Twenty-six
Carter
I was sitting at my work desk with my head in my hand. It had been a long fucking day of board meetings and investors complaining and stocks falling. The economy was as volatile as I had ever remembered, and it was taking a lot of manpower in order to reassure people things were going to be okay. That we weren’t plummeting into another Depression and that the stock market would recover. I kept reassuring our investors that they would see the profit they were expecting by the end of the year, but somehow they expected me to get that to them now.
I really needed to hire someone to keep those overeager bastards at bay.
I was filling out paperwork when my cell phone rang. Which could only mean that my nanny needed something. Great. What the hell had the kids done now?
Because they had been acting out a lot during the last month of Natasha’s pregnancy.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Mr. Carter! Mr. Carter!”
“Isabelle. What is it? What’s going on?”
“It’s Natasha. She’s… her water… it-”
I pushed back from my seat and grabbed my briefcase in the corner.
“Listen to me. Where are the kids?” I asked.
“Um… they’re still. At school. I mean, I have to pick up Clara soon-”
“Here’s what I need you to do. Pick up the home phone and call an ambulance. I’ve got our hospital bags in the SUV with me. Stay with Natasha until the ambulance gets there, and tell her she needs to go to UCSF Medical Center.”
“UCSF. Got it,” she said.
“Keep the kids on their schedule. I’ll keep in touch with you. Can you stay overnight with the kids?”
“Yes. I’ll be here.”
“Good. I’ll pay you the overtime. I’m headed out of the office right now. Have you called an ambulance?”
“On the phone with 911 now,” Isabelle said.
“Great. Stay on the phone with them until they get there. I’m calling Dr. Bernhardt now.”
My heart was racing as I locked my office. People were cheering me out of the office, congratulating me and patting me on the back. But this wasn’t my first rodeo. I was well aware of the complications that could arise during a delivery like this. One child was hard enough on a woman’s body, but two?
That was double the chances of something happening to Natasha during delivery.
I called Dr. Bernhardt and told him what was going on. He said he was going to meet me as the hospital, and hopefully Natasha wouldn’t be too far behind. I pulled up and skidded into a parking space before I grabbed our hospital bags, then I saw an ambulance pull into the bay.
And out came Natasha, crying and calling out my name.
“Where’s Carter!? Someone’s gotta call the father of my kids. Has someone called Carter Marshall!?”
“I’m here! Natasha. I’m right here.”
“Carter! Carter! It hurts. This… this really hurts.”
“I know,” I said as I kissed her forehead. “I know it does. Just hang on. Dr. Bernhardt-”
“Is right here,” he said.
“Thank fuck,” I said breathlessly.
“Natasha, can you hear me?”
“Yes, yes I can,” she said.
“Good. Here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to get you into a premier room all to yourself, then we’re going to hook you up to an I.V. I’m going to check to see how much you’re dilated, then we can start talking medication if you want it,” the doctor said.
“Drug. Me. Up,” Natasha said with a growl.
“Duly noted,” I said. “Doc. Where are we going?”
“Through here. Follow me.”
Natasha was laid onto a bed and a very talented nurse set her I.V. as we were moving towards the elevator. It carried us up to one of the upper floors of the hospital, then spit us out into a long hallway. We were moving fast and Natasha was deep breathing and my heart was falling to my stomach. She was already sweating up a storm and her knees were curling to her stomach and Dr. Bernhardt looked very concerned.
“Give me a second, Natasha. Don’t do what I think you’re about to do,” he said.
“What? What’s going on?” I asked.
“Hold on… let me check…”
Natasha’s back arched as I smoothed her hair from her face. She looked exhausted as her doctor checked to see how dilated she was. She was moaning and writhing and I was helpless to relieve her of any of the pain.
I felt helpless
And I didn’t like feeling helpless.
“We’re going to have to prepare the NICU for two children who are being delivered a month early,” the doctor said to the nurse. “Get two rolling bassinets in here and let’s get this show on the road.”
“What? What does that mean?” I asked.
“Natasha, you’re an incredible woman,” the doctor said. “I need you to answer something for me.”
“What?” Natasha asked breathlessly.
“How long have you been contracting?”
“Why does that matter?” I asked.
“Because she’s fully dilated and I need to know how long her children have been under this pressure,” he said.
“What?” I asked. “Natasha, what’s going on?”
“Are they okay? Are my babies going to be all… riiiiiiiiight!?”
Natasha roared out into the room as I held one of her legs to her chest. A nurse grabbed the other one as the rest of the room began to scramble. Someone was trying to place some sort of monitor on her stomach, but she kept swatting them away.
“We need to check the baby’s heart rates,” the nurse said.
“No time. Get over here and help me with this,” the doctor said.
Natasha’s eyes were rolling into the back of her head and I was beginning to fear the worst.
“Natasha. Sweetheart. I need you to keep your eyes open for me.”
“Tired,” she said.
“I know. I know you are. Holy hell, I can’t imagine what your body has gone through these past eight months.”
