"Ouch!" Stella whined.
Mac put down his paper and looked over at Stella, lying in the bed beside him.
"Are you okay, Stel?" He asked.
"No… the twins are fighting over their favorite spot to lay…right on top of my bladder!" Stella growled.
Mac snickered, and put his paper aside, moving down the bed to rest his head against Stella's stomach. He put his hand on her stomach as well, and he could feel the babies inside pushing against her stomach. He smiled and pressed a kiss to her tummy.
"You be nice to your Mommy." He scolded the twins.
Stella smiled.
"What?" Mac asked.
"I just think this is funny… any other time I was pregnant, if you put your head on my stomach, they would stop moving… I guess you lost your touch." Stella teased.
Mac feigned hurt, and put his hands back on her stomach, massaging her gently. She watched him, feeling the babies inside of her slowly calm down and stop moving around. Mac smiled at her and moved back up the bed to lie down beside her.
"Ass." She muttered.
Mac laughed gently, kissing her forehead. He pulled her close and started humming a gentle song, feeling her start to drop off to sleep… but not quite.
"Nice try, Mac Taylor! I'm not tired. If I sleep now, I'll be up at three in the morning." Stella told him.
"Sorry. You look tired and you have to start sleeping."
Stella was just about to open her mouth to argue when there was a soft knocking on their open door. Mac looked over and saw Lindsay standing there, holding her teddy.
"What's the matter, honey?" Stella asked.
"I don't feel good." She said.
Mac looked at Stella, and she smiled at him. He got up and went over to Lindsay, picking her up and holding her tight.
"You feel fine to me." He said.
"Daddy, that's not funny… I feel yucky." She whined.
Mac kissed her forehead and sat down on his bed with her on his chest. Stella sat up and ran a hand over Lindsay's head.
"You feel like you've got a bit of a fever, honey. I'll go and get you some medicine, you stay here with Daddy." Stella said, getting up.
Mac watched her go, the heat radiating off of Lindsay in waves. He shook his head gently. He knew that she shouldn't have had all the junk food at her birthday party this afternoon. As though Lindsay had heard what her Daddy was thinking, she muttered,
"I didn't want to celebrate my fourth birthday like this." She groaned.
Mac chuckled, holding her close.
"I know, baby. Mommy will get some medicine into you and then you'll start feeling better, okay?" Mac said.
Lindsay nodded, and Stella came in a few minutes later with the children's medicine. Mac moved Lindsay into a sitting position long enough for her to drink down the medicine her Mom had put into a cup for her, and letting her rest against his chest again. Mac watched her slowly start drifting off to sleep, and before long she was out like a light once again.
"This is not the best time for her to be getting sick." Stella mused.
"What're you talking about? When is it ever a good time for our children to get sick?" Mac joked.
Stella had that worried look on her face, and Mac frowned. She was standing at the edge of the bed, her face looking crossed between pain and embarrassment.
"What's wrong, Stella?" Mac asked.
"I think my water just broke." Stella said.
Mac frowned… now he knew what she meant for this not being a good time for Lindsay to be sick. Mac got up and pushed her gently down onto the bed, holding Lindsay and reaching for his phone. He flipped it open and dialed Sid's house.
"Don't worry, Stella. Everything's going to be fine." Mac said.
"You think I'd be better at this… every time I just feel like I lost control over my bladder." Stella murmured.
Mac smirked, and before he could try and sooth Stella's worries, Sid picked up on his end.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Hey Sid. I know it's a bit late, but Stella's water broke and we need someone to watch over the kids." Mac said, slightly rushed.
"It's never too late. We'll be right over. " Sid said.
"Thanks, Sid. I'm going to ask Sarah, the woman across the hall to watch the kids until you get here." Mac said.
He was pacing the room, picking up Stella's overnight bag for the hospital and trying to keep her in the bed. Sid was talking to him, but he wasn't really listening. All he could think was, "Holy Shit this is happening again."
"Mac!" Stella growled.
He spun around and saw Stella grimacing.
