Last time, Melanie thought she was going into labor with the twins.
Chapter 54
"Maybe you just leaked a little when you sneezed a minute ago." Carly suggested.
"No, I think my water broke. Oh, God! A cramp." Melanie groaned and held her belly tighter.
"Are you sure it's not a contraction?" The brunette was now concerned for the pregnant woman.
"Gnnh!" Mel gunted. "Maybe. I don't know. I've been having false contractions for days."
"DAYS!" Carly screeched. "Why the chiz didn't you tell someone?"
"Braxton Hicks contractions are perfectly normal and I kept it low key because . . . "
"What's all the shouting about?" Sam came into the room, carrying three bowls of low-fat fro-yo on a tray. "Carls, quit stressing out the pregnant woman."
"Because of Mrs. Benson and I don't mean Marissa." Mel rolled her eyes at her sister.
"Sam, Mel thinks her water broke!"
"WHAT?" Sam shouted. "When?"
"I, um, I guess it did. Just now." Mel verified. "I'm all wet and I just was in the bathroom like ten minutes ago."
"Holy cheese balls!" Sam sat the tray down and grabbed her sister's hands. "You're not due for four or five days."
"Twins can come early. You read the books. It's why Mom says we were born on a bus." Mel replied.
"Alright, alright. We knew this day would come. Carls, you take Alex to Spencer's. I'm texting Freddie. Mel, where's your go bag?"
"I was going to pack it tomorrow." She shyly replied. "I'm not due for days, remember."
"OK, so we'll get your junk later. Right now, you're going out that door and we're heading to the hospital. Up, up!" Sam ordered as she typed at her phone.
"Sam, it's OK. Last time I was in labor for almost fifteen hours. There's no rush."
"Last time you were induced and a first time mom. This time, things are all stretched out, if you sneeze you're liable to drop out one of those kids. Let's get a move on."
"Mommy? Aunt Sam? Are the babies OK?" Alex asked, coming into the living room with Carly who had went to get her from her room.
"Everything's fine, baby." Sam replied. "Your little brothers just seem to be ready to make an early appearance."
"Aunt Carly is going to take you to Spencer's. And Daddy will be meeting us at the hospital." Melanie explained.
"Can't I go along and help?"
"No, sweetie." Mel shook her head. "You know at the big sister class they told you that you can't be there until after the babies are born. And you have homework to finish."
"Promise me you'll be alright, Mommy. And call as soon as you know anything."
"Hourly texts." Sam replied. "I promise."
"I'll be there as soon as I drop off Alex." Carly told them as they all walked out the door.
Thirty minutes later, Sam and Melanie were in the delivery room. Fortunately, the hospital was close by and there was no need to wait to be taken directly to the maternity floor.
"Did you hear back from Freddie yet?" Melanie asked as she was changing out of her own clothes and into a hospital gown.
"He sent a text that he was leaving the office and heading this way but you know traffic on that side of town is terrible this time of day."
"I think he better hurry up." Melanie grimaced and grabbed at her belly. "I think this is a real contraction."
Sam began to frantically press the call button for the nurse and continued to help her sister change.
Carly joined the sisters just as the nurse was hooking the monitors up to Melanie's mid-section. She was now lying in the bed with an I.V. line and a blood pressure cuff on her right arm.
"They did an ultrasound a few minutes ago, the first one is in position and ready to go." Sam told her friend. "She's not dilated enough yet, though."
"Where's Freddie? And the doctor?" Carly asked Sam quickly.
Sam phone chirped. "He's in the parking garage." She announced just as the doctor walked in.
"Melanie. Good to see you again." The gray haired woman smiled and slipped on a pair of gloves. "I had a feeling we'd be seeing you a little early. Hello, Sam. And who do we have here?"
"My best friend, Carly." Sam nodded toward the brunette. "Freddie's just parking his car, he's almost here."
"And so are your babies according to the scan. Let's just check to see how dilated you are."
Freddie entered the room, kissed Sam quickly and received a funny look from the nurse who didn't realize that he was the biological dad, not the husband or partner of the mom to be.
He took position next to Melanie and took her hand with Sam next to him. "How you feeling, Mel?"
"Like my insides are coming out!" She groaned. "Oh God, another one is starting doc."
"You're almost there." The doctor assured her. "Now don't push just yet but it'll soon be time, I promise."
"Can't we get this over with?" She whimpered.
"Take it easy and just breathe." Carly encouraged from the other side, holding her other hand.
The doctor left to change and check on another patient, leaving Carly, Freddie and Sam to take turns changing into scrubs in preparation for the big moment.
"Oh my God! Where is that doctor?" Melanie fussed, Freddie at her left, Carly at her right and Sam in position nearer the foot of the bed. "She said ten minutes, twenty minutes ago."
"I'll go check, you just take it easy." Sam replied.
