Queen of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #4) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,261

could have cut glass.

"You were keen on doing that hands and knees thing," Blake added, moving to the bed and jumping up onto it on all fours. "You know, like that woman from the classes said about the gravity helping and shit. Kinda like it does for animals in the-"

"Do I look like a wild animal to you, Blake?" Tatum hissed, her fingers crushing mine again as another contraction came for her.

The four of us looked at her, wearing nothing but a stretched out men's t-shirt with bare feet, her blonde hair sticking up in every direction and her blue eyes scarily wild and we all shook our heads.

"Fuck no," Nash said. "You look stunning."

"Gorgeous," Blake added.

"Beautiful," Saint said.

"Ferocious," I added, and I was pleased to see she took that as the compliment it was meant to be.

She broke a laugh for a brief moment. "Sorry, I'm being a total asshole," she gasped. " I just- holy mother of fuck, whichever one of you put this fucking thing inside of me is going to be getting a dick kick every day for a fucking month!"

Okay, yeah, she was insane, I was scared for all of our lives, but I was also staying right here beside her until this was over anyway.

I less than subtly shielded my balls with my free hand and luckily, we were saved by the midwife reappearing alongside the anaesthetist.

Saint nudged me aside as he and Blake helped her onto the bed and Nash clapped his hand down on my shoulder, exhaling sharply and glancing at me with a what the fuck look which I definitely gave back to him. They did not mention this in the antenatal classes. Maybe I should tell them to add it – Class Nine: how to cope when your wife is possessed by the devil during labour and you’re reduced to a useless as fuck punching bag who can’t do anything beyond just staying strong and letting her abuse you as much as she likes in hopes that it helps a bit.

I just hoped that this epidural was like a freaking magic potion, because I wasn't sure I could watch her in pain like this for much longer. Shit, how did anyone go on to have more children after surviving this? I'd lived through a death game, the Hades Virus, brought down an elitist organisation, escaped from my Irish mob family and survived a gunshot wound against the odds and I didn't think I'd come close to enduring the way Tatum was feeling now. She was a fucking goddess, and I was going to make certain I told her that every day for the rest of forever to make sure she never forgot.

Blake moved to stand in front of Tatum, holding her hands and murmuring to her about how amazingly she was doing while the anaesthetist sorted out the epidural for her.

The midwife wafted the rest of us back into the corner for the hundredth time and I reluctantly accepted that, moving to stand with Nash and Saint as we watched.

"Why doesn't anyone tell you this is fucking terrifying?" Nash muttered, swiping a hand down his face as he looked between us for an actual answer.

"That crazy bitch at the prenatal classes made this sound like a magical experience," I growled, wondering if I should sneak over to her house at night and give her a really good fright to teach her a damn lesson. "This is about as magical as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

Saint punched me in the arm and I didn't retaliate because I probably shouldn’t have said that so loudly where Tatum might hear. Luckily, she seemed to be fully focused on Blake and her breathing, so I seemed to have gotten away with it.

"What did we decide about the paternity test in the end?" Nash muttered and I shrugged.

"I don't give a shit about that. I'll love it the same whether it’s got my blood or not."

"You can't call a baby 'it’,” Nash hissed but we’d been having this conversation since it was conceived so he needed to let it go.

"Well until I know if it's a boy or a girl, I'm gonna keep doing it. And seeing as you assholes all voted with Tatum against finding out the sex-"

Tatum let out a pained growl and we all paused to look at her, each of us leaning forward like we wanted to run over there and hold her, but Blake had it and the doctors were still