Surprise!
"Steve?" Jaime Austin poked her sleeping husband with one finger. Nothing. "Steve!" She gently jostled his shoulder. Still nothing. Grinning, she leaned as close to his ear as her swollen stomach would allow. "Steve," she whispered, "the baby's crying."
Instantly her husband sat bolt-upright in bed, and then a realization hit him. "Sweetheart, we don't have a baby - yet - so it can't possibly be crying. You were dreaming. Go back to sleep." He started to lie down again.
"Steve," she said, very sweetly, "there will be a baby crying when I have it right in this bed, if you don't get your butt up and drive me to the hospital."
Now he was awake. "You mean - right now - it's -" He was as jittery as a turkey in mid-November. Jaime, on the other hand, was totally calm.
"I called Rudy and Doctor Hammond. My bag is by the door. Here are your car keys. All you have to do is drive." She smoothed down his bedhead hair and smiled at him. "Ready, Daddy?"
Six Hours Later...
"Ok, Steve," Doctor Hammond said, "if you'd like to catch the baby, now's the time."
Steve stepped into position. "What if I drop it?"
Hammond smiled. "Every father I've ever worked with has said that; haven't lost one yet. Get ready. Ok, Jaime, one more real good push. That's it. And...meet your new daughter!" He did a quick assessment of the tiny, squalling person in Steve's arms as Rudy cut the cord. Steve was instantly smitten, totally in awe.
"Rudy," Doctor Hammond said evenly, "are you seeing the same thing I'm seeing?"
"Yup."
"That's not the kind of thing a woman likes to hear from someone sitting where you're sitting," Jaime pointed out. Steve had brought their daughter to where Jaime could see her, but his attention was suddenly riveted on the unexpected actions of the doctors.
Doctor Hammond looked up at his patient and grinned. "Seems we're not quite done yet. There's another baby."
"No. No, there isn't," Jaime insisted.
"Twins?" Steve was at once filled with joy and sheer terror.
"And - it's crowning!" Hammond announced. "Push, Jaime."
"No." But her body did the work automatically, in spite of her protests.
"This one's a boy," Rudy told them. A few minutes later, he placed the second newborn in his mother's arms.
"Are we done now?" Jaime asked weakly.
"That's all she wrote," Hammond answered, smiling.
Five Days Later...
"Steve, I can walk, you know. I don't need this contraption." Jaime sat in a wheelchair with a baby in each arm, surrounded by flowers and balloons.
"Hey, don't knock it," Steve told her. He had done a heroic job of doubling everything in the nursery and making it fit. Jaime had spent an extra day in the hospital to rest up, and now it was time to take his family home. "Just enjoy the ride and rest while you still can. You're gonna need it."
"We're gonna need it."
"Right. Besides, you wouldn't wanna deny Lauren and James their first set of wheels, would you?"
"You're gonna spoil them rotten, aren't you?"
"I fully intend to spoil all three of you until you just can't stand it anymore." Steve bent down and kissed her, then each of the twins. "So what do you say to blowing this joint and taking our family home so the fun can begin?"
Jaime smiled. She'd been around babies before, but Steve had no idea what kind of 'fun' he was in for. "Hi-ho, Silver, away!"
END