“Natasha, you’re doing wonderfully. Can you give me another big push?” the doctor asked.
I bent my lips down to Natasha’s ear as she shook her head side to side.
“You are the most powerful woman I’ve ever come across. You’re strong. Independent. Resilient and sexy. But these children need you now. They need you to dig down into a place you never thought existed. They need you to beat the animal inside until it’s angry with rage. Show them your power, Natasha. Show me your power.”
Her head fell over to catch my stare before a fire sparked in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and roared out into the room, bearing down with all of her might. The nurses were running around Dr. Bernhardt as she continued to push. Push after push, until she was wheezing and drenching the front of her hospital gown with sweat.
“One more,” the doctor said. “One more and you’re done, Natasha.”
I looked down into the eyes of the woman I loved as she drew in a deep breath.
She beared down with all her might, her legs curled into her chest. Her face turned red and she was shaking and I could’ve sworn her hand was about to break mine. The cry of our first child finally sounded out into the room, followed quickly by the second.
And tears of joy fell from both of our eyes as Natasha collapsed to the bed.
“Go… go see them,” she said. “Go. Go… and… see.”
I kissed her forehead as the nurse began to clean her up. I walked over to where the other nurses were cleaning off my children. A boy and a girl, as perfect as could be and filled with a life energy that made their squealish cries fill the room. They were wiped off and wrapped up before they were whisked away to the NICU, and I had every urge to follow them.
“Go, Daddy. I’ve got Momma here,” the nurse said.
I ran off to watch my children as they were admitted to the NICU part of the hospital. They were checking oxygen levels and administering my children’s first shots. Their arms and legs were flailing and I wanted to reach out for them. To hold them close to me and tell them it was going to be okay.
But I knew we were in for a stay at the hospital with them being a month early.
My hands were shaking as tears fell onto my cheeks. I stared at them for what seemed like an eternity as they were hooked up to monitors. I pressed my hand against the glass, then leaned my forehead into it. Trying to connect with them in any way I could before a warmth slipped against my swaying arm.
“Are they okay?”
I whipped my gaze down to Natasha as a nurse pushed her in a wheelchair.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
I bent down and kissed her with a ferocity I couldn't describe. She had been wonderful. Perfect. The epitome of strength I knew I’d never possess in my lifetime. Her hand wrapped around my neck and pulled me closer, and I rested my hands on the arms of her wheelchair as our tongues collided.
“They’re fine. Perfectly healthy,” I said.
“They’ll need to be here for a few days to monitor their oxygen levels and body temperatures, but if nothing goes wrong the three of you will only be here for the week,” the doctor said.
I rose up and shook the man’s hand before he placed his hand on Natasha’s shoulder.
“Thank you, Dr. Bernhardt. For everything,” Natasha said.
“The pleasure’s all mine. Those are two strong kids in there,” he said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from Carter’s offspring.”
“Not me this time,” I said. “Their strength is coming from a different well.”
I looked down at Natasha as a smile spread across her cheeks.
We were ushered back into our room and I helped Natasha into her bed. She was sore, to say the least, and ravenously hungry. She took a two-hour nap and we ate dinner before the newborns were brought back into the room. And Natasha’s face lit up when they came in.
“A couple of babies are missing their momma,” the nurse said.
“Then let me see them,” Natasha said. “Let me see my babies.”
The nurse handed both my newborn son and my newborn daughter to Natasha. It was the most beautiful sight I could’ve ever taken in.
I pulled out my phone and sent off a text message to Isabelle. Then, I took a picture of Natasha feeding our children. I knew she would want one, even though she wasn’t thinking about anything like that at the moment.
But I knew later on down the road she would want to look back and relive this moment over and over again.
She fed our children and I helped her to rock them to sleep. We slid them into their bassinets just as multiple pairs of little feet ran down the hallway. I watched Isabelle usher the drove of children into the room as I put my finger up to my lips.
Then I moved off to the side so Joshua, Nathaniel, and Clara could see their new baby brother and sister.
Clara was moved to tears as she climbed up to nestle against Natasha. Joshua and Nathaniel sat on chairs next to her as I rolled the two babies over. They gawked and cooed, and I snapped picture after picture. They flooded Natasha with kisses and Joshua kept rubbing her deflating stomach.
They asked questions like ‘did it hurt?’ and ‘are they okay?’ and ‘how long will they be in the hospital?’.
And she answered every single one of their questions with ease.
I stood in the corner as Isabelle helped keep all of the children calm. Even she was cooing over the two little ones in the bassinet. I would have to increase her pay because she would have a serious lot on her hands. But she had become like another part of the family and a massive help to Natasha during her pregnancy.
She had earned it, and I was more than willing to give it to her.
I watched Natasha cradle my children as our two newborns slept beside them all. I took out my cell phone and snapped one last picture of everyone together. I sent it off to everyone at work who was waiting for a status update, then I turned my phone on silent and stuck it back in my pocket.
My family was complete.
Well, almost.