Free Web NovelChapter 77: Welcome Snow
Chapter 66 - Welcome, Snow
Jude
I didn’t know how I got to the hospital; I didn’t remember the route I took or the streets I ran through except for the feeling of Rosie’s body in my arms and the way my heart was beating so loudly in my ears. One moment I was in the town square holding my mate, and the next moment I was bursting through the hospital entrance doors, and doctors were meeting me with a stretcher.
I mindlinked my mother in an emergency; he didn’t know what to do as a parabatai in the square. "Jude, breathe," she said in a soft voice. "You need to breathe, son. Rosie won’t want you to be anxious; she needs you to be strong for her right now."
And I forced myself to take a breath even though my lungs felt like they were being crushed, and then I’d run, literally run with my mate in my arms, all the way to the hospital.
I’d planned everything so carefully over these past months, but I hadn’t prepared for this; I hadn’t expected that our child would decide to come out at seven months instead of nine months, and I felt like such an idiot for overlooking the possibility even though the doctor had told us that the baby had fully developed and might be waiting for the human delivery date but could potentially come earlier.
And I wasn’t ready at all.
I resisted the urge to curse at myself for my lack of judgment as I stood there in the emergency room entrance cradling Rosie’s body tightly against my chest, my arms locked around her because I couldn’t make myself release her even though doctors and nurses were surrounding us trying to get me to put her down on the stretcher.
My wolf and my human side were fighting inside me because my mate was hurt, and my wolf saw everyone around us as a potential threat, saw all these strangers reaching for Rosie as enemies trying to take her away from us. But at the same time my human side knew that my mate was hurt, and she needed medical attention.
"Young Alpha," one of the doctors called calmly, "we need you to put her down so we can help her; we need to get her to a delivery room right now." But when I looked down at Rosie and saw her face scrunched up in pain, my clouded head finally cleared because seeing her in pain was worse.
I carefully lowered her onto the stretcher with trembling hands, and the moment I started to pull away, Rosie’s hand shot out and grabbed mine, her fingers wrapping around my wrist as they immediately started pushing the stretcher through the emergency room doors, and I followed alongside, refusing to let go of her hand.
Everything became a blur around me as nurses started hooking up IVs and monitors while someone handed me surgical scrubs and gloves and a mask and told me to put them on quickly.
I pulled on the scrubs as fast as I could while still keeping pace with the stretcher. By the time we reached the delivery room, Rosie was surrounded by medical equipment and people in scrubs moving with professional efficiency.
Rosie smiled at me sweetly, then winced when another contraction hit. But the smile didn’t calm me as my heart pounded vigorously in my chest, my hands trembled uncontrollably, and my throat clogged with emotions.
I winced when her scream tore through; I wanted to cry; I wanted to take her pain away because if it was possible to be the one suffering instead of her, I would have done it in a heartbeat without any hesitation. I didn’t like seeing my mate hurt and unable to do anything to ease it, or indirectly being the cause of her pain. I felt so utterly helpless.
All I could do was hold her hand, press my lips against our joined hands, and release calming pheromones in hopes that they would at least ease the pain.
Hours passed as the occasional updates from doctors filtered through his head about her dilation.
I looked at Rosie and saw how exhausted she was getting, and I swallowed the lump in my throat while forcing my voice to come out steady. "You’re doing so good, sweetheart," I said, desperately trying not to let her feel how scared I was.
The monitor suddenly started beeping differently; the sound immediately made my body tense up, and I whipped my head around to look at the doctor. "What’s going on?" I demanded, and my voice came out like a command that made the nurses and doctors flinch.
The doctor’s expression changed. "The heart rate is dropping," she said while looking at the monitor.
"What’s wrong?" I asked again because I didn’t understand what that meant.
The doctor didn’t answer me, just turned to the other medical staff in the room and started giving rapid orders. "We need to do an emergency C-section now," she said with urgency that made my blood run cold. "Get her to the OR immediately."
Fear flooded through me, and I watched helplessly as they started wheeling Rosie out of the delivery room toward the operating rooms, and I followed. Rosie’s still holding me.
"I’m scared, Jude," Rosie muttered, and her voice was slurred, probably from whatever pain medication they’d given her, and I wanted to tell her that I was scared too, but instead I forced myself to smile at her reassuringly. freewebnσvel.cѳm
"You’re the strongest person I know, sweetheart," I said softly while pressing a kiss to her knuckles.
"If this doesn’t go through..." she gasped, and her blue eyes found mine. "Choose me."
Before I could respond, they wheeled her through another set of doors, and a nurse blocked my path, telling me I wasn’t allowed to follow into the surgery room.
I paced outside the surgery room, walking back and forth over and over while cracking my knuckles nervously and running my hands through my hair. I was still wearing the scrubs they’d given me, and I hadn’t been allowed to be with my mate when she needed me most.
