Chapter 55 – Fourteen hours, twelve minutes, twenty-two seconds and forty-eight seconds

On the first hour after Rogue's waters had broken, they arrived at the hospital and were immediately seen-to by a smiling Doctor McCoy who helped them settle into a private birthing room as planned, albeit a few weeks earlier than expected. Once he checked that all was in order, and that her contractions weren't quite close enough together to move them along to the actual birth, he left them to settle in with a nurse checking-in by the half hour. In the three hours since that cheery send-off, Remy had called both of their respective parents and families to inform them of the early birth.

While the LeBeau clan were particularly vocal in their excitement for such joyful tidings, Jean-Luc, who had barely uttered more than a few sentences since his wife's passing, had been most adamant in arriving for the birth of his new grandchildren and promptly booked the first flight out of New Orleans only to be delayed by poor weather that wouldn't see him there until around noon the next day. Not thirty minutes after Remy had called them, Logan and Ororo arrived. Logan bolstered his daughter's resolve with a positively gleeful smirk that wasn't the least bit knowing of what was to come, or so he said upon her growl of enquiry. Ororo on the other hand, who was not at all prone to acts of violence, promptly and precisely elbowed her husband between his ribs as she slipped to her step-daughter's bedside. She ignored his audible wince, instead, acted as a balm and reassured Rogue of the age old saying "You forget the pain the moment they are in your arms." However their visit and well-wishing was cut-short by the resident-in-charge, nurse Danvers. As soon as visiting hours were closed, the stoic-tempered nurse practically vacated the maternity ward of its population of visitors with a steel-enforced glance and a few choice words. Not that that had stopped Wanda and John.

When the fourth hour of labour chimed, John and Wanda snuck into the room like a pair of mice sneaking into a kitchen pantry, except it was they who brought the food, not the pantry. With matching gleeful grins, they scurried in and unloaded a delivery of Margo's café's finest take-out selection that wasn't, as Wanda insisted, swimming in hospital grade contamination and bleach. Rogue, whose contractions had slowed to a small twinge at this point, had practically moaned at the smell of salted fries and sobbed when Wanda supplied a fresh bottle of Hershey's chocolate sauce. Within a few short minutes, the painfully pregnant Rogue was sitting with a paper plate resting on her belly and inhaling chocolate-slathered fries. Sooner than later however, they too were caught by nurse Danvers ushered out. Wanda had growled at the nurse, much like a wildcat, but managed to show great patience as she turned to Rogue and grasped her face between her hands. She tucked a few loose strands behind her friend's ears before planting a gentle kiss to her sweat-shined forehead. Wanda would never admit it, but her voice trembled and new tears stung her eyes as she spoke.

"You're going to do great, honey. And if you're scared or really need to hold onto something, you turn to Rems, okay? He's got your back. Right Swamp Rat? You've got our girl, right?"

Remy, who sat at the opposite end of the bed with Rogue's feet in his lap, took Wanda's free hand and squeezed it tight as he kept his other hand laced with Rogue's.

"Always, Wands. Y' have nothing t' worry about ma ami (my friend)."

She and Remy had shared a pair of matching, genuine smiles that brought a laugh to Rogue's trembling lips as she squeezed both of their hands in her own trembling ones.

"Nearly a decade of you two throwing imaginary daggers at each other, and it takes two babies coming out of meh for ya to be nice to each other. Ya two have insane friendship standards."

The four friends' shared laugher was allowed to linger for a few more moments until Nurse Campbell's firm urgings for the visitors to leave and let Rogue rest while the contractions were still slow were enforced in full. Though Wanda held onto both of her best friends hands until the last possible moment, she did leave without a fuss and with John's arm wrapped securely around hers.

X

"Is it too late to say ah really really don't want to do this?"

Six hours later, Rogue bit back a sob as she held Remy closer, her words and wincing sobs muffling into his shirt. Despite the strain in her arms, she kept both hooked around his neck and tried to focus on the familiar smell of his spiced cologne to distract from the pain ripping through her. The white and baby-blue walls of the private birthing room had begun to blur in her vision, so she closed her eyes and clenched her teeth under another contraction as it ripped through her. Meanwhile, Remy's hands rubbed soothing circles into her back as he swayed them slightly from side to side on the spot, trying his best to ease the discomfort radiating through her body. A sympathetic chuckle escaped him as he murmured against her ear in reply.

