When they got off the elevator and walked into maternity, the nurses were talking to the on call administrator.
"Shit." Luke cursed under his breath. "What's his name, Noah?"
"George something, isn't it?" Noah whispered back. Luke chuckled.
"Luke, Noah, I don't know if you remember me but my name is Dr. George Smith, I'm the on-duty hospital administrator. I hope everything is okay?"
"It's nice to see you again George."
"I heard about the commotion earlier. I want to apologize for any miscommunication . . ."
"Nonsense," Lucinda spoke up loudly, so the nursing staff could hear her. "I was the one out of line. Your staff handled themselves with the utmost professionalism. Whatever you're paying them surely isn't enough."
"We do have the best staff in the nation."
"George," Noah spoke up. "This is Lucinda Walsh, Luke's grandmother and over here are Luke's parents Lily and Holden Snyder and Luke's other Grandmother, Emma Snyder. I'm sure you remember Lily from the last foundation fundraiser you attended."
"Yes, I do. It's nice to meet you all." He shook their hands. "I know Luke, Noah and Lily from dealing with the foundation. They've helped a lot of kids over the years. You must be very excited about the new additions to your family."
"Very much," replied Emma, trying to be patient.
"I won't hold you up anymore. If there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you George and thank your staff as well. Everyone has been very knowledgeable, professional and accommodating."
They said their goodbyes and Luke, Noah and the grandparents were ushered into a private room. A man in his late twenties entered the room and walked up to Noah carrying camera equipment.
"Matt, I'm glad you're here. They are about to bring in the kids," Noah greeted Matt. "Luke, this is Matt, a photographer I hired to take photos for us." Luke shook hands with Matt. "And this is Luke's grandmothers and parents." Matt said quick hello to everyone but was busy getting his camera ready for the shoot. "Matt uses a digital high definition camera, so we will have excellent digital photos that we can put on paper if we want."
The conversation ended quickly as a nurse wheeled in a plastic bassinet. Everyone encircled the bassinet to get a better look. After all the ooo's and aww's, Luke picked up the little girl with tears in his eyes. "This is the third oldest Charlene Mary Snyder."
Matt was in the background taking photos but nobody was even taking notice because they were too busy staring at the baby.
Noah was looking sweetly at Luke holding their baby. "We named her after my mother and Grandmother." Lucinda looked like she was going to cry. Emma and Lily were crying. Holden had a sweet smile on his face.
The door opened and another bassinet was wheeled in. Noah went over and picked up the baby.
"This cute little girl is the second oldest. Her name is Emma Rose Snyder. She is named after Grandma, Rose and Aunt Rose."
Emma was shocked that they named a baby after her. She walked up to Noah and looked at the baby. "She's just so adorable, Noah."
The door opened again with another baby. Luke handed Charlene over to Lucinda and went over and picked up his oldest son.
"This guy is the oldest. His name is Harvey Bryant Snyder. He's named after Grandpa and cousin Bryant."
Lily, Holden, Emma and Lucinda looked in awe at the cute little boy in front of them. They were pleased that the baby was named after Luke's grandfather and Lucinda's late grandson.
Noah handed over baby Emma to Emma to hold as the door opened with their last child. Noah went over and picked up the small little bundle.
"This little guy is Bradley Walsh Snyder. He's the baby of the family. He was the one who was in distress but he's going to grow up and be big and strong like his daddies and his grandpa." Noah looked up to see tears running down Holden's face.
"He's so small," Holden sniffled.
"Would you like to hold him Dad?"
Holden shook his head and Noah transferred the little baby into his grandfather's arms. Holden seemed to connect with the littlest one of the bunch. He was barely able to hold back the tears.
Luke saw what was happening and gave Harvey to his mom to hold. He walked over to his dad. "He may be small but he's scrappy. He withstood troubles in the womb. That surely makes him a Snyder . . . and a Walsh." Luke smiled at his dad as he pulled him into a loose side hug being careful not to disturb the baby.
"I bet he will be scrappy." Holden couldn't keep the tears from falling.
"Of course he will. He's a Snyder," Emma said firmly, "no Snyder has ever been born that hasn't been scrappy." Everyone laughed at the truth of the words. Holden remembered the conversation he had with his mother and Meg about Luke saving Kevin from drowning. "Of course he went back. He's a Snyder boy. He's not going to hide from anyone."
Noah took out his cell phone and started snapping a few pictures of everyone holding the babies. He sent a few of them to Faith, Nat and Ethan. Gino, who was dressed like Santa Claus, walked into the room and took a picture with everyone. Within an hour, people all over Oakdale were viewing the pictures of the Christmas babies.
They stayed at the hospital on Christmas day for as long as the nurses let them. Luke and Noah didn't want to be separated from their babies but knew they had to go home to grab a quick meal and some rest. It had been a long emotional day for all of them.
-P-
About two in the morning, Luke woke up to find Noah was not in bed. After about five minutes, Luke started getting worried and got out of bed to look for Noah. He looked in the bathroom but it was empty. He walked out the bedroom door and started down the hall when he noticed Noah in the nursery, sitting in a rocker, just staring at the crib. He walked into the room and knelt next to the rocker. He knew something was wrong. They could always tell with each other. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"Do you think I'll be a good father?" Noah blurted out.
Luke was surprised by the question. "Of course you will be."
"I've always wondered . . . feared about becoming a father."
Luke raised an eyebrow. "Why, Noah?"
"What happens if I turn out like . . . the Colonel?" Noah hadn't mentioned his father in years.
