Welcome to the twins' birth. ;)
Thank you so much to alicheriee again for the review! And also thank you so much to the guest - as I also have one story where Beck and Jade raise three girls, I thought I'd be fitting to let them have only boys this time around. ;) I'm glad you still like it. :)
Now I wish everyone a fun time with this chapter. The next one will follow right up with this before I jump forward in time again.
Jade makes it to 37 weeks. It's Friday, the 19th of March, around lunch, and the contractions start.
She's glad that they're finally starting. She might've already thought about helping them along. She wanted to keep them inside until they were 36 weeks, to make sure that they've matured enough, but since then, she has hoped for them to get born. She feels awful carrying the twins around at this point, everything seems to hurt and she needs to pee constantly.
She waits until Benji comes home. He gets a ride every afternoon after school from the parents of a friend of his. In the mornings, Beck or Jade often take the friend with them too, when they bring Benji to school – lately it has always been Beck of course, as Jade has been on bedrest.
Jade made food because Benji's always hungry coming from school, even though he also gets a good lunch there. He eats as if he's already way into puberty and right within a growth spurt, though he isn't. Weirdly, his weight still stays somewhat the same. Jade guesses the best genes must've come through for him.
They greet each other and Benji directly sits down at the table. Jade gets Nicky to the table too. He always eats a bit as well and does for lunch itself too.
She has just put Nicky on his chair when another contraction hits her.
"Everything alright?" Benji checks, noticing her slightly wincing and trying to breathe through the pain, that's more a distant kind of... pressure at this stage.
"Yeah," Jade says. "The contractions have just started."
"You're in labor?" Benji asks with widening eyes.
Jade nods, sitting down, still feeling the contraction that's surpringly strong. "I am. But don't worry. Eat. I'll call your dad, so he knows."
Beck's filming at the moment. If she remembers correctly he said it wouldn't take that long today, but you never know. And if he still has to film a scene he obviously won't be able to just leave. She only hopes the babies will stay inside of her until Beck is there. She doesn't know what she'll do without him there.
Benji watches her with warry eyes while he fills his plate and then does the same with Nicky's, so his little brother can also start eating, while Jade tries to call Beck.
He doesn't pick up. He also hasn't picked up when she tried to call him right before Benji came home. Maybe he's right in the middle of the scene and therefore hasn't got his phone on him.
She takes a deep breath. It will be fine. It still should take hours until the babies come. They still have time.
She barely eats though while she asks Benji about his school day like every day. Benji doesn't tell so much. He never does anymore. He's growing older and doesn't feel the need to inform his parents about everything anymore. But today, he's even more quiet, watching Jade carefully, obviously not comfortable with the thought of her giving birth soon and still sitting at the table, without being able to reach Beck.
Jade tries him again as soon as her boys have stopped eating. She knows she needs to get to the hospital soon, though she still assumed to have hours before Benji came home. But she can feel it, approaching faster than thought and that makes her somewhat anxious. But Beck still doesn't pick up.
"Is Dad not answering?" Benji checks.
"No," Jade answers. "He must be in the middle of filming a scene. I'll call around to see who can watch you and Nicky."
Someone has to come either way. Beck and she never planned on taking them with them to the hospital. But Jade expected to be able to talk to Beck first. She expected not having to go the hospital until Beck was on his way back and that she could call someone to watch the kids in peace while knowing Beck was on the way.
"Do you want me to do anything?" Benji asks, ready to help out in any way he can.
But he shouldn't worry about this, instead: "No. Start with your homework."
Benji doesn't seem happy about that and he also still gets Nicky out of his chair and tells him to go play and then clears the table before he gets his school bag and starts with his homework.
Meanwhile, Jade tries to call her mother, then Leah, then Nathaniel and then even Jasper, but nobody picks up. They must all be at work or in Jasper's case at some extra curricular at school.
She can't believe her luck. She knows Cat and Robbie aren't in town at the moment, which leaves Tori, Andre and Ruby in her closer circle. Ruby most likely would have time, is she staying home with her and Andre's daughter, but she also still does have that same daughter to take care of. If Jade can avoid it, she won't also have her take care of Nicky and Benji, even if she thinks Ruby would be willing and very much able to.
She tries Tori first out of her left choices and she is the one to pick up.
