His other hand comes up to her face, holding her still. “What is it, baby?”

Her face scrunches and she nods. “That’s exactly what it is.”

Maddoc frowns, and all at once, their eyes fall to the ground.

A small puddle of liquid pools around her shoes.

The boys freeze, each one of them.

Stuck like stone. Unblinking. Unmoving. Doubtfully breathing.

I look to Victoria.

She frowns from one to the next, and a sigh leaves her. She glances my way. “You drive?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” She closes Zoey’s door. “‘Cause this shit’s about to get interesting in three, two...”

All at once, the boys come out of their state of shock, each shouting the same exact thing at the same exact moment.

“Holy shit! The fuckin’ baby!”

And then Maddoc passes out.

Chapter 25

Royce

Baby.

The baby’s coming.

Holy shit.

“Royce!”

My head snaps left to find Victoria throwing her hands up at me, Raven glaring down at Maddoc on the ground, and Cap frozen with his hand on the door handle.

“Captain isn’t moving,” she says.

Fuckin’ swear she’s speaking in slow motion. And when did it get foggy? “I need you to grab Maddoc—”

She cuts off when suddenly Brielle’s pouring a bottle of water over his head.

He flies up like a demon possessed, eyes wild and crazed, hands fisted. He towers over her.

“Well, that worked.” Victoria smiles.

Brielle fights a laugh and points behind him.

He whips around and Raven lifts a brow, reaching for him.

He rushes to her, his knuckles finding her chin. “Snow?”

“You ready for this, Big Man?” she rasps, and fuck me, my brother’s grin.

I’ve never seen a thing like it.

I look to Brielle who saw it too, and her eyes fall to the ground right before finding me.

She winks, and as if the pull of her lips is connected to a string bound around my organs, everything inside me grows tighter, the corners of her mouth lifting so damn high. For my family. Sharing in our moment.

I’m snapped out of my Tink trance when Raven’s heavy huffed breath fills the air.

Raven scoffs a small laugh, her hands falling to her stomach, the corners of her eyes a little tense. She knows each of us are ready to bombard her with questions and beats us to the punch. “I’m fine. It’s fine. Breathe.”

I think that last one was for Maddoc, but my ass needed the reminder.

“We need to go.” Victoria walks over, slips her hand in my pocket and tugs out my keys. She tosses them to Brielle. “Raven’s with you. I don’t want to scare Zoey.”

“Why would Zoey be scared?” Maddoc steps toward Victoria, but quickly jerks back to Raven, so I crowd her instead.

“Why would she be scared, what do you mean?”

Victoria gapes at the both of us. “You guys, she’s gonna hurt. She might even scream. Get ready for it.”

My brother’s face pales and he shakes his head. “No.”

Brielle and Victoria laugh. “Yes. Now get her in the car, we need to get to the hospital.”

“I can’t feel my legs.”

“I can’t feel my fuckin’ body,” Maddoc rasps.

“K, well, I can feel a whole lot of funky shit happening in mine, so maybe can we do this on the way?” Raven rushes out, a low hum following.

“Baby.” Maddoc reaches out to touch but her hands shoot up.

“The car.” She nods. “Now.”

He grabs his girl’s hand and I slip behind them to supervise.

Before she can step inside, she hunches over with a fought groan.

Maddoc’s eyes hit mine. They’re strained with worry, fear, and all the other shit my brother never shows.

I grip his shoulder and then Cap is beside us.

We stand there, surrounding her, and finally she stands again.

Raven spins around, meeting each of our eyes, and fuck me, tears fill hers. She starts to laugh, shaking her head. “Don’t do this shit to me, my hormones are fucked.” She smiles. “Just... get in, yeah?”

Maddoc slips in first, reaching for her.

She puts a hand in his, and Cap holds out his arms, helping her up and into the car.

He climbs in beside her, and I only remember to move when a soft, gentle hand slips into mine.

I look from the warm, calming connection to the girl responsible for it, and when she tugs, I follow. She must have opened the door, because next thing I know, I’m in the front seat, staring at Brielle behind the wheel of my ride and liking the look of it.

We’re on the road in seconds.

Minutes into the drive, Raven’s breaths grow deeper, small huffs, and low groans following. Her head keeps falling back on the seat, only for her to lean forward in the next. It’s the longest, most stressful ride I can remember taking.

“Your dad’s already here,” Brielle mentions as we’re pulling into the parking lot. “Victoria must have called him.”

She drives right up front, stopping where our dad’s standing with wide and worried eyes. He rushes over and rips open the door.

He gives Brielle a double take when he spots her behind the wheel, but quickly focuses on the rest of us. “Raven. You doin’ okay?”

Raven nods and he lets out a harsh breath.

“Zoey?” He looks to Captain.

“Papa!” Zo calls right then.

He turns to see her running up, Victoria behind her.

From there, everything happens quickly.

We rush into the private elevator. I grin when Maddoc starts banging on the doors, trying to hurry them up and get us to the Brayshaw wing, and laugh when he runs into a lab cart, knocking the thing out of the way in his rush to get Raven to the nurses’ station.

The chicks ask us to stay outside while they get her settled. This time it’s Raven who laughs and then glares at the lady who sticks a couple needles in her arm.

We didn’t go out.

Now here we are, pacing a large room while Raven sits tied to a bed, staring at the wall across from her. She’s not really tied, but there’re wires and tubes and shit placed in places I can’t see so... tied.

“Under different circumstances, her being strapped to a bed might be kinda fun, eh Madman?”

Maddoc’s head snaps my way, and it takes a second, but his shoulders fall, an airy laugh leaving him. It follows around the room, and the stiffness we fell into begins to soften.

“Fuck, man. I might need a nurse.” Maddoc grins from me to Cap. “I think I had a heart attack.”

“I think I need some oxygen, feels like my lungs collapsed.”

They laugh.

Captain walks closer to Raven, placing a hand on her belly.

She looks up at him with a smile. “You okay, Cap?”

He nods, staring at her stomach.

“You don’t have to stay inside if it’s too much,” she tells him what he already knows, and likely knowing his response before it even comes.

He shakes his head, not once moving his focus from her belly. “I didn’t get to be a part of all this with Zo, I’m not missing any of this.” His mouth twitches and he looks to Maddoc. “Baby’s moving.”