Don't call me Princess!

Chapter 1

Bethany POV

'Go away.' I growled at Theo as he tried to comfort me. I feel ugly; my body surely cannot grow any larger. I have been bedridden now for ten weeks, and my only relief from the boredom of being stuck in bed, besides sleeping when I can, is my laptop.

My only chance to do anything besides lay here and complain. I have been monitoring all the new hearts that have been transplanted. Theo has been great, following all my instructions and building them for me since I could barely make it to the bathroom and still needed assistance.

My body might be overtaken by these moving forms inside of me they call babies, but my mind is still active. I have been improving the reports using the information from the hearts and adding the columns and graphs that Robson had requested. They keep moving about, breaking my concentration and sucking all the energy out of me.

'Come on, sweetheart, it is time to bathe; please put the laptop away. The new reports look fantastic. By the way.' Theo has been my strength, my legs and pillow, and yeah, my everything. Fortunately, he is so fit and strong that he cannot carry me any longer, but he can hold me and make sure I do not fall when we go to the bathroom. Don't get me wrong, he could most likely lift me if he had to, but the huge belly makes it very awkward. He does not know where to put his hands to carry me, and I am so large that our counterbalance is all out of whack.

After each bath, he would gently rub cream on my stomach, talking to the babies as he did. He will even sing to my huge belly. It is so cute to watch him lovingly run his hands over my belly; sometimes, one of the babies kicks his hand. His face blooms with delight when that happens, and he kisses where the kick came from, telling the baby that it did a good solid kick and that he will play football in the garden when the child is older. The love that shines on his face each time melts my heart, and I am trying to look beyond my ugly body and see this through his eyes.

His support never wavers; I hope I have not been too demanding, but being this beached whale is not easy. My temper is short, and the babies feel like they never stop moving around. Even in bed, my back is aching, not all the time; it seems to come and go.

Grudgingly, I let Theo help me out of bed and walk ever so slowly to the bathroom. The bath is full of blue bubbles and smells of lavender. He spoils me rotten, and I do not think I say thank you often enough. He goes above and beyond any of my expectations.

Theo guides me into the bath, and once I am lowered into the water, I feel the warmth flow over me. As much as I complain and fight having to make the effort to have a bath, it is all worth it once I am in the tub. Next will be the fight to get me back out.

I had been soaking for a while. Theo has left me to relax, and he is making my bed and cleaning up the room. I feel so guilty having left it all to him and our new nanny; she has been great to have around. At first, we were going to wait till the babies were born. Then Theo suggested having Heather live with us so we could get used to her and her to us; it was a good idea. Hank made up another room for her to sleep in, so she was close by.

Once the babies are born, we are moving into our home. We could have moved a little while ago, but I was too huge to move around, and Hank preferred I was close by so he could check up on me. Dr. Dawn wanted me in the hospital, but with so many doctors living here, she was convinced to let me stay at home. Hank reported to her every day. Last night, Hank mentioned that I would not go much longer and that he heard that Pam would not go much longer either. I wonder if we could have our babies on the same day; the birthday party each year will be huge.

A huge pain ran across my belly. Theo was in the bathroom so quickly, his face full of concern.

'Sweetheart?' He squatted down beside the bath and searched my face for something. I must have screamed out, but I do not remember making a sound.

'It hurts.' I said, trying to get out of the bath. I did not want to be in the tub when in pain; I felt so restricted.

Theo helped me out and sat me on the chair we had in the bathroom to assist me. He dried me off, being extra careful, his face full of worry. As I tried to relax, the pain was so sudden and intense. He helped me back to the bed and dressed me in a very large T-shirt and panties. I lay back and watched as Theo called Dr. Dawn. He left me lying there and came back with the wheelchair. I knew this meant I was going to the hospital; my time at being at home was over. I was not sure if this meant I was going to have the babies now or that Dr. Dawn did not want me so far away from the hospital in case something went wrong; our argument for letting me be home died when I called out in pain. To be honest, I am scared.

The babies will be early, but that was expected when you have so many, and the cesarean, which will come soon, too, was expected, but I was not told of the intense pain I would get as a warning things were close.

Or is there something wrong with my babies?

I started to panic at the thought of going through all of this, and my babies could be in danger.

Theo rushed over to me and pulled me into his arms.

'This is normal; it will be okay.' Theo kissed my hair and stroked my back to calm me down.

Heather walked, and together, they got me into the wheelchair and into a car; no way, was I climbing into the SUV. The driver seemed to find every bump in the road on the way to the hospital, and I needed to get to the hospital quicker because I was scared. I have not had any more pain, but I feel terrible and bloated, and I know my blood pressure is through the roof because I am worried, but I do not seem to be able to stop myself from panicking.

Heather is driving, and Theo is beside me, holding me close and giving me his warmth and love, saying loving words in my ear. The hospital comes into view, and I am relieved to see Dr. Dawn at the emergency entrance. You would not think seeing her would make so much difference, and I almost wanted to cry with relief.

I felt like I had just wet myself, and pressure left my body; Theo hummed at the sight.

He climbed out of the car and spoke quietly to Dr. Dawn before a wheelchair was taken back inside, and a gurney was brought to the car. Theo coaxed me out of the car and assisted me onto the gurney. I did not want to lie down, but I had little choice in the matter.

Theo stayed beside me, holding my hand, as I was wheeled to the OR; the moment I entered this room, I knew my life was going to change; part of me was scared, and the other part was glad to be getting them out of my body, I was over being pregnant.

The staff worked around me, getting things set up.

'How are you doing?' Dr. Dawn asked as she started to take my vitals.

'Scared.' I replied honestly.

'Yes, childbirth is scary for the first time, but you had to get all your children done in one go.' she chuckled as if it was a private joke.

'This part will be over soon, and you will be complaining about no sleep at night and non-stop washing.'

I leaned back against Theo and tried to calm down. It would be over soon, and I hoped my babies were strong enough.

Just as I was thinking that everything had gone dark, I found the sleep I had been looking for.