"Yeah?"
"Tori, do you have time?"
"Uhm," Tori makes for a second, then: "Yes, sure, what's going on?"
"I'm in labor and need someone here to watch Nicky and Benji," she quickly explains.
Tori doesn't hesitate: "Oh, of course! Yes. Yes, I'm coming over right away."
Jade is so relieved that she might even thank Tori before hanging up.
"Tori's coming?" Benji wants to know, looking up from his homework again. Not that he has really started.
Jade only nods before she tries Beck once more. But he still doesn't pick up. She can't help but swear.
She has another contraction. Gosh, this can't be happening. She has to get to the hospital. Now. But how can she get there? She could wait for Tori, get both the kids in the car with them and have Tori drive her before driving home with the kids again. But Tori still needs time to come and then getting Nicky in the car who doesn't appreciate car seats at the moment, so it takes some distractions to get him into a car?
Maybe, she should call Andre or Ruby after all. But if only one of them is home and with Sharon, they also have to get the baby in the car first and still would take so long to come by. Maybe, both of them have time though and one of them can just come and take Jade.
Though they also live quite far away. In LA but not as close-by as Tori does.
And then she knows who to call: her father. She never needed to call him for any kind of emergency. But heck, he works close-by at the moment. It should take him about five minutes with the car. If he can get out of work right away, he can be here quite fast.
She never needed her father's help and feels almost uncomfortable asking for it now. And maybe afraid that he will deny her, that he will tell her that he can't just leave work. Which he possibly really can't. She knows the same is true for her mother and Beck's parents but she knows they would try everything to help her out. What if her father doesn't?
She calls him and he picks up at the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Dad? Are you at work?" she asks.
"I'm on my way back from my break," her father says and now that he does, she's sure to hear the distinct sounds of a car moving. He must talk to her on his hands-free device in the car while driving back to work. "What is it?" Of course he knows that she doesn't just randomly call when she knows he could be working.
She quickly comes to the point: "I'm in labor. Could you take me to the hospital?"
A heartbeat, then he doesn't answer directly, instead: "Are you at home?"
"Yes."
"I'm coming."
.
.
Jade quickly explains to Benji what's going on, that her father will come and bring her to the hospital, while Tori will watch him and Nicky, then she tries Beck again, but he still isn't answering his damn phone.
She swears again, in quite colorful words.
Benji isn't impressed but as soon as the door bell rings he's up and says: "I'll get it."
Jade follows him slowly, not being able to walk much faster. She can still see Benji grabbing the bag that has been ready next to the door from the living room to the hallway for weeks. Then, he opens the door.
"Hey, Grandpa," Jade can hear his voice. She stops in the living room. If it's only her father and not Tori at the same time, she can't get going yet anyway. She looks over to Nicky, who found his toys in the living room after Benji sent him to play and is stacking towers at the moment, not caring for all the commotion.
"Mom's coming," Benji continues without her father able to get a word in. "Take the bag and get the car ready."
Okay. That's also the word Jade hears her father say, then Benji walks back into the living room – without him and without the bag.
"You should get going," Benji tells her.
"I can't leave you alone," she says and yet... The twins want to come out. And having twins at home or – worse – in the car if she gets going a little later? She can't do it. Maybe she wouldn't have had a problem with having Nicky at home if there wouldn't have been another way. But twins? So much can go wrong.
Benji comes closer and looks her directly in the eye, as he says: "It's fine. Tori will be here any second."
She takes a deep breath again and looks over to Nicky, who's still playing in peace. Who won't play like that much longer, she's sure, because he usually likes wilder games so much more. On the other hand... He adores Benji and if somebody can get him to do what they want, it's his big brother.
She won't ever be able to forgive herself if something happens to one of them, but... her body is screaming at her to finally get ready for birth, to press soon enough. She shouldn't do it here.
She walks all the way up to Benji. "I'll try your Dad once more from the car and then I'll call you and we keep on the phone until Tori's here, yes?"
"Yes."
.
"Do we have to hurry?" her father checks as soon as she sits down. He has the car running already and now backs out of the driveway.
"I left Benji and Nicky without supervision just now," she responds in harsh voice. "So yes, obviously we have to hurry."
