The ride to the hospital seemed forever long as April clutched onto the door of their car and breathed through another contraction, holding her stomach with her other hand. This was the third one and they weren't even there yet, making her more anxious and impatient as she cursed Jackson's name, cried out, and kept on breathing. Her husband had the patience of a god as he kept on going, trying to get them there safely. But April in labor was not a rational minded person and she was about to push two human beings out of her body, so she left the rationality to Jackson.
"I swear…you are never getting laid again!" she yelled at him as they pulled up to the hospital in the middle of one of her contractions.
Jackson ignored that comment as he came around and helped her out. The nurses had been notified that they were coming in and were waiting with a wheelchair and the paperwork to admit April already. So she eased into the chair while Jackson got the bags from the back.
"Dr…Dr. Anderson is supposed to meet us down here," April managed to say when she was coming down from the contraction.
"He is on his way down from a delivery right now, Dr. Kepner," the nurse said as they wheeled her in. "He's going to meet you here and then take you right up to labor and delivery."
April nodded and breathed deeply as they brought her in the room. Her doctor arrived a few minutes later, just as April felt her water breaking while they were helping her into bed after she changed into a gown.
"Oh we really are going, aren't we?" Dr. Anderson asked as he put on some gloves. "How far apart are the contractions?"
"About four minutes now," April replied, lying back as the doctor checked her cervix, wincing a little in pain.
"You're about a four right now, which is good progress for a first-time labor…with twins," her doctor said, snapping off his gloves as he walked to the corner of the room to check her chart. "Let's get you up to the L&D floor and see if we can't make some magic happen today."
Relieved that they were really doing this, April nodded and held Jackson's hand while they moved her up to the correct floor. It took about an hour to settle in, but once they were in their room, the real fun began as Jackson informed her parents and his mother that she was in labor. His mother was already on the first flight out of Boston for the day and her parents were going to book a flight from Ohio as soon as they could to come meet their grandchildren. April also texted Lexie that she was in labor since her friend wanted to know when she had gone into labor to come up and be supportive whenever she could get free from work.
Two and a half hours later, as the sun was beginning to rise, April began feeling more miserable while her contractions strengthened, came closer together, and lasted longer than they did before when she first started active labor. They offered her an epidural at five centimeters, but she refused on the premise that she wanted to try and do this as naturally as she could because this was her first delivery. But this was a lot more painful than she had prepared herself for as she bore down and held on to the edge of the bed during a excruciating contraction from hell.
"Jackson…get me the epidural…now," she demanded as she came down from it in near tears.
"April, you said not to let you…" he started.
"NOW!" she snapped, effectively cutting him off because she was in pain and didn't want to be anymore.
An hour, needle prick, and lots of cursing later, April lay a little more comfortably in the bed at six centimeters dilated. Though she was sad she didn't make it through her whole labor and delivery without an epidural, she had done her best and knew she needed the rest to deliver two babies. And her plan was to do it naturally, without any surgical intervention unless absolutely necessary. So she laid on her side and held Jackson's hand, tracing her finger over the top of his palm in little circles.
"I'm sorry…I lashed out," she apologized, feeling a little more rational than she had been a while ago. "I didn't know it would hurt this much."
Jackson shook his head. "Don't worry about it…you're the one delivering our babies, so you get to lash out, yell, and cuss me out. Just…don't break my hand. Sloan may have to kill you."
She laughed and held her stomach with her free hand. "I don't think he can argue much either…Lexie gave birth to Josh, so he knows how women are in labor."
"He didn't complain much either when she was in labor," Jackson replied.
"Because you and Mark are smart men…you know better," she teased lightly, smiling and closing her eyes to rest for a while. Though she wasn't able to actually sleep, the rest really did help and she knew she would need it to deliver.
Hours later, April had stalled at a seven for a while and was growing more impatient to meet her children. She and Jackson watched a game on television, played cards, and talked with Lexie and Mark for a while when they came in to visit. April tried to sleep a little more, but the pressure on her pelvis was uncomfortable enough that she couldn't really sleep and she ended up just resting her eyes for a while. By the time Catherine arrived around five that evening, April had finally dilated to an eight and was progressing again toward delivery. She had been in labor over twelve hours now and she was growing tired, achy, and impatient. But through it all, Jackson was wonderful as he held her hand, rubbed her back when she needed it, and brought her ice chips to chew on because her mouth was so dry. She was so thankful for him right now and knew that he was the best labor partner to have because he knew her the best.
When she finally reached ten centimeters, just after seven that night, Catherine stepped out so they could prep for delivery. April was moved to hold her legs back while Jackson helped and they began to push. As she pushed, she began to feel her epidural wear off and cried out, but kept on pushing…determined to see this through naturally like she wanted.
"Come on baby, you can do this," Jackson encouraged as she was on her fifth or sixth round of pushes.
"Okay April, your first baby is crowning so I need some big pushes from you," Dr. Anderson said, prepping for the delivery of the first twin.
"Okay…" she said, taking a breath as another contraction came and pushed down hard, squeezing Jackson's hand so hard she thought she might break it.
"I can see the head!" Jackson said excitedly. "You're almost there…you're doing so good!"
"Head is out…gently push now April. The shoulders are the hardest part and I'm going to guide them out slowly."
Pushing a little gentler, April felt the first body leave her and looked down at her newborn infant as they placed it on her chest. Tears formed in her eyes and crept down her cheeks as she immediately let go of Jackson and went to hold her baby.
"It's a boy!"
April cried harder as she looked down at her son. Her perfect, beautiful son that she had carried inside of her for months and months, feeling him kick and move around. He looked just like Jackson with an incredible amount of hair on his head, but it didn't surprise her since she and Jackson both had a lot of hair. The baby cried and whimpered as they suctioned out his nose and mouth more, but was completely healthy as Jackson cut his cord and they handed him to the nurse waiting nearby.
