Valkyrie

Chapter 26

The familiar smells of gasoline, motor oil, exhaust, and the dry desert dirt around us filled my nose as I took in a deep breath and let it out. Well, tried to take a deep breath. My belly was so huge from the twins that were due any day now that it was hard to take a full breath. I shifted on the hard, metal bleacher, leaning back and bracing myself with my elbows on the row behind us, trying to find a comfortable position. I wasn't going to complain since I was the one that insisted on coming to the track. It was Mischa's first race and I wasn't going to miss it for anything. Trey glanced over at me, a look of concern flashing over his face.

"Okay?" he asked.

"Just trying to make room for my lungs to expand," I said with a grimace as one of the babies decided to use my liver for a soccer ball. I felt like a beached whale. I had to pee all the time and I couldn't tie my own shoes. Trey had to help me out of the bathtub a few weeks ago so I'd stopped taking them even though they eased some of the discomfort I seemed to always be in. I quit working a month ago much to Odin's dismay. The only thing that had appeased him when I'd given him my notice was my promise to let him babysit anytime he wanted to. It wasn't a hard promise to make. Every woman I'd come across seemed to love nothing more than to tell me terrifying stories about never being able to use the bathroom on my own again and never having any time to myself. It was nice to know that I could call on a divine I trusted to babysit anytime I needed a moment to myself.

Trey leaned over and rubbed my belly before giving it a kiss. "Give your mom a break. You'll be out soon enough," he rumbled to the babies. Of course, it didn't help. Anytime he talked to them, they would kick up a storm like they couldn't wait to get out and meet their daddy. He pressed his hands over my belly to feel them kicking, a broad, dimpled smile on his face when he looked up at me.

"It's easy to smile when it's not your insides getting pulverized," I grumbled. Trey laughed and kissed me as Mischa pulled his bike up to the starting line. He'd chosen the other Hayabusa that I'd had in the storage unit. He'd had it painted a deep, dark red that looked like blood under the lights that lined the track. He was wearing my helmet, the grinning skull on the back now painted bright white with the addition of a set of impressive fangs. I'd given it to him since we were the same size and he couldn't find one he liked soon enough to have it before the race and I wasn't using it and probably wouldn't be using it in the foreseeable future.

A piercing whistle came from my other side. I wiggled a finger in my ear as I looked over at Alexi. He was waving around a piece of bright pink poster board with Mischa's name on it. I'd never seen him in jeans and a T-shirt before but that was what he was wearing. He looked like a college student in the casual clothes and with his blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun. "Warn a person before you try to blow out their eardrum," I said.

"You are just cranky from being an incubator," Whistler said from Alexi's other side. "Have some caramel popcorn. It will make you feel better." He stretched his arm out to me, a bag of caramel popcorn in his huge hand. I pushed his hand away and he chuckled before shoving more of the vile stuff in his face. Pregnancy had made my sense of smell and taste go wonky. I couldn't stand the smell of the caramel anymore and he knew it.

"Don't think that I can't still whoop your ass, Dimwit," I growled at him.

"You have to catch me first," he said with a wink. "You are fat and slow now."

"I won't be pregnant forever," I said with an evil smile. "And I am a divine. I'll be back to normal in no time." He sat back and hid behind his brother.

The announcer came over the PA then, pulling all of our attention to the track as the racers got ready. The Christmas tree lit up and as soon as the green light flashed, Mischa was off. He flew down the track like he had wings, easily beating his opponent who happened to be none other than the King of Chaos himself, Ryan Sanders. He was on the same Kawasaki Ninja and threw the same fit when he lost to Mischa that he did when he lost to me. Some things never change, I guess. At least there were no pinks involved this time so Mischa wouldn't have to worry about what to do with Sander's bike. I'd finally managed to get rid of all of the one's I'd won with the help of Trey's friend, Robby.

Trey and Alexi flanked me as we slowly made our way out of the stands and to the end of the track to meet Mischa. He came rushing up with a huge smile on his beloved face, blue eyes bright as he bounced up and down. The men high-fived him but I got a kiss on the cheek and a hug from the side since my belly was in the way. Everyone was giving him words of congrats when a sudden pain tightened my lower back. I sucked in a breath, holding it in before letting it slowly out as the pain ebbed away.

Trey turned to me, concern in his face again. "What was that?" He must have felt an echo of the pain through our bond. We never bothered to keep the other out anymore so the bond was wide open all the time, a comfort to us both and something we'd grown used to.

"Nothing. Just my back. It's been bugging me all day."

"Why didn't you say something?" he asked as he moved to my side and took my hand.

"Because it's nothing, Doc." Another pain came that actually doubled me over. "Ow," I groaned as I slapped a hand to my lower back. It felt like someone had kicked me.

"Everything okay?" Mischa asked.

"Yes," I said at the same time Trey said "No."

"I think Han's in labor," my mate said.

"I am not in labor," I griped as I was finally able to stand upright with Trey's help. "All the books say you get pain in your front, not your back. This is just back pain from carrying around two babies and overdoing it lately. I'm fine." Just as the last word came out of my mouth, another wave of pain hit me, this time in my back and my front. "Shit," I spat.

"Get the car," Trey barked at someone. I was too busy trying to breathe to see who he was ordering around. Hands carefully, gently propelled me forward so I went. By the time we made it to Trey's shiny, silver car, I was panting and grunting each time a contraction hit and tightened my belly.

"They are about two minutes apart," I heard Whistler say as I maneuvered myself into the passenger seat. "Drive quickly. We will follow so you do not get stopped."

I have no memory of the drive to Trey's house or of how long I was in labor with his mom and sister Erinn bustling around me. I only remember a lot of pain and panting and walking. The only way I was remotely comfortable was when I was moving or when Trey was behind me, kneading my back and talking to me or just holding me in his arms and rocking with me. I couldn't understand his words when he talked but the deep rumble of his voice and the clean pine scent of his skin was enough to keep me anchored when all I wanted was for it to be over.

Trey's parents had rented a house a few miles away to be close for the birth since I couldn't exactly give birth in a hospital and his mom was a midwife. It seemed like his whole family had ended up at the rental and at our house, taking over in their noisy, boisterous way. I was never alone and had gotten to know his brother's and sister well. My parents were staying with Alexi since we didn't have any room left. They all came over for supper every night and breakfast most mornings. My grandpa and uncles kept in touch over the phone and through video calls and planned to come after the birth. I wished many times for my grandma to be there but I knew she was watching over me from somewhere. I liked to think that she was happy for me.

"Time to push," Trey's mom, Elizabeth, said, so that's what I did. I gripped Trey's hand on one side and, surprisingly, my mother's on the other and pushed and pushed and finally, after unknown centuries and more pain than I've ever had in my very long life, the twins arrived, a minute apart. Their angry screams filled the air and it was music to my ears. Tears of joy streamed down my face when Elizabeth placed them in our waiting arms and we both let out exhausted laughs as Trey collapsed on the bed beside me. Because of our bond, he'd essentially gone through labor, too. He didn't get to experience the intensity of the pain that I did and only felt an echo of it but he had still felt it. He had to be as tired as I was.

"Boys," my mate said as he helped me get them situated on my chest while everyone came to get a closer look at them and Trey's mom cleaned them and me up. "Healthy boys." He smiled down at me, his eyes full of tears and so much happiness they glowed like mercury in the sun. "I love you so much, Hannah."

"I love you too, Trey." He kissed me, his lips so warm and gentle on mine, before he kissed the babies' downy heads. They had his dark hair. I couldn't wait to see what color their eyes would be. I hoped they would be the same metallic, liquid silver of their father's. It was my favorite color.