Chapter Three

When I woke up, I knew I was going straight to the hospital to see Atem.

I got out of bed, dressed myself and ran out the door.

I then realized I had no way to get there.

Sabine had already left for the day, leaving me stranded.

I walked as far as I could before tiring and finding a place to sit.

"Dumdum," I said aloud to myself, "Call a taxi!"

I picked up my phone, dialed the number, and waited.

Soon enough, the taxi was there.

"Where are you heading, ma'am?" asked the driver.

"Hospital, please," I requested.

As he started driving, the drive asked me, "If you don't mind my asking, why are you going to the hospital?"

I took a deep breath.

"Yesterday, my hus- fiance and I got in a car wreck. It scared him pretty bad. So bad, it gave him a heart attack. I think he's getting better now, though," I said.

"I'm sorry to hear that, miss. I hope he gets better."

"Thank you," I said as we arrived.

"Have a nice day, ma'am," he bid me.

"Thank you. And, you too," I said, getting out of the taxi.

I sprinted to the CCU as fast as I could.

When I opened the door to his room, I saw him standing, arguing with his nurse.

"Oh, Mana, you're here just in time," he said, "She won't let me do my tai chi."

"It's not good for his heart for him to be up at all, let alone exercising," the nurse said.

"Baby, get back in bed," I said, trying to usher him to his bed.

"No. I'm doing my tai chi, just like I do every morning," he said, snatching his arm from my grip.

This brought tears to my eyes.

He never snatched from me.

I heard the familiar fast-paced beeping from a machine.

"See, baby? You've gone and gotten your heart rate up. Go back to bed before you have another attack," I said in a hushed voice so my voice wouldn't crack.

He let me help him back into bed.

"I don't want to see you out of bed again, Mr. Muto," the nurse said, walking out.

"Baby, you have to do what the nurse says," I said.

I heard his stomach growl.

"I'm hungry," he said.

"I don't know if you're allowed to eat, baby," I responded.

"Well, can you ask?" he asked, annoyed.

I nodded slightly and walked out.

"E-Excuse me, ma'am," I caught the attention of a nurse, my voice breaking.

"Miss, are you okay?" she asked.

I shook my head slightly.

"It's my fiance," I said, "Mr. Muto. He's been being extremely mean since his heart attack."

"He's probably just in shock from everything that has happened," the nurse explained.

I nodded.

"I came to tell you that he's hungry," I informed her.

"His food should be up soon. He won't be able to eat much though, because big meals put stress on your heart," she said.

"Thank you, ma'am," I said, turning away after. I walked back to the room, where Atem was already eating.

"I see your food is here," I said.

"I wish there was more," he sighed.

"I know, baby, but you can't eat too much," I told him.

We talked for close to thirty minutes before a nurse came in.

"I hate to make you leave, Miss Muto, but he needs his rest," she said.

"It's fine," I told her as I turned to Atem and said, "I love you, Fluffer Nutter."

I kissed his forehead as he said, "I love you too, Cupcake."

I blew him a kiss again and he pretended to catch it.

When I left, I had no idea what to spend the rest of my day on. I decided to find a new anime to watch when I got back to Sabine's.

~One Month Later~

"Atem, you gotta help me," I sighed as I walked into the living room.

"What now, Cupcake?" he asked, somewhat annoyed.

"Help me get this baby out!" I exclaimed.

I was close to a week over due.

"Well, we already tried bumpy car rides, spicy foods, and acupuncture," he said.

"Let's dance this baby out," I told him, "Put on Growl."

He smirked slightly and turned Growl on his phone.

I danced through the whole routine.

"Nothing," I panted, "Put on Gee."

"Baby, you're going to overwork yourself," Atem informed me.

"That's the idea. Do it."

He sighed and turned on the next song.

I danced three more routines before calling it quits.

"It was worth a try," Atem said.

"I've got it!" I exclaimed.

"Got what?" he asked curiously.

"You dance," I said.

His eyes widened.

"Me? But I only know Bar Bar Bar! It's the only one on my level other than OK," he tried to stop me.

