Chapter 30 #2
“Ok. Shout if you need me.”
I watched him lumber out the en-suite and sighed in relief.
Today was Saturday.
In a few hours it would be spa time.
I didn’t want spa time, I wanted proper sleep time.
Once the bath had filled to my level of satisfaction, I added a few drops of calming oils, made some bubbles, and stripped down to bare skin.
A low moan escaped my lips as I entered the bath and slumped down until my chin grazed the water’s surface.
“Much better.” I muttered to myself.
The water wasn’t overly hot and the buoyancy it gave my limbs was relaxing.
My mind drifted between thoughts of work, the colour of paint used in my guest room…
now nursery, and Matt.
Was he thinking about the future, our future?
It was constantly on my mind.
“What about Lucas and Lily?” I shouted through the partially opened door.
“No.” His return shout was sleepy yet emphatic.
I frowned and offered another option of names.
“Penelope and Pierce?”
“No.” he shot those two down.
“And their names don’t have to start with the same letter. They’re not identical twins, poppet.”
Falling silent, I bobbed up and down in the tub, enjoying the buoyancy and the soothing scent lifting off the water’s surface.
“Matt?”
A low thud followed then he appeared in the doorway seconds later, grey eyes alert even though there were sleep creases lining his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I assured him as his gaze zoned in on my tummy.
“Do you expect me to, I mean, do we have to move in together?”
Matt walked into the en-suite and made his way over to the tub.
Grabbing one of the nearby neatly folded towels, he balanced it on the edge and sat down.
“Is that what you would prefer us to do?” he asked while trailing his fingers through the water.
“I don’t know,” It was an honest answer.
“Things are nice between us but I don’t want to-”
“Rush it,” he finished for me.
“I know and I understand.” His fingers skirted over the water until contact was made with my tummy.
A small smile appeared on his face.
“We still have a little time before any hard decisions need to be made and we’ll do what’s right for us. Ok?”
“Ok.” I agreed.
“That sounds good. How about Aston?”
Matt flicked some water at my face.
“I’m not naming my son after a car.”
“For her, not him,” I corrected him and he just shook his head.
“The water is getting cold, don’t stay in too long,” Matt stood up and dried his hand on the towel.
“You look tired.”
My pout was repaid with a kiss when he bent at the waist to bestow it.
“Come back to bed,” he murmured.
“Mum and Hannah plan on spoiling you all day today and they’ll want to leave early. You need to get some rest.”
“I’ll be out in fifteen minutes. My back is killing me and I just can’t get comfortable.”
Matt got very serious.
“No twinges?”
I shook my head.
“Just normal late stage pregnancy aches. Don’t worry.”
“Come to bed.” he ordered.
“I’m really proud of us.” I blurted out as he moved away.
Matt paused to wink and say, “Me too. You’re finally acting as a grown up should.”
I mouthed two specific words at him, one started with ‘f’ and the other with ‘y’.
He chuckled then sauntered out the en-suite and left me to my bath.
We were good and this time around our relationship would work.
He never used to give me time before, now it felt as if I had all the time in the world.
I was halfway between sleep and consciousness, and dreaming of being on the toilet.
It was a damned constipation dream and I could see Aunt Cleo encouraging me to let it all out.
My stomach was cramping and I could feel the building pressure in my lower body as I tried to poop.
Then I was dreaming about wee and my bladder exploding to flood the parched world with…
shit, my mouth gaped open as full awareness crashed into me and I realized there was moisture pooling in my panties and on the mattress beneath me.
The area under my ass was sopping wet.
I had wet the fucking bed in my sleep.
Oh hell no .
Unwilling to open my eyes and face the shame, my mind frantically raced with ways to cover the deed up.
Spa day had turned into ‘me being too tired to go and Matt telling his elder sister to bugger off while I rested’ day.
How long had I been asleep for?
Shit.
Would Hannah’s staff tattle if I got their help?
Maybe I could spill some juice or something to cover it up?
These were frigging Italian sateen weave sheets.
A painful cramp ripped through my stomach and my eyes flew open as I felt the unbearable urge to poop increase.
There was serious pressure going on down there – I glanced down and froze in terror.
The skirt of my light blue dress I had changed into earlier before breakfast was now stained a dark sort of red.
