Chapter 34

Basil was awakened by chirping, it wasn't a bird's chirp, but rather a person's. He rubs his eyes to see Uncle Stewart at the doorway of the bedroom. Basil grabs his robe and walks up to Stewart.

"Morning Elliott, I thought we go out early to hunt for birds," Stewart suggests. Basil didn't like the sound of that, Olivia was due at any minute now, but the baby didn't seem to want to come. He looks at her, she looked very peaceful as she slept.

"I don't know Stewart, I should be near Olivia. I don't want to be far from her when-" "It's all right Elliott," they hear Olivia moan and they turn to see her move about in bed.

"You can go hunting," she insists, but Basil didn't want to go. "I'll be all right, just need to sleep some more," she adds and settles her head down on the pillow. Basil begins to think, surely Olivia would need something to alert the others in the house.

"Do you have a bell or something? Just so she can call for someone," Basil asks Stewart and he nods. He goes into Aunt Sophie's bedroom, which was not being used since the elderly mouse passed away. He returns with an old bronze bell with a handle and places it on the table next to the bed.

"Darling, if you need anything-" "I know," Olivia cuts in, "Just go and have some fun," she said before succumbing to sleep, again. Basil dresses in his regular clothes, including his coat and deerstalker hat.

He takes one look at his sleeping wife before leaving. He follows Stewart outside and they were heading towards a barn. "Oh, Olivia said you have a few Shorthaired Pointers," Basil said and Stewart nods.

"Finest hunting dogs, well according to myself. Marcy is my favorite, she's quick," Stewart replies and Basil sees a group of mice at the barn.

"Well Stewart, thought you changed your mind," one of the male mice said. Basil recognizes a few mice from town and they welcome him in the hunting group. Then, Basil feels the ground shake and a big dog appears. The dog was tall, much taller than Toby with brown spots and a pointy tail.

"You must be Marcy," Basil said and bows to the dog. The dog lowers her nose down to sniff the newcomer and her tail wags. A few more dogs appear and the mice settle on their backs. Basil takes a seat with Stewart on Marcy.

"Listen Stewart, I don't want to go too far," Basil insists, but Stewart pats his shoulder.

"We're just going down that hill in that patch of trees there," he said, pointing down at a few trees that were not far from the barn. Marcy leads the pack down the hill and Basil takes in the misty air of the morning.

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Olivia had her eyes closed, but she could hear her aunts with Emma and Penelope downstairs. They must be getting ready for breakfast. Some food sounded good right now.

Suddenly, a sharp pain courses through her body like lightening. She gasps for air, but then feels something wet. She looks at the bed sheets, they were soaked and then it hit her. Her water had broken.

"No, no, not now," she pleads. She didn't want her husband to miss out on the birth of their first child, but she couldn't delay. She grabs the bell off the table and starts ringing it frantically. The pain was increasing every second.

"Olivia, what is...?" Penelope steps in, wearing a bed robe, but the two female mice lock eyes. "Oh my!" Penelope gasps and calls out, "Dr. Dawson! Get up here quick!"

Olivia hears the running of feet coming up the stairs and Dawson, Emma and Mrs. Judson step inside the room. "Oh my dear!" Mrs. Judson exclaims when she saw the pain in her mistress' face.

"Now let's not panic," Dawson orders and tells Emma and Penelope to make Olivia comfortable while he retrieves his medical bag. Mrs. Judson and Margaret retrieve clean cloths and warm water. Olivia's family take notice of this, but Uncle Logan and Oscar order everyone to stay downstairs.

"Elliott!" Olivia cries out as a contraction hits her. "Where's...Elliott...!" she cries.

"Oh that Stewart! I'm going to kill him!" Uncle Kendrick shouts, but then Aunt Hannah turns to him.

"Go fetch Bruce! He may be young, but he's just as fast as Marcy!" she orders and Kendrick runs out of the house. Aunt Hannah comes to Olivia's side and tells her that she and Uncle Kendrick will bring Basil back.

"I swear on my mother's grave, I will bring him home to see his first child," Aunt Hannah said and hurries out of the house, just as her cousin Kendrick returns with a younger Shorthaired Pointer named Bruce.

"Bruce, here boy!" Aunt Hannah calls out to the dog. He stops short of the female mouse and places his head down. "Listen Bruce! We have a situation!" she said and the dog understood this. "Find Marcy! That's where we'll find Elliott!" Aunt Hannah orders and gets on the dog's back.