Her father doesn't call her out for her tone of voice. He has barely ever done though she has been pretty harsh to him over the course of her life. Well, he has to her too.
"Is someone coming to watch them?" he instead asks.
And maybe he would otherwise even offer to call Stephanie to watch them. But Jade shortly answers: "Tori."
"Where's Beck?" he wants to know next.
"At work," she answers. "I couldn't reach him. I'll try him again."
She never put her phone away, held it in her hand the whole time and now calls Beck again.
He immediately picks up this time.
"Jade."
His voice tells her that he must already have a good idea what's going on with the missed calls he must've seen on his phone.
She directly says: "I'm in labor and on the way to the hospital."
Beck swears as she did, then: "How are you getting there?"
"My dad."
"Who's watching the kids?"
"Noone yet," she says. "Tori's on the way. It's going way too fast. I told Benji I'll call him next and stay on the phone with him until Tori is there."
"Let me do that. You concentrate on your breathing. We'll see each other in the hospital."
"Okay."
She hangs up and does breathe through the contraction that hit her just then. She feels her father glance at her and he breathes too, loud enough for her to hear and fall into the same pace.
She keeps her eyes closed but takes over his breathing, until she's through this contraction.
"Tell me if we need to stop, so you can lie down," he then says. Lie down to give birth in the car. God, she doesn't want it. And they are close enough to the hospital by now. She'll make it.
She only shakes her head for him as a sign to keep going, then the phone in her hand rings again. She notices that it's Leah and picks it up.
"Yeah?"
"You tried to call?" Leah asks.
Jade answers: "Yes. I'm in labor and needed someone to watch Benji and Nicky. Tori should be there now."
"Okay. I'm so sorry I wasn't..." Leah starts but it's not her fault and Jade can't hear an apology right now, so she interrupts: "No, it's fine. Can you text Nathaniel, my mom and Jasper too that this is what it was about? I tried all of them."
"Of course."
And there's pain again. This can't be happening. She feels sick and makes a noise.
"Breathe, Jade," Leah immediately says on the other end, recognizes the sound for what it is. "Are you at the hospital?"
"No, on the way," Jade presses out.
"Oh, Jade," Leah makes. "I hope you'll be there fast. Best of luck."
.
.
When Beck sees the missed calls on his phone, he knows what's going on and his heart drops. He wants to call her back when his phone rings. It's Jade.
He packs up his things while they talk on the phone. He's done now anyway, has dressed out of his costume into his own clothes again and only looked at his phone after that.
Usually he stays for a few minutes and doesn't just "flee" from the set, but this time he only shouts out a quick bye before he leaves.
He jumps into his car, connects the phone to his hands-free device and calls Benji while he starts the car to get to the hospital.
"Yes?" the boy picks up.
"Hey, baby. It's me," he says though Benji must've seen on the screen of his phone anyway.
Benji promptly informs him: "Mom is on the way to the hospital."
"I know," Beck responds. "She just managed to reach me. Has Tori arrived by now?"
"No."
"I'm staying on the phone, huh?"
"Okay," Benji simply answers.
Beck doesn't directly ask if Nicky's okay and if he can hear him too. He's sure Benji would tell him if he wasn't okay. He's as responsible as a boy his age can be and takes great care of his brother.
Instead, he tries to get the conversation going in hope to calm Benji who sounds distracted and possibly worried about his mother – and to keep himself distracted. "Have you and Nicky already eaten?"
"Yeah," Benji answers. "Nicky's playing now. I'm supposed to do my homework. We're in the living room together."
"Do you have much homework?" Beck asks.
"Sorta," Benji says, then: "Are you on the way to the hospital?"
"Trying my best," Beck answers honestly, just now passing the light that's barely green anymore.
"Her contractions were pretty strong," Benji knows to report.
It makes Beck almost smile. His son worrying about his mother in this way is somehow so lovely. "They must've been or she wouldn't've left you alone." Which is true. Beck already knew that she must be about to give birth right now or otherwise she wouldn't have left like that.
For a moment it's silent between father and son, then Benji says: "Tori's pulling in the driveway right now."
"Can you give me to her when she's inside?" Beck checks.
"Yeah," Benji answers.
He hears him walking to the door and after a while he greets Tori and Tori greets back.
"Dad's on the phone," Beck hears his son say and the front door close.
