Chapter 10 - The Labor Scare
1715 Words
3:14am.
The mansion was silent. Too silent.
Luna woke up to wet.
Not sweat. Not tears.
Water.
Warm. Running down her legs, soaking the sheets.
Her breath caught in her throat. “No. No no no.”
She was 36 weeks. 4 weeks early.
Panic shot through her like ice. Her hands shook as she sat up. The baby kicked, hard, like she knew something was wrong.
“Damian!” Luna screamed. Her voice cracked. “Damian!”
No answer.
The room was empty. His side of the bed was cold.
She fumbled for her phone on the nightstand. The screen lit up her face. 12 missed calls. All from Damian. Last one 2 hours ago.
Her stomach clenched. Pain. Sharp and sudden.
Another contraction.
She doubled over, gasping.
A text glowed at the top of her screen:
**"Pack emergency. South border. Back by 4am. Don’t worry. Don’t answer the door to anyone. - D"**
Luna was alone.
In a mansion.
36 weeks pregnant.
In labor.
“Okay,” she whispered to herself. “Okay. You can do this. Breathe.”
She tried to stand. Another wave of pain hit. She cried out and grabbed the dresser.
Her daughter kicked again.
“Mommy’s here,” Luna whispered, hand on her belly. “We’re gonna be okay. We’re gonna be okay.”
She grabbed her hospital bag. She’d packed it weeks ago, at Damian’s insistence. “Just in case,” he’d said. “Even though you’re not due for a month.”
Just in case.
Luna laughed, hysterical. “You had no idea, did you?”
She waddled to the door. The halls were dark. Guards were at the gate but she didn’t want to bother them. Not for this. Not when Damian said not to answer the door.
She could drive herself. It was only 10 minutes.
---
The car ride was hell.
Every red light felt like an hour. Every contraction made her grip the wheel until her knuckles went white.
She called the hospital with shaking hands.
“Hello? I’m 36 weeks, my water broke, I’m having contractions 5 minutes apart—”
“Ma’am, are you driving?” the nurse asked.
“Yes.”
“Pull over. We’re sending an ambulance right now.”
“I’m 10 minutes away!” Luna cried, swerving into the hospital lane. “Please. I can’t—”
Another contraction ripped through her. She screamed and hit the steering wheel.
The baby kicked. Hard.
“Luna? Luna, talk to me.”
Damian.
He answered. Finally.
“I’m driving to the hospital,” Luna sobbed. “My water broke. You’re not here. You said you’d be back by 4.”
Silence. Then a crash on his end. Like he’d dropped something.
“I’m coming,” Damian said. His voice was different. Panicked. “Where are you?”
“At the hospital. Labor and delivery. Please hurry.”
“I’m 5 minutes out. I’m running red lights. Don’t you dare have her without me, Luna. Don’t you dare.”
“I’m trying not to!” Luna screamed, then hung up.
She stumbled into the ER. A nurse saw her immediately.
“Wheelchair! Now!”
They were wheeling her down the hall, Luna crying, “My husband— he’s on his way—”
“Focus on breathing,” the nurse said, calm but firm. “We need to check dilation.”
In the room, cold lights, cold gel. The doctor frowned.
“You’re 6cm,” she said. “And you’re 36 weeks. This is going fast. We might need to do an emergency C-section.”
Luna shook her head, tears streaming. “No. Please. I want to try natural. For the baby.”
“Alright,” the doctor said. “But if her heart rate drops—”
The doors burst open.
Damian.
Blood on his shirt. Not his. Wolf eyes glowing in the fluorescent light. Hair wild. Chest heaving like he’d run the whole way.
“LUNA!”
He was at her side in 2 seconds. Grabbed her hand. His was shaking.
“I’m here. I’m here. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He kept saying it. Over and over.
Luna was crying, sweating, shaking. “It hurts. Damian, it hurts so bad.”
“I know baby. I know.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “Breathe with me. In. Out. You’re doing so good. Our girl is so strong. Just like her mom.”
The nurse looked at Damian. “You’re the father? You need to scrub in.”
“I’m not leaving her,” Damian said.
“You have to—”
“I SAID I’M NOT LEAVING HER!” Damian roared. The lights flickered.
The doctor stepped in. “It’s fine. Gown him. Now.”
They shoved scrubs on Damian. He didn’t take his eyes off Luna.
“One more push!” the doctor yelled.
Luna screamed. Pushed. The pain was everything.
And then—
A cry.
Tiny. Loud. Angry. Perfect.
“IT’S A GIRL!” the nurse announced. “6 pounds 2 ounces. APGAR 9. She’s perfect. Just early.”
