My attention diverts back to Eve's glowing red cheeks, and her eyes burning like forests ablaze. "Jinx?" I say, still holding Autumn's tiny form in my arms. "What do we do?"

"Take over." The drone spins toward the front door. "Boil more water and disinfect your knife for the umbilical cord, and anything else that might come into contact with mother or child. You can do this. I will hold off the creature until the second child is born."

With his drop-down metal hands, Jinx removes the bar from across the door and ventures outside into the bitter cold. Right behind him, I slam the door, slide the bar across to lock it, and then turn to Eve.

Jinx's voice echoes from a speaker on the touchscreen computer. "I have taken up a defensive position at the front steps. I'll observe the tree line and wait for the predator to appear on my visual camera. And I'll let you know when it's dead."

I lay Autumn on top of a cushion of towels on the floor, close to Eve's head, where she can peer down at her if she wants to, but she's preoccupied at the moment.

"Okay." I smooth my hands down my shirt. "You can do this."

"I know I can. Question is, can you?"

I swallow and focus on the birth canal. "Now, just like before: count, breathe, push. Here we go."

My head swims. I feel like I'm floating. I teeter and catch myself on Eve's knees.

"Are you alright?" she says between breaths and contractions. "Don't pass out on me."

I shake myself. "I'm fine. Just need to count. One... Are you ready?"

She responds with a brisk nod, blowing air from her lips, eyes staring daggers at me.

"Two... three... push!"

As the cycle of counting-breathing-pushing hits its stride, outside, bursts of percussion rounds pierce the night air, the sound waves reverberating throughout the cabin and startling me into a frenzy. The battle sounds make Eve focus harder. I realize at this moment, she's strong. She's doing what she has to do to ensure the safety of our family. Foremost, that's giving birth to both of the twins so I can do my job—getting my rifle and helping Jinx—while she protects the children.

Outside, there's a break in the action of electrified air-bullets pelting tree trunks, and hopefully, the snow lion's enormous body. During the pause, the creature roars with such ferocity that I swear the front door rattles. It sounds like it's right next to our porch.

"Get. Your. Eyes on me." Eve claws at my hand on her knee.

I obey without question.

The baby's head breaches the birth canal, this time, revealing a matted swath of brown hair, my son, moments away from birth. But my thoughts drift back to the creature's roar. Sweat drips into my eyes as I chew the inside of my cheek to shreds. I'm aware of the rifle propped nearby, and I consider shoving all the furniture in the room against the—

The front door blasts off its hinges and lands flat on the floor with the gigantic snow lion standing on top of it. The creature's massive head turns toward us and bellows like the greatest predator ever to walk the Earth.

"Noah, snap out of it," Eve says. "Get your eyes on me. I. Need. You. To. Focus!"

I wag my head and look again at the doorway. It's still secure. Snow isn't blowing inside and there isn't a white lion about to devour us. It was all in my imagination.

I shake the stars from my vision and return to the task at hand.

As Eve pushes again, my gaze broadens, like the world has come to life with colors and sound. The fire burns in the hearth behind Eve, and her irises glisten with the pain and stress of giving birth to her children.

A second later, the baby's head is in the clear and I'm clutching my son's tiny scalp as Eve times a contraction with a furious push and a wail of agony. In a moment, the child breaches and he's free in my hands. After clamping the umbilical cord, I sever it with the disinfected knife and hold the baby up for Eve to see.

With cries filling the room along with Eve's shuddering breaths, a massive explosion rocks the air outside. We glance at each other and hold our stares. The silence seems deafening as we wonder if Jinx killed the second snow lion.

A savage roar squashes our hopes.

The battle rages on as Jinx's percussion rounds fire away outside. Something hits the front of the house, and the creature yelps in agony, but soon, its growls rumble anew.

I turn to face Eve. She's pushing again, asking me to get the babies from her arms. As I lay them on the cushion of towels on the floor, I think for a horrifying second that we missed something and she's about to give birth to a third child. But after several minutes, she expels the placentas, dispelling my fears.

Jinx has done a complementary job of preoccupying the snow lion while Eve was in labor. After allowing her a few moments to gather herself, I help her get ready to move to the bedroom. There's no place for her and the children to rest in the cave, so we must take our chances in the cabin, hoping and praying Jinx and I can hold the creature at bay.

First, I carry Eve and lay her in bed, propping her up so she'll be able to keep her eyes peeled to protect the babies. Next, I snuggle each child next to her: Autumn and then the boy. It's then, through all the chaos, I remember we haven't settled on a boy's name. I pause and remind Eve of this and charge her to put her mind to it.

As I turn to go help Jinx, she claws at my arm. "Don't go. He can handle it. He killed the first one."

"With my help." I follow the statement up with the truth. "It landed in my trap, at least."

I pull away and she cries after me, but I only disappear for a moment, returning with a spare rifle. "Take this. It's loaded. If anything but me or Jinx comes through that door, blow its head off."

Her eyes widen. "Come back to me."

With my weapon in hand, I narrow my gaze and nod a firm acknowledgment of her plea. Then I bolt from the room to kill a creature whose very presence paralyzes me with fear, and whose savage jaws could rip me apart as if it were child's play. But I cast these thoughts aside as my drive to save the ones I love propels me through the front door and into the battle to come.