Tori answers: "Where's your mom?"
"Gone to the hospital already," Benji explains.
"Hi, Nicky," Tori then says. They must have arrived in the living room. And finally, Tori takes the phone: "Hey, Beck."
"Hey, Tori," Beck says and quickly explains: "Yeah, apparently the birth is approaching much faster than Jade would've expected and she had to get on the way."
"Oh. I hope she's okay."
God, does Beck too. "Yeah. Benji and Nicky both ate and Benji should do his homework now. Can you stay the rest of the day?"
"Yes. Don't worry," Tori says.
Beck continues: "If it's getting late, feel free to call one of our parents. Their numbers are on the fridge."
"Yeah, okay," Tori says. "I can also stay the night though. If that's okay for you." She knows that neither Bekc nor Jade like anyone all up in their family's space, but better their own parents than their friends, though they do love them all. They're private and Tori would have to look around to find pillows and blankets to make herself comfortable in the living room.
But Beck's glad for the offer. Just to know that someone will definitely be there, that Tori has time and is ready to stay with their kids... "If you actually could..."
"Yes. Don't worry," Tori repeats. "But I'll call one of your parents if there's problem."
"Good."
"I wish you and Jade all the best."
Beck takes a deep breath. "I just wish I would be with her right now. Talk to you later."
.
.
It takes Jade a while to get into the delivery room as she also didn't call ahead this time. Her father makes sure to pointedly tell everyone in sight to hurry up though, to get Jade ready because she will give birth any second. His usually so cold demeanor has fallen and he's... scared.
Jade would be amused if she wasn't about to give birth to twins and was in pain and was afraid that Beck wouldn't show on time. She would have to go through this alone and she can't.
But she also doesn't have to. When she gets brought into the delivery room, she tell the nurses that Beck is absolutely allowed through – and then she tells her father to stay with her until Beck arrives.
She can't do this alone. And yes, she definitely would favor other people above her father in the room, seeing her like this, Beck for one or her mother. Or maybe even Cat or Tori or Leah. But well... Her father it is.
He walks into the delivery room with her without hesitation and offers her his hand as soon as she's lying and a doctor is checking how far along she is, if she should start pressing during the next contraction.
She takes her father's hand and pretty much destroys it with her father not even wincing.
.
.
Beck arrives in the delivery room ten minutes after Jade does. He rushes in and knows by Jade's sight that he's pretty much exactly on time.
There are more poeple in the room than back when Nicky or Benji have been born. Beck guesses, it's partly just in case if the twins have trouble coming out which is more likely than with one child – and because it's more interesting for students to watch the birth of twins and learn during that.
He mainly sees Jade though, exhausted, already pressing. And he sees the relief flooding her face as soon as she notices him coming inside.
He rushes to her side and is surprised to realize that her father is already there but is now making room for him. Her father! Well, but Jade has always told him that he loved her despite how much he criticized her and her life choices. He also knew it somewhere that he did. He is doing well with Benji and Nicky, as far as Beck can tell. Both boys at least enjoy being over at his and Stephanie's place.
The contraction is ending and the doctor tells Jade that she'll have the first of the twins during the next contractions if she does it right.
Jade takes a deep breath before she pulls Beck down to her and kisses him, desperately, so glad that he's there.
Only when they break apart, her father says, in a surprisingly gentle voice: "I leave you two at it."
Jade does want him to leave. Now that Beck is here, she doesn't need her father anymore and he has already seen enough. But she would've needed him if Beck wouldn't have come. She needed him until just now. And he stayed and was with her though this must've made him uncomfortable, without a doubt.
She has to say it, when he's already on his way out: "Thank you, Dad."
He turns back one more time, directly looking into her eyes: "Be safe."
She takes another deep breath as soon as he's gone, then she turns to Beck who already takes her hand: "Are Benji and Nicky okay?"
"Yes. Tori's with them," Beck confirms, easing her mind, one less trouble to have for what's to come.
She closes her eyes, feeling the next contraction approach. Here it goes.
"I'm so glad I made it," Beck breathes, close to her ear, having leaned down once more, kissing her cheek and then her lips again.
"I love you," she whispers, just for the two of them to hear.
"I love you, too."
.
.
It's quick and messy and suddenly, there are two more boys in this world.