"Definitely too late now bebe."

A pained moan escaped her clenched lips as she tightened her fingers around the collar of his shirt that was already stretched from her abuse. When the pain began to ease up in an interval, she groaned her reply between breathy gasps.

"Remind meh of this conversation when ah say ah want more kids in a few years… Ah'll remember why ah don't want to ever go through this again…and we'll adopt instead."

A snort escaped him as he shook his head. Rogue could practically feel his smile burn against the shell of her ear before he spoke.

"Somet'ing tells moi y' won't mind so much if we did dis again. Though I t'ink we could make de conception part a little more romantic next time, oui?"

Rogue had enough strength to pull back to meet his gaze. Her left brow arched high as she spoke between deep, even breaths.

"Lets get through this time first before ya start planning any more kids, huh?"

At his teasing wink, her brow relaxed and she managed to bite back another wince as she pressed her lips to his in a comforting kiss before she continued speaking.

"But ah agree, next time we will have a baby-making plan that is way more romantic. And candles, ah want candles and wine…ah miss wine…an-and we should go somewhere, maybe the Genosha islands… a beach house somewhere…"

Remy hmmed his approval as he pressed a kiss to the spot under her ear that he knew made her tremble when they were intimate and smile when they were affectionate otherwise.

"And until then, we won't be forgetting the rubber again or in our case, skipping the rubber on account of stupid-drunk-horny-brained fun-times…"

Remy's warm smile fell clean off. The longest ten seconds of their lives so-far passed before he managed to speak coherently- er sort of.

"Chère did y'-? When did y' remember-? Why didn't y-"

Her reply was to clutch his neck in a vice-like hold as another contraction surged, causing them both to wince in unison. When it finally passed, Rogue managed a more coherent reply.

"A little late to talk about who did or didn't do w-what. And if ya need to k-know, ah don't remember if we even d-discussed protection that night. The fact that there wasn't any uh… well, evidence and we were- uh – extremely drunk and horny that night. It doesn't really matter now…"

Even in the midst of hours of agonizing contractions, Rogue still felt Remy's emotions brew with growing unease at her ill-timed admission. In a bid to stop him from spiralling, she managed to turn her head so that she could speak into his ear. She clamped down on the new contraction threatening to strike. Before anything else happened, she needed to clear the air with him on this topic.

"Ah have no regrets with ya except that it took us so damn long to finally admit that we love each other…"

Though it pained her, she managed to push his head back until they were face to face. Sweat trickled down her forehead and matted her hair as she took short panting breaths between movements. But once his anxious gaze matched hers, she felt a steadiness take hold that made it possible to say what had been resting on her chest for months, if not years.

"Ah love you Remy LeBeau. Ah'm here, with ya- carrying our twins- hell, about to give birth- which is really really scary- because ah love ya and ah know we're going to be happy- that we are happy. Okay?"

After what felt like eternity, Remy managed a response, which was to lean forward and gently touch his forehead to hers and close his eyes in a relieved sigh that shuddered through their closely knitted bodies. A small sob turned to a chuckle on her lips as she pressed her lips against his in another kiss. He returned it sweetly before murmuring back.

"Dere was a time I t'ought y' would blame moi f' not being more responsible dat night. Dat I ruined y' chances of a future wit' someone… someone more worthy of y'. Y' have no idea how relieved I am chère, et grateful, dat y' here wit' moi now…"

Rogue felt her lower lip tremble as she shook her head and murmured in a rush of pained words.

"Idiot. Ya the only one ah ever wanted-"

As if to prove her point, she pulled him closer as another contraction blazed through her. A moment later, an agonizing groan rumbled through her body and erupted like a banshee cry from her lips as her knees buckled. Remy winced, her mouth being but an inch from his left ear, but held her firmly as he kept her upright. He urged her closer to the bed for support and smiled softly to himself as he let it sink in. She was his, he was hers and they were going to be- they were happy.

