The night was deep.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Isabella lay on the operating table, her face pale, and her body drenched in sweat. Despite the intense pain, she endured it without uttering a word of complaint.
"Push, we can see the baby's head," the midwife's voice echoed in her ears.
Isabella's hand clung tightly to the bed rail. After a day and a night of pain, she could hardly summon any strength.
"The baby seems to be stuck; it might be a difficult birth. Should we notify Bet-, Mr. Ryan, for their safety?" The midwife and the head nurse exchanged a glance.
"No, don't mind me, save the baby," Isabella's sweat-soaked hand suddenly clutched the doctor. Her voice was filled with agony but unwavering.
The doctor was moved and firmly held her hand, saying, "Let's try again. Listen to my instructions, take a deep breath, and push..."
With the sound of a newborn's loud cry, everyone in the delivery room breathed a sigh of relief.
The head nurse took the baby to clean, and the midwife left the delivery room, dialing a number on her phone.
"Beta Ryan..."
On the other end, Ryan answered the call and knocked on the intricately carved wooden door in front of him.
"Come in," a mature and deep voice echoed from inside.
Ryan pushed the door open and found a tall man standing by the large French windows, his suit buttons undone, revealing a crisp shirt underneath. A cigarette burned quietly between his middle and ring fingers of his left hand.
"Is there something you need?" he raised an eyebrow, exuding an intimidating aura.
"Alpha, the hospital just called. That human, Isabella, has given birth to a baby boy, six pounds two ounces. Both mother and child are fine," Ryan immediately replied.
"Alright, I know." Alpha Andrew listened without a hint of emotion in his profound expression.
Ryan felt like he should say "congratulations," but before he could speak, Andrew asked, "What time does the video conference with the UK branch start?"
Ryan was momentarily taken aback, struggling to keep up with the conversation. He raised his wrist and checked his watch, then cautiously answered, "In half an hour, Alpha."
"Have Nathan prepare for it and head to the conference room." Andrew finished his sentence, extinguished his cigarette, and turned to walk out the door.
The video conference continued until the early hours of the next day.
A secretary entered the conference room, holding two cups of strong coffee.
"Aren't you going to the hospital?" Beta Ryan, who had been holding back all night, finally couldn't help but ask.
Sitting across from him, Andrew elegantly took a sip of coffee. After a brief hesitation, he instructed, "Prepare the car."
Hospital room.
The first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the window, casting a warm feeling on Isabella's body.
Isabella opened her tired eyes and looked at her sleeping child beside her, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face.
At the age of nineteen, while other girls her age were still in their parents' arms, she had become a mother.
Even though the child's father was unknown, and she had almost collapsed when she first found out she was pregnant, over the past ten months, he had grown inside her, becoming an irreplaceable part of her life.
Perhaps, that's what motherhood is. So when the doctor mentioned that she might have a difficult birth, she almost instinctively offered her own life in exchange for the hope of the child's survival.
A knocking sound echoed at this moment, and Isabella quickly wiped away the tears on her cheek with the back of her hand. In a hoarse voice, she said, "Please come in."
She thought it was a nurse coming to change the IV, but as the door opened, a handsome young man she didn't recognize walked in.