SURPRISE! Thank you for being so understanding – when we hire more chefs I'll get more time off, but for now I only get the one day off sometime during each week, so my updates are very missed placed right now.
I don't. Stephenie does.
Chapter six.
Bella.
35 weeks pregnant (8 months)
It started out like any other day.
At eight a.m. I kissed goodbye to Edward and Cooper before they left for work and school and picked up the book I was currently reading to begin another day of bed-rest. It was only the third day, but already I was running out of things to do. I felt absolutely fine, but after a tiny, miniscule scare last week the doctors advised me to take it easy, and Edward being Edward took the serious end of the stick and so from then on I wasn't to leave my bed unless it was to use the bathroom.
If the twins hadn't made walking so difficult, I'd have agreed to Edward's rules but then break them the second his back was turned – but every step tired me out and, to be honest, my bed felt damn good on my back. I wasn't sure it was possible for my stomach to grow out as far as it had done, but miracles do happen, and I didn't look far unlike the Octomom – well, I felt that large anyway.
Anyway, back to my story, so I put down the book (after getting bored nine chapters in) and settled down to sleep. I awoke some point during my nap to my stomach tightening and a sharp pain shattering through my abdomen. They had started last week (before the tiny scare) but it wasn't the sort of pain you can ignore and forget about.
It's nothing; it's nothing. I thought and adjusted the way I lay to find a more comfortable position.
Not even half an hour later I was crippled again, this time with a different sort of pain – it wasn't sharp as such, but more dull and cramp-like. I was hunched over with eyes squeezed tight, doing my best to soothe it. No matter how hard I tried, the pain wouldn't settle, and there was only one thing I could do.
"Edward…" I panted into the phone. Christ, the pain!
"Bella, love, what's happened; are you okay?"
I shook my head before I found the strength to speak. "No… n-ooww, Edward, please, it hurts."
"Shit… You need to stay calm, Bella – nice deep breaths, nice deep breaths."
Together we went through the breathing exercises, but it all became too much and I succumbed to the pain once again. "Aaaaaah… You… need to get here… right now."
"I'll be there as soon as I can, love. But I think we should get you straight to the hospital."
"No! No, it's not time yet; the Twins aren't due for another month! I'm just… oww… I'm just in pain; please – I need you to be here."
Things calmed down, which allowed me the chance to rest and Edward to call on someone to take over his station. But nothing is ever as it seems, and it soon came back again.
"Bella, Sweetheart, listen to me." I controlled my whimpers enough to quieten down and hear what Edward had to say. "I'm just leaving the building now; I'll be no more than fifteen minutes. Stay strong, keep breathing and I'll be there before you know it."
"Okay, okay. Hurry."
"I'm going as quickly as possible, baby. I love you."
Because Edward is a stubborn ass and often gets his own way, that was how I ended up where I am now; being driven at great speed to the hospital with the Twins determined to leave their hidey-hole.
0-0
Unfortunately, Edward was right about bringing me here, because the nurse who checked me announced that I was already dilated to three centimetres?! Until that very second, I had always thought your water needed to break before you could dilate, but I was proven wrong.
Not only was I freaking out about the awareness that in twenty-four hours or less I'll be holding my Twins, but I worried about Cooper too – he was still at school with no idea that this was all going on and who was going to look after him? I didn't want him to watch me go through this and I don't think a maternity ward is the best place for a nine year-old to hang around in for hours.
"Sweetheart?" To the squeezing of his hand, Edward dropped the book he was flicking through and turned all his attention to me. "What's happening with Coop?"
He smiled reassuringly, "it's alright; I sorted something out."
0-0
Cooper.
0-0
"Cooper, can you come up here a minute, please?"
We were doing Quiet Reading and I was reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. My Padre said I was too young to read the books when I became a fan at seven, but Nanny and Grandpa got me the whole entire set for my ninth birthday! (it was last week, y'know? I had so much fun and my new girlfriend, Mollie, got me an Iron Man action figure! His hands light up and everything! You should come play with it sometime).
Sorry, yeah, as I was saying – I was reading Harry Potter and Mrs. Parks said I had to go talk to her.
I'm real nervous, walking to her desk. Did I do something wrong? I don't think I misbehaved. She asks me to come out to the corridor with her and then I get really worried.
"Cooper, you're dad just phoned; he wanted me to tell you that Bella has had to go to hospital and,"
What?! But, Bella's not allowed to go to the hospital! It would have to be 'cause of the twins and they shouldn't be born yet! Their birthday is meant to be April 24th and it's only March 11th!
"—Your dad wants you to go home with Mitchell and his mom after school and dad will pick you up from there. Is that okay with you, Cooper?"
"Um, well not really, no. 'Cause, y'see, my brother and sister aren't meant to be born yet and I want to be with Bella, not with Mitchell…" I don't cry at school, 'cause I'm nine and only babies cry, but I'm upset, so I should be able to cry, right?
Mrs. Parks puts her hand on my shoulder, "there is no reason to cry – Bella is in a very safe place, and your brother and sister are, too. Why don't you go and enjoy the rest of your day and if you really want to be with Bella, I'll ring your dad to come and get you, yeah?"
I rub my cheeks to dry the tears. "Okay, I like that idea."
0-0
I stayed at school, 'cause Mitchell said his brother got the new Harry Potter LEGOs game for the Xbox and I really wanted to play it, so I went to Mitchell's house to play the game before my Padre came to get me.
Harry Potter was really good, by the way – it was really funny and we got through the levels so quickly! I was always Harry and Mitchell was Ron. I don't really like Ron 'cause he's a scaredy cat. Like in the Chamber of Secrets he says 'follow the spiders? Why can't it be follow the butterflies!'. See? He's real scared of everything.
It's now six o'clock and Padre has finally come to get me. He looks real tried and his hair is messier than normal – he does that if he's scared of something.
"Are my brother and sister okay?" Padre is driving us to the hospital.
"Yes, Bella and the Twins are fine, but they are coming earlier than we thought, so they might have to spend time in here for a little bit." I think that's why Padre sounds sad; 'cause my brother and sister have to stay in the hospital, and he doesn't like hospitals.
"Why are they being born now?"
"Well, usually, Coop, when there's more than one baby in the tummy they are born earlier. But you don't have to worry about that."
I don't care. I still am worrying!
"Is Bella awake or asleep?"
Padre finds a space in the parking lot. "She was awake when I left, but she's very tired so could be asleep now."
And he was right, 'cause she's asleep! Bella's asleep in the big, white bed on wheels and she has lots of little wires connected to a thick band around her stomach. Dad told me that it's recording the Twin's heartbeats and making sure they stay safe.
"What do we do now?" I look at all the pictures on the walls and most of them are about babies in tummies; they look funny! I giggle at that.
"We just sit and be patient. Bella will need our support soon, so we'll have to be the men of the room."
Sitting and waiting is boring, but I like to be the man of the house when Padre isn't home, and if it means that I'm going to be a good big brother, then I don't mind waiting for lots-a-lots-a hours.
It was like, ten o'clock at night and we were still waiting! But the nurse said something about Bella being nine centimetres – I don't know what that means, but Padre and Bella started acting real strange…
Hey, guys! I think the babies are coming!
0-0
OH HELL NO! I DID NOT JUST LEAVE IT THERE?!
IT'S BABY TIME, BITCHES!
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Thoughts?