X

The labour had rallied fourteen hours, and through two rotations of doctors who all claimed it was 'moving along smoothly' when the sound of a squeaking wheel and what sounded like sharp, lopsided footsteps erupted in the hallway outside followed by angry whispering banshee. Two breaths later, Raven Darkholme came thundering through the door. Dishevelled in her wrinkled grey pencil-skirt dress and coat, a broken shoe heel dangling from one foot and with a small suitcase in hand, she still managed to keep her usual demeanour if not more so as the fuming nurse came rallying through the door behind her. When Remy had called her the night before, she had been in Edmonton, Canada with an important business meeting and had had not one but two flight cancellations before finally getting a flight back to New York. Nurse Danvers on the other hand, looked like she had blown a blood vessel.

"Ma'am, I told you, you can't be in here. Visiting hours haven't begun and Miss Howlett is in no state to-"

With a slight, dangerous tilt of her head, much like a panther considering a kill, Raven turned her steely gaze on the nurse, which had the immediate effect of silencing the woman until her mouth had closed, and thinned to a mere line. There wasn't even a sound in the room. With resolute precision only Raven Darkholme could perfect, she set her squeaky-wheeled suitcase carefully on the floor and removed her coat. She folded it carefully over the extended handle of her suitcase and as she turned on the now-silent nurse with her hands poised on her hips and her chin jutted out. Battle armour in place, she uttered a selection of words in a voice laced with steely, deadly, eloquence.

"And as I have told you Nurse Danvers, I am an exception to the visitation rules. I am Miss Howlett's mother and I am here to support her during the ordeal of giving birth to my two grandchildren. Now if you don't mind, I believe you can recite your visitation hour regulations to someone more inclined to care. Do I make myself clear Nurse Danvers?"

With that dismissal, Nurse Danvers, who appeared more than a little flushed in the face, shrunk back into the hallway without another word. The moment the door closed, Raven turned on the pair of gaping soon-to-be-parents staring back at her. With a soothing tone reserved only for her children, she hushed her daughter's quiet sobs. Her face softened as she came to kneel down at Rogue's side. Rogue had laid in foetal position on the bed for the worst of the contractions in the last hour. With Remy kneeling in front of her on the floor, she had taken his hand prisoner between hers until they were practically fused together. A sob of relief and a trembling kind of joy escaped her the moment her mother settled on the edge of the bed behind her. Her familiar fingers gently brushed the hair out of her eyes and smoothed it behind her ears, all the while hushing her in soft words only a mother could utter.

"Mama, y- ya made it…Ah thought you- you were-"

Another painful contraction ripped through her so fast she could only groan as she bowed her head and clenched Remy's hand in another death-grip. Raven merely hushed her soothingly and continued to stroke her hair as she rubbed gently into her daughter's aching back.

"Never mind how I got here my darling, I'm here now and I think it's time someone found your Doctor. You look more than ready to have those babies."

At her mother's soft, knowing smile, Rogue managed a weak chuckle but for the most part kept her eyes shut as she tried to breathe past another contraction. She felt, rather than saw, Remy lean forward to murmur familiar reassurances as he pressed a kiss to her sweaty forehead. Within a few short minutes, she settled into a fitful, light sleep that was the only thing keeping her conscious when the contractions truly hit. A few minutes later, when he drew back from her head, he faced Raven, who was unsurprised to find his face grey with worry and exhaustion. Dark circles clouded his unusual eyes as he whispered some raspy words.

"Doctor McCoy was called away t' a patient at another hospital- special case dat he couldn't get anyone else to cover. We've been waiting an hour for someone t' free up their schedule. Nurse Danvers keeps sayin' it is all 'running smoothly' mais, I'm starting t' hate hearing dat…"

To Raven's utter surprise, tears swelled in her would-be son-in-law's eyes but disappeared as soon as he ran a hand down his face, wiping them away as soon as they appeared. The visible distress in his voice caused a hint of fear to edge the pit of her stomach as he spoke.

"She's been in dis position f' over an hour. I- I can't stand t' see her like dis Raven, I really can't take much more…"

To both their surprise, Raven found herself reaching out to take his free hand in hers and squeezing it tight. When he met her gaze, she managed a genuine smile.

