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Chapter 20
"Mmmm, good morning husband," I say softly as I open my eyes the next day. At once, panic surges through me as I find the bed empty beside me.
"J...Jesse?" I ask, clutching the sheets to me as I look around frantically for my MIA husband.
When there's no answer, I sit up and call out louder, "JESSE!" My heart is pounding inside my chest. I knew it. Last night was another dream.
"Querida? Is everything alright?" Jesse asks, nearly falling over as he runs around the corner into the room seconds later.
I can't help it when tears fill my eyes and spill over. "I thought...I thought it was a dream," I sob, covering my face with my hands.
"Susannah...Susannah," Jesse says, starting to chuckle tenderly as he comes over to me and hugs me tightly against him.
"I was so scared, Jesse," I whisper, wrapping my arms around him and crying into his chest, wishing I could stop but I can't.
"Querida it's okay...it's okay I'm here and I'm not leaving you again," Jesse says softly, running his fingers through my hair to try and calm me.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry," I mumble, pulling back a little and wiping my eyes. "It's just when I woke up and you weren't here..."
"Susannah do I have to carry you with me everywhere I go from now on? I will if it will make you believe that I'm not leaving," Jesse promises me.
I laugh tearfully and kiss him on the lips. "Maybe," I tell him, smiling. He grins and scoops me into his arms, standing up and taking me with him.
"Jesse! I'm naked!" I exclaim quietly, a blush forming on my cheeks
He kisses me and gently places me back on the bed. "Then get dressed and come have breakfast," he says. "I'm right out in the dining room, okay? I promise."
"I'll be suspicious, but okay," I say, leaning up and kissing him once again before he leaves.
I get dressed quickly, unable to keep the huge grin from appearing on my face as I do so. When I go out into the living room and see Jesse in the kitchen through the doorway, my heart nearly skips a beat and I'm overwhelmed by the love I have for him.
He looks up at me and smiles and I can't help myself when I run over to him, jumping up into his arms. He doesn't miss a beat either, it's as if he knew I was about to do this.
He catches me in his big strong arms and kisses me fiercely, whispering that he loves me between kisses. We only stop when we hear the sound of someone clearing their throat behind us.
"Shut up, we're newlyweds," I murmur, leaning forward and rubbing my nose gently against Jesse's nose.
He laughs and gives me a deep, lingering kiss. "I should get back to breakfast though, querida, or it'll burn," he tells me.
"You know, I think you can move into your apartment now. Sure you'll have to stay inside the whole time, but I don't think that will much of a problem for you," Mercedes remarks, going to the fridge and taking out a bottle.
"You'll miss having me around," he says, laughing as he turns his attention back to cooking breakfast. I laugh and give him a peck on the cheek before saying, "I should go check on Josie."
"Ohm...yes, good idea. Tame the beast a little bit," Jesse says, earning a smack on the arm from me.
He grins at me and I smile back before going to the guest room, finding Josephina still asleep. "Jooosie, wake uuup," I say softly, walking over to her and shaking her a little bit.
"Mmm, go away Suze the babies need their sleep," she grumbles into her pillow sleepily.
"Believe me, Josie, you want to wake up," I tell her, the smile that's spreading across my face very evident in my voice.
"Oh. Right," she says curtly before sitting up, suddenly very awake and glaring at me.
"How did you take the news?" I ask, my smile slipping a little at her penetrating glare.
"How do you think, Suze? I find out my brother, my best friend, is really still alive and he doesn't even want to tell me himself!" She exclaims, ambling to get out of bed.
"He did want to tell you!" I exclaim, standing up with her. "But Mercedes got to it before he could. Believe me, he was really mad when she told him."
"Still doesn't change anything," she growls before turning around and gasping.
"Josie," Jesse whispers, holding out his arms and smiling at her. She doesn't say anything and I think for a second she's gone into a state of shock.
She hesitates before walking slowly up to him as if calculating her steps, well wobbles would be more precise in her case. Jesse's smile widens as she gets closer, that is until she reaches him smacks him across the face.
She stands there glaring at him for a few moments and neither of them say anything. Finally, Jesse breaks the silence: "Okay, I deserved that, but--" except he never finishes his sentence because Josephina lets out a sob and throws her arms around him.
