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Chapter 53
The wagon wheels turned on the left and the homestead showed in front of her eyes. Nicole gently pulled on the reins to stop the horses. Her Dad went down first to help her with the horses, while her Mum carried half asleep little Matthew in her arms. The child dazed off to a slumber at the middle of their trip back home from the Sullys and now has woke up, mumbling sleepily "Are we at home?"
"Yes, honey, we're at home", Helene warmly smiled, kissing her grandson's baby soft cheek. Little boy snuggled closer to his Grandma, his head falling on her shoulder again as he blinked sleepily, too tired to wriggle down and run inside the house.
"How many tea parties did Katie and he have? Sixteen?", smiled James.
"I stopped counting after 24th", Nicole chuckled, getting down from the wagon.
"And followed by twelve search parties", Helene mumbled with a smile, gently rocking her grandson in her arms.
"We couldn't find Mr. Teddy Bear", little Matthew whispered as Grandma's gentle voice and rocking of her arms slowly lulled him back to the sleep, no matter how hard he fought against it.
Matthew looked up from the book he was reading; he heard a wagon approaching. Slowly, he got up from an armchair and tiptoed toward the doors so he wouldn't disturb Atlantis and babies' sleep. He didn't want Nicole, James, Helene and little Matthew to rush inside the house and wake up the little ones and his wife. Therefore, he slowly opened the doors and came out on the porch just as Helene reached the stairs. She looked questioningly at her son - in – law as he put his index – finger on his lips and smiled.
"Matthew? What's the matter?", Helene asked.
"Is it Atlantis? Oh, my God, is she okay?!", Nicole panicked.
Matthew nodded "She's fine, don't worry. I just…didn't want you to rush in loudly", he smiled even more.
Nicole creased her eyebrows "Than, what is it?"
"Come and see. But, please, be quiet", he said, enjoying the moment. He watched as three grown ups tiptoed inside the house and just in that moment, little Jimmy decided to let his presence known with a soft whimper.
"Oh, my God!", Helene gasped silently, but loud enough to cause little Matthew to wake up. He looked up from his Grandma's shoulder.
Matthew smiled at the little boy in Helene's arms. He gently picked little Matthew up in his arms and said "Son, I want you to meet someone", he went toward the cribs, not taking his eyes of a child, eager to see his reaction when he sees his little siblings.
Little Matthew peeked in the cribs and smiled "They're here!", he held his Father's lower arm a bit stronger to support himself as he gently touched one little sleeping head in the cribs, caressing it slowly. His voice full of joy woke Atlantis up and she blinked few times to adjust her eyes to the light that fire cascaded over the room.
"That's your sister Charlotte", whispered Matthew.
"She has lots of hair", chuckled little Matthew.
By now, Nicole, James and Helene came closer and looked down at asleep babies. Helene covered her mouth with her hand, tears rolling down her cheeks. Nicole wiped her own cheeks from the tears and looking down, she saw that one of the babies woke up "Can I?", she looked at Matthew, smiling. He smiled back and nodded and Nicole gently picked up a newborn baby in her arms, her heart melting as the little one nestled in her arms.
"That's Jimmy", she heard Atlantis voice and all of them turned toward the bed. Atlantis was up, sitting in the bed, leaning on the pillows and enjoying the scene in front of her. Her face glowed with a smile.
"Jimmy?", James breathed out, tears escaping his eyes.
"Yeah, I wanted to name him after you, Dad", Atlantis said and smiled as her Father came closer and kissed her on a forehead, not being able to say a word. But, emotions were written all over his face and the tears were the evidence of how touched his heart was. Atlantis caressed his arm, her eyes filling with happy tears too as her Dad hugged her and she hugged him back tightly.
"You delivered them?", Nicole's silent voice was heard as she stood next to Matthew. Her eyes were full of gratitude and amazement "Thank you, Matthew", she silently added with tears in her eyes.
Matthew smiled at her, understanding how does she feel. Nicole still dealt hard with being away from her sister for so long and he knew how long it took her to realize that it truly wasn't her fault that Heart kidnapped Atlantis. They shared a look of understanding and Matthew shrugged "Ah, well, those two decided to come to world earlier than we expected. Nothing I could do except help them in that", his face glowed with a smile mirroring the one on Atlantis' face.
"How are you feeling, honey?", Helene sat down at the edge of Atlantis' bed and caressed her daughters hand.
"Tired. Actually exhausted. Bit in pain. But happy like never before", Atlantis laughed. All the pain and discomfort she felt couldn't erase the happy smile she wore on her face and she looked at Matthew "Somebody should go to let Dr. Mike, Sully, Colleen, Brian and Katie know", she wanted the whole family to be here.
"Yeah, and I want that Dr. Mike check on you and the babies", nodded Matthew.
"I'll go", offered Nicole "Here, take him", she handed little Jimmy to her Father and all grown ups smiled as the baby opened his eyes and gurgled happily at his Grandpa.
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Michaela and Colleen were doing the dishes while Brian helped Katie to collect her toys that were scattered all over the place. Sully went outside to get some more wood for the fire when he heard a horse approaching. He turned around toward the road and saw a horse galloping with Nicole on its back.
"Nicole?", he called out alerting everybody in the house and they rushed outside.