Luke moved in between his husband's knees and stroked his face. "You are the kindest, most loving person I know, Noah. There is no way you could ever be like him."
"It scares me sometimes."
"Remember when we used to babysit my little brother and sisters?"
Noah smiled at the memories. "Yes."
"You were kind, patient and loving with all three of them, even when they got on your nerves. That's how you will be with our kids. Although it still does irritate me that they love you more than me," Luke confessed.
"No they don't, Luke."
"They sure do," Luke replied honestly. "They always ask about you first. When we see them, they want a hug from you first and that's how I know you will be a great father to our children. I love that about you."
"I think they knew I needed it," Noah said truthfully. "I was pretty messed up back then."
"Then, they still do it now," Luke complained. "If it was anyone else . . . the point is that you are kind, loving and a good person."
"Is that why you married me?"
"No, I married you because we got knocked up," laughed Luke. Noah's laughter joined his.
Noah was obviously feeling better when he pulled Luke into a big kiss. "Come on, let's go back to bed."
Luke stood up and Noah offered his hand to Luke as he got up out of his chair. They walked hand in hand back to bed. When they crawled in, Noah spooned Luke and kissed him good night before they fell asleep.
-P-
The next morning, everyone was ready to leave by seven in the morning. They all were just too excited to see the kids, so they grabbed a quick bowl of cereal and were off to the hospital.
When they arrived at the maternity ward, June, the head nurse, bumped into them as she came out of someone's room. "Oh, Mr. Snyder. We were just about to do a morning feeding with your babies. Would you like to do it?"
"Yes," both Luke and Noah replied at the same time. Everyone laughed at their eagerness.
"The doctor said that he may release the babies tomorrow morning. I'll let him know you are here. He should be in to talk to you soon."
Everyone was excited as they went into the private room they had yesterday. Noah's phone rang and he answered it. He spoke to someone and then excused himself and walked out the door.
"What was all that about?" asked Lily.
"I don't know. I hope everything is okay." Luke was stumped but he didn't have time to wonder very long when his cell phone rang. Luke stepped over to the empty side of the room to answer it. When Luke got off the phone he looked worried. "Houston, we have a problem."
"What?" asked Lily.
"I called Amy this morning while I was getting ready. All of the women that we have to help us with the babies went out of town for the holiday. We will be on our own for two days. Do you think Noah and I could handle two days by ourselves?" hoped Luke.
"We will help you," replied Lily. Emma, Holden and Lucinda all agreed.
Luke relaxed. He knew they could handle one or two but he was afraid of handling all four at once by themselves.
-P-
Noah walked back into the room carrying a bag. He walked over to Luke and knelt down between Luke's legs.
"What's in the bag?" Luke was curious.
Noah reached down into the bag and pulled out a box from a jewelry store and handed it to Luke. "I got these so we would always remember the day our children were born."
Luke opened the box to find a gold disc pendant. The names of their babies were engraved on it and a birthstone, blue zircon, after each name. "Oh, Noah. It's beautiful." Luke kissed his husband and with shaky hands, removed the pendant from the box to put it on.
"The weights of the babies and the date of birth are engraved on the back."
Luke turned it over and was again taken by surprise. Tears were streaming down his face. Noah unclasped the chain and put it on Luke.
"Thank you, Noah," Luke kissed Noah deeply.
Noah reached into the bag and took out five more boxes. He gave one to everyone in the room and kept one himself. "I bought one for all of us."
Everyone took theirs out and put it on as June walked in the room with the babies in one big bassinet. "They seem to sleep better when they are together. Multiples are like that."
Luke took Charlene, Noah took Emma, Lily took Bradley and Emma took Harvey. June left the room but came back with a container full of burping cloths and baby bottles. June was surprised at how good Luke and Noah were with the babies. She only had to offer scant advice.
The Snyders spent as much time with the kids as possible and when they were sleeping, they were outside enjoying the day or in the cafeteria, waiting to go back to see the kids. On the way home for lunch, Noah pulled the conversion van into the closest grocery store. Luke and Noah went in and about twenty minutes later, came out with a large number of bags.
"What's in all those?" asked Holden.
"Well, we will not want to cook the next two days, so we are going to make a turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cabbage, macaroni and potato salads so we can just pull out what we want, warm it up and eat."
"That sounds like a good idea," replied Emma.
Noah started the van and pulled out of the parking lot and drove toward their house. After they brought everything in the house, Luke and Noah began to prepare the stuffing for the bird. Emma peeled the sweet potatoes as Lily peeled the potatoes and put on the kettle for the macaroni salad. Lucinda and Holden went out to get some fresh vegetables for the salads out of the solarium. It wasn't long before the turkey and the ham were in the oven and the potatoes were cooking on the stove.
Luke and Noah went into the living room to see what Lucinda, Holden and Lily were doing. Emma was in the kitchen making a couple of pies. Noah went over and put on the lights to the Christmas tree and noticed that there were a lot of presents under it, way more than they put there, a lot more. It was like Santa's whole sleigh was dumped under the tree.
"Bubby, look under the tree," Noah called out to Luke.
Luke looked over and was amazed by the amount of presents under the tree. "We've forgotten all about Christmas. Did you bring those presents?" He asked his parents.
Everyone looked innocent. "It must have been Santa," claimed Holden.
Neither Luke nor Noah believed their family but they saw a lot of boxes that had written Snyder boy 1 or Snyder girl 2 on them and some that just had Snyder babies.
"When grandma gets done in the kitchen, we can open the gifts," Luke said.