CHAPTER 31
The contractions were very painful, but after Ranger already freaked out, I kept my complaints to a minimum. I was relying on Ranger's steady breaths to maintain my focus. Tank held my left hand while Hal held my right. Drawing strength from these three men kept me focused on breathing through the contractions. Bobby gave me the final injection while I was distracted.
Tina check me and said it was time to push. We didn't have time to drive to the hospital. She used a portable ultrasound to ensure the babies were in the proper position. "Your son is engaged. I'll check your daughter's position after he's born."
Hal grabbed my bent right leg and pulled my foot up closer to my hips, Tank copied his movements. Both men held a leg with one arm and held my hand with their opposite hand. Neither men flinched when I squeezed their hands.
When Tina told me to bear down, Hector slipped behind me so Ranger could watch his children's birth. On Saturday, October 13, 2018, our son was born at 6:35 am. He weighs 5 lbs 2 oz, 18 inches long and our daughter was born at 6:39 am. She weighs 4 lbs 15 oz, 17 inches long.
I gave both our children kisses after Bobby cleared their nasal passages and mouth. He performed the Apgar test while Tina handled the afterbirth. "Both babies have Apgar score of 9. Excellent job Steph and Ranger."
Hector helped position me against the headboard, propping me up using pillows. Ranger and Tank placed a baby in each of my arms. "Carlos, they're beautiful," I cried.
He sat next to me on the bed and kissed me. "You're beautiful Babe." Hector, Hal, Cal, and Tank watched as we held our babies.
Tina and Bobby already cleaned up the foot of the bed, placing the soiled towels into a laundry basket. They appeared to be having a heated, but whispered discussion. I could tell Tina didn't want to ruin our moment, but she appeared to have something important to say. "Steph, Carlos, the babies will need to be weighed and measured at the hospital. With your permission, Bobby and I would also like to run blood tests on each baby. It would be useful to have their blood type on file."
Ranger looked into my eyes, silently pleading with me to agree. "That's an excellent idea."
We wanted to take the babies to the hospital ourselves, but Bobby and Tina insisted on having an ambulance take us as a precaution. When we arrived at the hospital, most of my Merry Men were waiting for us. They followed us to the maternity ward and waited for the doctors to weigh, measure and ensure our babies are healthy. Technically, the twins were premature, but their lungs were already fully developed so an incubator was not required. I was relieved we wouldn't have to leave our babies in the NICU.
Bobby and Tina had already provided the birth stats, but hospital policy dictated they needed to complete their own examination. The doctor had a nurse draw a small sample of blood from their foot to check for PKU, genetic, metabolic, hormonal and functional disorders along with various other tests.
We requested to know the blood type for our children. The nurse attempted to talk us out of the test, but Tina stepped in. "Mrs Manoso has A- blood type. Given how rare her blood type is in Trenton, we need to know if either child also shares this rare type." Our son has O- and our daughter has A-. Bobby asked to receive a copy for his files.
The hospital recommended we stay until I consulted with a lactation specialist. I reluctantly agreed. Our babies already nursed at home without a problem. I didn't understand why we couldn't just go back home. Tina and Bobby agreed to be my babies' primary doctor until we could hire a paediatrician.
Ranger and I asked for some time alone with our babies so we could finalize their names. I signalled the nurse to retrieve the men from the waiting room. "Guys, I would like to introduce you to Ricardo Thomas Robert Manoso and Arianna Melanie Ella Manoso. Ricky, Anna, these are your uncles."
The men took turns passing the babies around to each other. When Hector held Anna, he refused to pass her to the next Rangeman. I whispered to Ranger, "It looks like uncle Hector is going to be overly protective of our Anna."
"Babe. I doubt it will be just Hector."
The lactation specialist was pleased to discover my babies properly latched for nursing and notified the doctor, who immediately discharged us. Tank and Cal brought us the infant seats from the car. Hospital policy dictates we have proper car seats for the babies. They permitted Tina to confirm proper installation in the car.
Tank found us changing the babies into their travel clothes. "Ranger, Hal has your SUV parked outside the main door. He'll remain in the car until you two arrive."
"Thanks Tank. For the next two months, you're in charge. Lester is your second in command."
"Yes boss." We carefully bundled the babies into their car seats wearing their bunting bags for added warmth. Ranger carried our daughter's car seat and allowed Tank to carry our son's seat. Hector pushed me in the wheelchair.
While waiting for Tank and Ranger to secure the babies in the SUV I mumbled, "Stupid hospital policy. I hate wheelchairs."
Hector laughed and whispered, "I don't blame you. You were amazing Angel. The babies are beautiful just like their mom." He quickly kissed my cheek.
I was the only person who knew Hector could speak perfect English. "Thank you hermano. I can't wait to see if their eye colour changes." He nodded and smiled. Anna's eyes were bright blue and Ricky's eyes were dark blue, but learning from Valerie's girls, that could change during the next few weeks. Both babies hair look black and straight, but we won't know for sure for a few more months. Valerie's son Connor had black hair when he was born, but it fell out and grew in blond.
Ranger and I decided Anna and Ricky will be our only children. He was getting a vasectomy and I was getting my tubes tied. Yes, I know only one of us need to have the procedure, but we wanted to be certain another pregnancy doesn't happen. Knowing my luck, even with these procedures, I'll get pregnant again. I opted to have my procedure while Ranger was available to help with the babies.