"Has anyone sent a message to Alex lately?" Carly asked.
"I guess we'd better, she's probably worrying." Freddie replied and pulled out his phone.
As he was sending the message, another contraction hit and Melanie began to groan again.
"Come on, Mel. Just breathe easy in 1, 2, 3 and out nice and slow. In and out." Carly tried to work through the breathing technique they had all watched online and had been practicing.
The contraction began to subside just as the doctor came back in. "Let's see if we're about ready to have some babies."
"Just make these damn contractions stop." Mel grunted.
"Well, it feels like your cervix is ready to deliver. Let me know when you feel the next contraction begin. You're doing just fine. It's just a matter of time now." She tried to assure Melanie.
Within an hour it was all over. Twin boys rested peacefully in their cribs next to Melanie's bed as Sam, Freddie and Carly fussed over them.
"Too bad I can't get any attention." Melanie teased from the bed. "I'm the one who just went through labor."
"What do you need, Mels?" Sam asked, barely glancing at her sister.
"Well, my drink is empty and I haven't had anything to eat since lunch. If you call a banana and a tuna sandwich lunch."
"On it." Freddie replied. "I'll get your water refilled but we'd better talk to the nurses before food."
Just then, Marissa entered the room with Alex.
"Speaking of . . . " Sam snarked.
"How are you feeling, Melanie?" The now grandmother of three asked her.
"Tired. And hungry as a horse." Melanie complained.
Her comment fell to deaf ears as Marissa led the ten year old toward Sam and Carly to see the baby boys. Melanie sighed, feeling very much like an ignored brood mare.
Freddie returned with her water. "Here you go, Mels. The nurse told me she would bring you something to eat in a little while. They want you to rest now."
"Thanks, Fredward." Melanie told him and motioned toward the others.
He approached the group, hugged his daughter and mom and put his arm around Sam. "Why don't the four of us head down to the café in the lobby and give Sam and Melanie a little time together with the babies?"
As they left the nurse was just coming in to work with the sisters and the babies in the way of breastfeeding and it was clear there would be need for some privacy in the room. Sam had been working with the lactation specialist and was able to help and bond with the babies by feeding them as well.
"I sure hope this place has better food than they used to." Carly spoke up. "I remember the one time when Spencer threw his shoulder out and I was here with him, it made the middle school cafeteria look like a five star restaurant."
Marissa nodded, being familiar with the type of cuisine in the hospital more so than anyone.
"Do you think they have ice cream?" The little girl asked.
A short time later, the rest of the group returned and Carly decided to leave when Marissa left with Alex. It was getting late and already way past the little girl's bedtime but she was too excited to rest knowing that she was now a big sister. It was good there was no school the following day so that she wouldn't miss classes.
"So, you staying Sam?" Freddie asked his wife.
"Yep. Me and Mels need to keep these kids fed. And that nurse a while ago said if I express every couple of hours I'll produce better."
Freddie was sending the last of the promised texts to their friends and co-workers, letting them know that the babies had arrived. He had been scheduled to work that day and begin his leave the next week. "I need to go into the office to finish up two quick things and then my paternity leave starts. I'll be in as soon as I am done in the morning."
"For the love of God, stop at the store and bring me some Fat Cakes." Melanie begged.
"And get your butt in here so I can go home and get a change of clothes and a shower." Sam told him.
Two days later, Melanie and the babies were officially discharged from the hospital and they were all headed back to the Benson home in Freddie's car.
"It sure will be nice to get home." Melanie sighed. "Well, your home. At least it's not that hospital room that's either freezing or so hot you could fry an egg on the floor."
"Not to mention the people interrupting all hours of the night. I mean, I realize we have to feed these babies regularly but it seemed like every time the last 2 days those kids went to sleep, one of the nurses came in and woke them up."
Melanie agreed. "Yeah, they both want to sleep at night but the hospital people sure didn't like that idea."
The family soon settled into a routine of feedings, diaper changes and caring for the children. Fortunately, with three caregivers, it was a little more restful. Sam had scheduled her two weeks vacation from work for the two weeks right after the birth and Freddie was trying to arrange to work from home as much as possible in the near future, after his paternity leave ended. Fortunately, Melanie's job allowed her enough time to recover and get the babies settled into a natural cycle before she had to go back to work.
Carly stopped by their house on the way home from work to visit the babies and see if there was anything she could do to help. She was asked to help with dinner so that Freddie could go to the store for some diapers and other baby supplies.
"Hey Carls." Melanie greeted from the living room. "You just missed Freddie, he left about ten minutes ago but Sam should be home from any second."
"The little ones asleep?"
"Yes, Thank God." Melanie sighed. "Their sleep patterns have been out of synch for the last week or so. I swear this is the first one of them has not been up in forever."
