About an hour later Jaye was feeling no pain as the epidural numbed her from her lower chest down to her feet. She was lying on her side with a smile on her face. "I'm going to marry the epidural man."
"Glad you're feeling better," Flint chuckled. "But I've got dibs."
"Why do you say that?" Jaye asked in a sleepy yet euphoric voice.
"Um...wow, those must be great." He kissed her cheek. "I meant I've got dibs on you." Jaye giggled. "How's it going down there?" He called to the nurse who was checking on the progress.
The nurse stood up, her hand slightly pointed up ward. On her gloved had gooey stuff mixed with blood. "9 centimeters."
Flint felt dinner move uncomfortably in his stomach, and the blood rushed from his head. He reached out to steady himself on the rail. "Oh, uh, could you--" He wiggled his fingers, indicating the gloved hand and looking pointedly at the far wall.
"Oh sorry." The nurse said and quickly removed the glove and threw it away.
"Dash...you okay?" Jaye asked.
He put a hand to his forehead. "Is that going to get worse?"
"Yes." The nurse said and started to head from the room.
"Dash maybe you should sit down." Jaye said with a slight giggle.
Pulling a chair over to the bedside, he collapsed gratefully. "Yeah, that...sounds like a good idea." The nurse left the room to go update Jaye's chart. Jaye was laughing at Flint. "And I thought this was only going to be hard on you." He put his head down for a moment. "I officially take back all of the teasing."
"Serves you right." Jaye said. The baby monitor showed two strong heartbeats but also showed some extremely strong contractions.
"Let's hope this doesn't take much longer," he nodded.
"You have the easy part." Jaye said.
An hour later the nurse checked Jaye again.
Flint was at the pacing stage, circling the small room over and over again.
"Alright we're ready to push." The nurse said happily. "Let me go get Doc." She remembered how Flint reacted and quickly removed the glove and threw it away.
Jaye was back to being terrified.
Flint gave up his pacing and took his seat in the chair. "Not much longer," he promised.
"I don't want to do this." Jaye said. "I refuse."
"If you don't push, it'll just take longer," he told her.
Doc came in dressed in green scrubs and had a surgeon's cap on. "Alright let's bring those babies into the world." He said happily. He sat down on the chair at the end of the table after the nurse put Jaye's feet in the stirups. "Alright Allie give me a big push." Jaye did what he instructed.
The pushing lasted for a couple more hours before one of the babies' head began to crown. "Dash would you like to see this?"
Flint stood uncertainly, but Jaye was nodding at him, so he walked around to the end of the bed. His eyes got wide. "Is that--?"
"The top of the baby's head." Doc announced.
Flint couldn't understand why, a second later, he was looking up at Doc from the floor. "What happened?"
"You fainted." Doc answered as he looked down at him. "How's your head?" Doc kept his hand firmly on the baby's head.
Jaye could be heard pushing and it was obvious that the epidural was starting to wear off. She cried out softly in pain as she pushed.
Flint blinked and shakily got to his feet. "I don't faint," he protested. Jaye's moan gave him an excuse to take his eyes from the view and return to Jaye's side. "In case you missed that, I fainted." He said, placing a hand on her hair. "Which means it's almost over."
"Shut up!" Jaye growled at him as she grabbed a hold of his shirt again, pulling on his chest hair as she pushed again all the while cursing in several different languages.
He bent over to relieve the pressure, trying not to wince. "Don't women traditionally squeeze the father's hand?"
"Then give me your fucking hand!" Jaye yelled right in his face.
"One more push and the rest of baby A will be out." Doc called out.
Taking her hand and wincing again when he heard the bones grind, it suddenly hit him that the moment was here. "Come on, honey. Push. Five bucks says our little girl comes out first."
Jaye put her chin down to her chest once again and pushed with all she had.
"It's a boy!" Doc yelled and then crying could be heard as he put the small boy on her stomach for them to see.
Jaye started to cry as she looked at their son. "He's perfect."
Flint traced a finger delicately over the baby's soft fuzz. His voice held a tinge of awe. "Perfect," he echoed.
The nurse quickly came and took the baby away when Jaye cried out with another contraction.
"Just like her parents." Doc said as he sat back down. "Impatient."
Flint couldn't help grinning like an idiot. He was squeezing Jaye's hand now, but in anticipation.
Jaye started pushing again.
"Come on. Keep pushing." Doc coached.
Jaye was getting tired and worn out.
"She's crowning." Doc called out from his perch at the bottom of the bed.
"Worst part's over, honey." Flint reassured her. "You're almost done."
Jaye pushed again and felt the head pop from her body. She then slumped back against the bed utterly spent.
Doc called out for one of the nurses urgently.
Flint jumped up and followed Doc's movements, thinking he would set the second baby on Jaye's stomach.
Doc looked up. "Come on Alison push. We need to get her out now!"
Jaye just shook her head back and forth.
"Just one, Allie. Come on, you want to hold her, don't you?" Flint gently urged her.
Doc stood up. "Allie come on. The cord is around your baby's neck. I need you to push."
"I...I can't." Jaye said softly not fully comprehending what Doc was saying at that moment.
Flint leaned close and whispered, "You need to push, Allie, now!" He'd caught the note of alarm in Doc's voice. "Just one."
Jaye looked at Flint and saw the look in his eyes. She then felt Doc pushing down on the top of her uterus with one hand while holding the baby's head with the other. She wrapped her arms around Flint's neck and used him to help her to a sitting position and bore down with all she had.
Flint let her pull on him, willing her to be able to do this.
Doc caught the baby as it slipped from her mother's womb and quickly removed the cord from her neck and put her up on Jaye's stomach. With a little stimulating the baby started crying.
Jaye started crying in relief.
Flint felt tears in his own eyes; relief, awe, and wonderment all mixing together. "You did it," he whispered into her ear.
Jaye leaned back against Flint slightly. "We did it."
"Honey, all I managed to do was faint," Flint chuckled, not taking his eyes off of his daughter.
The nurse took the baby over to the warmer while Doc finished up with Jaye.
Flint stood and ruffled Jaye's hair. "Get some sleep, Allie." He gave her a proud smile.
Once Jaye knew the babies were all right and in the incubators for a little while because they were small she fell asleep.
Flint headed out into the lobby, taking one last long look at the twins on the way out. Once there, he pulled out his cell phone, debating whom to call first. He dialed his parents' number.
"Hello." Came his mother's sleepy voice.
"Sorry to wake you up, mom," Flint said, unable to hide his excitement. "You're a grandma."
"WHAT?" She sat bolt upright in bed.
"Yep, the twins were born a few minutes ago, and everything is fine." He let himself laugh, feeling exhausted and giddy all at once.
"Robert!" Martha cried as she shook her sleeping husband. "Wake up!" Flint held the phone away from his ear. "We will be there tomorrow afternoon." Martha said. "Congratulations son. What are their names?"
Flint paused for a moment. "Um, I...we...never actually decided," he said sheepishly.
"Oh Dashy you better get that done." Martha said. "Go be with your babies and we'll see you tomorrow.
Flint hung up the phone and thought about calling Hawk and Scarlett...then he decided that they ought to perhaps have names picked out first. He hoped Jaye wasn't asleep already.