Jade has never been so exhausted, not even after her last two births. Though it hasn't taken even slightly as long as the previous two births.. she feels like she has been at it for days. Probably, the stress from before is part of that.
By now, she's cleaned up, as are the two babies. The two healthy baby boys.
And Beck is lying in her bed with her. They have a family room again, the two of them and the two new additions to their family. But they're lying in the same bed now, each holding one of the boys.
Jade can't decide at whom to look. The baby in her own arms or that in Beck's. Or if she just should lie her head back and close her eyes and enjoy the closeness she feels to her husband, the father of her now four children. Gosh. She should probably sleep as long as she's able to, before one of her children needs her again, demands her attention or time.
But she doesn't. She couldn't sleep now. Not when there's still so much to discover in both the infants' faces.
"Who's who?" Beck asks softly after a while.
Jade smiles. "Huh, good question."
She looks between the two boys once more, as does Beck. They've decided on names a few weeks ago and have said that they would decide whom is whom as soon as they have them in their arms. They also could've said that the first born of the two would definitely have one of the names and the second one the other but they wanted to see them first.
Beck gently adresses the baby in his arms: "Are you Elijah or are you Joshua?"
"I think he looks a bit more like Elijah," Jade claims, looking over to the baby in Beck's arms too.
Beck lightly laughs and confesses: "They're looking absolutely the same to me." He knows he can say that to Jade. He knows Jade won't judge him for not being able to tell his own children apart. A few years back – or if he hadn't had Benji and Nicky and grew so much with them –, he would've felt embarrassed about it, would've felt stupid and would've thought every parent should be able to tell his children apart right away, even if they are identical twins.
He has too much experience with children now, has matured a great deal, and doesn't care at all what he should be able to do or alike. Jade especially has taught him that he is a good father, even if he might not do or know the things he should.
Jade definitely also can't tell them apart. Heck. If there were five other new-borns in the room as well, she probably couldn't find her own. She couldn't have done with Benji or Nicky when they were still so young. Babies all look so damn alike at first.
These two don't even have hair yet while Benji and Nicky had a bit right away – which made them somewhat recongnizeable.
They will get to know their new children soon enough, just like they got to know their other two boys.
"Don't you see how his face is squished in much more?" Jade asks, smirking.
Both faces are a bit squished in and yes, the one in Beck's arms, who came first, even more so, in a very adorable way.
Beck laughs again. "And Eli has a face like that?"
"As you can see," Jade nods, grinning.
Beck stokes over the baby's cheek with his thumb, as he says: "Then hello, Eli." He then also strokes over the other baby's cheek in Jade's arms. "And hello Josh."
Then, he carefully reaches to his other side, to the pen the nurse layed down on the bedside table. "Let me write down the names."
They both have little bracelets that already have a code on them, a number that connects them to the data, the nurses already collected of them, their weight and height and exact time of birth. They told them, when they brought the children back to them, that they can just put the names on the bracelets themselves and the nurses will later fill out everything accordingly.
Beck now carefully writes down both their names, lying Eli on his legs for that. Only when he's done, Jade suggests to change babies for a while, so each of them can meet the other one properly too.
.
.
It's only after they sit like that in silence too, enjoying the quiet and watching their children adjusting to the new world in their arms, when Jade says: "I don't think I wanna see anyone anymore today."
With the other two births, she immediately allowed their parents or their friends to come by and meet the new child. She somehow feels like she should at least let Benji and Nicky come, but she doesn't have the nerve for it, honestly. Not after the day she had. She feels so damn exhausted.
"I get it," Beck gently says, pressing a kiss on top of her hair. "You did so well, though."
"I know," Jade says with a smirk and Beck smirks too and they share a kiss.
She's honestly just glad that she was once again able to do it naturally because that's what she wanted. She strongly believes every woman should be able to go with it they way they want to, the way they feel most comfortable. She likes giving birth naturally – and was therefore glad that her body even was able to do it with twins without absolutely unbearable pain or alike.
They kiss a bit longer and after they've broken apart, Beck asks: "Should Tori stay with Benji and Nicky?"
Obviously they still have to take care of everything, even if Jade's too exhausted to see anyone. Earnestly, she says: "I think my mom would love to stay with them, after she couldn't do anything the last time."
