A/N: I did some research on birthing and I ran into a lot of articles about women saying that they had pain with giving and I wanted to give this story some realism and seeing as it's Ariana's first time giving birth, I made sure to give her some of the usual pain-inducing that a majority of women have when giving birth. I hope I did okay on this story seeing as I've been working on it since March of last year and I just kept procrastinating on putting it up.
The Little Ones Are Here
Being pregnant was one of the most breathtaking experiences for Ariana, figuratively and literally. That feeling knowing she was going to bring a living person into the world gave off so many feelings that at times she didn't even know what to think or even say. The only focus that she had was on the living people waiting inside her stomach, ready to come out and grace the world with their presence.
On a Wednesday afternoon, Ariana found herself laid up on her couch focusing on the twins that made her stomach grow three times its natural size. Over the past few months, she rubbed her stomach almost every hour of the day when she was awake and it brought her so much contentment just knowing that she and Ethan were going to be parents soon. At a little over 35 weeks pregnant, she expected her water to break at any given moment and she was lucky she had so many people to take care of her in case that moment happened. Right now, she was inside her home with Ethan's friend (and ex) Lyra and Jennifer, Ethan's mom and soon-to-be grandmother watching out for her just to make sure that she didn't strain herself when performing household tasks. Due to Ethan's intangible schedule, he requested the two women that he was closest to to help take care of her whenever he wasn't there. All he hoped was that he would be able to be there when she was ready to bring their little ones to the world.
"Oh, one of them just kicked!" Ariana exclaimed while sitting on the couch. She rubbed her stomach trying to quell the rumblings of the two infants inside her. After about a minute or two when she felt them calm down, she closed her eyes and caressed her belly, "Don't worry, mommy will be with you soon my little babies."
Lyra was preparing food for herself and the two women to eat seeing that they had to leave to go shopping for the family-to-be. She knew that babies would take up a lot of energy from her two friends and food was of course a necessity for them. She figured this would make it easier seeing that they didn't have to cook much. Besides, she wanted to make her presence useful for her best friend and his girlfriend.
"Ooh, you know what that means? They're going to be here soon, are you nervous?" Lyra asked from the kitchen.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, I just have so many feelings going through me and it's kind of hard to just take it all in. Jennifer, can you give me some advice? The nerves are really getting to me."
Taking a sip of tea, a smile came to Jennifer's face as she was brought back to the time when she was pregnant with Ethan and her experience when enduring the amalgam of feelings that went through her.
"Well, it was kind of similar to how you're feeling right now. When Ethan rested inside me, I was so overjoyed that barely anything could damper my day. The feeling was as unique to me as it is to every woman, it all depends on your connection to your child as it will also feel all the emotions you're pouring into it. When Ethan finally arrived, he looked so gentle and innocent to me and it made me the happiest person in the world. He's always been so happy and carefree, it's amazing just to see the man he's become today. Ariana, I'm sure your feelings will be the same towards my grandchildren as mine was to Ethan. Just take it all in and don't stress yourself, I'm positive you'll be an amazing mother."
Hearing Jennifer's words made Ariana's heart swell up, she stood up and hugged her possible mother-in-law. She needed to hear those words because she didn't want her past to determine her parenthood and her sufficiency to care for an infant. All she wanted was for them to have a different life than she did as every parent wishes. These soon-to-be children were her world and she would give up anything and everything she had just to ensure that they had the best life possible.
Lyra saw the scene from the kitchen and smiled at the heartwarming moment between the two women. She then turned back to the stove and finally finished her preparations for the three of them. "Ladies, the foods ready! Remember, we still need to go shopping for food."
The two women went and got a plate of food for them. Even though Arianna knew the food was delicious and would've liked to eat more, she had two other people's lives to look out for. Once finished, Lyra and Jennifer washed the dishes while Ariana got ready to leave.
When she went to her room, she sighed at her clothes. She couldn't wear her usual form fitting clothes and had to settle for her maternal clothes. Even though they weren't as stunning as her usual clothes, Ethan still said she looked beautiful no matter what she wore. She did have a soft spot for the sweaters though; they hugged her stomach and made her feel sexy knowing that she was going to be a mother soon. As soon as she was done preparing herself, she head back downstairs and saw the other two women ready to go as well.
"Ready?" Asked Lyra.
Ariana and Jennifer responded with a nod, as soon as their confirmation was received. They left the house. They then went into a garage and got into Lyra's SUV on the way to go grocery shopping in Ecruteak. When they got onto the road to their destination, Ariana got into the passenger's seat to ensure that she stayed the safest.
It was close to 1 in the afternoon. They found themselves in Mahogany town, after about 40 minutes of driving and making a list for shopping. Ariana felt a kick to her stomach and smiled at the rambunctiousness of her babies, she rubbed her stomach as she usually did to get them to calm down which it did. All of a sudden, she felt another kick to her stomach and not just the usual one that happened. They seemed to happen on a more periodical rate and they became more frequent than usual, a lot more frequent.
"Ahh!" Ariana screamed out in pain.
As soon as they heard her scream, Lyra slowed down the car and looked at Ariana clutching to her stomach in distress. Jennifer got out of her seat and went to check up on her.
"Ariana, is something wrong? Is it the babies?" Lyra asked with concern.
"I don't know. It's like they have no room to move freely so they're hitting me more frequently and it's starting to hurt more," as soon as she said that she felt another kick in her midsection, "ahh!"