I shook my head.

"Do both and then we'll both dance PonPonPon," I suggested, "You still remember it, right?"

He nodded.

I watched him with a smile as he danced to both Crayon Pop songs.

And we both danced PonPonPon.

"Cupcake, we just danced an entire K-pop recital," Atem panted as he sat down, "I don't think that's going to work."

"Nonsense, Temmy," I said, out of breath as well.

His face turned deep red.

"You haven't called me that since high school," he reminded me, still blushing furiously.

"Never mind that," I told him, "I'm dancing to Call Me Baby."

His eyes widened in horror.

"But, the hip thrusts would surely-"

"Get this baby out," I finished, "Turn it on."

He sighed and turned the song on. I danced the whole routine.

Twice.

"Feel anything yet?" asked Atem, who was still tired from his three routines.

"No," I panted, "Try Dope."

Atem took my arm and pulled me onto the couch.

"Baby, sit down," he told me, "It's not working."

"Well, Dope might do it," I told him, trying to pull away from him.

"Cupcake, you're going to hurt yourself," he said.

"I just want this baby out!" I screeched, bursting into tears.

He put his arms around me and pulled me close, stroking my hair.

"Sweetheart, that baby will come when he or she wants to, okay?" he said.

I nodded slightly.

"Can we still try Dope?" I asked.

He chuckled.

"Fine. But only Dope," he told me.

I smiled and sniffled, standing up after. I danced the whole song and still didn't feel anything.

"Baby, I think it's time to call it quits again," Atem suggested.

"Yeah, this isn't working," I panted, "I'm going to take a walk around the house to calm down."

He nodded.

"Okay."

I climbed the stairs a few times.

"Hey, I doubt that that's going to work since dancing didn't," Atem called up to me from the bottom of the stairs.

"I know, but it's worth a try," I panted.

"Cupcake, take a break. I'm getting tired just watching you," he instructed.

I sighed.

"Fine. Make me a sandwich and I will," I dared him.

"Okay. Sit down and I'll be right there," he chuckled.

I went down the stairs to the living room and sat on the couch.

Within a matter of seconds, Atem was back with the sandwich.

"Thank you," I spoke, taking a bite of the sandwich.

He chuckled at me as I devoured the sandwich quickly.

I laid my head on his shoulder.

"Why won't this baby come out?" I sighed.

"Maybe a nap will help," Atem suggested.

I nodded.

"Bring me the princess blanket from upstairs," I said, situating one of the pillows on the couch to sleep on.

I laid down and got comfortable.

Soon enough, Atem was down and he covered me with the blanket. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

~Later~

I felt someone shake me awake.

"Cupcake, it's dinner time," Atem said.

I sighed contentedly.

"Food," I said, "What's for dinner?"

"Spicy chili," he answered.

"I'm going to regret this later," I giggled.

He smiled and helped me up.

We went to the table, where Sabine was sitting already.

We ate dinner in silence.

It wasn't until Sabine and I were doing the dishes that I started feeling regular Braxton hicks.

I started to count how far apart they were.

Ten minutes was too exact to be Braxtons.

"Sabine, I think it's started," I said calmly.

She nodded and went to fill the bathtub.

We had originally thought of doing it outside, but ruled it out because of nosy neighbors.

Atem rushed over and took my hand to lead me to the bathroom.

Soon after I arrived, the tub was full and I was climbing in.

"Atem, it's starting to hurt really bad," I said through gritted teeth.

"I know, baby, but it'll be over soon," he told me as he rubbed my hair.

Not too much later, Sabine said, "Okay, Mana, you're ten centimeters. You can push whenever you feel it."

I nodded slowly and screamed slightly.

"You can do it, Cupcake. Just breathe," Atem said soothingly.

I felt tears slither down my cheeks as I started to push as hard as my strength would allow me.

Hours passed before Sabine informed me, "One more push, Mana! I see the head!"

I screamed loudly, as it seemed to increase my strength, as I pushed hard.

