Also, I'd like to note that I do not own ABC's One Life to Live or the characters and I will NOT be receiving any payment whatsoever for writing this story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.
*~Chapter Thirty-Eight: Blessings~*
Weeks passed and Marty had become extremely uncomfortable as her belly had grown so much. Todd worried about her all the time thinking that she was overdoing things, caring for Samara who was now walking and talking and being just an ordinary active toddler, plus spending many hours at the hospital working on her internship. Marty was now about 3 weeks from her due date, and Todd was trying his best to get her to stay off her feet.
She came home from the hospital one day looking particularly haggard. Todd went to her side, helping her sit down. "Are you alright?" he asked her with concern. Marty looked like she was just about to 'pop' at any moment.
Marty looked at Todd and nearly declared she was feeling tired when a fierce contraction ripped through her abdomen. Her eyes went wide with surprise. "Uhhhh ...Todd," she said as she tightened her hold on his hand. Apparently the baby had suddenly decided it was time to be born.
"Ohhh hell," Todd quipped, seeing that look on Marty's face. After all, he had been the one who had delivered Samara. Not saying another word, he got on the phone and called Vicki. A few minutes later, Vicki arrived so she could look after her little niece.
"Next time Mommy and Daddy see you, Samara, we will have a new brother or sister for you," said Todd as he gave her one last hug and a kiss good-bye.
"Good luck at the hospital," Vicki said as Todd grabbed both Marty's overnight bag as well as a diaper bag she had packed for the new baby. They had picked both a boy's outfit and a girl's as they still didn't know the baby's gender. It was going to be a HUGE suprise. Neither Marty nor Todd knew exactly how big of a surprise was actually in store for them as they left for the hospital.
Todd helped Marty to the car and within minutes they were driving toward Llanview Hospital. By the time they got there, Marty seemed strangely calm. "Are you okay?" Todd asked her in concern. Not only did she calm, but she was also very quiet.
A nurse saw them coming and with Marty's humongous belly, she rushed to them with a wheel chair. Todd helped Marty take a seat as the nurse prepared to wheel her off to the maternity ward. Marty assured Todd that she was okay, although she had a strong suspicion that this baby wasn't going to wait much longer. She was rushed to the maternity ward by the nurse as she was hoping that this would be a smooth delivery. When they arrived at the maternity ward, she felt another contraction hit her hard and she let out a gasp.
When Todd heard Marty gasp with pain, his face went totally white as flashblacks of their daughter's birth assaulted him. He started yelling at the nurse to get Marty into a hospital room... NOW. The nurse took Marty to the maternity ward and soon had her in a birthing room. The nurse helped Marty undress and put on a hospital gown, then assisted her into the bed. "Let's check your progress and see if this baby is coming," said the nurse as she put on a latex glove so she could examine Marty.
"WHAT are you going to do to her?" Todd asked in horror, seeing the nurse reach between Marty's legs so she could check for dialation of Marty's cervix.
"Calm down, Mr. Manning... or we'll have to ask you to leave the room," the nurse insisted. She then proceeded to examine Marty.
Finding Marty to be 9 centimeters dialated already, the nurse said she had to go get Dr. Wolek right away.
"Why? What's wrong?" Todd gasped as he was totally freaking out.
"This baby is coming... NOW!" cried out the nurse as she went to page Larry.
Todd looked at Marty and said, "Ohhh no.. don't push... I'm NOT delivering this kid, too..."
Marty lay back against the pillows, helpless as she felt a great deal of pressure in her pelvis. "If our son or daughter is going to come, he or she is going to come when they want, Todd," she reminded him, since Samara had done the same.
"Nurse!" Todd screamed, very much afraid that he was going to have to deliver another baby. He wasn't prepared for assisting in yet another childbirth. Suddenly the nurse came running back into the room.
"What is it?" the nurse demanded.
"I am NOT delivering another baby!" Todd cried out. "Where the hell is the doctor?"
Larry walked in and began scrubbing his hands, then put on his gloves. "Right here, Todd. I suggest you calm down... or we are gonna have to ask you to leave..." Larry warned.
Larry then walked over to Marty and talked to her soothingly. "I hear this baby wants to make a bit of an early appearance," he said to her with a smile. He proceeded to check Marty and found that she was fully dialated and ready to begin pushing.
"Ready to have this baby?" Larry asked Marty.
Marty nodded her head in response to Larry's question. "Yeah," she stated as she just hoped that she was right about being ready; she wasn't sure why her kids always wanted to make early appearances to join them.
The nurse got Todd a chair and told him to calm down. He was having a very difficult time of it. He didn't like to see Marty in pain, but in the same token, he was anxious to see the baby. Would it be the little boy they had been predicting... or another beautiful daughter?