Another stab of gut wrenching pain caused my body to contort atop the bed.
Oh God.
“Matt.” I whispered through my now ragged breaths as another wave of pain ripped through my lower abdomen and I felt my lower abdominal muscles contract.
Then I took a deep breath and screamed his name.
How long I bawled for him?
I had no idea.
A few seconds?
Some minutes?
An hour?
Time was relative as I gripped my stomach and fought to breathe past the intense pain and fear.
This shouldn’t be happening!
I had time.
We were hoping for a twin’s full-term pregnancy of 37 weeks.
I was only 34 weeks.
Oh God!
It felt like wanting to poop.
The muscles of my stomach contracted so hard I could see one of the babies’ elbows or knees.
Something bad was going on.
“Matt.” I was too scared to weep, too terrified to move from where I laid.
“Oh please. Matt! ”
There was the unmistakeable noise of thunderous footsteps before the door was abruptly shoved open and Matt appeared like a heavenly vision before my eyes.
The blood drained from his face as he stood frozen in the doorway.
“Oh dear God.” he gasped before yelling for Stuart while movement returned to his limbs and he rushed towards the bed.
“I’m sorry.” Why the hell was I apologizing?
It seemed the right thing to do somehow.
“Fuck.” he hissed then he took a shaky breath and reached for me with one hand while tugging his phone from the back pocket of his pants with the other.
“It’ll be ok, sweetheart. Everything will be ok.”
His eyes kept darting from my face to the macabre blood stained mess of my dress and the sheet beneath me as he called 999.
There was more running outside the room and Stuart darted through the door quickly followed by Adam.
Matt exhaled in relief when he saw Stuart even as he conversed with the 999 operator.
“Go to my office,” Stuart was shoving Adam back out the room.
“You’ll see a medical bag on the glass table. Bring it to me. Now.”
Adam disappeared and Stuart hurried over to the bed.
“Ambulance?” he asked Matt.
Matt’s quick nod of affirmation was met with one back from Stuart.
He sprinted into the en-suite and returned shortly with a towel drying his hands and arms.
“Matty? What’s going on?” William Jr stopped on the threshold of the room, mouth hanging open in shock.
“What is it?” Grumps’s tart voice was loud.
“Stop standing in my way, William. What’s all this noise about?”
Matt was still talking on his phone, advising the operator about Stuart’s medical knowledge and pressing the person for a time-frame on when the ambulance would arrive and whether it would be faster and better to fly me to a private hospital via helicopter.
Yeah.
First world problems and crazy gazillionaires.
I clutched my stomach and bit my lower lip as Stuart tossed aside the hand-towel and edged closer to me.
“Madison,” His tone was calm and friendly.
“I need to check what’s going on with you and the babies. It looks like your waters have broken and I’m concerned about this amount of blood.”
I stiffened immediately and tried to sit up.
Matt put a hand on my shoulder as I started to shake my head.
“No,” I whimpered.
“Wait for the ambulance. They’ll be here soon.” I looked at Matt.
“I want to go to the hospital please. Please, Matt.”
“Poppet,” Matt turned all his attention to me.
“There’s a lot of blood-”
“No,” I growled.
“I just need to check.” Stuart said with utter firmness as he reached for the bottom edges of my dress.
I jerked and started to breathe faster.
“Fuck off.” I twisted my head towards Matt.
“I don’t want him touching my vagina!”
“Madison-”
“No,” I tried to squirm away.
“It’s fine. I’m ok now. Let’s wait for the ambulance.”
“Got it.” Adam stumbled into the room with a huge doctor’s bag.
I belatedly noticed Matt’s father and grandfather had fully entered the room also.
“Sir,” one of Stuart’s staff members was striding into the room.
“What do you need?”
“Have someone out front for when the ambulance arrives. Bring me some clean towels,”
“Matt,” I zoned Stuart’s orders out and grabbed Matt’s arm tightly.
“I don’t want this. It’s too soon. We have three more weeks-”
I had to stop mid-sentence.
The pain was intense and there was definitely something major happening between my legs.
I could feel something stretching me then – fuck!
It had to be one of the babies’ head coming out.
Matt dropped his phone and covered my hand with his when he saw the expression on my face.
“Madi?”
Indescribable.
It was worse than a stomach ache, so much worse.
