“Let’s go.”
“Damn, you look sexy when you’re tousled.”
Jared stilled, his eyes going wide. “What? Are you okay?”
“I’m pregnant, not blind.” Another contraction hit, much harder than the last.
Exchanging looks with Duncan and Reese, Jared clenched his jaw. “Let’s get her to the hospital.”
The pain passed, and Erin finally caught her breath. “My shoes!”
Duncan carried her out of the bedroom and down the hall to the living room.
“You don’t need shoes. It’s not as if you’re going to be walking anyway.”
The ride to the hospital was a blur, the contractions not coming any faster but the pain steadily growing worse.
Jared kept one eye on her and one on the road as he raced to the hospital, Duncan and Reese on either side of her in the back seat, holding her and rubbing her back.
Between contractions, Reese held her close, kissing her hair. “God, I hate seeing you in pain.”
Smiling to ease their concern, Erin squeezed his hand. “So, that means you’re not going to make love to me again?”
Chuckling, Reese tilted her head back over his arm and dropped a soft kiss on her lips. “Not wanting you is not an option, honey.”
His smile fell when another contraction hit just as they pulled into the hospital parking lot.
Duncan carried her into the hospital, his features set in stone.
Once in the birthing room, they took the hospital gown from the nurse, the three of them thwarting the nurse’s efforts to undress her, doing it themselves and bundling her into a hospital gown between contractions.
Amused and grateful for their attentiveness, Erin smiled at each of them. “Thank you.”
Reese folded her clothing and slipped it into the plastic bag the nurse provided. “You’re welcome. Lie back, baby, and try to get comfortable.”
The young nurse pursed her lips, looking decidedly uncomfortable. “Two of you are going to have to leave.”
Running a hand over Erin’s hair, Jared gripped her hand. “No.”
Duncan helped her lie back, brushing his lips over hers. “We’re here, baby.”
“You’d better be here.” Squeezing his hand, she stiffened as another contraction hit her. “You were there when I got this way, so you’re going to have to suck it up and hang around for the rest of it. Labor pains, shitty diapers, and no sleep.”
“That’s a given, baby.” Duncan flattened a hand on her abdomen, his lips thinning when she had another contraction. “We have no intention of leaving your side.”
Recognizing the determination in their voices, Erin smiled, some of the tension she hadn’t even been aware of dissipating. Blinking back tears, she met Duncan’s gaze while squeezing Jared’s and Reese’s hands. “I know that. I never would have fallen in love with you if you weren’t the men you are.”
Glancing over, Erin watched the nurse step out of the room. “I’m just worried that they’ll make two of you leave.”
Jared bent, touching his lips to hers. “They won’t have any luck with that at all.”
When her obstetrician, Dr. Marsh, came in, he smiled, eyeing each of them in turn. “I assume you’re all staying.”
“We are.” Chuckling, Duncan ran a hand over her abdomen. “They’re learning.”
Dr. Marsh asked several questions as he examined her, with one seeming to surprise her husbands.
“How long have you been in labor?”
Erin breathed through another contraction before answering. “Since about two o’clock.”
Dr. Marsh finished, and smiled at each of them. “I’ll be back to check on you soon. I’m on my way to deliver another one. Must be a full moon.”
As soon as they were alone again, Reese approached with a warm, damp towel and ran it over her face and neck, pausing when she had another contraction. “I hope this doesn’t take much longer, especially since she’s been having these pains for hours.”
Duncan frowned down at her, his eyes dark with concern. “Something we didn’t find out until the doctor asked.”
Erin moaned at the feel of the cloth over her skin. “Did you call Rachel and your parents?”
Jared nodded. “I texted them. They’ll all be here soon.”
One hour became two, then three, and by the time she’d been in the birthing room for four hours, Jared, Duncan, and Reese had begun to look anxious.
“Why don’t you three go out to the waiting room with your parents and send Rachel in?” Meeting Jared’s dark look, Erin smiled. “Don’t growl at me. I want to tell her to go home. It looks like this might take a while.”