"Marty, when the next contraction comes, I want you to push," Larry told her. With the size of Marty's stomach, Larry was predicting a rather big baby.
Marty nodded to let Larry know she was ready. As soon as the next contraction hit, she started pushing.
Larry was pleased with the progress Marty was making as she began bearing down. After several strong pushes, the baby's head was being delivered right into Larry's hands. "You're doing great,Marty," Larry encouraged. "A few more good pushes just like that one, and this baby will be out." Todd sat in the chair and waited, almost holding his breath. Marty listened to Larry's instructions, giving it her all as the baby was emerging.
Todd was on the edge of the seat as the baby was being born. Soon the baby gave a cry as he was delivered into Larry's hands. "You have a son," Larry happily told Marty and Todd. The baby was crying loudly as Larry handed the little boy to the nurse so he could be washed up. That's when Larry noticed something peculiar going on with Marty. Todd was marveling over the baby, but then he saw the odd expression cross Larry's face. "What's going on?" Todd demanded. He was worried as something seemed to be amiss, but he didn't know exactly what was happening.
"There's another baby," Larry announced.
Marty looked at Larry like he had two heads. "There's a WHAT?" she asked, thinking she had to have heard him wrong.
"Another baby?" Todd gasped.
"But there was only ONE baby on the ultrasounds!" Todd cried out. But sure enough, Marty started having contractions again.
"Marty, you need to push," Larry instructed.
Marty didn't have time to argue as her body began bearing down at it's own accord. She had no clue how there could be two babies, considering that only one had appeared on the ultrasounds just like Todd had said.
Todd watched as the second baby was born. It was so small and not crying. He didn't even get to see if it had been a boy or a girl because a nurse rushed into the room and whisked the baby off to NICU. In the meantime, another nurse had come to bring Todd the baby boy. Gently, the baby with big blue eyes and soft blond hair was placed in Todd's arms. Todd was torn between bonding with the baby boy and worrying about Marty and the second-born twin.
"Larry, is the other baby alright?" Todd asked in concern.
Larry was tending to Marty, but he looked up at Todd with sad blue eyes. "I don't know, Todd. We'll have to see what the doctors say in NICU," answered Larry.
Todd looked at Marty with worry in his eyes. Was the other baby going to be alright? And were BOTH of these newborn babies his?
Marty hadn't even considered the possibility that one baby may belong to Patrick as her concerns were with the second baby who had been rushed off to Neonatal Intensive Care. She looked at Todd and saw the anguish in his eyes. "Our babies will be fine," she attempted to reassure him as she began to pray that it was true.
Todd looked down at the healthy little boy he held. Definitely this one seemed fine. The baby looked back at Todd with big blue eyes. "Meet Logan," Todd said, handing the infant to his mommy.
Larry had finished with treating Marty, and he was about to leave to go check on the status of the second twin. As Todd saw him starting to go, Todd turned to Marty and quickly kissed her cheek. "Be right back, babe... gonna go see about the other baby."
Todd then followed Larry out into the hall. "Larry, give it to me straight," Todd demanded. "Is the other baby going to be alright? And is there a possiblity that one of the babies may not be mine?"
Larry looked haggard. Marty was so close to his heart and he didn't want to see her suffer if something happened to one of the babies. But things certainly didn't look good at this point. The second born twin, a girl, only had an apgar score of a 3. She had been born nearly lifeless. In comparison to her twin, she was about 3 pounds smaller. Larry had seen it before; twins being born and one being exceptionally stronger than the first. Usually it didn't have a good outcome.
That was what had happened to him and his wife Meredith when their twins were born. Danny had been the firstborn, strong and healthy. But his sister had been very small and had passed away right after birth. Larry was determined that Marty's baby would survive.
"I don't know, Todd. The doctors will do everything they can for her," Larry promised. "Try to have hope..."
"And about the paternity, I just don't know. I will look over my records and try to get some answers for you, but it's probably going to require another test. I'm sorry." With those words, Larry walked away, going to NICU.
Todd turned around, going back to Marty's side. "It's a girl," Todd said, speaking of the other baby.
"We have both Lilly and Logan," he told her. "Marty, do you want me to go up to NICU and be with her?"
Marty couldn't help but smile when she heard that they had a girl AND a boy- Lilly and Logan. At that moment she felt doubly blessed. "Yes," she told Todd. "Please go be with her."
Todd gently kissed Marty on the lips, then left for NICU. When he got there, he looked through the glass and saw the tiny infant girl hooked up to dozens of tubes, wires, and other life-saving equipment. He felt as if all the breath had been knocked out of his body. A nurse walked by and Todd demanded to know what was going on. "Are you the father?" the nurse demanded. Todd just stared back at her, because he truly didn't know.