Chapter Twenty-One: The Question Will Be Answered
Manny woke up around five o'clock, hungry for dinner. A nurse brought food up from the hospital's cafeteria for her and Chris. Once they were finished eating, Manny was eager to give the twins their first baths. There was a special sink in the room for that purpose.
"I just have to stay here and watch if you don't need my help," their nurse, Rebecca, said.
"Okay," Manny said. Lily was the first to get a bath. Chris was helping Manny, but he mostly took photos to put in Lily's baby book. He had also bought baby books for the twins but was going to surprise Manny with them when they got home from the hospital. Lucas was next, and once again, Chris took a lot of photos. He had not videotaped the twins' birth because both he and Manny agreed that it was something special that they wanted to share between themselves.
Lucas and Lily both loved the water and cried when they were taken out. Manny lay back in her bed and fed them both. She'd decided to breast feed because it was a good way to build up the babies' immune systems. It was also a way for her to get extra bonding time with her children.
A few minutes later, there was a knock on Manny's door. Chris got up to answer it, and it was Paige and Marco with Avery. They came in and sat down to visit. Manny and Chris took turns holding Avery, while Marco and Paige took turns with Lucas and Lily.
"They're all going to be best friends," Paige said.
"Yeah, and Avery and Lucas will probably end up getting married," Marco joked.
"No, neither of them is ever going to date," Chris said.
"I can't believe we had them on the same day," Manny remarked.
"I can't believe that I got here before you and you had them before I had Avery!" Paige said.
"It was crazy. I was five centimeters so I went into the tub, then the doctor comes in an hour later and tells me that I'm ready to have them," Manny told her. "I was so scared and so excited at the same time."
"Well, when I went back to my room, I only had one centimeter left. Dr. Murray went to check you and didn't come back for an hour. She told me you had the babies and they were healthy, and then checked me. She said I was ready to have the baby (I waited two hours for a stupid centimeter!) and it took almost a half hour of pushing," Paige explained.
"It took me twenty minutes pushing for Lily, but then Lucas was ready to get out of there and be with his sister, and was born two minutes later. That was a blessing," Manny said, laughing. At this time, there was yet another knock on the door. This time, Marco answered it.
"Someone's here about the twins…" he trailed off, a little confused.
"Manny, this is the DNA technician I was telling you about," Rebecca said.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Landry," he said, extending his hand. Manny shook it and gulped. She wanted to know more than ever who her babies' father was, but she was scared that it wouldn't be Chris. "Now, all I need to do is use a cotton swab to take some DNA from the inside of your cheek, Chris', and one from each of the twins. Samples have already been taken from Mr. Oleander and Mr. Manning," he explained.
"Well then, let's do it," Chris said. "When will we know the results?"
"It takes a week so you'll get them next Saturday," Dr. Landry said. He took out a cotton swab and wiped it along the inside of Manny's cheek, put it into a test tube, and placed a stopper on it. He labeled the tube 'Manuela Santos.' He repeated the process for Chris, Lucas, and Lily. "Thank you for your time," he said. "I'll get these results back as fast as I can." And he left the room. Everyone was silent for a few minutes. The babies were all asleep in their beds, and Lily woke up and broke the silence.
"She's probably hungry again," Manny said. "Can you hand her to me?" she asked Chris. He walked over to her bed and picked her up, staring at her lovingly.
"I love you honey," he whispered before handing her over. Manny started to pull down her hospital gown to feed her daughter and Paige, Marco, and Chris all looked away.
"It's okay guys, I'm not embarrassed to feed my child. You don't have to look away," she said, laughing. The whole time she fed Lily, she was looking down at her face. "She has your eyes Chris," she whispered to him. Chris didn't say 'really?' and he didn't walk over to look, instead, he started yelling.
"She doesn't have my eyes Manny! They aren't even my kids!" he yelled. Without looking back, he grabbed his coat and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Marco jumped up and ran after him. He caught up to him in the waiting room, which was empty.
"What is wrong with you Chris?" he yelled at him. "Why would you say something like that?"
"I can't do this anymore Marco, I can't!" He didn't even wait for Marco to try and convince him. He couldn't even wait for the elevator to come up. He threw open the door and ran down the stairs, kept running to his car, and drove off. No one knew where he was going.
