a nice day. We went for a walk to the stream, me in my skin and my mate in his fur. My bear no longer wanted to come out, and Rissa said only to shift as long as he was asking, so I never pushed. After our walk, we drove to town, my craving for raspberries requiring it. And now we were being slugs, and I loved it.

Patrick and I sat on the couch, watching television. It was a movie about some kids who found treasure, and the plot was nonsensical and at the same time exactly perfect.

My mate, unlike me, seemed full of nervous energy.

“Is everything all right, alpha?”

“I don’t know what to do with myself,” he said. “My Beta responsibilities have been taken over. The diner is under Archer’s control, which is terrifying but necessary, and now we’re just… waiting.”

Poor Patrick. He’d been so used to always working that now that he slowed down, he had no idea what to do with himself. Soon enough our baby would be here and neither one of us were going to have a second to breathe.

“We are indeed.” I kissed his cheek. “But I assure you, our cub will be here before we know it.”

“Promise?”

Given that I’d been having contractions on and off all day, I thought it was a good chance. I didn’t want to alarm him, though. The second he heard the word contraction, he was going to go into full-on alpha mode. And after my early pregnancy issue, the odds were great he was going to demand Rissa be here, and they didn’t need to waste their time watching me labor.

“Yeah, probably any day now.” Or better yet, today. We’d find out soon enough.

He looked at me from the corner of his eye. “What do you know? What aren’t you telling me?”

So much for me being clever.

“Lots of things.”

He gave me some serious side-eye.

“Well, do you want to know I can’t stop burping?” It was so annoying and had been pretty constant all day.

“I already do.”

“Fine. Whatever.” I rolled my eyes. “But anyway, I do think our child will be here sooner rather than later.”

His eyes went wide. “How soon? Do I need to call Rissa?”

Called that one.

“I’ll text them.” I assumed they would tell me to wait it out a bit longer. I was wrong. “They think we should walk over to the clinic.”

Patrick took a deep breath, clearly working to keep himself from panicking.

“Okay.” He was such a sweet alpha, trying to not freak out and to give me calm. There was nothing calm flowing through our bond, but A+ for effort.

I got to my feet and pulled him up. “Come on, let’s go meet our little one.”

“Just like that?”

“Yeah,” I said, grinning. “Just like that.” At least that was my hope. I’d never actually done this before, and on human television shows it was never “just like that,” but also we were not humans. I was staying optimistic.

“This feels very… odd. And calm. I expected more excitement and maybe some screaming.” He studied my face carefully.

“Oh, there’ll be screaming, just you wait.”

Twenty minutes later, as we were settled in our room at the clinic, Patrick got to experience just how much screaming there was. Rissa had given me a tonic when I arrived, and it put everything into high gear. They also said that if I’d come a little earlier, they could’ve given me something for my pain. Lesson learned there.

I gripped his hand and bore down, sitting up on my knees so I wasn’t flat on my back. It was a more natural position—and perhaps also more painful, because I was in agony.

“Is… is this normal?” Patrick asked through clenched teeth. He wanted to fix it, to take all the pain away. It was sweet, but also, unrealistic.

“Yes, everything’s fine,” Rissa reassured him.

They had me settle back down to examine me, and when they did, they told me it was game on.

“You’re going to feel some burning soon, and when you do, I need you to push.”

I wanted to ask exactly what they meant by burning, but they barely got the words out when my body showed me firsthand.

“Push, Finn. You can do this.”

I wanted to believe Rissa, really I did, but I was afraid that I didn’t got it.

Patrick gave me an arm to grip, encouragement, and praise each and every time Rissa told me to push. And then, there was a change. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but suddenly, I knew this was it. It was time.

“One more big push.” Rissa held onto my foot, not as a restraint, but as a connection for my bear. He was getting too close to the surface for my liking.

“I can’t,” I gasped. “I can’t.”

“You can,” Patrick said, wiping my brow with a warm towel. He kissed my forehead. “You can, love—you can.”

I wanted to be done. But with one last growl, I managed to push enough that our baby arrived, screaming. What a glorious sound their sweet cries were.

“Hear that.” I picked my head up, trying to get a good look at our baby as Rissa gave them a quick exam.

“She’s beautiful,” Patrick whispered.

Less than a minute later, Rissa handed our baby to Patrick, who held them gently, awe on his face.

“All ten fingers and ten toes.” Patrick had mouthed the words as he counted. It was adorable.

“Good size, too, for such a small omega. Nearly ten pounds.” Rissa’s words shocked me. I had pushed out a nearly ten-pound baby.

Patrick brought her over to me. “This is our cub, our baby. You did so well, mate.”

He settled her onto my chest, and she immediately started rooting for her first meal.

“What have you decided to name her?” Rissa asked.

I looked to my mate, and we both said at the same time, “Dolly.”

Dolly drank her first meal, my mate looking down at her with such love in his eyes. “She is… thank you, mate. Thank you for not giving up on me, for loving me when I was at my most unlovable, and for giving our daughter a safe place to grow. I love you, omega mine. I love you.