Page 80 of Mommy

“Ahh, perfect.” Samuel visibly relaxes. He goes to hug me, but freezes halfway, looking me up and down and settles for a polite nod.

Shit. I’m still covered in vaginal discharge.

“I’ll take a shower.” I murmur and make my exit as fast as possible.

I also shower as fast as possible. Basically all I do is let the cold water rain down on me, speed wash my hands, body and hair, let the slightly warmer water wash away the soap and half dry myself with a towel before slipping into a clean shirt and joggers.

There’s no way I was gone for longer than 10 minutes, but when I come back downstairs Liam and Samuel are gone and there’s only Ivory waiting by Posie’s side in the living room. There’s a steaming cup of tea on the couch table and when I check the kitchen island, I see another mug waiting for me on the counter.

Grabbing the mug, I take a seat next to Ivy on the couch. Her eyes are on Posie, but she grants me a dazzling smile when I join her.

“I think it won’t be long now until she starts whelping. I told Samuel to go home, and that we’d call if we needed him. He’s on stand by.” She speaks quietly, not really whispering but keeping her tone calm.

My mind gets stuck on the word she used: whelping. That’s probably the correct term for puppy birth.

“Good.” I sling an arm around her and pull her with me into the back rest of the couch.

Ivy leans into me, her shoulder fitting snugly into my side and her head coming to rest against the crook between my shoulder and biceps.

“I asked Liam to come with me in case there’s something wrong. He has more experience than me.” Ivory says quietly, offering me an explanation she didn’t owe me.

Of course.

I was so caught up with Posie I didn’t even think about how Ivory would handle the situation. A little bit of guilt gnaws at the back of my mind. I had expected her to be able to help without ever talking to her about how much knowledge she had on the topic. I should’ve been thankful that Liam tagged along to support her, and instead I behaved like an asshole.

“I’ll thank him next time I see him.” I grunt, my jaw working to hide my annoyance at that.

Ivory sighs.

“There’s no need for that, Derek. Liam is a nice guy, and⁠—”

I wait for her to finish her sentence, but she doesn’t. Instead, she sits up straight, and puts her tea cup down.

“I think she’s ready,” she whispers over her shoulder, nodding in Posie’s direction.

“Okay.” I’m immediately ready to jump into action, my body humming as I wait for Ivory to instruct me. “What do we do?”

She glances back at me with a slight shake of her head and a smile on her lips.

“We stay calm and let her do her thing. If she needs help, she will let us know.”

I can just stare at her.

“We do nothing?”

“Nope.”

“But—”

“No but, Derek. She can do it.” The certainty in her voice takes a little of my concern away, but it isn’t until the first goo-covered puppy crawls over the rug that I really relax again.

It takes 8 more puppies and my worry slowly returns.

“How many has she got in there?” I ask, staring in horror over the rim of my tea cup.

Ivory just shrugs, a soft giggle lingering in her exhale. Sleep is still heavy in her every breath. She dozed off for a few hours, only waking up again when I got up to refill my tea.

Now she’s awake again, despite it being early in the morning. Maybe 4am?