When Nicky was born, she was on the East coast and couldn't do anything at all. Jade is sure she's angry with herself now, knowing Jade tried to reach her, wanted her to help, and with her not picking up. Leah and Nathaniel will also not be happy with that but Jade's own mother... Well. And Jade's sure her mother would love to spend the night with the kids.
Beck smiles at her, likes the idea: "Wanna call her, while I call my parents?" He'll call his parents of course to let them know how the birth went, while she can inform her mother and then ask her about the possibility of her spending the night at their house – or getting Benji and Nicky to her own apartment, but that would involve much more trouble.
"Yeah," Jade agrees and Beck carefully stands up with Josh in his arms to get both Jade's phone that somewhere along the line ended up in the bag for the hospital. He hands it to her before he sits back down next to her, pulling his own phone out of his pants' pocket.
Jade continues, after thinking about it for a moment. "They can all come in the morning. My mom can take the boys with them."
Beck agrees with that.
.
.
Her mother picks up after only one ring.
"Jade?" she says, checking, obviously worried.
"Yes," Jade easily answers, looking down into her arms to little Elijah, as she directly says: "You have two more grandsons."
"Oh, my god," her mother makes, her voice overjoyed, then she calls out for Jade's brother: "Jasper!"
The next second, Jade can hear her brother's voice in the distance on the other end. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yes," her mother answers and Jasper calls out: "Awesome!"
Jade has to grin as he hears mother and brother talk and being so happy for her.
Her mother talks to her again: "Congrats, honey."
"Thank you," Jade even says, then: "I'm exhausted though. So nobody can come today."
"That's okay," her mother answers and Jade knows she means it. Not that Jade would've changed her mind if her mother would be disappointed in her choice. But she might've thought less of her mother if she would've been disappointed with this.
Jade slowly continues: "Well... Tori's with Nicky and Benji and apparently is willing to stay the night, but..." She doesn't want to phrase it in a way that makes her mother think she has to watch the boys.
But her mother already says: "I'd love to stay with them and take them to you tomorrow." And then she turns to Jasper again: "Wanna get over to their house and stay with Nicky and Benji?"
"Sure," Jasper answers, actually willing.
"I thought so," Jade says with a smile. "We'll call Tori and tell her you're on the way."
They then agree on a time for the next morning (with Beck saying in between which time he has just given his own parents) before they hang up.
.
.
Beck meanwhile talked to his parents, it was a shorter talk but they picked up the phone together and were just as happy and relieved as Jade's mother.
Only when Jade has hung up too, they call Benji together. The phone gets picked up and they are sure to hear that the phone gets put on speaker, then it's Benji's voice, just like after Nicky's birth: "Yeah?"
"Hey, baby," Jade says and doesn't beat around the bush. "You have two new brothers."
"Cool!" Benji calls out, then: "Did Dad make it on time?"
"I did. Luckily," Beck confirms.
Benji's happy with that and his voice moves away from the phone: "Nicky, have you heard?"
While Benji tells his little brother the news, Beck asks: "Tori, are you also there?"
"Yes," Tori's voice answers immediately. "I'm so happy for you guys! Congrats!"
"Thanks," Beck says with a smile.
Jade tells: "My mom is on the way to you, with my brother. They'll watch the kids over night."
"Oh, sure," Tori makes. "I could also stay though."
"We know," Beck confirms. "But Jade's mother also would like to help out."
Jade looks at him for a moment, before she roughly says into the phone: "And you already helped a whole lot. Honestly."
Beck's smile gets wider. He knows that that's pretty much a "thank you" by Jade. And Tori knows that without a doubt too.
The grin is audible, as she says: "You're very much welcome. You know I love you guys and your kids."
"We know," Beck confirms.
Jade changes the topic: "Did you already tell anyone about the birth?"
"I didn't get around to it," Tori answers. "Should I?"
Jade and Beck share another look before Jade decides: "I think we'll send a photo later. Wait until then." Beck takes such beautiful pictures and obviously they will send one of those again. Their friends don't know the birth would happen today, aren't anxiously waiting for news, so it's okay if they still wait a bit longer.
Beck leans forwards and steals a quick kiss from Jade, while Tori says "okay".