"Hector I swear if you ever do that again you'll regret it," she sobs noisily. They look almost comical embracing with her large stomach hindering close proximity whatsoever.
He laughs and holds her as tight as he can. "I won't, I promise," he tells her before holding her at arm's length, looking down at her very pregnant belly. "God, I can't believe I missed all this."
"Yep, you sure did. All the early on mood swings and cravings and morning sickness! Suze had to help me through that, I'm pretty sure she's going to make you pay when it's her turn," Josephina says, laughing.
He laughs along with her and they hug again, huge smiles on both their faces. "I've missed you, big brother," she says to him.
"I know. I've missed you too. It was a condolence to at least hear you guys out there once I moved in here, but it was still so hard," Jesse replies, hugging her tightly before Josephina suddenly gasps and pulls away from Jesse.
"What is it, Josie?" Jesse and I both ask frantically as I come running over to her, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"Fuck I think...I think my water just broke! Oh my god I'm only 7 months in!" Josephina exclaims, letting out a low moan of pain.
Mercedes comes running in, probably having heard us in the other room. "Suze, you need to bring her outside, I'll go get the car," she says hurriedly.
"Okay," I say, walking over and trying to guide her towards the front door but Josephina doesn't want to budge from where she's at.
"Come on, Josie, we've got to get you to the hospital," I tell her, trying to make her move.
"Shoot...Jesse can you help me get her to the front door at least?" I ask him desperately.
"Of course," he says, looking disappointed that he can't come with us. He lifts Josephina's arm and puts it around his shoulders for support as we walk her out of the guest room.
"Oh god it hurts so bad!" Josephina exclaims, crying out as Jesse tries to set her down at the front door.
I open the door and Mercedes is waiting for us in the car. Jesse gives Josephina a hug and whispers something to her in Spanish and she manages to smile at him. Once I get her into the car, I hurry back to Jesse and kiss him softly. "I'll call as soon as I can, okay?" I say.
"Please do, I'm going to be worried out of my mind," Jesse says, a look of longing in his eyes. I know he wants to come with us so bad but he can't, not yet.
"Okay, I love you," I tell him, hugging him tightly. He lets me go after a few moments and I run to the car, getting in the back seat.
"Mercedes, please drive faster than you've ever driven in your LIFE!" Josephina practically screams as soon as I'm in the backseat with her.
"Time her contractions, Suze," Mercedes tells me as I offer my hand to Josephina and she grips it tightly.
"I don't have anything to time them with!" I exclaim, panicked by the site of my friend in pain.
"Just try to measure how far apart they are," she tells me as Josephina lets out a cry of pain. "Don't worry, Josie, we're almost there."
"Suze I'm so s...scared! This is too early!" Josephina exclaims tearfully, gripping the seat on either side of her as hard as she could.
"You'll be fine, it's going to be okay," I tell her soothingly as she suddenly grips my hand tighter and screams out.
"Okay, that was about 3 minutes since the last one," I note to myself and I see Mercedes nod from up front where she's driving.
"Okay, we're about a minute away, hang tight Josie, you're doing great," she says, glancing at us in the rearview mirror.
"I don't know how you're still alive if you did this twice Cedes," Josephina groans. "Well...just think you're doing it twice, but at the same time..." I quip.
We finally arrive and get her to see a doctor as soon as we get in. "OH GOD SUZE, IT HURTS!" she screams, squeezing the life out of my hand.
"You can do it Josie. Just think, after all of this is done it will only get better," I offer gently.
"I WANT PAINKILLERS!" she shouts in my face and I turn to Mercedes, my eyes begging her for help.
"We have to wait until the contractions are closer, I'm sorry," her doctor says as she walks into the room. For some crazy reason she has a pleasant smile on her face.
"Why are you smiling? Suze, why is she smiling?" Josephina asks me before gritting her teeth and tries not to scream.
"Josephina, birth is a beautiful thing. Just think, you're going to have a little boy and a little girl all to yourself when you're done," she replies as if it's a no-brainer.
"Oh god...she's right...I'm all alone in this," Josephina says, her eyes widening in horror. "The father isn't around and I have two kids I have to take care of now and oh my god..."
