Don't call me Princess!

Chapter 3

Theo POV

Bethany had turned pale while in the bath, and with Heather's help, we got her to the hospital as quickly as possible. On the way, Bethany's water broke, but with it came blood; I was not sure if it was acceptable. I tried to ignore that and kept giving her soothing words to keep her calm.

I climbed out and spoke to Dr. Dawn when we reached the ambulance entrance.

'Water broke, along with blood.' She nodded and started to order the nurses to action.

'Get a gurney, and let the team know we need them stat.' Dr. Dawn barked at the nurse, who had a wheelchair, and she darted inside quickly. Dr. Dawn came to the car and assisted in getting Bethany once I pulled her out of the car. Dr. Dawn looked at the mess on the floor. I am sure she was calculating what should be there and what is an excess amount of blood; I am not a midwife or have any to do with babies, so I have no idea if it is excessive when having multiple children if it was one that was way too much blood. Heather was there fussing about getting Bethany covered up, and she grabbed the bag we had made up for this reason.

'I will take the car and get it cleaned up; let me know how things go. I hope all is well.' Heather said. I nodded, and she climbed back into the car and drove away.

I held Bethany's hand as we raced to the OR. I could see she was scared; her eyes were darting about, and she squeezed my hand. I was not sure if it was because she was in pain or because she was afraid of what might happen. We had hoped for at least two or three more weeks, but time is up. She is thirty-five weeks along, better than some, but we had aimed for more, keeping her quiet and rested, but it was not enough; Mother Nature sets the time no matter how careful you are.

I washed up and gowned before sitting beside Bethany, and I had not been this afraid in a while, not since she was in an accident and then kidnapped. This is far worse because I am sitting right next to her, knowing all the things that could go wrong and that there is nothing I can do about it except be there for her. If the babies die, I will be devastated, but if I lose my Bethany, I will be even more than devastated. I do not want to lose the love of my life. She means so much to me.

Dr. Dawn started working on Bethany. The moment the drip was in, and everything was set up, things moved fast.

It was not long before the first baby cries were heard. They were not loud, but they were beautiful sounds nonetheless.

'Care to cut the cord? Dad,' Dr. Dawn offered. I know time is essential, so I quickly moved forward and did the deed. It was a fantastic feeling. I noted the baby. It was tiny but doing okay. She did what she could and handed the baby to a waiting nurse, who rushed it to the crib. We did that four times, and each time, I got to cut the cord and view the baby, and my pride rose a little more; my girl did this; she carried those tiny babies in her belly and gave them a good chance of survival.

After Dr. Dawn finished cleaning and bandaging Bethany, she turned to go look at the babies, leaving me with Bethany to tell her what we are now proud parents of. She looked tired but hopeful. Four cries were heard, and that made us both very happy.

'We have two sets of identical twins, a set of girls and a set of boys.' I proudly said. I was surprised to see that there were only two placentas and two cords from each.

'What order did they get born in? Are they big enough to survive?' She was very worried, but they were not that bad. I saw no reason for them not to survive; many young babies have survived and were fewer weeks than ours.

'They look strong, and I believe they should be okay; the boys were a tiny bit larger than the girls, but they are all beautiful.' I was so proud of our little growing family.

'We have to wait to hold them; how long will they be in hospital for? I guess they would be looking close to a month?' Bethany was most likely right; it came to the baby and how quickly it gained weight.

'They will grow quick enough, and you will be complaining they are under your feet soon enough.' I chuckled softly as she slowly drifted off to sleep. We were moving her to her room soon, and I hope they let her sleep before moving her. She is exhausted. I took the opportunity to call Bob.

'Hi, the babies are here safe and sound.' I said in a whisper.

'Pam has just had her's too, and we have three identical boys.' Bob said proudly.

'Congratulations on the safe delivery. Is Pam okay? I bet that nursery is crowded now the babies are here.' Bob chuckled.

'I am sure they can handle it. Yes, Pam is good; she is fast asleep and feeling sorry for herself, she was so worried for Bethany and her children.'

'Bethany is sleeping now and is handling it all like a trooper; her blood pressure has dropped now the babies are out, and everything looks to be going well.' I said, not hiding the pride I had in my voice.

'Good news. Did you see Wayne? He was here with his wife. They, too, have gone into labor. I have not seen him to know what they had and if all went well.'

'No, I have not. I will keep an ear out to see if I hear anything.' I hung up and wondered where I would find Wayne. The nurses came and wheeled Bethany to her room. She did not even stir when they moved her. While she slept, I would go get a coffee and hunt for Wayne.

Wayne bought the house next to Bob about three months ago; he and his wife Jazmin are having their first child, they have family and friends in and out of their house all week long, and they are sports fans. One Sunday, we were at Bob's place helping with moving the cribs around as Pam changed her mind, and our sports day was canceled; that was fine; our team was out of the finals race, and we could catch up on replays, keeping our girls happy came before our sports days. Anyway, the house next door boomed with cheers, making us nip next door to see what was happening; we ended up staying for the rest of the game and returning to finish off the room after the game. It was nice to join them and cheer alongside them; it brought us closer as friends and neighbors.

Wayne looked tired; having just gone through it with Bethany, I understood the way he looked.

'Hi Wayne, what did Jazmin have?' I asked as I approached her, hand out to shake.

'A girl, we have named her Jesicca. You?' He was in line to get coffee, and I joined him behind.

'Bethany gave me two daughters and two sons. And Bob has gained three sons. We have hit the jackpot, and all of us have new babies at the same time; our street won't know what hit is in a few years when they start terrorizing the street.' I joked as he received his coffee, and I ordered two, one for me and one for Bob.

Leaving Wayne to return to his wife, I hunted down Bob to give him the good news and hand over the coffee. I found him looking through the window at all the babies, and ours were not here; they were in the special nursery for prems, but I got how he felt. I handed him the coffee and told him about Wayne and their new baby, and we chatted for a little while, waiting to get permission to go in and see our babies. They wanted time to do what they do with newborns, and we had to be patient; that was something I was lacking at the moment.