Jennifer's eyes widened immediately and realized what was happening. "Ariana, you're suffering from contractions! Your babies are coming!"
"Are you sure? My water hasn't-," somehow out of coincidence when she said that, she looked down on her maternity jeans and felt a rush of liquid pour down her legs. With that taking place, there was no more denying that she was ready to give birth.
"What do you know, my water's broken," the crimson-haired woman stated and immediately started groaning.
Now hearing those words, Lyra made a beeline to the nearest hospital she could find so she could get help and feel situated for her upcoming birthing. Now approaching a large hospital in Mahogany, Lyra stopped the car and told Jennifer to help Ariana check herself in. Ariana's screams got louder and she clutched her stomach hoping the pain would lessen.
Even though she was in unbearable pain, Ariana still had enough strength to tell Lyra one more thing. "Lyra, Call…Ethan. I want him…to see the birth…of our…children…please."
"I'll be sure to do that. I'm going to find somewhere to park. Make sure she gets taken care of, Auntie." With that said, Lyra left to find a spot to park; she immediately took out her cell phone to inform him of the situation taking place at hand. Hopefully, he would be able to pick up.
'Come on Ethan, pick up! You should be here right now and why is your phone off anyway?' She thought. She called his cell but got no answer and went straight to his voicemail. She figured this would be the case seeing that he did leave his phone off at times while at work so she called the one place that she knew would get somebody to pick up.
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Right now, Ethan was currently in the Ever Grande Plaza in the Hoenn region with the Elite Four member Drake next to him, standing right now in the Indigo Plateau with new trainers doing his part-time teaching job helping new trainers get accustomed to the journeys that awaited them.
"Now that we've explained about the process of capturing Pokémon and what happens to the ones after you caught more than six, the other instructors and I will now explain the meaning of statuses and how they affect your Pokémon in and outside of battle. Ok, as you see in your trainer's manuals, you should-"
"Mr. Ethan!" A man with blue hair screamed out stopping Ethan and his further instructions to the new trainers. He had a wireless phone and he looked a bit out of breath.
"Hey Torin, what's up? And why are you so out of breath?" Ethan asked in his usual carefree voice.
Not stopping to take a few seconds to breathe, Torin held out the phone for him to take. "It's Lyra, she said she needed to speak to you right now and that it was really important."
He took the phone from Torin, "Huh, wonder what she wants. I hope Ariana's okay. Hey Lyra, what's up?"
"Get your ass over to Johto right now!" The woman on the other side screamed which made Ethan temporarily plug his ears.
"Jeez, warn a guy next time before you yell, alright? Why do I need to come to Johto right now?" Then his brain went immediately to Ariana and the babies making a serious expression appear on his face. "Is Ariana okay? What about the babies?"
"Ethan, Ariana's in the hospital and she's in labor! Her water just broke a few minutes ago so get down here now!"
Ethan's eyes widened and just processed what she just said. He thought he was going crazy and asked her to repeat, "Um, say that again? I need to hear it one more time just to make sure I heard what I heard."
Lyra said slowly to prove he wasn't going crazy with insanity, "Ethan. You're. Going. To. Be. A. Dad. Now hurry up and get over to Mahogany right now!"
No, he was not going crazy. His children were ready to come out from his beloved and he was taking it all in. His eyes dilated thinking about Ariana in the hospital and how she must be going through a lot right now. Shaking himself out of his flustered stupor, he wanted to make sure Ariana was okay.
"Um, um, um, how's Ariana? Is my mom with her?" Ethan asked abruptly.
"Calm down, they're doing fine. Auntie just helped Ariana check in to get ready to prepare for the upcoming birthing. So hurry up and get over here, Ariana asked me to call you so you wouldn't miss the birth of your children. Where are you anyway?"
"Um, in Ever Grande right now." He said while scratching his head.
"Hoenn, really? You know if you take a plane that's going to take at least 4 hours to get here. Isn't there some way to get here quicker?" She couldn't even believe that he was in Hoenn. Better question, how did he even get there so easily?
The Johto champion knew she was right, he had to figure out how to get there quicker. Then he figured that it would take one of his flying or levitating Pokémon that could get him there a bit quicker.
"I could use my Pokémon to get there. Lyra, I'm begging you to please keep Ariana some company until I get there. Please!" Ethan pleaded.
Lyra smiled at his request. "You got it; just get over here as soon as you can. Ariana really wants you here as soon as possible."
"Thank you so much, I'll see you later. Bye."
"Same here, I'll see you when you get here. Bye." With that, she dropped the phone leaving Ethan as a time bomb of emotions. One thing was for sure, he was about to become a father. A tear fell down his face.
Drake saw Ethan and went up to him putting his hand on his shoulder trying to see if he was alright. "Ethan, are you okay?"
When he said that, he saw Ethan and his tears coming down his face trying to wipe them off but he just couldn't help it. The news he just heard made him so cry so many tears of happiness that he didn't know what to do.
"Drake, I'm about to become a father. I'm going to be a dad soon."
Drake's eyes widened with the rest of the arena's inhabitants at what they just heard.
"Really? Then you should go meet your beloved and be there for her, support and love her when she brings your little ones into the world. The other instructors and I have this in control. This is a special day for you, now go."