"You are NOT alone! You know Jesse and I will help, as well as all of your sisters and your mother!" I exclaim.
After a little while, the doctor says she's far enough along to be given the painkillers and she sighs in relief. "Thank GOD," she says.
"I'm going to go call Jesse, I'll be RIGHT back," I let her know after I realize that we've been here for close to 3 hours now.
Once I'm outside the room, I pull out my cell phone and dial Mercedes' house number and Jesse answers right away. "How is she?" he asks.
"The doctor just gave her the painkillers, so she's a little better, at least for a little while," I tell him quietly.
"That's good," he says, sounding relieved. "I haven't called anyone because I think if I called Madre or Marta they would have a heart attack. Will you let them know when you get the chance?"
"Of course! I'll get the numbers from Mercedes," I say, walking back towards Josie's room.
"Okay, call me again when you can," he says. "I love you." I reply that I love him too before hanging up and asking Mercedes for the numbers.
An hour later Marta, Anna-Maria, Katiana, and Carlotta are all at the hospital and Josephina looks in more pain than ever.
"I think we're ready to start pushing, Josephina," the doctor says, and Josie grips my hand even tighter and from the look on Mercedes' face, she does the same to her.
"I...I'm scared! I'm scared I need Jesse to be here!" Josephina cries miserably.
Mercedes sighs and says, "I know, but he can't be here. You have to make it through this for him, okay?"
"What...why is she talking about Jesse?" Carlotta wants to know a moment later.
Mercedes and I exchange looks, and I'm about to say something when Josephina lets out a scream of pain and the doctor says, "Okay, I need you to push!"
"No! No, I can't...I can't!" She screams, shaking her head no over and over again.
"Yes you can!" I exclaim, gently brushing her sweat soaked hair off her forehead. "It'll all be over soon, I promise."
"Okay...okay I'll try. I'll try for Jesse," she whispers resolutely before her face screws up in pain and she starts to push.
After five more hours in labor, Josephina finally gives birth to Hector and Rosie de Silva and they are the CUTEST babies I've ever seen in my life. I even got choked up holding them for the first time.
"You did so good Josie!" I exclaim softly so that I won't wake up little Hector.
She lets out an exhausted sigh as she looks down adoringly at Rosie. "Yeah, I still can't believe it," she says. "But now I feel like sleeping for about a week."
"I can't believe they're perfectly healthy, even though they're two months early!" I exclaim.
"It's pretty hard to believe," she replies, smiling up at me. "Listen...I wouldn't have been able to do this if it weren't for you. The pregnancy, the birth...any of it."
"Yes you would have. You're strong enough, and one day when you fall in love and decide to have MORE kids, I'm sure you'll be able to cope fine without me here," I tell her.
"Maybe," she replies, smirking at me. I laugh before turning my attention back to Hector. "Hey...now that everyone's gone, do you think we could call Jesse?" she asks.
"Yeah. He's probably worried it's been over 5 hours, probably 6. I can picture him pacing around the house, tempted to pick up the phone every 2 seconds," I say, chuckling.
I gently place Hector in her arms and she balances the two of them well, already looking like a terrific mother. I grab my cell phone and, of course, Jesse answers after the first ring.
"Susannah! I've been worried out of my mind!" Jesse exclaims the second he answers the phone.
"I know, I'm sorry, things have finally calmed down over here," I tell him, smiling at Josephina and the twins. "Jesse, they're so beautiful. Hector Jesse and Rosie Susannah de Silva."
"...Really?" Jesse asks, his voice taking on a tone of disbelief.
"Yeah, I was surprised too," I tell him. "Well, not about Hector Jesse. We've had that name planned for months actually..."
"Why would you name her child Hector? That is such an awful name Susannah," Jesse says, groaning.
"It's your name," I point out, laughing. "And your father's. And we wanted to keep tradition alive since....well, you know...anyway, it looks like Josie's dying to talk to you."
"Oh, right. Well now what are we going to do?" Jesse asks and dear lord that was the biggest set of butterflies I have ever encountered just there in my stomach. For some reason him bringing that up just...well, you know.
"Will you quit being lovey dovey over there, I want to talk to my brother!" Josephina exclaims...just as Anna-Maria walks in.