Epilogue One
EPILOGUE ONE
THEIAS
Several Months Later.
“ L ast push!” Dr. Edwards says excitedly as she meets my eyes.
We already had one baby a few minutes ago, and it was briefly explained to me that sometimes the second baby can take longer to come. Ours decided to pop out almost immediately.
Ella has been a trooper since the start of her thirty-six-hour labor up until the very first delivery five minutes ago. I fall increasingly in love with her with every ounce of pain she endures bringing life into this world.
“You’re doing amazing, doll,” I encourage from her side, where I’ve got one arm wrapped around her back and one holding up her leg under her knee.
“Almost finished,” she pants before pushing again.
“Here we go!” Dr. Edwards then speaks to the nurse beside her quietly, and after another push, a second infant comes screaming into the room. “Give us a few minutes to clean them up, and then we’ll reveal the sexes to you both.”
That same nurse smiles and takes the baby to their sibling.
“You did perfect, doll. Fucking perfect.” Kissing her lips, I don’t pull back until a throat clears from behind us.
“Mom, Dad, are you ready?” a different nurse asks while two others hold the babies behind her.
“God, yes, please,” Ella begs gleefully.
During every ultrasound, the twins hid their sexes from us, so we never had the chance to find out. Ella’s anticipation has been through the roof all day. So has mine.
“Baby one”–they do a fake drum roll–“is a boy!”
The nurse hands him to me, and I marvel at the tiny life in my arms as I try to take in all of him at once. He’s the spitting image of his mom, with a light dusting of dark hair on his head, the same color as hers when it’s wet.
“And baby number two is…” Another drum roll that puts me on edge. “A boy!”
I nearly lose my balance as relief slams into my sternum.
“Thank fuck,” I mutter, not quietly enough because Ella smacks my side lightly. “I’m sorry; I’m not ready for girls.”
The women in the room laugh and reiterate that many men aren’t.
As they hand Ella the second baby, her face the merriest and most relaxed I’ve ever seen, I realize I wouldn’t have cared if they were both girls because they’re a piece of her. And I love her more than anything else in the world.