Marco slowly walked back to Manny's room. Lily, Lucas, and Avery were crying hysterically, scared by the door that Chris had slammed. Manny was crying too, and Paige was trying to comfort her. The babies stopped crying a few minutes later, but Manny didn't. When she finally did stop, almost an hour later, she became angry.
"If he's going to act like that, then I'm not going to let him come back!" she yelled to Paige.
"Manny, calm down. Don't upset the babies," Paige said.
"He's just confused," Marco said.
"Please don't defend him Marco. I know he's your best friend, but you wouldn't do anything like that and you know it. He reminds me of my parents, abandoning their child, only he just abandoned two."
"He'll be back soon hon, don't worry," Paige said, rubbing her back. She was sitting next to Manny on her bed.
"You know what? I don't even care. My babies are all I need right now," she said, kissing the tops of both of their heads. Just then, there was another knock at her door. "I'm so sick of all these people knocking on the door. Why can't they just leave me alone?" Manny complained.
"I'll get it," Marco offered. He opened the door and was surprised at who it was.
"Marco. What are you doing here?" the person asked.
"I think the more appropriate question is: Why are you here?" he said. He stepped aside and Paige and Manny could see who it was. Paige scowled at her.
"What do you want Hazel?" She was really mad.
"Can we talk in private?" Hazel asked her.
"Whatever you want to say to me, you can say in front of my real friends," she said and made a face.
"Fine, I will. Can I sit down?" she asked Manny.
"I don't care," she answered. And she really didn't. Hazel had abandoned her best friend, and that made Manny mad, but she hadn't really done anything to hurt Manny personally. She was also still upset about Chris.
"I came to apologize to you," Hazel said after she sat down in the chair across from where Paige was on the bed. "I don't know why I got so mad, I just…"
"It's a little late for that," Paige said, annoyed. "It's been nine months Hazel. What? Did you decide to come here and say sorry just so you could see the baby?" she asked, turning Avery away from her defensively.
"No Paige, that's not why I came; I feel really bad, and I haveever since that day. I don't know what came over me, but I'm really sorry. We missed a lot of time that we should have spent together."
"But we didn't, because of you. Hazel, I can forgive you, and I do. But I won't be able to forget that you weren't there for me when I needed you the most. Marco and Manny were the only ones. Actually, Emma and JT were too."
"I'm just glad you can forgive me Paige," Hazel said.
"Well, you better just hold her and get it over with. Things are not going to be the same with us as they were before. It doesn't matter anyway, because you, as well as the rest of the people in our class will be going to college. I now have a daughter to raise, and if you must know, I'm staying out of school for a year to take care of her. Then, Manny and I are going to college. Together," she finished. She handed Avery over to her. Hazel was shocked, and didn't know what to say to Paige. She looked down at the baby instead.
"Oh Paige, she's so beautiful. She looks just like you. What's her name?" Hazel asked.
"Thanks, I know. Her name is Avery Grace." Paige said. Avery started to cry, and Paige got up and took her from Hazel. "She's hungry. I'm gonna go back to my room now. I'm really tired. I'm gonnafeed her and then go to sleep." Marco and Paige went to her room without saying goodbye.
"That was really uncomfortable," Hazel commented to Manny.
"You really hurt her. She didn't have anyone. You have to give it more time," Manny said. "Do you want to meet the twins?" she asked.
"Of course," Hazel said. Manny told her their names, and let her hold them both. Ten minutes later, she left, and Manny found herself completely alone. She left her room and walked next-door to Paige's. Paige and Marco were fast asleep with Avery between them. She quietly walked over and picked Avery up, setting her down in her own bed.
"It's too bad you're gay Marco," Manny whispered, smiling. "I think Paige is starting to love you." She returned to her room a few minutes later and looked at the clock. It was after nine. She sat up in her bed and dialed the telephone next to it. "Emma?" she said, crying. "Can you come to the Birthing Center? I need you here." Lily and Lucas were a little over twelve hours old and they had already been abandoned by one of the people that was supposed to be there for them every step of the way.
