"HAROLD, COME QUICK! SHE'S IN LABOR!"
The blond nearly dropped the phone as a sudden sensation of panic washed over his body. Those six words, seemingly so simple, were enough to drive him over the edge. His blood felt like it had frozen inside his veins, even though his heart was pumping three times it's natural pace.
It took him a while to process that information, but when it finally sunk in, he realized his husband was still talking to him over the phone.
"Harold? Honey, are you there?" Billy asked desperately.
"Y-yeah…" Harold stuttered, running a hand through his now sweat-soaked forehead. "I'll be right there."
He ended the call and released a deep sigh to try and calm himself, his entire body shaking like a leaf. He knew this day had to come sooner or later, and part of him thought that he was prepared for this.
He was dead wrong.
Glancing down at his desk, where lied an unfinished page of the next Dog Man issue, he quickly pushed himself up and ran out the door, grabbing his coat and car keys on the way.
The view of the royal-blue minivan parked by the driveway hit him as a sudden realization that this was really happening. He had been driving that thing for months, but only now was he realizing the what it really meant to own that kind of car.
A family car.
As he started the engine and began driving past all the other houses in the neighborhood, he couldn't help but recall all the events that had lead up to that very day. A series of events that lasted a total of nine months…
When he and Billy got married, they almost immediately began talking about having kids. They were well aware about the difficulties of adopting a child, especially for a couple like them, but they were determined to start a family of their own. So they chose to go with the next best option: surrogacy.
They had reached out to a surrogacy agency but were unsatisfied with the candidates. It was almost shocking how none of them were suitable enough to carry someone else's child. It actually put a lot in perspective. Where exactly were they getting their candidates? Did they even perform background checks on each of them before accepting their application?
After weeks of searching and contacting other agencies without any results, hope seemed very dim. Then Natalie came into the picture.
Natalie Lohnaghan was Billy's coworker and closest friend. They often costarred in soap operas togethers, sometimes as each other's love interest. Unlike most actresses, she took her health very seriously. She didn't drink or smoke, worked out at least once a day and wasn't on any kind of medication. So, when Billy happened to comment to her about how he and Harold were trying to have a baby but couldn't find a suitable surrogate, and Natalie immediately volunteered without thinking twice, he just couldn't say no.
So they started the process, and a couple of weeks later Natalie was pregnant.
Neither of them left her side during those long nine months. When Billy wasn't tending to her during work hours, Harold would be running errands for her at the end of the day. Most nights they would invite her over for dinner or go over to her house and cook for her. They were determined to make sure that her pregnancy went by as smoothly and comfortably as possible.
Natalie found out the gender of the baby when she was ten weeks along, but she kept quiet about it. Harold and Billy had said they didn't want to know if they were having a boy or a girl until the birth, and she was happy to comply, although every time one of them expressed their curiosity about the subject or mentioned anything about it, she would go into a giggling fit. She was clearly dying to tell them and making a great effort to keep her mouth shut.
As Natalie neared the end of her pregnancy, both Billy and their boss insisted that she should take some time off, but she refused to stop working. The producer had to make due by rewriting the script so her character would also be pregnant, but they made sure she wasn't on feet for too long by filming her sitting down during most of her scenes.
All seemed to be going along perfectly, and as Natalie approached her due date, no change seemed to be noticeable.
Until that morning.
From what Harold had gathered, they had been setting up to start shooting the first scene, and while Natalie was still in makeup, she suddenly doubled over and cried out in pain. By the time Billy had reached her, not a second later, he confirmed that her water had broke. He only had time to ask for someone to get an ambulance while he called home.
Harold was barely paying attention to the road in front of him as he drove to the hospital. Not only was he replaying those last nine months in his head, he was having a hard time coming to terms with what was happening. He knew he wanted to have a child with Billy, but while he was busy making sure Natalie had a comfortable pregnancy, he hadn't had time to think about the responsibility that he would have from then on out. Was he actually ready to be a father? Moreover, would he even be a good one?
Suddenly the memory of his own father popped into his head. What if he ended up like him, absent and distant towards his offspring?
Harold shook his head as he felt tears pricking his eyes, mentally telling himself that his father's mistakes were his own, and that he would never be like him. He was better than that.
He quickly found a spot in the hospital's underground parking lot and raced towards the elevator, frantically pressing the button until the door opened. As he watched the floor numbers flash upon passing each one, he could've sworn that had been the slowest, most excruciating elevator ride of his life.
He barely waited for the door to open completely before dashing down the hallway towards the maternity room where Billy said they would be. After one sharp turn around the corner, he saw his husband sitting outside the room, nervously tapping his foot against the floor.
"Hey." Harold greeted him halfheartedly and breathlessly. "How is she?"
"She's been in there for over an hour." Billy replied, desperation clear in his voice. "They won't let me in."
The blond took a seat next to his husband and enveloped him in a tight embrace, feeling Billy's body tremble against his. The brunet breathed shallowly against his shoulder, which helped Harold realize just how nervous he was. Just as nervous as himself, if not even more.
"It'll be alright." Harold whispered softly. "She'll be fine."
"I know she will." Billy sighed. "I just wish I could be in there with her."
"I know, I know…" Harold said as he gently ran a hand through Billy's his back.
"Harold…"
The blond released his spouse and glanced up him, keeping his hands on Billy's shoulders as he examined the anxious expression on his face.