"Thanks Drake. I'll see you guys next time." With a run, he briskly went to his locker so he could get his belongings. After he was done, he released his Golurk knowing that with its jet propulsion, it could get him to Mahogany quicker than a plane right now.
"Golurk, I need you to do something real urgent for me. I need you to travel to Mahogany as quick as possible. Can you do that for me?"
"Golurk!" The golem Pokémon roared with a confident yes.
"Awesome!" He climbed on Golurk and held on tightly for the flight ahead, he thought about his children that was about to make their way to the world. He couldn't wait to see them and Ariana.
"Let's go, Golurk!" Ethan said. Golurk responded by levitating, it then inserted its arms and legs into its body so it could prepare its rockets to blast into the clear sky. It started to thrust itself towards the direction of Johto.
As Ethan was traveling in the sky, Ethan thought about Ariana and their babies. He was determined to be there for their birth.
"Don't worry Ariana, I'll be there soon."
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Now with the pregnant woman in tow, Jennifer soon reached the counter and saw a female receptionist as soon as she stepped inside. She held onto Ariana while she was still speaking in little whimpers from the pain that was currently coursing through her.
"Excuse me, miss." Jennifer said to the receptionist.
The woman looked up from what she was doing seeing that somebody was speaking to her.
"Yes, how can I help you today?"
"I have a pregnant woman with me and I was hoping that you could prepare a delivery room for her. Her water just broke a few minutes ago." Jennifer said while pointing to Ariana.
When her eyes darted to the woman clutching onto her stomach while letting out pain induced yells, she immediately came to the front to see that she was right.
"Oh, my goodness! I'll be sure to call somebody to prepare a room right away. Somebody will be here to take her to a room so she can change into a hospital gown. Are you going to accompany her?"
"Yes, of course." Jennifer responded.
The receptionist went to Ariana to make sure she was alright, "Miss, are you okay?"
"Uh-huh. I just have this urge to pee though." Ariana said with a hoarse tone.
Seeing that she was okay, the receptionist went behind the counter and called for a nurse to help Ariana to the dressing room. A few minutes later, a female maternity nurse came and led both women to the room.
After finally undressing herself, she waited for about 7 minutes while they were preparing her delivery room. Jennifer rubbed her back and soothed her with words of encouragement. Once ready, Ariana was carefully led to a bed so that she could lay down. She took notice of the amniotic fluid sliding down between her thighs as she walked and it felt so bizarre but she thought of it as a good thing seeing that her babies had broken her water which would contribute to the ease of her delivery.
When she finally stepped into the delivery room, she took in the ceramic white interior and it gave her a sense of security knowing that this was the room where she was going to birth her children; it just represented this sanctity and simplicity of life to her. Jennifer and a maternity nurse helped ease her onto the hospital bed with as much comfort as she could which she was very grateful to her. As soon as she was comfortable, she closed her eyes and many flashing images of her pregnancy period came into her mind; all the cravings, mood swings, swelling, throw-up and kicking of the babies made her so ecstatic about that period.
"Hey, are you okay?" Jennifer asked Ariana.
"Uh-huh," she opened her eyes and turned to Jennifer taking one of her hands into her own with a smile on her face, "you're going to be a grandmother in a few hours, you know?"
Jennifer giggled as she stroked the hand that was holding onto hers. "True as that may be, this is your moment sweetheart. This is your precious day; I will be here to support you as much as you need." She kissed the top of Ariana's head to assure her that she could count on her in case she needed support or assistance.
"Thank you so much." Ariana said with a whisper as a few tears went down her face.
A few minutes later, a female doctor with a brunette ponytail came in and looked at the two women in front of her, particularly the one on the bed.
"Hello, my name is Dr. Noela Fursen and I assume you're the one who's the mommy-to-be?" She asked with her eyes towards Ariana.
"Yeah, is it that obvious?" She asked with some humor.
"I see somebody still has some energy in them, that's good to hear. So how would you like to give birth and how far apart are your contractions?"
It was a question that she thought about throughout the whole term but mostly during her third trimester. The thoughts of C-sections made her cringe whenever she thought about it because she wanted to experience a natural birth without any complications whatsoever, it was deemed safe by her obstetrician but natural birth just spoke out more to her. Ariana knew the decision that she would make in regards to this matter.
"I would like to try a natural birth if possible, it would be so great if you could help me with that; I'm about 10 minutes apart with each contraction, it seems they're very eager to get out of mommy." Ariana said with a pained voice.
The doctor understood her concerns when it came to alternative methods of birthing but she wanted to make sure that this was what Ariana wanted; she saw the way Ariana was rubbing her stomach and smiling to the soon-to-be born babies inside her and she could tell that she really desired this delivery to go as safely as possible. To her, it was very serene and touching watching this woman care for her children's well-being.
"We can do that, but please listen to me for a quick second." Ariana and Jennifer looked up to the doctor as she was about to speak, "In case any complications happen during the birth, we might have to execute certain options to ensure that you and your twins are safe, and that includes a possible caesarean section. I don't want to sound like I'm being negative but I have to be realistic with you. Do you understand?"
"Yes. If nothing else is possible, then I will take the C-section. I would just like to try a natural birth first. Please, Dr. Fursen."
"My team and I will do our best. Shall we get started now?"
Both Jennifer and Ariana nodded. The crimson-haired woman was so nervous about this that she started sweating which accelerated her nervousness by a lot, she asked Jennifer to hold her hand which she did without too much of a problem while lending her words of encouragement.
