The small waiting room was packed with their family and friends. Time seemed to slow to a snail's pace, with each sound of the clock's ticking filling the silent room. Kane stood by a window, his eyes stayed focused on something unseen. After a while, Avery left his seat next to his mom and went to his Kane. For one of the first times ever, Avery felt the need to respect Kane's public displays rules—probably because of the worry rolling off him in waves.
"It's been too much time," Kane said. He never looked back at Avery. Avery stood there, taking in Kane's stance, his arms tightly crossed and his head bent down.
"Baby, it's only been thirty minutes," Avery said quietly back.
"Avery, it doesn't take this long," Kane stated. Avery could see his husband's reflection through the windowpane and knew he'd closed his eyes.
"Don't bring worry into this yet. We don't know anything," Avery advised. He broke the restraint he been showing and reached for Kane, but before he could turn him, Kane flipped around, railing at him.
"Exactly! How come we don't know anything, Avery?" This was a first. Had his partner really just raised his voice at him in the middle of the crowded waiting room? For the first time ever, something had finally broken through Kane's well-placed calm façade. And Avery realized it was the fear that something might happen to their babies, his papa bear was protective over his unborn cubs.
Kane's frantic eyes slid away from Avery's, and he stepped forward, leaving Avery to do nothing more than try and catch up with all the moods Kane was tossing his way. Dr. Palmer had come inside the waiting room, pulling his surgical cap off his head. Stress showed on his face, but Avery couldn't read anything more. Thomas was there, standing next to Kane, with Avery right on their heels.
"How is she?" Thomas didn't wait for the physician to begin.
"She's made it through and is in recovery now—" Dr. Palmer started.
"How are the babies?" Kane asked, interrupting the doctor. Apparently Kane's behavior was a surprise to them all, because every eye in the small waiting area was on him. Paulie had even made his way over to Kane, worry on his face.
That few seconds, waiting for the confirmation, had Avery's heart dropping to his feet. He didn't think he could take much more as he balanced on pins and needles for the doctor's answer. He released a shaky breath, in hopes of calming himself, not wanting Kane to pick up on his distress; his nerves were getting to him. He reached out for Kane and wrapped an arm around his husband's waist for comfort. The feel of Kane's body pressed next to his seemed to have a calming effect he so desperately needed at that moment. After the initial confusion faded, Dr. Palmer gave a weary smile.
"They're doing well. They're premature, but a nice size. They were bigger than we originally thought and that's plus for them. Both are in neonatal now, being checked out, they weren't too happy with us and were voicing their opinion loudly when I left them."
"When can we see them?" Kane fired right back while Avery, along with everyone else in the room, gave a deep sigh of relief at the initial good news. Of course, his wound up honey had to see those little ones for himself before he'd believe anything.
"We'll get you in as soon as possible. The doctor's with them now. Let them get through their assessment and fully checked out. Thomas, if you'll come back with me, you can be there when she wakes up." Kane nodded, somewhat resigned, and turned, pressing fully into Avery's waiting arms.
"We have our babies," Kane said, wrapping his arms around Avery, tucking his face in the crook of his neck.
"We do," Avery whispered, before lifting his head to the doctor and catching a glimpse of his retreating back as he called out, "Tell Sophia we're here and thank you!" Avery got a thumbs up from the doctor. Thomas looked relieved, but completely exhausted. Everyone was drained and the room filled with so many emotions. Avery tugged Kane tighter to him. They stayed just like that for several long moments until Paulie spoke up.
"If you can tear yourselves apart, I think we have some congratulations for you!" Paulie said in his typical rough-edged way. Kane was the first to release their embrace, only to tilt back and greet Avery with the biggest smile ever. He got a quick kiss before his mom was there with tear-filled eyes, hugging them both tightly.
Chapter 19
The twins' names came easy after Kane sat with each baby the first day. They named their daughter Autumn Kennedy and their son, Robert Paul. For some reason, those weren't names on the endlessly long list they had made over the last several months, but were the most fitting nonetheless. And Autumn and Robert were perfect. Both had thick, full caps of blond hair and perfectly shaped lips. They were absolutely adorable.
Kane couldn't actually touch either baby, but he stayed right there with them every day they were kept in the neonatal unit. After the first twenty-four hours of Avery trying to get him to eat or leave for sleep, he arranged for them to have a private family room where they both stayed for the entire length of time their children were in the hospital. Paulie ran the restaurant and Avery went back and forth between his practice, the restaurant, and the hospital, making sure everything kept running as smoothly as possible, leaving Kane the sole task of staying vigilant over their babies care.
Almost a month to the day of their birth, the four of them were able to leave the hospital. Most of the media hype from their birth had died down. Kane's adamancy about staying at the hospital had allowed him a certain amount of immunity from the mass frenzy of news reporters stationed out front. Early on, Avery gave a press release on the children's birth and their health. He even broke one of his long-standing rules and addressed the media directly, but it still took weeks of speculation on every aspect of their children's lives before reporters found something new to fill the hours between the morning and six o'clock news.