Bruce turns in the direction of the batch of trees, but it was far from the house. However, Aunt Hannah and Uncle Kendrick were determined to bring Basil home.

In the wooded area, the hunting party was enjoying some leisure time as they shot some birds earlier. Now, it was Basil's turn to try and shoot a bird down as he was not successful the last few times.

"Don't worry, I got a good feeling about this," Stewart said as Basil was given a hunting rifle. He spots a crossbill at the top of a tree. He waits a few seconds for the bird to settle and then takes aim.

As he got the bird in his sight, he breathes in and was about to shoot, when suddenly, a dog jumps out of nowhere, startling everyone, including the crossbill and then it flies away.

"What?!" Basil exclaims, but holds the rifle in his hands, making sure it didn't go off.

"Kendrick! Hannah! What are-" "Shut it Stewart!" his older brother snaps.

"Elliott, you have to get back to the house! Olivia's gone into labor!" Aunt Hannah shouts and the whole world seems to have slowed a bit for the detective.

"What?! Are you sure?!" he asks in shock.

"Most definitely! Now hurry! Bruce will take us there faster!" Aunt Hannah insists and Basil jumps onto Bruce. The dog turns around and rushes back to the Flaversham household. Stewart orders Marcy to follow, leaving the hunting party behind.

"I'm an idiot!" Basil shouts, he was going to miss the birth of his first child.

"Don't be harsh on yourself! The one thing you should be looking forward is to see if it's a boy or girl!" Uncle Kendrick replies and Basil nods at this, but deep down, he was mostly afraid that Olivia or their baby would not survive the birth. He had read that many babies and mothers died during childbirth and he looks up to the sky.

"Hiriam, please protect Olivia and our baby!" he prays out loud.

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Olivia was prepped to deliver the baby, but she didn't want to as Basil would miss this. "Olivia, we can't delay. The baby might suffocate in the birth canal," Dawson orders and feels inside. "The head's down, now give me a push," the doctor said.

Both Penelope and Emma took one of Olivia's hands. She squeezes hard on them as she pushes with all her might. "The head's out, just one more push," Dawson said and Olivia breathes in and gives one great push.

Then, the silence was broken by the wailing of a newborn, the baby had arrived. "It's a handsome boy!" Dawson exclaims and Mrs. Judson wraps the infant in clean cloth. Olivia lays back and Emma hugs her sister-in-law.

"Let me in!" a voice calls out from downstairs and Basil enters into the room. On the bed, he sees his wife with an exhausted look on her face. "Olivia!" he exclaims and Penelope lets him take her side. "Olivia, I'm so sorry!" he cries, but Olivia smiles.

"At least you're here," she said and Basil's ears perk up at the sound of a newborn. "We have a little boy, I'm sorry you didn't-" she stops and grabs hold of his body in pain.

"Olivia, what's wrong?!" Basil cries out.

"Oh my!" Dawson exclaims looking back down, "There's another one coming!"

'Another?! Twins?!' Basil's thoughts were racing, but now was not the time to think. Dawson has Olivia set in position, again and Basil takes his wife's hand and Emma takes the other. Dawson tells Olivia to push and she does so, while squeezing on Basil's hand, but he didn't mind.

"Just one more!" Dawson orders and Olivia gives a cry as she gives the last push. She stops when another cry fills the room. "Oh it's a beautiful girl!" Dawson exclaims and Penelope wraps the baby in clean cloth.

Olivia settles back down as Dawson cleans her of the afterbirth and she looks up at her husband, a look of excitement was written on his face. He kisses his wife's forehead with tears of joy rolling down his face.

A few moments later, both new parents were allowed to hold their new additions. Mrs. Judson gives the boy to Basil and Penelope was about to give the girl to Olivia, but she insisted that her husband held both of them.

He cradles both his son and daughter, they had brown fur, but the boy had a lighter patch that covered his lower muzzle, chest and stomach like his father. The girl's fur was mostly brown, but her chin and throat had a patch of lighter brown fur.

The two were nestled in the blankets and making little baby sounds. "Olivia, they're beautiful," Basil said as he holds them tight. Then he sees his daughter squint her eyes open and she looks up at him. Her eyes were the same shade of green as his.

"Hello," he said and the baby girl begins to happily snort.

"I think she's trying to say hello back," Olivia said and Basil lets her take them. She cradles them close and Basil rubs their backs. The boy began to stir from his slumber.

"You were in your mother for nine months, how could you be sleepy?" he asks his son, but the baby didn't answer and just yawns.

Then there was a gentle tap at the door and Emma steps in. "I thought I write the names of your children for their birth certificates," she said and Basil nods.