The sounds of my screams were soon replaced by the baby's cries.

"Atem! It's a girl!" exclaimed Sabine, handing her to Atem.

"She's beautiful," Atem said, tears falling down his cheeks.

"You know, she has a sister," I informed him.

Both he and Sabine looked at me.

"Twins?!" they both exclaimed.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Sabine yelled at me.

"I didn't think it was important," I answered, tears welling up in my eyes.

I never liked to be yelled at, plus I was starting to feel contractions again.

"It's very important!" she informed me, "It's not safe to deliver twins any way but C-section."

"Not safe, but not impossible," Atem told his mother.

She pursed her lips.

"I don't like the way you two think, but there's no time to get her to the hospital," she said, "Atem, I have to examine the baby. Could you maybe..."

She trailed off.

His eyes widened.

He knew how that sentence was going to end.

"Mom, I don't know anything about delivering a baby," he told her.

She laughed slightly.

"All I need you to do is hold her feet down and make sure she breathes. She has a tendency to kick around," she informed him.

He sighed with relief.

"I think I can do that," he chuckled.

He put one foot in before Sabine said, "You might want to strip down to your underwear."

"I doubt that now is the time for that," I managed to say.

She looked towards me.

"It's to keep his clothes from getting wet, so you don't have to dry them later," she said, turning back to the baby.

I sighed as Atem removed his shirt and pants.

He crawled in with me.

"You know, I haven't seen you in your underwear in a while," I said, ignoring the pain.

He chuckled.

"Yeah, it's what got us here," he told me.

I giggled slightly before another contraction came.

The rest of labor was a breeze.

Atem wasn't there for half of it, because he took the other baby to the nursery.

At one point, I was in so much pain that I wanted to die.

But I heard Atem singing "Baby, Don't Cry" to the baby (how ironic lol) to calm her.

It soothed me too as I pushed as hard as I could.

I heard the cries of the second baby. I heard Atem chuckling to himself in the nursery.

"Both girls are healthy as horses, Mana. You did great," Sabine told me.

I yawned slightly as I nodded. Atem entered the room a few seconds later.

"What should we name them?" he asked.

I thought for a moment.

"What about London and Paris? I've always wanted to go to both cities," I replied.

He chuckled slightly and inquired, "Are you sure you want to name them after cities?"

I nodded.

"If I decide I don't, we still aren't getting their birth certificates until the afternoon," I told him.

Sabine laughed to herself before asking, "So, which one's London and which one's Paris?"

I smiled slightly and answered, "I guess London came first and Paris second."

She returned my smile and dressed Paris before handing her to Atem, instructing him to take her to the nursery so I could bathe.

After my bath, I shakily walked to my bed, where Sabine had changed the sheets.

"Sabine, what happened to my white sheets?" I asked, laying down.

"Believe me, Mana," she said, "You don't want those sheets on your bed for at least another four weeks."

I looked at her quizzically.

"Postpartum bleeding," she explained.

"Oh," I said simply.

I kicked the covers off me and closed my eyes, ready for a nap.

This was not the case, however, because almost as soon as my eyes closed, Atem came in the room and sat down next to me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked innocently.

"I just pushed two babies out of me. How do you think I feel?" I replied sarcastically.

He chuckled.

"I only asked, Cupcake. Why aren't you using the blanket?" he inquired more of me.

"I'm hot," I answered.

He started to laugh uncontrollably.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked, very confused at his spontaneous laughter.

"You are hot," he managed to say.

I looked at him rudely before slightly laughing along.

He laid down next to me and rubbed my hair.

"Never again," I whispered to him.

He chuckled.

"At all? Or just at home?" he asked.

"At home. I could probably handle a hospital."

I yawned and closed my eyes.

"I'm going to sleep," I informed him.

(A/N: Sorry it took so long. It's going to take even longer for the next chapter because I've written only one sentence of it lol. Hope you enjoy. Also, apologies for no recent Young Love. Still have writer's block there -_- I've been working on something I may or may not publish eventually. Bye bye!)