Entangled

Chapter 26

"What's taking you so long?" Becky could be asking herself the same question, but at the moment she's addressing her belly. When she first learned that she would only be pregnant for around six months—which was really more like three, given when the pregnancy was detected—she felt a bit cheated at first since she wouldn't have the same experience as her human friends. Then she started to see the benefits: a shorter gestation time meant she could get back to her favourite things faster—shifting, wrestling, working out. Knowing that the baby could arrive even earlier since she was a first-time mom was scary at first as well, but the rapid weight gain, lethargy, and inability to do much of anything quickly made the prospect more of a blessing than a curse. Now there's another full moon where she can't shift and she doesn't quite know what to do with herself. Her skin feels too tight and she's ravenously hungry, and Becky can't help but think she would be much happier on four legs than on two.

Sasha looks up from double-checking her moon-bag. "Everything okay, Becks? If you don't want to come to the forest with us," she says, standing up and walking over to Becky, "you can stay here. Holly said she'd come keep you company whenever you wanted." Sasha's hand automatically drifts to Becky's belly. She's almost two weeks past the six month mark now and even though Dr. Zaba and Eleyna have both run a battery tests to confirm that the baby is healthy, Becky's still on edge. "Maybe it's better if you stayed home...."

Becky shakes her head. She may not be able to run with her packmates, but even just being out in the forest and smelling the air makes her feel better. "No. I want to go. Besides, I know Holly means well, but...." Even though Seth is several rooms away, she still lowers her voice. "I don't want her to start panicking if I would start shifting or something when labour starts." As helpful as Eleyna and Dr. Zaba have been, they can't guarantee what her birthing experience will be like. They've had patients who delivered their babies in less than an hour and some who were in labour for days. Becky imagines she'll be somewhere in between, but she would feel more comfortable with Seth or Sasha there. "Besides, it's good for him to be out on the full moon." She gives her belly an affectionate pat. "I think he likes it."

"That's our boy," Sasha beams. She gives Becky a soft kiss before stepping back. "Do you have snacks and water and whatever else you need?"

Motioning to a small bag by the front door, Becky nods. "I should go to the bathroom, though. Again." The constant toilet trips are something she will definitely not miss. By the time she's done, Seth is ready to go and already has her bag in his hand. "I can carry a few bottles of water and some chocolate bars," she insists, holding out her hand. She's been doing her best to eat healthy during the pregnancy, but these last few days have been a struggle.

"I know you can." Seth hugs her before opening the door. "But I've already got it. You can carry it back into the house when we come home."

When we come home. She's sure Seth has said that or something similar dozens of times during her pregnancy, but it still swirls around her head during the drive to the forest. Seth and Sasha are chatting about the next big event—apparently someone's returning from injury and Vince is even keeping it from the roster, so it must be a big deal—so she's gazing out the window, enjoying the scenery. When we come home. It feels so real now. She loves her place in Los Angeles, but it's a place for a single person or a couple, not a family. When she pictures a home for a child, she thinks of a neighbourhood like Seth's, one with yards to play in and sidewalks to draw on.

"Becks? You coming?" Seth's words hit her ears a second before Becky feels a slight breeze and she realizes her door is open.

"Yeah. Sorry. Just daydreaming." She takes Seth's hand as she steps out of the SUV and then grabs her bag. "Didn't get much sleep last night—which means you probably didn't either. Sorry about that." On her really bad nights, she'll try to sneak away to one of the guest rooms so she doesn't disturb Seth, but he inevitably finds her and joins her, saying her comfort is more important than his rest.

"Nothing to apologize for," he insists, looping an arm around her waist. Sasha's walking ahead, scouting out a place for Becky to camp out while her lovers run. "If you want, Sasha and I can stagger our runs. She can go first and change back and then I'll go...."

"I'll be fine." She pats his chest and lets her hand drift down to his abdomen. "Abs," she says wistfully. "I remember those. I used to have some."

