The moment we have all been waiting for… IT'S TIME TO MEET THE TWINS!

I don't. Stephenie does.

Chapter seven.
Edward.

"What are they doing, Dad?" Cooper huddled into my side when he watched the various nurses crowd Bella with their medical masks and gloves on. It was clear to everyone that things were about to happen, and we were all in full 'baby mode'.

"They're getting into position for when the Twins arrive. You see, one nurse has one job – keeping track on them inside the tummy – and others have other jobs – making sure that they are delivered safely and cleaning them when they are born."

"Why do they have to clean them?"

"Well, um… well the Twins haven't had a bath in nine months; they'll be quite dirty."

"'Member that time, Padre, that time I went to Nature camp and I didn't have a bubble bath for a whole week! I smelt real bad, didn't I?"

"You didn't smell really bad, but you didn't smell as fresh as you normally do. So imagine if you didn't have one for nine months?"

Coop clutched his throat in a theatrical choke; "urgh! They must stink!"

I told him to take a chair at the back of the room to stay out the way and allow everyone to do their job properly – he complied without refusal and even when Bella was finding the labour process too hard to bear, he didn't budge; as much as he wanted to be by her side.

I felt so helpless standing by her side – she was clearly in obvious pain but nothing could have taken that away. I tried to soothe her down and reassure her that she was doing an amazing job and the second the Twins were born she'd forget all about it, but Bella being Bella, she told me to shut up if I knew what was good for me.

I obeyed, only because a woman is scary when they are giving birth.

Nine years ago almost to this day I had been in the same situation; comforting Tanya as Cooper practically tore out her innards. I remember not having a clue what to do and being terrified about becoming a parent. Even if Tanya had lived on and been the mother Cooper has always wanted, I'd have still been his Padre – I doubt Garrett would have stepped up to the challenge, and I was only too eager to take the role.

I also remember thinking about how different my life was about to become and silently promised Coop the world. Right then, watching Bella, I replayed my mantra. I wasn't scared about being a Dad, because I knew how to be one, but my life, like nine years ago, was about to change drastically. I was changing from a father of one to a father of three in such a short space of time. Before I knew it I'd have a daughter who'd have me wrapped around their little finger, another son who I'd need to teach how to become a man and make sure he understands how to treat a lady, and Cooper will finally get what he wanted – siblings.

We'll all go on family holidays somewhere (I imagined it right then) – we'll go to water parks and I'll take my sons on the big, frightening, rides whereas Bella will take our daughter to the safe, calm ones where they can relax and watch the men at work.

If they ask me to jump, I'd say how high; I would give our little family of five the world, if that is what they wanted.

"That's it, Bella; give me a nice, deep push." The midwife cut me from my thoughts.

Bella squeezed the life out of my hand – it hurt like hell, but I knew it was a scratch compared to what she was going through, so I flowed through it. "You're doing so well, Baby; I'm so proud of you."

Her face was burning red, sweat sheened her skin and her whole body trembled violently when she had to push. During each contraction and each push, the midwife counted to ten slowly and when she reached 10, Bella lay back and tried to get her breathing back under control.

"Padre?" Cooper appeared suddenly beside me, whispering my name.

"Hey, Bud, you okay?" He was taking in the scene through worried eyes.

"I'm tired." He put his head on my waist and I wrapped my arm around him. I had forgotten it was getting close to eleven-thirty at night; you don't think about the time when your children are being born. I had contacted my parents and they were more than happy to come here to look after Cooper, but he was insistent about staying. I quote; I won't be a good brother if I'm not there when they're born!

"I know you are. Do you want to sleep on the sofa and I'll wake you up when the Twins are here?"

"Nnnno – I'll stay awake, Padre."

Coop joined me in the Bella-support, and his little voice put a smile on Bella's exhausted face. Thankfully the Twins were cooperating with us and the nurses never saw having a C-section as a better idea – usually, for multiple births, one baby would be lying sideways or breech (feet first), but my babies weren't a cause for concern – apart from being born early, of course, but that's also very normal.

"The head of Baby 1 is born," the nurse soon announced, throwing us all into a mix of panic and excitement.

The second my son was born, he was brought up for us all to see and I crumbled into a mess. That's my son… I have two boys, now…

"That's my brother!" Cooper jumped up and down excitedly and gripped my arm tight.

Bella and I shared a brief kiss and we both watched our son being taken for his check up and clean-down.

"Twin 1, male, born 03/11/14 at 11:42pm."

As much as we wanted to relax and enjoy our new son, Twin 2 was quickly approaching, and Bella's job wasn't over. But she practically slipped out after her brother. Again, we were shown her briefly and she, too, was taken to be checked over.

"And now that's my sister! Padre! I have a brother and sister jus' like you!"

"Twin 2, female, born 03/11/14 at 11:53pm."

"Edward…" Bella was leaning towards me, but her eyes were trained on the Twins. "They're perfect…"

"Thank you," I whispered against her forehead, "you've given us the greatest gift, and I love you so much."

She chocked on her tears, "I love you too, and I love them. Oh, my God, I just had a baby…"

"You didn't have one, Sweetheart, you had two and I'm so proud of you."

Despite what we all thought and how concerned we had been, the Twins were surprisingly healthy for being a month early and they didn't have any need to go to the NICU.

Our son was brought over first, with our daughter close behind, dressed in their hospital, white onesies. They had a fine coating of dark brown hair and tiny little button noses. They had podgy cheeks which were so soft it was like the finest velvet. I couldn't take my eyes off them.

"They're real cute, right Padre?" Cooper also had a fascination with their cheeks.

"They sure are."

"But I was cuter, right?" He grinned mischievously.

"Yes, Coop, you were very cute, too."

"So, can I hear their names now?!"

Bella and I had chosen their names, but we'd kept it a secret from Cooper, just like we had with the rest of our family, and he'd been going insane trying to work out what we'd called them. Bella agreed with me that it was time to spill the beans.

"Okay, so your sister is called… Elizabeth."

Coop smiled with his mouth wide open, "we can call her Ellie for short!"

"Ellie?" I thought aloud.

"Yeah, like the mammoth (who thinks she's a possum)in Ice Age!" The twins winced in their sleep as a reaction to Cooper's loud voice. I told him to hush down because it was waking the babies. "Oh, sorry, babies." He whispered.

"Now, your brother's name is very special, because Bella and I both decided that we wanted it to be linked to you in some way."

"Me?!"

"Yes – you." We were cautious that Cooper might have felt left out, what with us all being blood related, and he isn't. So linking them together gave them that special bond. "How much do you love Italian?"

He gasped, "oh, I love Italian, Padre – see, I call you Padre – and I really, really want to go to Italy some time. Can we go, please?"

"Maybe one day, yeah. So because you love Italian, we went for the name Marco."

"Marco… is that Italian?"

"Yes. Well, it has a couple meanings, but Italian is one of them and so that is what we went with."

"Ellie and Marco… I really like that, Padre."

"Good, I'm very glad."

"Hi, Ellie and Marco, I'm your big brother, Cooper. We're gonna have lots-a-lots-a fun together, I 'fink we're gonna be best friends ."

0-0

Nervous…

If you want to see a PICTURE of Ellie and Marco then you can find one in Cooper's Facebook group, Cooper Troopers Working of Fate!

Thoughts?