"Good thing there are three of you." Carly chuckled. "At least one of you gets a break that way."
"I honestly don't know how I did this on my own with Alex."
"Speaking of, where is she?" Carlys wondered.
"Marissa's." Mel replied. "Or should I say she's hanging out with both grandmas. Pam was supposed to be going by Bushwell and the three of them were going shopping."
"Still seems odd for your mom and Freddie's mom to be friends."
Mel just nodded in agreement. "You're telling me."
About that time Sam came home. "Hey, whattup my sister and might as well be sister?" She cracked as she kicked off her shoes by the door. "The babies asleep?"
"Yes. And shh." Melanie hissed. "They just went down."
"I need to wake one of 'em anyway." Sam smirked. "Check these things out." She pointed her thumbs toward her own chest. "It feels like I have coconuts in my bra."
"I still can't figure out how you are producing so much, I mean given your hormone issues. Most of the time you make more than me and you didn't have the pleasure of two kids kicking your insides apart for the best part of none months. Didn't you express at lunchtime?" Melanie asked.
"I tried but the battery was bad in the milk machine."
Mel frowned at her sister's choice of words. "You wanna use mine, it's in the kitchen."
Carly just looked uncomfortable at the conversation. She was still very shy about any of it, despite being present for the births and vowing then and there to never go through that herself.
"No need." Sam pointed at the baby monitor that was just beginning to light up at the first sounds of a waking child.
Melanie sighed but was stopped from getting up by her sister who headed off to the nursery to attend to the youngest Bensons.
Things carried on and got easier for the Benson family. Melanie stayed with them until the twins were nearly a year old and were beginning to get away from the feedings. By the time their second Christmas came around, they were both fully weaned and growing normally. Alex was now almost 12 and had turned into an attentive big sister who helped as much as she could, given her over achieving in school and spending time with her own friends.
A late winter storm had caused a long weekend for the family, who were all snowed in at home with no distractions. The three children all enjoyed the time with their family without Carly, Spencer, either grandmother or Melanie stopping by randomly. Of course, Sam and Freddie used this opportunity for a little alone time as well, especially once the kids had all settled down in the evenings.
It was several weeks later that Sam felt something was just not right. It wasn't something she expected or even could have imagined, but she checked anyway and sure enough, her life and her entire family's was about to change again.
"Hey, uh, Fredlumps. Come in here I want to show you something." She said quietly from their bedroom when he quietly closed the door to the twins' room after putting them down to play after their bath. As usual, he was home with the boys during the day while she was away at work.
"What's up, Sam?" He asked, walking in to find her standing in the bathroom doorway, in her underwear. "Oh, um, don't you think we should wait. Mel will be here soon, she said she was stopping after work, and I need to get started on dinner if we're going to eat before it gets too late."
She rolled her eyes. "Not that, check this out." She handed a stick to him as she pulled on a pair of tight, purple leggings.
He immediately recognized what she had. "Where did you get this?" He was confused as to why she would have it. "Whose is this? Carly's? I know her and Jeffrey have been getting close but he told me the other weekend that they hadn't done, um, certain things yet."
"It's mine, you dweeb." She clarified.
"Huh? How? You can't, um, I mean, we couldn't, like even when you were on the fertility treatments. It's got to be wrong. Right?"
"No idea. But you know I told you I was late. Well, I've been feeling funny in my stomach and my boobs hurt. And leak. But that could still be residual from weaning the boys. Anyway, I decided to take a test. Well, one of the girls at work told me I should. She had no idea about my problems, but she was right I had all the signs. So just to rule it out, I got this thing this morning on my way in."
"But when? I still don't understand. Sure, we've done it, but we didn't track anything or check your fertility. I think we both know getting pregnant is a lot harder than it seems."
"Must have been that weekend we got snowed in, at least according to my last period. And my recollection of how often that weekend we . . . "
"Did you call your doctor?" He still couldn't believe what she was saying. "There's got to be something else going on."
"I have an appointment Tuesday. They had a cancellation, so they could get me in. You wanna come with?"
Freddie nodded as the doorbell rang, figuring it was either Melanie or Carly.
"I'll get it." Alex called from the living room. "Monica's coming by to work on a school project."
"Now don't say anything to anyone until we know for sure." Sam warned him.
The next weekend, after verifying things with Sam's doctor, and an explanation that the breastfeeding of the twins, along with the stopping, might have been the trigger for a fluke ovulation by Sam, the couple had all their friends and family to the house, as well as Sam's dad on a video call, for their announcement.
For some reason, I wanted to end this on Seddie having their own kid. Or at least potentially having their own kid.
Thanks to everyone for reading, following and coming along on this journey with me. This has turned out to be a much longer story than I originally thought but it's been a lot of fun coming up with some of these chapters. I have a few other ideas for shorter stories, some in the new show setting but nothing written out yet.