"And you will again, Mama!" Sasha calls back. "Right now, your belly's doing more important things."

"I know." Becky's too tired to protest, so she accepts all their little offers of help. Seth gets her settled on the blanket and Sasha makes sure she has everything she needs within reach. "Thank you. Now go enjoy the moo—oof." A sharp kick from the baby cuts her off. "Hang on, hang on," she grumbles. "I'm going to give you chocolate, you know."

Seth shakes his head as he disrobes. Since Becky is staying behind, they don't bother hiding their bags up in a tree, so he puts his clothes in a pile beside her instead. "The only thing he'll want to eat is going to be chocolate," he warns with a wink, setting out the electronic dog whistle. Eleyna had suggested it as an alert system in case Becky needed help when the others were further away.

"Then I'll just have to get him started on the good mint chocolate stuff early," Becky retorts, rummaging in her bag and finding an After Eight bar.

Nose wrinkling, Seth crouches down. "That's my cue to leave." His transformation is much quicker than it was back at his house when he was demonstrating for their friends, fuelled by the full moon and its freedom. Sasha doesn't take long to shift either, and both wolves come up to Becky for pets and kisses before they run off—even if Seth does mime a sneeze when he smells the mint chocolate.

"Just you and me, kiddo." Becky pulls her top up over her bulging belly and rests her hand there. "You and me and chocolate." She savours her chocolate, even though Seth makes sure her stash is always well stocked. When she hears wolfsong on the wind, she can't help but smile, even as she squirms to find a comfortable sitting position. "My butt's almost as big as my belly," she grouses as she stands, using the tree trunk to balance herself. "I definitely have enough padding back there right now." After tucking her chocolate wrapper back in her bag, Becky starts a slow walk around their chosen campsite. She never strays far, because she doesn't want to worry Seth and Sasha; no matter how far they run, they always dart back to make sure she's doing okay.

When she realizes she's walking in a four-leaf clover pattern, Becky laughs. "Luck of the Irish, huh? Well, you'll get a dose of it, anyway. Hopefully it will be enough." During her rough times, she always hated when people used that phrase: there was very little luck at play in her early wrestling days, and she had fought hard for everything she got. She's definitely more fortunate now, but she still doesn't want to trust too much to luck. When she stumbles, her first thought is to look for a wayward tree root or a loose rock.

Her second thought, upon seeing an unobstructed path, is more dire: what if her body is trying to shift? "No," she murmurs, pawing at her bracelet to make sure all the amulets are in place. "They're there. I made sure...." Purple for the baby, orange for her, grey for cloaking, and white to inhibit the pull of the full moon. She's always been careful to immediately remove the full-moon amulet as soon as they get back after a run and then promptly replace it with an active one; Sasha's increasingly full necklace is proof of that. "I have... the white—"

The next stumble takes her to her knees and her hands spread out, trying to cushion her fall. Then a sharper pain sparks in her lower back, stealing her breath. Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Becky lurches to her feet and starts staggering back to her little campsite. She hadn't strayed far, but now that she's racked with pain, it feels like it's a world away. "Wait," she pleads, stumbling up against a tree. The bark tears at the skin of her arm, but she barely feels it; compared to the agony in her belly, it's a whisper. Her hips feel like they're going to snap apart like a wishbone, and she's sobbing by the time she falls to her knees on the blanket. "Where's... my water?"

Looking down at her legs, it's hard to see the wet stains at first because her leggings are dark. The dampness doesn't feel like regular water, however, and as she fumbles in her bag for her phone, she finds all her water bottles right where she left them, unopened. "No. No, not now." The next wave of pain almost leaves her numb, but then there's no denying it: the baby is definitely trying to make his arrival. "No, no, not yet," she keeps muttering as she struggles to remove her shoes and then her leggings and underwear. Once her legs are free, she presses the electronic dog whistle's button as hard as she can. Then, and only then, does she let herself scream.