A maternity team of two female nurses and a midwife came in shortly getting everything prepared; Ariana was laid down on the bed while her arm was hooked up to a heart monitor to supervise the cardiac activity for her and the babies. Ariana's breathing became heavy accompanied with painful groans and her contractions were making her feel like she was being split apart, no matter how bad it was going to be, she was going to endure that pain for her babies. Her focus was completely on them.
"Are you her birth partner miss?" Dr. Fursen asked Jennifer.
"Me? Yes, I am." Jennifer replied.
"Yeah, she's actually my boyfriend's mother and I should have another person coming here in a few minutes. I can only hope Ethan makes it in time to see this." Ariana said with some pain in her voice.
A few minutes later, Lyra came in looking that the induction process started. She went to Ariana and held the same hand that Jennifer was holding trying to soothe her worries and the pain she was going through.
"You okay?" Lyra asked the woman below her. The woman on the bed nodded as her response.
Her mind went back to Ethan and wondered when he was going to get back here to see this miraculous event, "Did you call Ethan? Did he say when he's going to be here?" Ariana let out another moan while the midwife felt around her stomach.
"Well…he's actually traveling from Hoenn right now on his way here." Lyra said sheepishly.
"Hoenn? Oh Arceus, help me. Is he…ahh," Ariana screamed out while holding on to the barrier for the bed feeling the contractions kick in and the babies moving inside, "going to make it here on time?"
"I'm sure he'll be here soon. Right now, just focus on bringing those babies out. I know they want to see mommy and I know you want to see them too. Ethan will be here, he wouldn't miss this for the world." Lyra reassured her making her calm down a bit.
Ariana realized she was right, there was no way Ethan would miss this for the world. This meant a lot to both of them; they were going to be first time parents. Sure, some things wouldn't go the way as she would've preferred but knowing that Ethan was on his way there somehow alleviated some of her worry.
The evening finally came by, it was almost 6 p.m. and Ethan was nowhere to be found. During the period, Ariana had screamed so much and had many outbursts focusing on the task at hand. Jennifer and Lyra had endured all the vocal abuse from her when she was on the bed; difficult, yes but they did endure it. It made them a bit sheepish hearing some obscenities leave her mouth along with cursing the male genitalia.
With the screaming reverberating throughout the room, Ariana was focused on when Ethan was going to be here. Right now, she was an unstable mass of estrogen, emotions and cervical contractions which put her in a lot of distress. Flailing about, she felt like her abdomen was being ruptured into many different areas throughout her body.
Gritting her teeth to challenge the pain with here will screamed out, "Ethan, where are you?! Don't you see what you've done to me?! You should be here supporting me and telling me you love me and everything's going to be okay!" She started sobbing when she said that last sentence, those hormones really did a number on her moods and her rationality, it was ridiculous the amount of times she cried during the gestation period.
Dr. Fursen noticed that Ariana hadn't dilated more than five centimeters ever since she checked in, it started to worry her for a bit because it could cause some implications and made her think about going with a C-section even though Ariana wished to go completely natural.
"Ariana, are you sure you're not reconsidering the C-section? It could help with the situation; I just need to let you know that you seeing that you haven't dilated more than five centimeters yet and it's been more than four hours since the birthing process has begun."
Ariana used some energy to hold her head up to look at the doctor. "I was… a… Team… Rocket… Executive. I can… endure this." she let out another wince of pain before she spoke again, "Natural… childbirth. Please, I beg of you, let me do this for me and my babies."
The doctor was surprised to hear of her former affiliation but she looked past that seeing that her main focus was on the babies inside her. She smiled at Ariana's indomitable will and even though safety was the primary factor, she decided to let her continue to do it the natural way.
"For now, I'll respect your wishes but if I hear or witness any shortcomings, regardless of what you say. Alternative methods will have to be used, do you understand?" Ariana gave a nod to her words.
"Right now, I need you to breathe; your cervix needs to dilate before you start to push. Now push!" Ariana screamed and gritted her teeth for the incoming pain between her legs. Squeezing the barrier of the hospital bed, she felt insides about to part in half. She spoke so proudly a few minutes ago but it was starting to come back to her as she felt her pelvis start to give out which made her more tired.
Right now, she closed her eyes and had a recollection of her whole pregnancy up until this point. Everything went through her head: the day she found out and told Ethan, his excitement and curiosity, the symptoms taking place, the Lamaze classes they attended, the stories that she read to them. Most of all, she remembered when Ethan first found her those years back and decided to help her get on her feet; her, a former affiliate of Team Rocket. When Ethan believed in her, she felt like nothing could put her down or darken her day, he was always there for her when she needed him and that was one of the greatest things she loved about him: his dedication to her. A few minutes later, she woke up and heard the doctor asking if she was okay. With a simple nod, she asked the nurses and the midwife to continue. She was going to endure this for both of them and their little ones, it was the least she could do.
Jennifer could see that Ariana was putting in a lot of effort to dilate herself. It put a smile on her face because of the memories that she had when she was pregnant with her son and it was one of the best moments of her life. It pained her to see her going through this much hardship without Ethan by her side, even now she was wondering when he was going to get here.
Seeing Ariana like this, Jennifer couldn't take it anymore; she tugged Lyra and pulled her to the side so she could figure what to do about the situation.
