Chapter Twenty-Four
Ezra
I should have figured out that all the extra energy I’d had for the last three days before I went into labor was a sign that I was close to the end. Instead, I focused all of that extra energy into making sure the twins’ nursery was ready and cleaning the rest of the cabin from top to bottom.
Not that our place was ever dirty, but it was downright sterile by the time my water broke while I was washing the lunch dishes. “Cindy!” I called out when the first contraction hit me like a truck. It was far worse than the fake contractions I’d had before.
“What is it?” she asked.
She’d come rushing into the kitchen with a dust rag in one hand and a can of furniture polish in the other. Levi had her come over so she could “keep an eye on me”, so I’d put her to work cleaning.
Levi was on the other side of the pond, helping one of our elderly neighbors with his air conditioner. It figured I would go into labor when he wasn’t home. I grabbed my cell phone and called him, but to my dismay, I heard his phone ring in the bedroom. He’d forgotten it.
I couldn’t believe as uptight as he’d been about making sure I was healthy and taken care of, he’d forgotten to take his cell phone with him when he left the house.
Cindy heard it too. “We’ll find him. We’ll take my car and go get him before going to the hospital.”
She helped me out to the car, and I got my seat belt buckled just in time for another contraction to hit. “Wow, that was fast,” I said.
“Yeah, those contractions are really close together,” Cindy said, and I couldn’t ignore the look of concern on her face. “Let’s get moving.”
We drove around to the house where Levi was supposed to be helping with the air conditioner. Cindy got out and went up to the house. The man’s wife answered the door and shook her head. Another contraction hit me before I could think about what it meant. Cindy and the man’s wife exchanged words for a few moments before they came back to the car.
“Our husbands went out to the woods,” the man’s wife said. “Levi offered to help Clarence bring a few things up to the house from his hunting shed.”
“I’ve got to get Ezra to the hospital,” Cindy said. “He’s pretty far into labor.”
I cried out loudly and made both women jump. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it,” I said, and undid my seatbelt. “There’s so much pressure, and it feels like something is already coming.”
“Get him out of the car,” Clarence’s wife said. “I’m Dotty, by the way. I’ve delivered a few babies in my life, and Ezra, you’re right. You’re not going to make it to the hospital. We’ve got to deliver those little ones right now.”
Dotty and Cindy helped me into the house, and Cindy called for the paramedics.
“The babies will be here by the time an ambulance makes it out here,” Dotty said. “Go to the closet in the hall and get towels.”
Everything after that was a blur. The pain was intense, but the twins came so fast that it really was over by the time the ambulance got there. Levi and Clarence must have been close to the house for my last scream because they came running in just as June was born.
Levi watched in stunned fascination as Melody came into the world. Both babies were born healthy and strong.
The paramedics arrived in time to check them over. They said I should take the girls to the hospital and get checked out. I just wanted to go home and snuggle them, but Levi insisted that we go see the doctor.
I gave in, but I made him promise me that I didn’t have to stay overnight. After my ordeal from being shot, I didn’t want to spend any more time in the hospital than I absolutely had to.
The doctor agreed with me, and after checking the babies and me over, he said we were healthy enough to go home. The girls needed a couple of treatments and Levi had some paperwork to fill out. While that was going on, a coach came in and showed me the best way to feed the twins.
By dinner time, Levi and I were back at the cabin. He ordered pizza and I sat there with my new babies in my arms, completely in awe of how fast my life had changed over the last few hours. I felt more complete than I’d ever felt in my entire life, and yet I didn’t know how I’d ever stop having babies. I just hoped Levi wanted a whole gaggle of kids, because I’d decided right then while looking at June and Melody that I wanted at least five.
Maybe more…