"She's going to be fine, Remy. It's frightening now, I know it is. But it'll be worth it in the end. All of it. I promise. And you're doing just fine…"

The compliment mixed with reassurance left Remy dumbstruck for a time before Raven gently slipped her hand out of his. She stroked her daughter's flushed cheek before gently slipping off the bed. At his bemused look, she rest a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Keep her calm, just as you've already done, I'm going to bring in the cavalry and call in a favour."

Approximately forty minutes later, Raven appeared with who appeared to be the cavalry. The leader of the cavalry, a tall red-head with a pretty smile and a white doctor's coat, appeared in the doorway and introduced herself with a polite hand-shake as being Doctor Jean Grey, a specialist in her field which blessedly happened to be OB-GYN. Within a few minutes of being in the room, Raven saw almost every bone in Remy's body relax as Doctor Grey took charge of the situation and started placing calm, precise orders to her team of nurses. She was gentle with Rogue as she made her own examinations and finally, to the delight of all in the room, announced that she was fully dilated and ready for delivery. Not two minutes later, nurses bustled into the room with all sorts of equipment you didn't see in the birth scenes of movies. But two items that were chillingly familiar to Remy made him pause, and Doctor Grey was first to notice and act.

"Those incubators are to help your little ones along for a while. They're a few weeks early, and will need a little more support until they can do everything on their own. Okay? Nothing to be afraid of."

With a comforting hand on his shoulder, she handed him a pair of scrubs and ordered him to change and scrub up for the birth. Twenty minutes later, both he and Raven were scurried into the room amongst a team of nurses who worked like clock-work around them. At the heart of the room, Rogue sat in the most typical of birthing positions with her back to the headboard and her mother and boyfriend on either side of her, their hands clenched between hers as she began to push. Rogue was barely aware of the people around her, but their voices, particularly Jean Grey's calm urgings, rang clear in her ears.

"Come on Rogue, I know it's been a long night and you're exhausted but your children need you to push- come on, I need one big push and you'll have one of your children in your arms, come on-"

"Come on darling, you need to push now," her mother urged calmly though her voice was laced with a brimming mix of emotion.

"We're nearly there bebe, dey are so close…" Remy's voice rumbled against her cheek as he pressed his lips to her skin, the contact comforting and familiar amongst all the pain and trembling her body was radiating.

Rogue felt like an animal, or a banshee, had taken over her body, or more specifically, her vocal chords. All she felt was the pulsing vibration and the aching sensation that clung to her throat as she screamed, wailed and cried between baited breaths, sobs and close-knit contractions. The pain ripped through in hurdles but every hurdle was followed by an agonizing push, and she aimed to keep it that way until her babies were in her arms. But even with that determination set in, the exhaustion tempered her will until, in a collapsed heap, she slumped against the headboard sobbing and shaking.

"Ah- ah can't d-do it. Ah can't do anymore of this, ah ca-can't-"

A broken sob broke from her lips, followed by tears that blurred and stung her eyes. As if from a distance, she felt someone move behind her until a familiar warm chest rest against her back. Remy's whiskery jaw tucked into her shoulder and his arms wrapped securely around her until his warm palms rested on her sides, anchoring her. Another sob broke through her lips as he spoke in her ear.

"Chère, we are here, I am wit' y' an' I love y'. We are happy, and we are going t' have our own family in about two minutes. Please, amour, push. Just one more, just one…"

Her mouth trembled and new tears streamed down her hot cheeks but with his words, with his love, she forced herself to push as hard as she could only to collapse again in a heap of tears and adamant denials that she could do this. Her sobs quieted when she felt Doctor Grey's gloved hand clutch her left knee and squeeze reassuringly as she spoke.

"I promise, Rogue, every woman I have helped deliver has said they want to give up. And every one of them managed a little more pain and delivered within a few minutes. They did it, and you can too. So lets do this, okay?"

Rogue could only muster a shaky nod and grit her teeth to try again. She pushed until the scream erupting through her own mouth was enough to level a glass house to dust. Half a minute later, the first cry of a new, oh-so-tiny newborn broke the room apart. An orchestra of satisfied, joyous cries erupted amongst the room, swiftly followed by Doctor Grey's urgings to prepare for the next birth.

"I need assistance here Danvers, he's breach…"

Rogue felt a twinge of fear blunt the edge of the pain she was in but continued to push until approximately twenty-six seconds later, another newborn arrived… but he did not cry. Not once. The lack of sound chilled the room of noise and warmth, of everything, until Rogue managed to rasp a few croaked words.