Trying to catch her breath from the fast ride through the night, Nicole smiled at the family "Come, quickly! Dr. Mike, get your medicine bag!"
"Why, what happened?", Dr. Mike asked.
"Oh, my God, is it Atlantis? Is she okay?", Colleen hurried with the question and Nicole couldn't help but smile realizing that Matthew's sister had exact the same reaction as she did.
"She's fine Colleen. She gave a birth to babies! Matthew delivered both of them!", Nicole happily exclaimed causing whole family to squeal, gasp and yell in a surprise and happiness.
"Oh, dear, we best hurry, I need to check on Atlantis and the babies!", Michaela fussed on the porch than rushed inside to get her medicine bag. Sully ran to get a wagon and horses, with Katie hot on his heels. Colleen and Brian rushed toward Nicole.
"Are they okay? Boy or a girl? What did they call them?", questions filled the air and Nicole smiled at Matthew's siblings, deciding to let Matthew and Atlantis tell them all that "You'll see. No way I am spoiling this surprise!", she chuckled and Colleen and Brian smiled widely, hugging each other as the realization hit them; their big brother became a Father!
"Okay, lets go", Michaela rushed downstairs "Where's Katie?"
"Over here", Sully's voice was heard as he left the barn leading the horses with one hand, other hand holding Katie's tiny palm.
The family climbed in the wagon and Sully slapped the reins following Nicole's horse through the night.
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Atlantis looked at her little son as he sat beside her on the bed, staring into the face of his baby brother, his smile wide. He gently caressed a bit of blondish hair on Jimmy's head and placed a gentle kiss on it. In that moment, doors opened and Colleen and Brian were the first ones who rushed in. They froze on their steps as they saw Matthew standing few steps away from them, holding a newborn baby in his arms.
Matthew chuckled at their entrance and conspiratorially whispered to a baby "Now, these two are your Aunt Colleen and Uncle Brian. Both too loud and nosy", he smiled widely as his siblings came closer "And yeah, they can be boring, but you just have to love those two. They make your life better", he added, carefully choosing next words "Colleen, Brian…meet your niece Charlotte."
Colleen and Brian gasped, staring at their brother, tears in their eyes… One became too heavy and rolled down Colleen's cheek. Words weren't needed at this special moment and when she slowly reached for the baby, Matthew placed her gently in his sister's arms. Something broke inside of Colleen and she silently cried, kissing baby's cheek "Hey, Charlotte", she whispered. Brian caressed both little fists of the babe as he unsuccessfully tried to sniff his tears away. Little Charlotte gazed questioningly and confused at their faces, than gurgled happily in the next moment, causing them to smile.
"She is so cute", Colleen mumbled "Look at her nose and lips."
"And she has your eyes, Matthew", Brian smiled, not being able to take his eyes of his little niece. After few moments, Brian wiped his wet cheeks and asked "And the other one?"
Matthew smiled, hugging his siblings and turning them around toward the bed where Atlantis held another baby in her arms. As they all approached, little Matthew smiled "This is my brother Jimmy", he proudly said.
Colleen and Brian smiled at Atlantis' Dad knowing that the baby was named after him.
"So, a boy and a girl", smiled Sully.
"And they also have a big brother Matthew", Brian winked at Colleen, causing everybody to laugh.
"Good, that means that somebody will make sure they don't so silly things", Matthew teased his siblings, laughing as he received two playful kicks on his arms from them.
Smiling, Michaela turned toward them "All right, why don't you all go and sit down while I check on them. Colleen, I'll need you here", she took out her stethoscope.
"Okay, I'll put some coffee on", smiled Nicole and ushered everybody to leave the room and let Dr. Mike check on Atlantis and the babies.
As the doors closed, Michaela smiled at Atlantis "How do you feel, sweetheart?"
"Tired and still bit in pain. But, that's normal", replied Atlantis. Her lovely face was showing how exhausted she was, but still the smile lingered on her lips "You check on Jimmy and Charlotte first, Dr. Mike. I need to know are they okay."
"Certainly", Michaela replied "Colleen, help me."
Colleen went toward her and put little Charlotte down on the bed. While Michaela checked on the baby, Colleen went to get Jimmy out of his crib and felt so proud and happy as she took him in her arms.
Atlantis carefully watched as Michaela checked on the babies "Dr. Mike, are they all right?"
Michaela put the stethoscope away and nodded "Perfectly fine. Now, lets see how is their Mummy doing."
Atlantis breathed out in relief and laid down on the bed. While Dr. Mike checked on her, Atlantis remembered something "Charlotte wasn't crying when she came out. Cord was wrapped around her neck, but Matthew managed to cut it and take her out. He had to slap her two or three times and than she cried", Atlantis's face clouded with worry "Will she be okay?"
"She'll be fine. It occurs with lots of babies. Matthew reacted on time and that's what's important. I just wondered how did he know what to do?", asked Michaela.
Atlantis looked at Colleen and swallowing hard, she said "He told me your Ma told him about Emily's baby. How Dr. Mike told her what to do and…", as tears showed up in Colleen's eyes, Atlantis reached out with her hand to her friend and sister – in – law. Colleen accepted it and they just held each other's palm for a while.