The pregnancy books hadn’t fully prepared me for this shit.
Once the searing pain passed, I looked at Stuart.
“Ok. You can check. There’s something- I think-”
My sudden acquiescence alarmed everyone.
Everyone except Stuart.
“Good girl,” he said and settled lower down the bed.
“You’ve been bearing down, haven’t you?”
I could only take ragged breaths as I panicked and dealt with extreme embarrassment at the same time.
Stuart’s hands were under my dress and-
“Well then, I can feel a head coming out.” he pronounced with gusto.
“It’s too late to try and delay the delivery. Let’s get stuck in, shall we?”
“What?” Matt cried out hoarsely while Stuart efficiently yanked my blood-stained panties down and off.
When Stuart started pushing up my dress I had to react.
“Wait.” I yelled turning towards Matt.
“I don’t want – uhnn – too many people – oh sweet Jesus. Uhrnnnn - It hurts. Matt, it hurts.”
“Get out.” Matt shouted over his shoulder while taking up a supportive position.
“Let’s move her further down to the edge of the bed, Matt.” Stuart ordered with a forced cheeriness that grated on my nerves.
“This will be fun. I can’t remember the last time I delivered a baby, and there are two inside you.”
Both Matt and I exchanged looks, terrified looks; before Matt glared daggers at his brother-in-law.
“I swear to God,” he warned.
“This is not the time to make jokes, Stuart.”
Stuart chuckled and winked at us as he and Matt carefully moved me lower down the bed.
Everything was happening so fast, too fast.
Matt was next to me, offering words of encouragement as my body sought to do what should be natural.
It didn’t feel natural.
“My birth plan, this isn’t – urnghhh – what we planned.” I gulped in despair.
“Remember your breathing,” Matt started huffing and puffing.
I didn’t give a fuck about the breathing exercises.
I was more concerned with my unexpected labour, also the undeniable fact my vagina was being torn apart.
“It’s too soon, Matt.” I gasped.
“It’s not 37 weeks yet.”
“Nonsense.” Stuart maintained his cheery tone, his eyes were worried though.
“You’re 34 weeks, and Nichols gave you some steroid shots, he told me so when we chatted last week. Take a breath. Where was I? Yes, 37 weeks would have been ideal, but they’re coming now. I need a gentle push, Madi. Not too hard. Evidence shows there are no discernible medical issues in multiples born at 34 weeks if there’s any initial stay in hospital.”
I gritted my teeth and tried to follow his instructions while hearing the faint sirens of an ambulance.
I hoped I wasn’t imagining the sirens.
“Matt,” I cried out and felt his hands tighten over my shoulders.
“I’m right here, poppet.” He kissed the side of my sweaty face.
“You can do this.”
“I’m going to die,” I announced with remorseful surety.
It felt like death was planning on taking me today, everything hurt and I couldn’t help the feeling of impending doom.
They were earlier than I hoped, it was too soon.
“I’m sorry – but – I’m going to die.”
“The fuck you are.” Matt growled in my ear.
“There is no way you’re leaving me to raise two babies on my own. Stop talking out your arse and focus.”
“Rightly said,” Stuart agreed with Matt’s words.
“No one’s dying on my watch. The wife might have a few words to say over the state of this bed but,” Stuart shrugged then his whole demeanour changed.
“Let’s get these babies out.”
I had to do this.
I was going to do this.
The twins would be bummed they missed the excitement.
Spa day my ass.
Enthralled.
Smitten.
Enchanted.
Captivated.
Mesmerized.
Fascinated.
Matt was absent-mindedly running through the possible words which could be used to describe how he felt about his new born twins.
They had only been here for twelve hours yet he loved them more than anything possible, more than life itself.
Words couldn’t explain the emotions filling his frame as he held them close.
The ward nurse had encouraged skin-to-skin contact despite his fear of hurting them.
Amazing.
They were amazing and doing so well despite coming sooner than either he or Madi had wanted.
Luckily they were breathing on their own but they had spent nine of their first twelve hours in the Neonatal Unit under observation as there had been some concern over whether they were regulating their own temperatures.
They were also able to feed on their own, something everyone feared they wouldn’t be able to do.
Matt felt blessed, and carried the overwhelming urge to fall to his knees and thank God for everything in his life.