Surviving (Surrender 2)

“I love you.” I say against her lips.

“I love you too. See you in a few minutes.”

I step back so the three nurses that came in can get to her. When they wheel her out, my nerves come back. I call our parents and tell them what’s going on and change quickly.

“Mr. Collins?”

I stop pacing and see a young nurse waiting in the doorway. I nod my head and she motions for me to follow her. The OR is a flutter of activity and Raven is watching everything around her with a smile on her face. When she spots me, she giggles.

“This pain medication is awesome!”

I laugh along with her. The doctor announces she’s ready to get started, and I bend down to eye level with Raven. Holding her hand, rubbing her cheek, I stare into the eyes that captured me on the grass almost three years ago.

We stare at each other for a while until the sound of a cry breaks me out of my trance. When I look up, my breath leaves me.

“It’s a boy!” The doctor announces and hands him to a waiting nurse. I watch as they check him over and then start wrapping him up.

“It’s a girl!”

I whip my head back and see them repeat the same thing with her. Holy shit! We have a son and a daughter. I have a fucking daughter! When I look at Raven, both our eyes fill with tears. I drop to my knees and lay my head against hers, trying to regain any sense of composure. We don’t say anything for several minutes.

“Mom and Dad, you want to meet your children?”

We look up, and two nurses are standing above us holding little bundles wrapped in pink and blue blankets.

Something kicks in and I reach for my daughter first. The first time my eyes land on her, I’m a goner. Absolutely anything in the world she ever wants, she will get. I lay her in Raven waiting arms and the reach for my son. Even so small, I can tell he looks like the perfect mixture of me and Raven. I lean down so Raven can kiss him, and the nurse takes pictures of us.

Too soon, they take the babies from us and explain they will bring them into our room after they finish checking them out. The doctor finishes working on Raven, and I stare at her in amazement. She’s still teary-eyed, but happiness on her face is apparent.

“You’re incredible.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

“You still okay with the names we picked out?”

“Yes, you?”

“Absofuckinglutely.”

“Okay, Mom and Dad, time to go back to your room. Congratulations.” The nurse says once Raven has been taken care of.

I smile at the doctor and follow as they roll Raven back to our room. There’s no doubt that in the next few hours, this place will be filled with all our crazy ass friends, and the paparazzi will get wind of Raven going into labor. I want to enjoy the peace and quiet as long as I can.

*****

“I still can’t believe you guys didn’t find out the sex of these babies.” Ella says cuddling my son, James David.

“Yeah, now my entire next paycheck is gone. If I’d known for the last six months, I could have spread it out.” Abbi agrees while rocking my daughter, Elizabeth Sayge.

It only took two hours after Raven had the babies for our group to start piling in. For the last two days, we’ve had almost constant company. I haven’t been able to hold either of my children for more than a few minutes. Even at night when they wake-up, they both want Raven’s boobs.

“We don’t need anything–at all. Please don’t buy them another thing.” Raven tells my sisters, and I laugh.

The hospital room is flooded with flowers, balloons, stuffed animals, toys, and food baskets.

Elizabeth starts to fuss, and I reach out for her. As soon as I hold her in my arms, she calms down and opens her eyes. She looks so much like Raven, my heart hurts. I didn’t know it was possible to feel so much love for someone; it’s a different kind of love than I have for Raven. When I tried to explain it to her, she told me she felt the same way. It’s a nurturing, calming and consuming type of love.

“Look at that, fucker’s still getting the pretty girls.” Nate comes in and leans over my shoulder to see my baby girl.