"Lyra, can you call Ethan again. I know he said he would be a while before but I don't like seeing Ariana like this. She deserves to have him here so he could help her through this. Could you do me this favor please, Lyra?" Jennifer folded her hands again to emphasize her point.
Lyra unfolded her hands and held them herself. "Auntie Jen, of course I'd do it. Remember, Ethan's my friend and I know he wouldn't miss it for the world. If he did, I'd make sure he'd never live it down." This caused a small laugh between both women.
"Thank you Lyra."
"No problem, just keep her some company."
As told, she went back inside and stayed with Ariana to tell her about Ethan's way to the hospital. Lyra then took out her phone and dialed Ethan's number steadily waiting for Ethan to pick up.
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It was evening now. Even though Ethan tried his best to make sure that he was going to make it in the allotted time he said it was going to take him, he had to take in mind that he was on his Golurk and admitted that it wasn't the fastest of Pokémon even though it did have rocket thrusters. It didn't help that Golurk was tired also, after flying for about five hours, it could feel its body slowing don but still had enough energy to keep going before it gave in to its tiredness.
Right now, he could only hope that Ariana was all right and no harm came to his children. He could sense that he was very close to the Johto region; it would take him about thirty minutes before he reached Mahogany Town. He was anxious with everything going on, luckily the breeze of the sky kept him calm or he would probably be more worried about everything.
He closed his eyes and clutched a hand to his heart thinking about his future family. 'Don't worry sweetheart, I'll be there before you know it. I hope you can forgive me for taking so long to make it.'
A vibration went through his pocket and discovered it was his cellphone making all the noise, he looked at it and found out that it was Lyra calling and pressed the speak button.
"Hello?" Ethan said.
"Ethan, its Lyra and what's taking you so long?"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry. I really thought I was going to make it in time. Golurk's getting tired so maybe that's part of the reason why I haven't been able to make it. How's Ariana though?"
"She's doing okay by the doctor's standards but things could change at any given moment. They say she hasn't dilated much yet but they're still giving her some time before they might have to take some other procedures to ensure the babies' safety."
In all honesty, hearing those words worried Ethan a bit seeing that he wasn't there to observe what was going on, the only thing he could do at the moment was have faith in the medical staff taking care of her.
"Lyra, I'll be there soon. In less than thirty minutes, believe me this time. I can only ask you and my mom to take care of her for now. Also, thank you for all these months of putting up with me while I'm away. I know it hasn't been easy for both of you to do this."
Lyra smiled at that. "Ethan, you're such a big softie. Of course we would take care of her, Ariana's not only our friend but she's family to us and we don't leave family alone. Besides, sometimes she needs a female presence to get away from you and your empowering masculinity. Am I right Mr. Champion?"
With a laugh at hearing those words, the young champion knew she was right. As much as he loved her, they did feel that Ariana needed a few women to talk to so she could convey her emotions and her feelings about this pregnancy. It helped to hear opinions from both genders and they were exceptionally grateful, more so Ariana as she was the one going through it right now.
"You're definitely right about that. It only makes me more appreciative for my mom and how she took care of me. How's my mom doing by the way?"
"Right now, she's just comforting Ariana. She's really been helpful with her ever since we've gotten here some hours back. I guess being a grandmother; she wants to make sure that everything's going fine. Ethan, hurry up though. We're all waiting for you, she's doing this for you too, you know?"
"Trust me, I know that. I'll be there soon, just keep her company and I can only hope she doesn't want to kill me afterwards." He laughed at his last statement.
Lyra shook her head at his comment. "Well, I don't know if I can prevent that but you just need to hurry up. Got it, Daddy?"
"Ok, ok. I got it. See you guys soon. Bye and send Ariana all my love until I get there."
"Goodbye Ethan and I will."
Both phones disconnected as Ethan focused that he was less than half an hour away from Mahogany and Lyra went back to see if any progress had been made.
Now that he was close, Ethan willed himself to get there much sooner than possible. He only hoped that Ariana would be glad to see him as much as he was glad to see her. Sometimes those pregnancy episodes really scared him because of the ferocity that women just had during that period. Even so, he felt that it was worth it. Golurk focused on getting its trainer to the hospital no matter how tired it may have been. It was just glad that Ethan was able to rely on it for such a special event.
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Back at the hospital, Ariana could feel her cervix dilating and the contractions were starting to feel heavier than before. At this point, it was either endure it which she had been doing all this time or just take medicine which would help alleviate some of that pelvic pain and make this process so much quicker.
"I can't do it; I'm…so…tired." Ariana said this while sobbing. Even if this was a natural event in life, she could only endure so much. Right now, the only thing keeping her up and going was knowing that Ethan was almost here.
Luckily Lyra was able to inform the medical staff and the family that the soon-to-be father was less than 30 minutes away from the hospital. They knew it shouldn't have taken this long for Ethan to come but they stayed patient because they knew he wouldn't disappoint them at all.
Moving past Ethan, the most important part was pushing and pushing and more pushing. The babies were causing some kind of internal struggle within their mom, subconsciously trying to figure out who was going to make their way out first.
Dr. Fursen and the midwife was there coaching her on her progress and said that she was doing fine. They urged her to push and had IV's of Pitocin standing by just in case she wanted to take that alternative route.
Dr. Fursen looked into her pelvic area seeing her expand a bit more while urging her. "Don't worry Ariana, you can do it! You're about 7 centimeters wide. Just a bit more effort and you'll be a new mommy soon."
