I’m a bastard.

Sethios knelt beside Caro and clasped her ice-cold hand between his.

“Come on, sweetheart,” he whispered. “Don’t do this to me. Come back.” Her pale face and purple lips broke his heart.

If anything happens to her… He didn’t know how to finish that thought. She would survive. She had to.

“She’ll be fine,” Gabriel said as he reappeared. “Most females die a few times during birth due to the intensity of the process. It takes a lot of energy to birth a Seraphim, especially one as powerful as my future sister.”

“What can I do?” Sethios asked, helpless.

Gabriel blinked at him. “Provide comfort. It may… help.”

“That doesn’t sound very scientific,” Sethios pointed out even as he leaned in to press a kiss to Caro’s forehead.

“It’s not, but my mother’s pregnancy responded well to your brand of care; therefore, the birthing process might be the same. Only time will tell.”

“She’s only dilated three inches,” Leela murmured. “There’s not enough time.”

“Time for what? The baby to be delivered normally?” Sethios demanded. “We can’t wait?”

“It’s not a matter of us waiting, but the child,” Gabriel replied. “Seraphim heal from any injury, including a breach such as this.”

Sethios shuddered at the implication of what he meant and slid into the bed beside Caro to hold her as best he could.

He brushed his lips against her temple, then her cheek, and willed her to return to him so they could do this together. All the hurt her words caused evaporated as he focused on their child and keeping Caro safe.

He palmed her belly and whispered, “Not yet, little one. Give your mom a bit to acclimate. Please.” The last thing he wanted to see was Caro being ripped open by their child.

“It won’t help,” Leela said, her voice oddly emotional for a Seraphim. “As Gabe said, the babe will come whether Caro’s body is ready or not.”

“I warned you this pregnancy hasn’t been normal.” Gabriel eyed Sethios’s hand on Caro’s belly. “The baby responds to him.”

Sethios ignored them and focused on his future daughter. “Wait for your mom, sweetheart. Please. I know you don’t want to hurt her.” He stroked Caro’s stomach while speaking and kept his mouth near her ear. Leela and Gabriel likely thought him insane, and maybe he was, but he had to try something. He couldn’t just lie there while Caro suffered.

So much had changed these last two months. What started as a fun pastime blossomed into something he never could have imagined wanting—a family.

Sethios wasn’t meant to be a dad. He certainly had no desire to be one. Nor did he want a monogamous relationship with a child’s mother.

But Caro… She altered everything, including his perspective on life.

He enjoyed playing house with her. Perhaps because it was so new, or maybe because of some deeper connection he refused to acknowledge.

Regardless of the cause, his eyes had been opened to a new possibility of how to live. One where he truly possessed a purpose—to nurture and grow a little one. To adore and cherish a person other than himself.