XXVI.

A few more weeks passed and the tension between the two had grown thicker. Malika had just passed into her eight month and was not only more ill, but the situation between Erik and her was taken its toll. She often looked forward to going to the church and meeting Alexandre. They often talked of current events and would pay together. She felt as if she had found a friend in her crisis.

Erik did not know that she went to Notre Dame nor that she met another man in secret. However, she often felt guilty when she came home from seeing him. It was scandalous for a married woman to have a male friend and especially one that was not acquainted with her husband.

Tears fell from her cheeks as she thought of their situation. Erik never visited her in her room. He did not say much when they ate together. He wouldn't even touch her. It seemed as if he didn't want to reconcile. Why wouldn't he? She had asked herself that question a hundred times at least. She loved him...didn't he love her?

She wondered if he was waiting for her to tell him that she forgave him. How could she forgive him? She sighed softly then placed her hand over her stomach. The babies had started kicking. She had told him and he refused to touch her. Something that should be shared between them, he did not want to participate in. What was wrong with him?

Her body had been feeling strangely lately. She would feel so fatigued and pass out at times. It was one of those days, she supposed, where she would have to be alone and deal with her pain. Malika stood up and immediately groaned, her lower back screaming in distress. She fell back on the chaise and suddenly felt the pain intensify.

Tears fell down her cheeks as she gulped for breath. "Charles." She let out a small cry. "Someone."

Malika felt as if a dam had burst between her legs. A substance she thought felt similiar to water soaked her pantalets and some of her dress. 'No!' She screamed to herself. It couldn't be happening now! Not when Erik and her had not resolved their situation. The pain in her lower back spread to her abdomen now and she began crying out in pain. "Lukcas! Linka!" She screamed for her siblings. "Someone please!"

Why wasn't anyone coming? Was she to suffer alone? She clutched her cross in her hand and sat up again. The pain was so intense that she had to sit up slowly. A small golden bell sat on a table beside the chaise. She reached for it and began ringing it loudly. Someone would have to come and help her now.

xxxx

"Who is ringing that Goddamn bell?" Erik questioned Charles as he exited the study.

"It sounds like it is coming from the parlor. I think madame was there the last time I had checked." Charles answered.

"What could she possibly need?" He asked in a worried tone.

"Shall I go check?"

"You can come with me. She may need our help." Erik replied then strode quickly down the steps and towards the parlor. He found his wife wincing in pain as she gulped for air. "Malika! Are you in labor?"

"What does it look like Erik? Summon the doctor please!" She cried out.

Erik turned to Charles, who in turn ran off to fetch the doctor. "Cherie, I need to get you in a bed. You cannot give birth on a chaise lounge."

"It hurts. Don't move me Erik. Please. It hurts." She begged him as he slipped his arms beneath her lower back and the crook of her knees.

She grasped hold of his shoulders and began sobbing from the intense pain she was feeling. "Shh. Cherie, I am sorry, but it has to be done." He hushed her while carefully taking her up towards their bedroom. "Shh my sweetness. Everything will be fine. All we have to do is wait for the doctor then this will be all over."

"No. Everything is not fine." Malika responed as they entered the bedroom and Erik laid her on the bed.

"I don't know what to do Malika. I am not a doctor." He replied, feeling angry that she was being near impossible to talk to.

"Why won't you hold me? Don't you want to comfort me? Erik please!" Malika begged him as he regarded her sadly.

"Of course I do...do you forgive me?"

"Yes, damn it!"

Erik smiled at his wife's fit. He climbed on the bed and wrapped his arms around her waist. Malika grasped a fistful of shirt and buried her head against his chest. She sobbed while he rubbed her back gently. "It will be over soon." However, nothing could have been further from the truth.

xxxx

Twelve hours had passed since Malika had gone into labor. The pain that she felt had increased; it seemed, ten-fold. Her body was covered in a thin sheet of sweat as she felt the doctor probe between her legs. Tears fell down her cheeks as Erik wiped at her forehead. "Madame, you must keep calm."

"Easy for you to say! You are a man!" Malika cried out loudly.

"Shh cherie. You need to keep your breathing steady."

Malika ignored Erik as she felt shockwaves of pain over her abdomen. Tears increasingly fell down her cheeks. "We have to wait for your contractions to be closer. Once they start being five minutes apart we can begin madame." The doctor explained to her.

"Why? Please stop the pain. Please!" She begged the doctor as Erik continued wiping her forehead with a wet clothe then kissed her.

"Almost there cherie. It won't be long." Erik whispered.

"You said that many hours ago." She cried out in pain.

"I am sorry! I didn't know that it would be this long."

"What did you expect! That I would push them out within ten minutes!"

She paused, feeling a great pain in her abdomen which now spread to her inner thighs. "I'm ready. Please God, let us get this over with!"

A nurse handed the doctor a towel and the necessary tools he needed. She helped prop Malika on a few pillows to aid her then pulled the sheet that was covering her lower half of her body up to her knees. "We will have to be very careful, but your babies will be fine. Listen and everything will go well."

"Get it over with!"

"Push madame." The doctor told her.