"But, I can't! I'm so tired and Ethan's not here." She said crying while holding onto the barriers of the bed.
20 minutes of screaming and abdominal pains went by before a giant Pokémon finally landed in front of the Mahogany Town hospital. The tired Golurk went down on one knee before yelling out a triumphant roar for enduring that long flight. Judging by the look on its trainer's face, it could tell that he was really proud of it.
Ethan then went down and rubbed its shoulder, "Golurk, thank you so much for putting up with my selfishness and I'll really try my best to make it up to you."
Golurk roared at that and stood up. Ethan knowing he had no time to waste hastily took out a Pokéball returning Golurk. When he looked at the time, it had said 6:32 and he went into the hospital ready to meet his family and most importantly Ariana.
Rushing to the receptionist's desk, he wasted no time in asking for Ariana's room number. As soon as he said "pregnant woman with red hair", she immediately asked for identification and told him that the she was on the fifth floor.
With a quick trip to the fifth floor, Ethan looked through the glass of Ariana's room and saw his girlfriend breathing and cringing in pain. He then went inside her room causing everybody to turn toward his presence.
"Ethan!" Lyra and Jennifer yelled. They immediately went up to him and hugged him tightly; Jennifer, especially seeing that he was finally here to see the birth of his children.
"Hi guys, I'm finally here." Now letting go of the two women, Ethan moved up to his precious person on the bed tired and emotional right now. He moved up to her to get a closer look hopefully not ready to bite his head off.
"Excuse me, sir? Are you the biological father?" Dr. Fursen asked.
"Yes," he replied shaking her hand while introducing herself, "pleased to meet you and thank you for watching over Ariana all this time."
She smiled when she heard that. "Not a problem."
Now seeing the champion in view, she glared up at him with pink in her eyes and her tears still pouring, "You jackass! What took you so damn long?! I'm here right now suffering, going crazy, crying and so many headaches because I'm wondering where you are."
"I'm sorry for being late." He said apologetically.
Ethan kissed her and she pushed him away not really in the mood for a kiss at the moment. "Don't kiss me, just stay here and watch over me! Oh my goodness, I look like a hot mess right now."
Everybody had a small smile at the words of Ariana and they really couldn't blame her at the moment for having those thoughts. Well, being apologetic certainly wouldn't have helped the situation right now so the best he could do was to sit tight with his family and wait until it was time.
Dr. Fursen talked to Ethan on the side about Ariana denying the pain relieving medicine and the possible complications that could happen. Ethan knew about her doing an all-natural birth all this time seeing that they talked about it and he assured her that she was going to do it because he believed in her. Impressed with their resolve, the doctor decided to leave it alone seeing that Ariana was finally dilating.
After three hours, Ariana was now fully dilated to 10cm. Lyra was so nervous seeing that she had never witnessed a birth in person. Jennifer used her maternal instincts to relax her as she had been doing before.
The most nervous one was Ethan; he was scared, anxious, and fidgety while hyperventilating but he made sure he kept his composure. He was worried for Ariana and the babies of course. Lyra told him to calm down and leave everything to the maternity team; the best he could do was just support her as much as possible.
Breathing and screaming, Ariana was now pushing. If she thought the contractions from before were worse, they actually paled in comparison to the actual birthing process. Her insides now felt like they were being rearranged in a way that shouldn't have been humanly possible whatsoever.
"Come on Ariana, push! Push with all your might, you're so close! I can see a head, just keep pushing!" The doctor encouraged while keeping an eye on her.
It was true; Ariana could feel something trying to make its way out. The pushing was making her so tired though, she wanted to go to sleep but with one of the little tykes peering its little head, that just wasn't possible at the moment. Lyra and Jennifer looked in awe at the miracle(s) of life happening right now. For Jennifer, it was nothing strange seeing that she was a mother but for Lyra, she was disturbed, scared, nervous along with many other emotions due to that she was the only one not with a child.
Ethan tried his best to calm her down as much as possible, "Don't worry, you can do it. You're almost there."
"I know I can do it you idiot! But right now, it hurts so bad, so bad." With her still pushing, Ethan could understand why she snapped like that. With so much pressure and no inclusion of medicine to help, anybody would want to yell.
Now seeing a head, Dr. Fursen and the midwife got her to push and push and push. With the head making its way out, they were prepared to catch it and to get it ready to have its first union with its mother. With a shattering scream, Ariana finally pushed the first one out.
Taking a few seconds to breath, Ariana realized that she had just became a mother.
"The first one's a girl!" The doctor announced.
The midwife took the baby and gave it to Ariana for her to hold. Ethan and company moved towards the new addition to the family and was amazed at how tiny this little girl was.
Ariana was the one who was amazed the most. She couldn't believe that this little person was inside her for nine whole months and that it finally made its debut to the world. Her gaze softened when she saw her daughter move causing tears of joy to secrete from her eyes.
"I do love this moment but we have a second one to get out." The doctor said causing Ariana to frown but she gave her daughter a kiss before the nurses cut the umbilical cord and sent it to the NICU for care. "Don't worry, you'll be reunited with her soon."
With her first baby out, Ariana focused once more and focused on the other person inside her. For some reason, she felt this one was a bit different while pushing. She hoped that it didn't mean anything ominous was going to happen to her second child.