My wolf was silent in my head, retreated to some corner of my mind, where it was probably whimpering about our mate being hurt and us being unable to protect her.
The doors finally opened, and the doctor came out looking exhausted. "Congratulations, Young Alpha," she said with a tired smile. "Young Luna gave birth to a healthy baby boy."
The words fell on deaf ears as I craned my ears to listen to Rosie. "What about my mate?"
"She’s okay," the doctor said quickly, and I felt my knees go weak with relief. "She’s just resting right now. She should be waking up soon."
As a cue, they wheeled Rosie out, and I was allowed to follow as they took her to a recovery room, and the moment we were through the door, I was at her bedside reaching for her hand. Her skin felt cold, and I held her hand between both of mine, pressing kisses to her knuckles, her palm, her wrist, anywhere I could reach while silently begging her to wake up and open her eyes so I could see for myself that she was really okay.
The doctor had said she’d wake up soon, but soon wasn’t soon enough for me, and I couldn’t calm down even with the reassurance because I just needed to see her beautiful blue eyes open.
I felt her hand twitch in mine, and I immediately stood up straighter, my eyes locked on her face as I watched her brow furrow and her eyelids flutter. It felt like all the air was whooshing out of me because her eyes slowly opened, and her tired blue gaze landed on me as she smiled at me.
And I felt tears start slipping down my cheeks without my permission.
"I’m back," she said, and her voice was rough and scratchy.
I nodded because I couldn’t speak, get any words past the emotion clogging my throat, and could only stand there crying while holding her hand and thanking every deity because she was okay; she was alive.
That moment felt beautiful, and Rosie’s smile widened.
"Where’s Snow?" she asked while looking around the room with confusion, and I scratched the back of my neck feeling embarrassed because I honestly didn’t know, because the doctor had definitely told me something about the baby, but all I’d been able to focus on was Rosie.
A nurse came into the room, holding a small folded bundle wrapped in a white blanket, and Rosie’s entire face lit up with excitement as the bundle was carefully placed in her arms. A gasp flew from her mouth, and I immediately tilted my head to see what had caused that reaction, leaning closer to get my first real look at our son.
The baby was smaller than I’d expected, smaller than what I’d seen of other werewolf children, and when my eyes traveled up to see his face, my breath caught in my throat. Silver hair covered his tiny head in soft wisps, and as if sensing our attention, the baby slowly opened his eyes, and I found myself staring into white eyes. The baby was pale; every part of him, from his hair to his eyes to his skin, seemed to lack color, seemed almost ethereal.
Rosie sniffed, and I saw tears gathering in her eyes, and for a moment I was afraid she was... upset or disappointed. But then she whispered "so beautiful" with such wonder and love in her voice that I felt my chest tighten with emotion, and her eyes were twinkling happily despite the tears streaming down her face.
"Yes," I nodded while staring at this tiny pale baby with silver hair and white eyes, and I didn’t know why he looked so different, but none of that mattered because he was beautiful, he was ours, he was perfect.
"We made him," Rosie whispered, and her voice was filled with such wonder and awe, "we made this perfect little one."
"Yes, sweetheart," I agreed while pressing a kiss to her temple and then leaning down to press an even gentler kiss to Snow’s tiny forehead, "we did."
My mate was in my arms, breathing and alive; our baby was between us, and I was happy. I felt like my heart might burst from the overwhelming love flooding through me. I couldn’t ask for more from the universe, couldn’t imagine anything better than this exact moment, right here.
"I love both of you so much," I said softly while looking between Rosie and Snow, "more than anything in this entire world."
Rosie tilted her head and kissed my jaw gently, "We love you too, Jude," she murmured while already drifting back to sleep from complete exhaustion.
I smiled and watched her eyes close, watched her breathing even out as sleep claimed her, and I gently adjusted her head on the pillow to make sure she was comfortable. Then I carefully took Snow from her arms and walked over to place him in the crib they’d set up beside the bed, being extra careful with his tiny fragile body.
I stood there between the bed and the crib just watching both of them, watching Rosie’s breathing synchronize with our son’s breaths, watching the way the soft light filtering through the window made Snow’s silver hair seem to shimmer. This was my family, my entire reason for existing, and I knew I would do anything, sacrifice anything, and give up everything to keep them safe, happy, and loved.
I reached down and dropped a soft kiss on Snow’s head, and he released a small, tiny sound, "Welcome, Snow.” I whispered while running one finger gently over his silver hair, "Mummy and Daddy have been waiting for you."
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Baby snow is so beautiful — go check discord and see beauty. You can join my discord group for more characters profile, spoilers, snippets and all https:// discord.gg /XQPKUE4Umy