"What if I'm not a good father?"
Harold was almost appalled by that sentence, and his face clearly showed it. He might've had his reasons to doubt that himself, but not Billy. Never.
"Don't say that. Don't you ever say that!" Harold ordered, his hands now cupping Billy's cheeks. "You are going to be an amazing father! You are sweet, caring and overall the best person in the world! Any kid would be lucky to have you as their father."
A small smile spread across Billy's face and tears welled up in his eyes due to that remark. Harold beamed just before his husband launched himself into his arms, giving him the tightest hug he could manage, one which the blond gladly returned.
"I love you, Floofy." Billy whispered, his voice cracking from holding back the tears.
"I love you too, Cornball." Harold replied, feeling his own tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
"Harold! Billy!"
They broke their embrace as they looked up. Harold was surprised to see George and Lisa walk up to them, the latter carrying their one-year-old son Nik in her arms.
"We got here as soon as we could!" George panted. "How's Natalie?"
"We're not sure, they won't let us in." Harold replied, glaring confusedly at his best friend. "How did you…?"
"Billy called us from the ambulance." Lisa replied, cradling her sleeping infant. "We left Meena at daycare and came right over."
Harold turned towards his husband, looking surprised but pleased.
"He's your best friend." Billy shrugged. "I knew you'd like him to be here."
"You really are the best." Harold said, placing a hand on his husband's.
"Mr. and Mr. Hutchins?"
Their heads snapped up at the same time when the doctor appeared at the door and called their names. Harold's heart sunk when he saw the amount of blood on her blue gown.
"You can come in now." She declared, her tone low and delicate.
Harold and Billy looked at each other and then to George and Lisa, who nodded in approval. They slowly lifted themselves up from their seats and followed the doctor inside.
The first thing they saw when they entered was Natalie lying on the bed, looking completely spent. Her hair was disheveled and sticking out in several places, she was pale as a ghost and had large bags under her eyes. But despite everything, she was smiling.
Smiling down at the small bundle of white blankets in her arms.
"Hey, guys." Natalie greeted them feebly. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."
She turned the bundle slightly to show a tiny face with large bright blue eyes and small strands of raven-black hair peeking from under the blanket. Harold immediately felt his heart skip a beat.
"Say hello to your daughter." Natalie beamed.
The blond brought his hands up to his mouth with a gasp, tears returning to his eyes. He glanced at Billy, who looked just as emotional as himself.
"A girl." Harold whimpered happily.
Billy wiped his eyes and grabbed his husband's hand, squeezing it tightly.
"Our girl." He grinned as a tear rolled down Harold's cheek.
Harold carefully scooped the baby girl from Natalie's arms and into his, smiling softly at the newborn infant. Her large eyes looked up at him, and Harold had to bite lip to keep himself from squealing due to her cuteness.
"You are the most beautiful girl in the whole world." He gushed quietly.
"You are the most precious thing in our lives." Billy added as he caressed his daughter's cheek. "We are going to be so happy together, just the three of us."
"You might wanna check again." Natalie said cheekily.
They raised their heads at the same time to give Natalie a quizzical look, when they heard a soft cooing sound behind them. As they turned around, their eyes widened to the size of dinner plates: before them was the doctor with another newborn baby in her arms, smiling widely at their flabbergasted expressions.
"Wha… h-how… huh?" Harold stuttered in shock, firmly grasping his daughter so he wouldn't accidentally drop her.
"We wanted to surprise you. Natalie didn't just give birth to a girl, but also to this little guy." The doctor declared, gently cradling the second baby. "Congratulations, gentlemen. You are now the proud parents of twins."
Harold kept staring slack-jawed at the woman, barely believing what he had just heard. He glanced over at his husband, his hands covering his mouth as tears ran down his cheeks at full force. Seeing him cry must've given him that little extra push he needed to convince him that what was happening was real, because before he knew it he was crying too.
"Twins?" Harold grinned as wiped his cheek with the back of his hand.
The doctor nodded and handed the second baby to Billy, who choked back a sob upon touching the newborn for the first time.
"He's so beautiful." He wept.
They examined the babies' features and confirmed they were exactly alike: pale skin, big blue eyes and black locks of hair on the top of their heads. They looked up at each of them intently, almost as if they were wondering who were those strange men holding them, but both Harold and Billy knew that they were well aware of who they were.
There was no doubt about it; they were absolutely perfect.
"Can my best friend come in?" Harold spoke up after a while, his voice shaky from all the emotions he was experiencing. "I want him to see them."
The doctor nodded with a smile and walked out to call George and Lisa, who rushed in right afterwards. Upon the sight of the two men, each holding a baby in their arms, the couple let out excited gasps.
"Twins?" George exclaimed excitedly, walking and giving Harold pat on the back. "Dude, congrats!"
"Thanks, George." Harold sniffled.
"They're beautiful!" Lisa commented as she inspected the newborns. "What're their names?"
Harold and Billy exchanged glances, the latter's face washed with tears, which filled Harold's already swollen heart. The brunet smiled and nodded, giving him permission to reveal the names they had chosen for each gender back when Natalie was only four months along. Looking down at the baby boy in Billy's arms and then at the baby girl in his, he was certain the names they had chosen were perfect.
"Owen and Kei…" Harold sighed blissfully. "Welcome to the world."