Page 25 of The Prince's Teacher

The two hours that it took to get the plane back to Swenia and me to the hospital where we had our birthing suite, were the longest of my life. There was not a thing I could do to make the time go faster. It wasn’t as if you could just fly faster.

Trust me, I had asked.

And I was royalty, so the traffic was already opened up for me. Roads were blocked off, and we had a police escort the entire way from the airport to the hospital.

I kept on the phone with Jaq almost the entire time. My omega father was there with him, holding his hand while he got to the hospital and into his room. He was in the best care, so there was that, but I would never forgive myself if I missed the birth of our child. No assurances from the doctor, the nurse, my omega father, or my husband that birth would take time would assure me. It was only until I burst into the room that I finally realized, yes, we had time. I wasn’t going to miss this.

Jaq lay on the bed, a playlist of calming music we had picked out together playing on the speaker beside him.

“I’m here,” I said.

He laughed. “I can see that.” He hissed, then held his side. “Oh, another contraction.”

I rushed to his side and held his hand as he breathed through it.

“That one was slightly more intense than the last one,” my father said. He sat in the chair next to the bed, ever the face of calm. He had done this numerous times before, and he’d been present for a few of his grandchildren’s births as well.

“It was. I guess now that Erich’s here, I don’t need to hold them back,” Jaq said.

“Hold them back?” I asked.

Jaq shrugged. “Well, I wasn’t actually holding them back. That’s not possible, but you’re here now, so we can relax.”

“Yes.” Relax. That was exactly what we could do. Not.

I didn’t know if it was physically possible for him to have waited for me to arrive, but within twenty minutes of me arriving to the hospital, he was pushing out our daughter. He only spent two minutes in active labor. It seemed our daughter was impatient to join the world.

When her cry split through the air, it was as if my heart became complete for the first time in my life. I thought it was complete and full of love, with how I felt for Jacques and my family and how wonderful life was, but it was nothing compared to holding her in my arms for the first time and then going to Jaq’s side to show her to him.

“Oh, look how much hair she has.” He laughed. “That’s where all the heartburn came from.”

She had inch-long thick dark hair. Her eyes were closed, but they were fighting their way open. She let out a loud cry, and then I placed her onto Jaq’s chest. She snuggled in, warm against her father’s side.

“A healthy little girl, Your Lordship,” Jaq said.

“Indeed,” I said. “And what shall we name this little princess?”

Jack smiled. “Erika.”

“Yeah?” I said, my voice thick with emotion.

“Princess Erica Daphne Genthner.”

“That sounds beautiful, love. Truly.” I pushed the damp hair from Jaq’s forehead and kissed him.

Our little family was now complete.