Tina and Bobby both said to abstain from sex between four and six weeks to allow me to heal. Boy, that's going to be a long six weeks. Three weeks after our babies were born, I had Tina perform a tubal ligation. Recovery time would be one week. I love my babies and I'm glad to have them, but I really didn't want to have any more. Before my week of recovery time was up, Ranger had his vasectomy. We waited until his two day recovery time was up before having sex. Six weeks was too long for us to wait.
Since I already had my tubes tied, we decided against using additional protection. As always, it was as magical as always. Thank goodness having babies didn't change my libido as it often does for new mothers. Every day, three or four of the Merry Men would take turns to visit and 'assist' us with the babies. We understood they really wanted to get their baby fix. Ranger and I were upset at first, but changed our minds when we were allowed to catch a few hours of sleep while they visited.
Anna's eyes remained blue and her dark hair fell out, replaced by a lighter colour closer to mine. Ricky's eyes are the same shade of brown as Ranger's. His hair also fell out and is being replaced by the same colour as Anna's, which was a shade darker than my natural hair colour. Anna also has a lighter skin tone than Ricky. Her skin is a shade darker than mine and Ricky's is a few shades lighter than his dad's. I wonder if either of them will inherit my curly hair... in time we'll know.
Over the next few months, I still had visits from my Merry Men, Tina, Natasha and Mary Lou. Melanie was in the middle of her tour. We sent her a care package including pictures of the babies. She wrote back whenever she had the opportunity. I noticed most of her correspondence was sent to Ram who gave us our letters. It made me wonder if they're secretly dating. I'll have to ask her in my next letter.
Whenever my Merry Men had a day off, they would spend time helping me with the babies. Quite often, I had two men assisting. They kept me from going crazy everyday. I had a few more months before I needed to return to work. Any longer and I would go stir crazy. Ranger renovated our fifth floor offices to include cribs and play pens for our babies. We had the option to keep them together or separate them. So far, they would only sleep if they were next to each other. Tina suggested allowing them to share a crib until they reach nine months then try separating them, but have the cribs beside each other. It will take time for the twins to adapt to any kind of separation.
It was nearly Christmas and the Merry Men decided to decorate the Control Room. At first Ranger was upset, but when they said it was all for Ricky and Anna, he caved. Even though they wouldn't remember, he wanted the pictures and the memories for our children.
Julie was planning to visit us during the Christmas holidays. Rachel was reluctant to allow the trip, but I reasoned that Julie hasn't had the opportunity to hold her brother and sister yet. She quickly agreed. Julie will arrive on December 24th and return on January 2nd. I was surprised Rachel was allowing such a long visit. Ranger said Julie was insistent.
Hal and Tina decided to get married on Christmas Eve. Ella and I decorated the conference room for their wedding. The minister should be arriving in a few hours.
Julie arrived on time with help from the Rangeman jet. Ranger and I picked her up from the airport. She immediately wanted to see her brother and sister. When she tried to pull off their hats, I stopped her. "Julie, it's really cold out. Babies lose most of their heat from their heads, so please keep their hats on. I'll let you remove them when we get home. Okay sweetheart?"
"Okay Mom. I guess I can wait until we get home," she said sweetly. Ranger glanced at me and smiled. He liked hearing Julie call me mom. As soon as the car was parked and we stepped into the elevator, Julie quickly removed Anna and Ricky's hats.
She screamed, "Oh my God. Anna and Ricky have your curly hair. I'm so jealous." Julie clapped and squealed in delight. I could only think, poor Anna, she's going to really hate it. Ranger wanted to have a mini me and I wanted a mini him. So far, Ricky is a very calm baby and helps us settle Anna. Anna seems to be taking after me. I laughed when I thought of my mom saying 'why me'. Raising children requires a lot of work and patience.
I dressed Anna in a pretty blue dress, matching mine. She was even wearing the cutest blue shoes to match her dress. Ricky was wearing a tux to match Zero's. I carried Anna as I walked down the make shift aisle to the flower covered archway. Hal was waiting under the archway with the minister. Zero was holding Ricky in his arms. Bobby walked Tina down the aisle towards Hal. I watched his smile grow as Tina walked towards him, wearing her mother's altered wedding gown.
Bobby placed Tina's hand in Hal's left hand and whispered, "If you hurt her..." Hal nodded, understanding Bobby will take him to the mats. I was very happy for my friends. Tina and Hal wrote their own vows. Carlos and I looked at each other as they recited their vows.
It was a beautiful ceremony. "Congrats Hal and Tina. I'm so happy for you guys. You look beautiful Tina and you're looking handsome Hal."
His face turned bright red. "Thank you Steph."
"You and Ella did a wonderful job decorating. Thank you for all your help decorating." She hugged me tight.
We arranged a caterer for the reception. Ella already does so much for Rangeman and we wanted to ensure she could enjoy herself.
Anna and Ricky started to fuss. I moved to a secluded corner to nurse them. Once they've been fed and burped, Ella and Luis took the babies back to our apartment to put them to bed.
I handed an envelope to Hal and Tina. "Here's your wedding gift from me and Carlos. We would like you to open it now." Hal told us he was taking Tina to Miami for their honeymoon.
Hal opened the envelope to find two airline tickets to Hawaii. Ranger said, "The Rangeman jet is fuelled, ready to take you to California where you'll catch a chartered flight to Hawaii. Enjoy your honeymoon." He kissed Tina's cheek and gave Hal a brief hug.
Tina started crying. Hal pulled me into a hug. "Thank you Steph. How did you know she wanted to go to Hawaii?"
I whispered back, "I saw it in her eyes when I told her about my trip with Carlos. Have fun."
We joined the other Rangeman as they sent Hal and Tina off in a limousine to the private airfield.