"Oh Jackson…he is beautiful," she said, looking over as they cleaned her newborn son up a little.
"You did it," he said, kissing her head and holding back his own tears.
"Baby A's placenta has been delivered and looks healthy…so now Baby B is going to come right on out and join her big brother," Dr. Anderson said.
April felt another contraction and winced as she knew it was bringing their daughter down to the birth canal for delivery. Within another fifteen minutes, she was ready to push again. Pushing this time around was much easier for April as she held Jackson's hand and used all her strength to deliver her second child. Five pushes later, April looked down at her daughter as they placed her on her chest.
"Look at you!" she murmured softly, seeing that their daughter had a little lighter complexion than her brother, but still had a good amount of dark, curly hair on her head. She was smaller than her brother, but healthy and normal.
Jackson cut her cord as well before the nurse took her to be weighed, measured, and cleaned up before they brought over their son, handing him to April. Holding her son in her arms, she felt a sense of awe.
"He looks so much like you," she said softly, keeping her eyes on their baby boy. "I see nothing but you when I look at him."
"Well he has your nose," Jackson said, kissing her head as a nurse came over and handed their newborn baby girl to him.
"Baby A is six pounds, five ounces and nineteen inches long. And Baby B is six pounds, two ounces and eighteen and a half inches long. Both had APGAR scores of nine and are perfectly healthy."
April was so relieved to hear that her babies were normal and healthy, looking to their daughter in Jackson's arms.
"She's every bit as beautiful as you," Jackson murmured, holding her close and smiling. "She has your hands…and your ears."
"Look what we did," April whispered, feeling both exhausted and proud because she had just delivered twins vaginally.
"You did it," Jackson corrected with a smile, sitting on the edge of the bed as he kissed her forehead and smiled. "You carried them and gave birth to them. I'm so proud of you, April."
She beamed happily and sat up a little in the bed to get comfortable with their son in her arms, looking over at their daughter, seeing her all bundled up in her father's arms for the first time. It was a sight that tugged at her heart as she knew their daughter would be a Daddy's girl by the time she was a toddler and have Jackson wrapped around her little fingers.
With some help from the nurses, April managed to nurse the twins for the first time in private before they allowed visitors to come in. Among the first was Jackson's mother and her own parents, who had arrived from Ohio as she was in delivery. They were all enamored with their grandchildren, in awe of how cute they were.
"Do they have names yet?" Catherine asked, hinting that she wanted to know now since they had been keeping it top secret during the whole pregnancy.
Jackson and April looked at one another and smiled. "Our son is Elijah Jackson Avery," he said, grinning proudly as he nodded to the baby April's mother was holding.
"And our daughter is named Harper Elizabeth Avery," April said, nodding to the baby in her mother's arms. "We wanted our children to have names that meant something…so Elijah came from a prophet in the Bible while his middle name comes from Jackson. Harper is named for her great-grandfather while Elizabeth…well that comes from her grandmother."
Karen seemed completely touched as she wiped a tear from her eye with her free hand. "Those are beautiful names…and they are perfect babies."
Catherine beamed. "Your grandfather would have loved to have been here and been very honored to have his great-granddaughter named for him," she told Jackson, touching his cheek with her own free hand while she cradled Elijah in her other arm.
"I wish he could have been here to see it," Jackson said, looking at the baby in Catherine's arms.
Without hesitation, April reached over and took his hand, squeezing it once for reassurance. "He is watching over you and the babies…he's proud of the man you've become Jackson. And the father you already are."
April believed that with all of her heart because she knew that there was an afterlife where loved ones went to watch over their family and friends. And she believed Harper was there right now, watching over Jackson and his new great-grandchildren with love and pride.
"Oh baby, you and April make such pretty babies together," Jackson's mother gushed when things got quiet again, sitting down with little Elijah in her arms. "My grandbabies are so precious."
Hearing that gave April a little more pride than she already had as a mother, especially because she knew how hard she had worked to bring these two little lives into the world over the last few months with pregnancy and then labor and delivery. But the beauty had all come from Jackson's side of the family, more or less, since his genes were more dominant…though Jackson insisted he could see a little of her in each of their children already. Only time would tell who they would really take after since babies' features changed over time, but she hoped one of them would have Jackson's eyes.
The next few hours passed so quickly as her parents and Jackson's mother left them to go check into their hotels for the night. Lexie and Mark came by to meet the babies, along with Derek, Meredith, and a few of their other friends before they were left alone to rest with their newborns.
"They look so content all snuggled up in their blankets," she sighed, watching the twins sleep on the bed in front of her while she fixed their little hats.
"Eli is already trying to wriggle his hands out of the blanket," Jackson said, chuckling as he tucked their son's hands down again in the blanket.
"He likes to have his hands above his head when he sleeps, just like his Daddy," she replied, smiling at him. "I could feel him stretching out like that when he was inside my stomach."
"Well if he takes after me, then Harper is all you…curled up like a little bundle over there," he teased softly, leaning in to kiss her once before looking down at their daughter.
"I can't believe they're really here…that we're parents," she murmured, looking over both of their children. It was surreal to April that she was now a mother, but she was full of love and happiness for both of her babies. This was the beginning of everything for her and Jackson. A beginning of a new life and a new step forward in their marriage was starting today. And she was looking forward to it more than anything now that the twins were finally here and they would be going home in a few days. She basked in the glow of new motherhood and pushed away all the anxiety that she felt, for now.
A/N: And there you have it...Japril babies! Let me know what you guys think and as always, I love and adore each of you so much for your feedback!