Heat Race - Tanya Chris Page 0,110

an excuse for every fool thing you’ve done since you were thirteen. How about not giving your body a reason to heal for a change?”

“Yes, Mom.” He dried his hands on the towel hanging on the rack, then immediately felt dirty again. Who knew how many men had dried their hands on that towel? He looked at the sink, then back at his mother who was waiting for him to step away from it. “Yes, Mom,” he said again.

JACK HENRY

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’ve changed my mind,” Jasper said as they ate dinner that night, ranged around an actual table on actual chairs in their fully kitted-out dining room.

Jack Henry tilted his head curiously. Jasper wasn’t one to change his mind often.

“One of us should be in the delivery room. Frankly, I think we should all be in the delivery room. I don’t like that stipulation.”

“I understand the reason for it,” Elias said. “There’d be as many of us as there would be medical personnel. It’s too many people.”

“Well, the too many people are them, not us,” Jasper said sullenly. “Anyway, if there can only be one of us, then there should at least be one of us. He shouldn’t be alone.”

“What do you think, Jack Henry?” Saul was always the first one to remember to take his opinion into account.

Jack Henry considered being brave. They’d agreed he would do it alone, but he didn’t want to do it alone. “I’m a little nervous,” he admitted.

“Of course you are.” Elias reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “A c-section is a major operation. Anyone would be nervous.”

“Thanks.” That didn’t make him any less nervous.

“So who do you want to go in with you, then?” Elias obviously wanted it to be him, and considering he was the one with all the knowledge, it made sense. Elias could probably do the operation as well as Dr. Morris. But Jasper was Jack Henry’s uber-alpha. It was supposed to be Jasper’s claws cutting him open, not a scalpel.

Only that was ridiculous. Old-timey, unsanitary, unsafe nonsense that Jack Henry couldn’t get out of his head. He was both entranced and horrified at the idea. His omega—that weird second entity that occupied a prominent spot in his brain—said Jasper had to be there, but Jack Henry didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by picking him.

“That’s why we decided none of us would be there,” Elias said when Jack Henry didn’t answer. “Because it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of us.”

“Well, not having anyone there is unfair to Jack Henry.” Jasper tapped his fingers on the table, drawing Jack Henry’s eye to his claws. They were getting more obvious by the day, as if they’d grown too long to fit inside his human fingers.

“We’ll draw straws,” Jasper suggested. He plucked two forks and a table knife from their place settings and put them inside his fist upside down so only the handles stuck out, all uniform and evenly aligned. He extended his fist to Elias who spent a moment considering them before closing his eyes and pulling one at random. The jerky resistance as the piece of silverware pulled free told Jack Henry that Elias had grabbed a fork even before he saw the tines.

“Saul.” Jasper moved his fist to the right, offering the remaining two stalks to Saul.

“You sure you don’t want to choose yourself, Jack Henry?”

Jack Henry shook his head. He couldn’t pick one mate over the others. Saul slid the knife smoothly out of Jasper’s fist.

“Good,” Jasper said briskly. “Saul’s probably the best choice. Comforting.”

Elias nodded, and Jack Henry didn’t disagree. Saul was the one they all ran to when they were feeling off.

Saul looked at the knife like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He swallowed hard. “I’ll do my best.” His voice sounded so rough that Jack Henry was glad random chance had picked him. He needed this. Since his father had been sentenced, he’d started to bounce back from his depression, but they still worried about him. This would be a nice boost for the man who, at one time, hadn’t had anyone he felt good about calling his family.

“So now we wait,” Jasper said grimly, but they didn’t have as long to wait as they’d expected because that night Jack Henry woke to wracking pain.

It felt like someone was trying to smoosh his swollen belly flat. Pain radiated downward as unbearable pressure forced the baby toward a non-existent channel. Jack Henry clutched his hands over the off-center bulge and moaned, trying