Epilogue
Iselyn
He turns off the stove and comes closer to me. “Why are you here? Aren’t you feeling comfortable?” he asks, his hands gently resting on my nine-month pregnant belly, carrying our twins.
He pulls out a chair from the corner and helps me sit.
We have these comfortable chairs everywhere in the house.
Over the past month, walking has become nearly impossible for me, and I can’t stay away from my husband.
So, he’s placed chairs considerately, allowing me to rest while still being near him.
He cooks meals for me himself three times a day, and I spend that time watching him work and talking to him from here.
He works from home most of the time, leaving only for urgent meetings.
According to him, his wife has become overly demanding of his great love during pregnancy—which isn’t wrong.
He kneels in front of me. “Your face looks paler,” he murmurs. He notices every small change in my body.
“I’m just feeling restless. But what are you doing here?” I ask.
“I’m preparing that medicinal soup you told me about yesterday,” he replies.
“Didn’t I also say it’s troublesome and that we don’t need it that much?”
He presses his hands on my belly. “What my wife and babies need, they get, even if it’s something that includes that much.”
He stands and kisses me on the lips. “If you don’t want to go back to bed, you can sit here. We can talk while I make the soup.”
I nod. He walks around the counter, turns on the stove, and starts stirring the ceramic pot. The soup he’s making is helpful for labor, if a pregnant woman drinks it for a week before her delivery, it aids the process. It must be taken first thing in the morning and takes four hours to prepare.
“When did you leave the bed?” I ask, feeling discomfort rising in my belly and below.
“When you were muttering, When will these babies come out and my husband will be able to fuck me again, in your sleep,” he says.
I laugh. “I was not muttering that.”
He grins, his face glowing in the steam. How much do I love this man? No matter how much I feel it, it will always seem too little.
His eyes meet mine, his grin softening into a loving smile. “You know, I could trade the whole world just to see you watching me like this.”
“Do the trade with me,” I say, laughing.
He laughs with me. But my laugh is cut short when a sudden spike of pain shoots through my belly. Matleon catches it instantly and turns off the stove.
He rushes to me. “What’s happening?”
Sweat forms on my forehead. “I think your kids can’t wait another week to come out.”
“Fuck,” he mutters, jumping up and grabbing his phone.
“Prepare the security. We’re leaving for the hospital,” he commands, making another call. “Come here. The babies are coming out,” he says, his voice laced with panic.
I laugh through the pain.
He kneels in front of me. “Is it too much pain? Why are you acting crazy?”
I laugh harder, frowning in pain, tears forming at the corners of my eyes. “I’m not acting crazy. You’re the one going crazy.”
He chuckles. “It’s fine, as long as one of the parents of these kids is sane.”
He lifts me from the chair. “Let’s go. Zo should be here any minute.”
We walk slowly toward the main door. Before we reach it, Avi comes running in, her eyes immediately dropping to my belly. “Babies are coming?” she exclaims, as if they’re about to fall out.
I laugh again, wincing from the pain, holding my belly. This family is incredible.
“What are you looking at? Babies don’t just fall out,” Leo says.
“You know nothing about women and babies, Leo. I’ve seen videos of babies falling straight onto the floor,” Avi argues back, her tone filled with serious concern.
I laugh again, feeling the pressure building with every step toward the door. If they don’t stop, the babies might actually decide to arrive before we even reach the car.
“Why is she laughing?” Avi asks Leo.
Leo shrugs. “Because you’re stupid.”
Frowning and laughing at the same time, I finally make it outside where Zo is waiting in the car.
Matleon
The delivery goes better than I expected, or rather, better than I could have hoped.
For the past three months, I’ve been reading everything about childbirth, anticipating the troubles women face.
I hired the best gynaecologists for my wife and our babies.
Finding doctors who excelled in both modern medicine and natural remedies was a challenge, but necessary.
Iselyn refused to follow any advice from someone who didn’t understand natural medicine, as that’s what she agreed to use.
Even the way she delivered the babies was unusual. She didn’t give birth lying down; she delivered in an upright birthing position, just as Avi had described. The team of doctors was fully prepared for this method, and everything went smoothly.
And now she is lying there with both of our kids, and I’m standing at the door, watching them. She looks utterly exhausted, her skin flushed like someone who just finished an intense workout. Well, I don’t think there could have been a more intense workout than this.
When the nurse moves away, she looks up at me and smiles. We’ve come such a long way with her smiles—from shy smiles, to restrained ones, to happy ones, and now this one, filled with so much love and happiness, along with exhaustion.
I take out my phone and snap a picture. Another precious moment locked in time. She glares at me playfully, and I can’t help but smile.
“Are you going to stand there the whole day?” Avi asks, walking up to me.
“Go inside. I’m going to call Zo.”
I enter the hospital ward slowly. The babies come into view. They are sleeping on either side of her. One has red hair like hers, and the other has dark hair like mine.
I run my finger gently over the redhead. “She’s my daughter.”
“No, he’s your son,” she chuckles.
My eyes snap up at her. “Don’t joke, Angel. This can’t happen. How will he handle it when he grows up? Blushing every time a girl winks at him?”
I look down, feeling guilty. “Shit… I’m feeling so bad for him.”
She laughs, and my eyes return to her. “You’re kidding with me,” I chuckle.
She nods, smiling. I sigh in relief.
“You’re so mean, Matleon. Think about how bad the baby would have felt if it were really like that,” she scolds me.
“That bad would have been nothing compared to the shine he’d get around ladies,” I reply.
She chuckles.
“Why are they so ugly?” That’s the first question Zo asks right after seeing them.
I glare at him. “Call my children ugly once again, and I will not leave you in a state of having yours.”
He chuckles. “But that’s true.”
My son opens his eyes, looking straight at Zo. “Look at him, he’s already glaring and frowning,” Avi chuckles.
My daughter also opens her eyes.
Oh my fucking god.
What is this? How the hell can someone have eyes like a galaxy? There’s an outer circle of deep blue, and inside that, a lighter blue, then black, shining as if they hold endless stars. I stare into them, my eyes wide. My hands move on their own as I lift her the way I’ve seen in tutorial videos.
She watches me with those big galaxy eyes. Another little female who is going to keep me wrapped around her tiny finger.
I chuckle, lifting her up and kissing the top of her head. She gives me an empty-mouth smile.
“Come on, Leo, please don’t start crying now,” Avi says.
“Shut up,” I say, grinning without looking at her.
“You also have a son. Be a nice man and give some portion of this love to him as well,” Avi can’t shut up, that’s her curse.
I look away from my tiny daughter and toward the boy she’s holding. He’s got mine and Dad’s black eyes. I give my daughter to my Angel and take my son from Avi’s untrustworthy hands.
He stares at me, tilting his head. I run my fingers over his small head. He closes his eyes. I take a deep breath. My heart feels so full right now. Are all kids this adorable, or are they feeling more because they’re mine?
He grabs my finger in his small fist when I touch his round face.
“Why are they not crying?” I ask my smiling wife.
“I’ve always known you’ll be a useless father. Why do you want such cute babies to cry?” Avi says, the second part in a childish tone as she hovers over my boy, touching his cheeks, grinning, and muttering something in another language that surely humans don’t use.
I ignore this brainless creature and look toward my wife, the happy face of the woman who is my entire world, who makes me feel like I don’t need anything from this world other than her.