"Where is he? What's happening-?"

Her vision blurred between tears and exhaustion until she managed to focus on the movement in the room. While she felt Remy and her mother cling to her, holding her hands and keeping her in place as if with their own chilling silence, Rogue couldn't help but try to sit up, to move for the small yellow-blanket bundle being whisked away from her bed to a small crib across the room with Doctor Grey, who held a strange tubing contraption that made her wince. A glance to the bed next to her son's, saw another nurse bundling up the baby that cried and wailed into a pale green blanket. Her eyes shifted between the two, shock giving way to fear as the questions tumbled from her lips.

"Why isn't he crying, why won't they- they- let me see him-? Ah need t' see…"

The wailing sound in her own voice caused her stomach to turn and every pre-labour fear to rear their ugly heads in her thoughts. She felt Remy tug her closer, his head resting along side hers. His cheek, wet with tears, pressed against hers as he rocked them both soundlessly and gently in the bed as he hushed her whimpers. Another sob wrecked her body ,left it trembling until a familiar face appeared before them. Nurse Danvers, with a solemn but a reassuring smile, knelt before them and took both their hands in hers in a show of gentleness neither expected to receive from her of all people.

"He's going to be okay. He's finding it a little harder to breathe and his lungs need a little help. So Doctor Grey is going to try and clear his airways and get him into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit…"

Her words faded into the walls, as Rogue's gaze remained intent on her son across the room, a longing she didn't know she could feel trapped tightly in her chest. The need to be across the room was so strong she felt her hands shake with the strain to force her way out of the bed and scoop his little body into her arms. Only Nurse Danvers' kind gaze and Remy's hold on her made her stay. But all the same, she needed someone to be with him.

"Mama, can ya please, go see him? Ah need him to be with someone, ah need-"

Raven was quick to squeeze her daughter's hand in reply before silently making her way over to Doctor Grey and the other nurse helping her grandson. She subtly wiped away fresh tears as she passed Remy, who quietly took her hand and squeezed it before she stepped away.

"In the meantime," Nurse Danvers spoke, diverting their attention back to her.
"I think it's time a little lady over here met her parents."

A blink of an eye later, Nurse Danvers' had in her arms a green bundle carrying a tiny, pink baby girl still squalling inside it. Before either of them could blink, she placed the little girl in Rogue's arms. A gasp escaped Rogue's lips the moment she was cradled in her arms. Despite the worry she held for her little boy, in those short moments of first contact, she could barely register anything else except the little person crying in her arms. The nurse had to call her by name a few times before she registered the nurse wanted to help her adjust the collar of her gown to allow skin contact. Gently, she pushed the edge of Rogue's gown down enough so that her flesh met her daughter's velvet-soft skin. Within a few short seconds, her cries settled down and she cuddled like a puppy under her mother's chin, her chest heaving against the thrum of her own mother's heartbeat. A gentle sob escaped Rogue as she found the strength to settle her hands over her daughter's fragile back and cuddle her close and brush the tip of her finger against her soft cheek. A second or two later, Remy's fingers joined hers and stroked down their baby girl's face, and finally settled on her fingers that barely fit the tip of his index finger that she grasped instinctively. A sob escaped Remy and practically vibrated against Rogue's cheek as he whispered softly.

"Ma petit papillon…welcome t' de world…" (My little butterfly)

Despite the tears streaming down her face, Rogue managed a pained smile as she felt the instantaneous love she already felt for her children swell ten fold as she stroked her daughter's cheek.

"Hello little one… it's nice to finally meet ya baby girl…"

Their first introduction to their daughter was interrupted by the sudden outburst of cries from across the room. A minute later, a crying but laughing Raven was handed her grandson bundled in a yellow blanket. Smiling from ear-to-ear, the relieved grandmother carried him to her parents and gently settled him beside his sister and into his father's shaking arms. After a few moments of contact, he settled into the embrace though he fit between within the span of his father's two hands. Finally, once they were all together, Raven leant over her daughter, pressed a kiss on top of her head and whispered gently.

"I told you it would be worth it in the end."

X

Oh my god I need a new box of tissues.

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