"Come on, push Ariana. You have just one more in you, we know you can do it." With the little words of encouragement, Ariana pushed for about twenty minutes screaming while the second baby finally came out.
Right now, she was tired but not exhausted enough to not see her baby. When she was waiting to hold the second one, she saw that the maternity team had a worried look on their faces. She hoped that nothing really detrimental to the baby's health happened; that would really haunt her for a very long time if that was the case.
"Hey, what's wrong? My baby's ok, right?" Ariana asked with a bit of worry in her voice.
"It's a nuchal cord which means the umbilical cord is wrapped around its neck. It's cutting off its oxygen. Don't worry, just stay calm."
Hearing this Ariana could feel her tears come full force, she didn't want her day of joy to be one of sorrow. Ethan was frozen stiff hearing the news, many things going through his head not knowing how to take the news. Lyra and Jennifer also had worried looks on their faces wondering what was going to happen.
With the team taking care of everything, they made sure to alleviate any fears unless other circumstances proved otherwise. As they carefully made sure to untangle the cord, the baby laid down not breathing in which made Ariana and Ethan worry more.
With the nurses performing C.P.R. on the infant. It still wasn't breathing and it started to make the team worry a bit. No, they were determined not to have a death on their hands today.
After about 6 minutes of respiratory resuscitation, it seems all their efforts were finally proven to be worth it.
The baby finally let a cough, then two, then three and it turned into many coughs.
This caused everyone to breathe out a sigh of relief, especially the mother herself who was holding her hands waiting to see her son. With a nod from the doctor, she looked at her son and held him as much as possible.
Looking down, she saw that he was so fragile and helpless, she cried and was so grateful to have brought this person into the world. Ethan then went up to her and held her hand while looking down on his son. He couldn't believe that this was his offspring; it was just too surreal for him to take in.
After a few minutes of taking his existence in, one of the nurses had asked to take the baby so they could care for him along with his sister. The couple was disappointed but understood the procedure for post births. Saying goodbye, they relinquished the infant to the nurse so the neonatal team would take care of it.
Looking down on his beloved, Ethan gave her a kiss on the forehead while rubbing her hands. The finally did it, they were now official parents to a set of twins.
Meanwhile, the new grandmother and Lyra gathered around the two new parents hugging them and telling them how the twins were going to be spoiled by them and would be getting visits every day.
"How does it feel to be parents, you two?" Lyra asked hugging Ariana.
"I don't know. I mean, I just gave birth and I almost lost one of them. Thank the heavens that this went through without many problems." She looked up to Ethan with a lot of adoration in her eyes thankful that he was able to make it. "Hey, we're parents now. We have twins."
Then a thought occurred to them, they had a son and a daughter. A set of twins! Fraternal twins to be exact.
"I understand. To be honest, I didn't expect you two to have fraternal twins. This should be one exciting journey for you two." Jennifer said with a smile.
Ethan looked towards the standing occupants who provided support. "Yeah, thank you everybody for being here for us. I can't repay you guys enough."
Jennifer smiled at her son while holding hugging him. "You don't need to repay us. You being here is good enough. Making me a grandmother is the best repayment you can give me."
"As best friends, we have to watch out for each other. I'm glad you and Ariana gave me the opportunity to experience this. Also, it isn't about me now, it's about you and Ariana and your children." Lyra said.
As the two best friends hugged each other, Dr. Fursen came inside and spoke.
"Sorry to break up the warm moment but everyone except the father of the newborns has to leave. I apologize but it's the hospital's policy."
Even though the statement gave everyone a downtrodden look, they understood that it was policy. Looking at the red-haired woman on the bed, both women gave her a hug as they said goodbye.
"We'll be back to see the babies tomorrow." Lyra said as she was leaving.
After giving both her son and Ariana hugs, she began to get on her way home also speaking to Ariana. "You need some rest anyway, I'm very proud of you today. I'll be back tomorrow to see my grandchildren. Good night Ethan."
"Good night, mom. See you in the morning." After saying his goodbyes to the two women, his attention went to the woman lying down on her bed.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Ethan asked in a low voice.
Still too tired to get up, she squeezed his hand before responding, "Exhausted, but I feel much better knowing you're here. Ethan, I love you so much and you have no idea how happy I am to see you right now."
"I love you too Ariana. I'm just glad I was able to make it." With a gentle kiss pulled up a seat next to the bed and held her body until they dozed off.
The morning quickly came by and the new parents had been transferred to a private room. When a nurse had brought the twins inside the room, Ariana held out her arms so she could embrace the little bundles of joy.
"Oh my goodness, they're so beautiful." Ariana whispered.
She along with Ethan took a good look at the twins. Seeing as they were fraternal, they decided to hold onto the baby opposite of their respective genders. Ethan held the girl while Ariana held the boy.
Now both holding the two babies, they examined their aesthetic features unique to each other. The girl had red eyes and charcoal black hair like her father while the boy had red eyes also but had the color of his mother's red hair.
With a cry coming from the infant in Ethan's arms, he gave his daughter back to Ariana making her laugh a bit at his nervousness.
"Uh, I have no idea why she's crying." Ethan deadpanned.
With Ariana now cradling the little girl in her arms, the baby stopped crying in the presence of her mother. It was fairly obvious to her as to why the little one had tears coming from her eyes.
"It's okay, it's okay sweetie, mommy's here," she cooed while gently coddling the newborn in her arms causing her to stop crying. "I believe she's hungry."