Luna collapsed back, sobbing. “My baby. My baby.”
Damian was shaking. Tears were running down his face. He didn’t wipe them. He cut the cord with hands that wouldn’t stop trembling.
They placed the tiny baby on Luna’s chest.
Red face. Dark hair. Damian’s eyes.
“She’s here,” Luna whispered. “She’s really here.”
Damian kissed Luna’s forehead. Then her cheeks. Then her lips. Soft. Desperate.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here sooner,” he choked out. “I would burn the world down for you both. I swear to god, Luna.”
Luna looked up at him. Still angry. Still hurt from the file. From the lies.
But he was here now. Covered in blood. Crying over their daughter.
“Damian,” she whispered.
“I’m here.”
---
2 hours later.
Postpartum room. Quiet.
Luna held their daughter. Wrapped in pink. So small.
Damian sat beside the bed. Hadn’t let go of Luna’s hand since they got here.
“What’s her name?” Damian asked quietly. His voice was wrecked.
Luna looked at the baby. At her tiny nose. Her eyebrows.
“Aria,” Luna said.
Damian tested it. “Aria Blackwood.”
He smiled. First real smile in days. It cracked his face open. “It’s perfect. Strong and soft. Like her mother.”
Luna nodded. “Aria.”
Damian reached out. One finger. Touched Aria’s tiny hand.
She grabbed it. Her whole hand wrapped around his finger.
Damian broke. Full on sobbing. Shoulders shaking.
“I didn’t think I deserved this,” he whispered. “After everything I did. After the contract. After lying.”
Luna was quiet. The room was quiet except for Aria’s little breaths.
Then: “You don’t,” Luna said.
Damian flinched like she’d hit him.
“But she does,” Luna continued. “Aria deserves a dad who chooses her. Every day. Even when it’s hard.”
Damian looked at her. Eyes red. “I do. I will. For the rest of my life.”
Luna didn’t answer.
She was too tired. Too hurt. Too in love with the baby in her arms to fight anymore.
Damian leaned down. Kissed Aria’s forehead. Then Luna’s.
“I’ll earn it,” he said. “Starting now.”
---
The next 3 days were a blur.
Hospital food. Beeping machines. Nurses coming in every hour.
Feeding. Diapers. No sleep.
Damian didn’t leave the hospital room. Not once. He slept in the chair.
He learned how to swaddle. Badly. Aria always came out lopsided.
He did 3am feedings so Luna could sleep. He heated the bottles with shaking hands.
He read to Aria. Same book every night. *Goodnight Moon*. Even though she couldn’t understand.
On night 3, Luna woke up to Damian asleep in the chair.
Aria asleep on his chest. Rising and falling with his breathing.
Luna watched them.
Her heart hurt.
Because she still loved him.
Even after the lies. Even after the contract. Even after finding out it was planned.
She whispered, “Damian.”
He woke instantly. Alpha reflexes. “What? Is she okay? Is Aria okay?”
Luna nodded to the baby on his chest. “She likes you.”
Damian looked down. Aria was drooling on his shirt. A tiny bubble at her mouth.
“She’s my whole world,” Damian said. Quiet. Awe.
Luna closed her eyes. “Mine too.”
That was the first time since the file that they didn’t fight.
---
On day 4, they went home.
The nursery was ready. Pink and gray. Crib. Rocking chair. Mobile with stars.
Aria slept in the crib. Damian and Luna slept in separate rooms.
But every night at 3am, Damian was there.
For feedings. For crying. For rocking.
He made tea. Badly.
He changed diapers. Worse.
He sang lullabies. Off key.
One night, Aria wouldn’t stop crying. Colic.
Luna was exhausted. Running on 2 hours of sleep in 3 days. “I can’t— I can’t do this—” She was crying.
Damian took the baby. “I got her. Go sleep.”
“I don’t want to sleep,” Luna whispered. “I want—”
She didn’t finish.
Damian looked at her. Really looked. “What do you want, Luna?”
Luna stared at him. At the man who lied. Who loved. Who was here at 3am with spit up on his shirt.
“I want to try,” she said. Her voice shook. “For her. If you’re serious. If this is real.”
Damian went still. “Try what?”
“Us,” Luna said. “A family. If you’re serious.”
Damian crossed the room in one step. Didn’t touch her.
“I’m serious,” he said. “I’ve been serious since the first kick. Since the ultrasound. Since the moment I heard her cry.”
Luna nodded. “Then prove it.”
Damian nodded back. “Every day. For the rest of our lives.”
He walked out with Aria.
Luna stood in the nursery, alone.
For the first time, the future didn’t feel like a contract.
It felt like a choice.
And she was choosing.
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