Malika grasped Erik's hand and began pushing. In all her life she never thought it to be so difficult to have a child. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she cried out in pain. The pain was too intense for her to handle. Erik gently pressed a kiss against her temple as he heard her scream loudly.

"Stop."

Malika gulped in deep breaths of air as Erik wiped her forehead. "Shh."

"Stop telling me that!" Malika snapped at him.

"Push again madame." The doctor interrupted them.

Malika took a deep breath then began pushing once more. She screamed her pain as she felt pressure between her thighs. "Oh God!" She cried out, wanting the pain to be over.

"You are almost there...keep pushing." With another push she felt her first child being pulled out and a great relief settled over her. "A girl." The doctor said after cutting the cord and handing the child to the nurse. He inspected her and then finally said, "Let us continue."

Over the next hour Malika pushed to get her next child out. The doctor had to stop her every few minutes in order to make sure she was pushing out her child correctly. The pain was almost too intense that every time she started pushing she had to stop. She only wanted it to be over with. She felt a familiar pressure then cried out when the doctor pulled out her second child.

Malika's chest heaved as she looked up to see the doctor cutting the cord between her and her second child. Erik glanced at the doctor quizzically. "A boy." The doctor announced. Malika moaned, she still felt a pressure in her abdomen and figured that she was not finished.

"Please...I think there is one more." Malika said, her hands grasped fistfuls of sheets.

"Madame, I believe that is only the effects. It should go away soon."

Malika growled loudly then grabbed the doctor by his collar. "You had best double-check." Erik had to stop himself from laughing. He had never seen his wife act in such a way. She turned to Erik, "Hold me." He obliged, then sat behind her and held her softly.

The doctor placed his hands between her legs once more and inspected her. Malika felt the pressure intensify painfully. She reached up, wanting to grasp Erik's shirt, instead grasping a fistful of hair. "Ow! Jesus Christ!" Erik shouted suddenly as she pulled harshly. Malika pushed with all her might, screaming as she did so. She knew that they were having triplets. It couldn't have been simple side effects.

"Oh my God." The doctor exclaimed as he pulled out her last child. She felt a sudden relief wash over her and most of the pain go away. She suddenly realized that she had a death grip on Erik's hair and released him quickly. "Another girl. Two girls and a boy. Congratulations madame and monsieur, you have triplets."

"Give me my babies." Malika said as she tried to sit up.

"Not till we clean them and you up. Surely you wish to have a bath to relax your muscles madame?"

"I want to see my babies." Malika said through gritted teeth.

"It is best to do what the doctor says Malika. Go on and have a bath then you may see them." Erik intervened.

Malika resented Erik at that moment. She bit on her lower lip as the nurse helped her out of the bed and into the bathroom. She wanted to hold her children and see them. She had just gone through what seemed like a day of labor and they wouldn't let her see her babies. What if they needed to be nursed while she was bathing? Her children had to come first. She sighed as the nurse helped her out of her sweat-soaked garment and ran a warm bath for her. She would not be happy till she held her children.

xxxx

An hour later Malika finally was able to sit down in a rocking chair and hold her children. Erik and her had decided on the names and were quite pleased with their children. All three were healthy weight and had black hair. Her firstborn, Adele Sarika, had her father's eyes, while her only son, Henry Kristof, had her azure eyes. But their youngest, Carole Alexa had grey eyes which her mother had.

"Are you going to feed them or stare at them all night?" Erik questioned in an amused tone.

"I can do both. Sit beside me and I will feed them in a moment." Malika replied as she dropped the top of her gown so that her breasts were exposed. Erik handed her Adele and Henry carefully then held Carole as he sat down on the second rocking chair. Malika smiled as she finally held her children in her arms...at least two of them. She could see she was going to have a difficult time with feeding, seeing as she had triplets. However, she felt she would make it. She was thankful that the pregnancy was over.

"I suppose you were right cherie. You did have triplets."

"What? Do you resent me having our children?" Malika questioned in an offended tone.

"Never. All I am saying is that you were right. You do not have to take offense." Erik replied.

"Forgive me. It has been a difficult and tiring day Erik. Am I going to sleep with you now that I have had our children?"

"If that is what you wish."

"Well if you rather me sleep alone then I will...but I would rather sleep with you. Is that not where a wife belongs?"

"Yes." Erik replied.

Malika smiled down at her children then said, "I think these two are ready for bed. Give me Carole and I shall finish nursing for tonight."

Erik nodded then took Adele and Henry from her after handing her Carole. He then placed Adele and Henry in separate cribs. "We will have to get Carole a crib of her own." He commented as he covered up the infants.

"Yes. Maybe you can purchase one tomorrow for her. Until then we will put her with Adele."

Erik nodded his head in agreement then watched as she stood up and carefully lay Carole in with Adele. She pulled the top of her gown back up and smiled at their children. They were so beautiful and she could not believe that such beautiful babies could come from having sex and making love. "Come." Erik interrupted her thoughts. "You must be tired." Malika shook her head in agreement then grasped his arm as he led her across the hall to their bedroom.

Author's Note: Well the babies are here. So what's going to happen next? You'll see. Thanks for the reviews everyone! I appreciate them.