Ethan let out a sigh of relief hearing that. "Thank goodness."
"But I think we should name them now. I don't want to keep calling our babies 'him' and 'her'." Ariana said while rocking the babies.
Naming wasn't hard but she wanted to make sure that the names were something they could agree on.
Now looking at the first born, she felt the smooth hair on her head until she decided on her name, "Ethan, I want to name her Cassandra. Is that okay with you?"
Giving her a tiny peck, he simply replied, "I like that name. Hello, my little Cassandra." He let her grip his finger much to the little girl's enjoyment.
Now placing her attention to her son, many names went through her mind but a sudden idea came to her.
"Ethan?"
Turning his head, he wondered what she was thinking about, "Yeah, what is it?"
"I know this is sudden, but would you like to name our son? I feel that you should have a role in the naming ceremony."
"Really?" Ariana gave a nod as a response.
It didn't take him long to think of a name. After about two minutes, he thought of the name that he felt would fit his son.
"I'll name you Lance." To him it made sense, he looked up to the dragon master and he mentored him when he was younger. To Ethan, he was one of the most powerful trainers he met and a good friend; the name was also appropriate seeing that he also had red hair like him. He then heard Ariana giggle a bit at his name of choice.
"You don't like the name?" Ethan was confused at her laughter.
Stopping, she answered him, "I just find it weird that you name our son after the guy alongside you that beat me in this very city all those years ago. Kind of crazy when you think about it."
"Well, this is an awkward situation. Um, I can change the name if you want." Ethan let out a nervous laugh at the situation.
"It's okay, you can keep the name. I just felt that I should let you know that." Ethan let out a sigh of relief at that. "Well then your names are Cassandra and Lance. Welcome my little babies; mommy and daddy will love you always. I believe it's time for you two to eat; I know that you're hungry after spending all night alone."
With Ethan holding one baby and Ariana holding the other one, the latter began to undo her hospital gown letting her chest free. Now taking the baby back from Ethan, she brought the babies to her chest in which they immediately started suckling. The first feeding brought a connection that Ariana held never felt, it was warm and pretty nice too; it gave her that sense of motherhood that every woman yearned when they first laid eyes on their child.
A few minutes afterwards, they both heard a knock on the door which alerted them of visitors. Seeing that he had to answer, Ariana stopped him before he approached the door.
"Ethan, can you tell them to hold off on coming inside until I'm done? It would be kind of awkward to talk to somebody with my breasts out."
"Sure, no problem." As he resumed his walk to the door, he opened it making sure that Ariana wasn't seen. When he got outside, he saw that both his best friend and his mother was there. Relaying his message to the two women, they understood that this was a very private moment for the current inhabitants of the room. Conversing with the two outside about parenthood was exciting to him, especially seeing what Jennifer passing down her knowledge to Ethan. After about thirty minutes, Ariana told them it was okay for them to come in.
Stepping inside, they saw Ariana with her hair tousled and the babies asleep. The women thought they looked so cute sleeping and of course they had to voice it.
"Oh my Arceus, they look so cute sleeping!" Lyra exclaimed but also kept her mouth to a whisper making sure not to wake them up.
Jennifer spoke while stroking Cassandra's hair, "Yes, they look adorable; I can't believe I'm a grandmother. You know grandma is going to spoil you when she spends time with you."
"Have you thought of their names yet?" Lyra inquired.
"Yep, just thought of them about an hour ago." Ethan replied.
"Come on, then tell us. Don't keep us in suspense." Lyra's impatience reared onto the surface. It was a quirk that Ethan found to be frustrating at times when they were younger but it was just a fault that made Lyra who she was.
"Well, the girl's name is Cassandra and the boy's name is Lance, I picked that one out myself." Ethan said proudly.
"Wow, that's a nice way to pay tribute to a good friend and powerful trainer. In all honesty, I never would have expected that name but I do like 'Cassandra'," she then moved to the two sleeping babies amazed at their faces while they were sleeping, "Hi, I'm Lyra, your dad's best friend, nice to meet you."
Ethan then looked at Ariana who nodded, "And also their godmother. An honor we both decided upon for quite a while now. We're proud to choose you for that role, Lyra. As a thanks for watching over Ethan all these years."
Stunned at what she heard, Lyra began to quietly sob while both Ethan and Jennifer embraced her after hearing the news. After the two participants hugged her, she then moved to Ariana and gave her a hug also. "Thank you so much Ariana, it's an honor to be a godmother to your children."
"Hey little babies, you have your godmother and grandmother here. We're going to take care of you as you grow up." Lyra stated while being entranced by the sight of the babies.
Ethan then moved one of his hands to caress Ariana's cheek. "Hey, you know I love you. Right?"
"Of course and I love you too. And these two love you also. This is the greatest gift I could ask for." She kissed him which got a swoon out of the new grandmother.
"You should save that for the bedroom. We do have children present." Jennifer lightly scolded the two.
Laughing at Jennifer's words, the two ceased their lip union for now. Right now, their main focus was the development of their new family. They both had no idea what the future would bring; it was best not to think about it. Crazy as it may be, this was the reality for both Ethan and Ariana: a new mother and father. As they welcomed their children to this world, they welcomed all experiences which included them.
No Feather Drop for this one, the next chapter of Behind The Thorns will definitely have one. Until then, see you next time!