"You always had the best handwriting," he teases his sister and she produces one sheet of paper.

"August 1st, 1908," she said as she writes the date and looks at the new parents. "So for your son, what do you want to call him?" Emma asks as she prepares her pen. Basil and Olivia look at one another, they were still not sure what name to give him.

"I really want to call him John, after your father," Olivia insists, but Basil wasn't sure.

"I still want him to bear your father's name, for his legacy as Hiriam is his grandfather," he replies.

"May I offer a suggestion?" Emma asks and they look at her. "You could give him the first name John and the second name as Hiriam. It actually has a nice ring to it," she said and they think about it.

"John Hiriam Basil, yes it does have a nice ring," Olivia said and her husband nods.

"Now for the little lady," Emma said after she finishes writing John's name.

"Leana, after her mother," her brother replies, but Olivia realizes something.

"What about a second name? We can't just give her one," she insists and then asks, "What was the name of your mother or grandmother?"

"Ah yes, I was leaning towards Elizabeth after my grandmother," Basil answers and Emma chuckles.

"Leana Elizabeth, you two do realize that she has the first and last letter for 'love', and that's not counting her last name," she said, but she writes it down, "I have a feeling that you are going to spoil her," she points to her brother.

"No, he's going to spoil both of them," Olivia replies and looks at her husband with a smirk. Emma then takes the sheets of paper and leaves the room just as her sister Penelope enters with a tray that had four champagne flutes and a bottle of chilled champagne.

"I thought you two could use some celebratory champagne," she said and looks at the twins. "Oh goodness, people always said that twins were so adorable and they're actually right," she adds and pours some champagne into a flute glass.

"Penelope," Basil said to his sister, "Do you mind if I take both of these?" he asks, pointing to the two empty flutes.

"What for?" Penelope asks.

"I want to thank Dawson, he should be getting the credit for safely delivering our bundles," Basil answers and his sister does pour into the two flutes.

"It's a good thing I brought a spare," Penelope said and pours into the fourth one. Basil takes the two filled glasses and takes one look at Olivia, who was holding their newborn twins, and goes off to find his partner.

Dawson was examining himself in the mirror in his room. He had a big smile on his face. It always felt wonderful to deliver new life as he had done it many times while serving in Afghanistan. Many local women mice went to the Regiment for help when they were expecting and Dawson never suffered a loss of life.

Then, he notices Basil at the door of his bedroom. "I thought I come by to thank you personally," the detective said and sits the flutes down on the table. Basil gives Dawson a squeezing hug and the doctor chuckles.

"Oh, my boy," Dawson said with tears in his eyes, "This is a new chapter for you two."

"And for you, too," Basil replies and gives him the flute glass. "Thanks to you, my three beautiful angels are happy and alive," he adds and they take a swig of the champagne.

"Ohhhh," Dawson coughs, "Really hits the sinuses," he adds and they laugh. Basil brings Dawson back to the room where Olivia and Penelope were with the twins. Olivia didn't drink much of the champagne in her glass as she hated alcohol. John was beginning to fuss and then starts to cry.

"Oh, this little fellow must be hungry," Penelope said and Olivia loosens her blouse to reveal her swollen breasts. John takes one nipple and Leana, who didn't fuss takes the other. They suckle and Basil takes in the scene, his two new children suckling on their mother's breasts. That was a beautiful sight to see a mother feed her children.

Once the two babies had their fill, they were settled in two hammocks that the Flaversham's prefer to use rather than cribs. Leana had no trouble settling in her own hammock, but it took her brother a little time to get use to his.

"I'm thinking John will be a handful," Olivia said as she settles in bed. The mattress was replaced with a temporary one while the other was being cleaned.

"It means he's a fighter," Basil replies and looks at his two children with loving eyes. He gazes at Leana, she did look a bit like Olivia, but she did inherit some of her father's features, mostly his eyes.

"Did anyone tell you you were the quiet baby?" he asks his wife.

"My daddy said I never fussed," she answers.

"I have a feeling Leana will be a good little baby," Basil said and caresses his daughter's cheek, her fur soft and warm. "I love both of you," he said to them as they sleep. He then gets into bed with his wife and they cuddle as they dozed off.


From the author: Are you surprised? Yes, Olivia and Basil now have twins to raise! I thought from the beginning that they should have both a boy and a girl. Now we'll see just how Basil will spoil them.

By the way, this isn't the end just yet. The Basil family still have some obstacles to overcome. See you soon!