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her heels digging into the mattress as her eyes flew wide.
    Erik did his best to soothe her and cautioned her to be still so Stephanie could do what she needed for Piper. He felt an odd sensation in his lower abdomen that felt as if his insides were being shifted about, and he knew what he felt was only a portion of what Sarah did.
    “Fuck! Her cord is around her neck. That’s why she pulled back in, it’s acting like a bungee cord.” Stephanie shifted, moved her hand over on Sarah’s stomach and pressed slightly. “Yes! It’s around her neck then under one arm, so it’s not strangling her.”
    “So what does that mean?” Erik asked. In his opinion, it still didn’t sound much better.
    “It means she’s going to be fine, but Sarah is going to have to really work to push her out.” Stephanie fixed her gaze on Sarah’s and added, “I can’t do a C-section outside of the hospital. It’s too risky. You’re going to have to dig deep and give it all you’ve got. You can rest once she’s out, but you need to push as hard as you can on this next contraction. Her cord could be pinched once she’s lodged in the birth canal, and it could restrict the flow of blood and oxygen getting to her.”
    “I understand. Let’s do this,” Sarah replied, already bracing on her elbows and ready to go.
    Angela rushed back into the room and moved to Sarah’s other side. “Glad you didn’t get started without me,” she joked. Together, she and Erik lifted Sarah’s shoulders and offered support as the next wave came.
    “Push, Sarah!” Stephanie ordered.
    The sound of Sarah’s teeth clenching as she bore down was enough to make Erik’s jaw ache, and he worried she’d crack a tooth, but the praise from Stephanie stilled his tongue when he would have spoken. If it was working for her, he wouldn’t distract her in any way.
    “Again, Sarah. Don’t stop now. She’s nearly there. Keep going. You can do this!”
    “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s do this. Squeeze my hand, rip off my arm, whatever you need to do, but don’t give up.”
    She looked up at him, her amber eyes pleading, and he felt her utter exhaustion. Sarah was spent, but Erik knew his wife wasn’t a quitter.
    A rather robust cry from the other room had both their heads turning towards the door, and Erik remembered something he had read a few weeks back. Twins were often in sync with one another. Was Peyton sensing his sister’s distress? Erik heard his brother speaking softly as he tried to soothe his upset nephew, but Peyton’s cries only seemed to grow more frantic.
    As his son’s cries seemed to reach a crescendo, Stephanie suddenly became loud herself as she barked orders. “Push now, damn it! Her head is nearly out, and that means the cord is depressed. She could be suffocating, Sarah! Push now! ”
    Stephanie’s shouting seemed to do the trick as Sarah growled low in her throat, released Erik’s arm and dug her sharp nails into the bed. He watched as his mate curled herself forward and pushed as hard as she could, her face turning an alarming shade of crimson.
    The intense pain he’d felt when his first child came returned once again, and he was immensely relieved that he was sitting down and that Stephanie was there to oversee things.
    Erik chanced a glance down and saw Stephanie quickly unwrapping the umbilical cord from Piper’s neck, but the baby’s head was the only thing out. A little turn of the shoulders, and the rest of her small body finally emerged, followed by a lot of blood and what he assumed was the afterbirth.
    Piper made no sound. Her tiny body lay motionless in the cradle of Stephanie’s arms, and Sarah’s anguished wail matched the one inside his head as they took in the sight. The ability to verbalize his pain was completely gone, as he watched Stephanie turn away with their daughter in her arms.
    He and Sarah clung to each other, crying and riding the waves of grief that crashed between them through the bond. Their poor