Then, Jade continues: "You can come by tomorrow around lunch if you have time and want to. You can also have Andre and Ruby join you if they'd like."
"Sure," Tori answers happily. "Sounds great."
And finally, Benji's there again. They have heard him talking to Nicky in the background when they started talking to Tori. But then, he was silent again and they guessed he was listening in on their conversation. Now, he has to check of course: "When will I get to visit?"
Jade knows how much he wants to meet his new brothers and for just a split second she considers allowing him to still visit today after all, with someone, anyone, getting him here. But she's really exhausted and.. she can't do it. But she says: "Tomorrow morning, promise, baby."
"Your mom and the babies need to rest," Beck explains.
"Okay," Benji says and doesn't sound as disapppointed as Jade feared. Instead, he seems a bit worried now: "But you are okay, yeah?"
"We are," Jade confirms and Beck adds: "Everything's alright. If you want to, we can call later and sing you a lullaby."
"I'm ten!" Benji immediately answers as if that was a totally ridiculous offer due to his age. And then, sounding much older then he is: "You rest and don't worry. I'll sing a lullaby for Nicky."
"You're the best," Beck says with a grin and Benji easily answers: "I know."
"We love you," Jade softly says.
"I love you too. Nicky does as well."
.
.
Jade also decides to call her father right away. She didn't with Nicky. She had her mother call her father back when Benji was born. But with Nicky... She guessed that her father wouldn't care so much. Like... No, she knew he cared about her and also about her children. He loves her. But... he wouldn't care to know about the birth right away or alike.
Now, he has witnessed Jade in pain, while having contractions and... weirdly, Jade can imagine her father at home now, pacing up and down, his phone in hand, waiting for any news on his daughter.
She wants to call him, was it also him who brought her to the hospital last second. And was it him, who would've stayed with her. No, she never imagined he would. But he would have. He would have held her hand the whole time through and... suddenly, Jade is creepily aware of the fact that he also was there for her own birth, was at her mother's side and tried to help her through it.
And she saw how relieved he looked that he got to leave in time, but... because he loves her, he would've also tried to help her through it. And that means a whole lot to her, especially as her relationship to him always has been so rocky.
He picks up as soon as she has dialed. "Jade?"
She has put both her infant boys in Beck's arms and has decided to not put the phone on speaker. Beck doesn't like her father much and she doesn't think he needs to talk to him too. She watches him instead while she talks to her father and enjoys how Beck can't seem able to decide whom of the boys to look as he cradles them both.
"Yeah," she answers her father meanwhile. "Everything's alright. With me and the twins."
Her father might breathe out in relief. "Good. How are you feeling?"
"Exhausted," Jade honestly responds.
And that's all. "Naturally," her father says in that tone she's so used to, that's somewhat cold, but... it's doesn't mean he feels as cold towards her. "Thank you for calling."
"I'll send you pics later and we can talk tomorrow about when you and Stephanie can come visit."
.
.
She takes a few pics of Beck with the babies, before he hands Elijah back to her and takes selfies with all four of them and then, she's holding both the boys and he's taking pictures.
She looks like a mess, but she isn't a teenager anymore. She didn't want Beck to send a picture with her and Benji on the day of the birth to their friends. She doesn't care now. She looks exhausted but there is this pic of all four of them that just look so perfect.
They send it to Benji's phone first, then also in their group chat with their friends, before they send it to each their parents.
Everyone sends an answer within minutes, Andre, Robbie and Cat sending way too many emojis, showing how shocked they are that they didn't know about the birth, how happy they are that everything went well though, how cute they think the twins are and how beautiful and happy they find Beck and Jade to look with their third and fourth children. Tori of course is agreeing with everything except the shock about the birth itself and sends quite a few heart emojis.
.
.
They go to sleep soon and when Jade lies in the dark, Beck in the bed to her right, the two babies in one crib between them, it sinks in. They have four kids now. Beck and her have to take care of and raise four children, who all have different needs and wants and goals and need their attention and love. Well, love won't be a problem, she realizes, as she looks over to Beck in the dark. He has so much love to spare. And honestly: She does too. They will fall in love with Eli's and Josh's personalities just like they did with Benji's and Nicky's. And somehow, they will be able to raise all four children, like they were able to take care of Benji when they were just teenagers. With a lot of help but also in all their love.