"Shit, Sid I gotta go. Hurry okay? When the kids wake you can bring them to the hospital. Oh! Linds is sick, we just gave her some medicine… gotta go!" Mac said, hanging up.
"I've got to put Lindsay back into her bed. Can you put your coat on?" Mac asked.
Stella nodded, and Mac put Lindsay quickly, but quietly back into her bed, closing the door behind him. He ran back into the bedroom, helping Stella down the hall, overnight bags over his shoulder. He ran a soothing hand down her back, murmuring that they were going to get to the hospital in no time. Just when he thought they were Scott free, another voice peeped up.
"Daddy?"
Mac sighed and turned, looking in the direction of the voice.
"Danny? What is it?" He asked.
"What's going on?" Danny asked.
"Mommy's gonna have a baby." Stella half moaned.
Danny's eyes went wide, and he scrambled back into the bedroom, coming back with his jacket on, glasses on his face and holding his boots.
"I'm coming too." He stated.
"Danny, you can't. I've got to take care of Mommy." Mac explained, moving her further down the hall towards the front door.
"But Daddy." Danny whimpered.
Stella turned around and looked at Danny.
"Come on, baby. Daddy's just getting himself wound up again. You can come with us." Stella smiled.
Danny grinned and ran towards the front door, pulling on his boots. Mac rolled his eyes.
"Stel, I can't take care of him and you at the same time." Mac whispered.
"Shut up, Mac. We can't just leave him awake, even if Sarah's going to watch over them." Stella hissed.
Mac sighed, but complied, pulling on his jacket and closing the apartment door behind the three of them. He went across the hall and knocked on Sarah's door. She opened it almost instantly, like she was expecting them.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Sarah, it's Mac from across the hall. Could you look after the kids until Sid Hammerback gets here? Stella's in labor." He explained.
"Of course! I'll be right over with them. Hurry up now, you don't want her to have the child in the car, do you?" Sarah said, shooing them down the hall.
Mac smiled gratefully at her, and hurried Stella and Danny down to the car. This was going to be one hell of a time.
*
They finally got Stella into a room. She said the pain wasn't that bad when they first got into the hospital, but after insisting on walking to the room they gave her, the pain caught up with her. Now, she was lying on her side, face scrunched up and chewing on her lower lip. They were putting in an epidural.
"Daddy, what're they doing to Mommy?" Danny asked.
"They're giving her some medicine so she won't hurt anymore." Mac explained.
"Ever?" Danny asked again.
One of the nurses laughed, and Danny frowned at her. Mac smiled down at him, holding him close with one hand while Stella squeezed the hell out of his other hand.
"No, she'll feel pain, just not while the babies are coming out." Mac told him.
Danny nodded, watching his Mommy carefully, and making sure the doctors weren't hurting her.
"There you go, Stella. That should hold you off until they're born." Bea said.
Stella smiled at her Pediatrician, feeling the epidural numbing her body.
"Thanks."
"We'll be back to check on you periodically. You're only at five centimeters right now, so you've still got a ways to go. Try and get some sleep." She told Stella, leaving the room.
Mac got up and sat next to Stella on the bed, Danny choosing to stay in the chair. Mac smiled at her, running a hand through her hair.
"I have no idea how you do this, baby. I can honestly say I would've given up after the first one if it'd been up to me." Mac teased.
"Just goes to show that women are stronger than men." She teased back.
"Now what do we do?" Danny asked around his thumb.
Stella looked at her and smiled.
"Now we wait."
*
It hadn't taken long for Stella to become fully dilated, but that was to be expected; she'd had four kids before this. The doctor's came in, Bea following with them, and told her that she could starts pushing as soon as she felt the first contraction.
"You can do this, Stella. Just like last time." Bea said.
"Only twice as long." Stella moaned.
Mac smiled, holding a damp towel to her forehead. He felt someone tugging on his pant leg, and he turned, looking down at Danny.
"I don't wanna be here for this part." He wavered.
"Okay, baby boy," He turned to Stella, "I'm going to see if Sid is here yet, and bring Danny outside with them. I won't be long."
He kissed her forehead before taking Danny up in his arms, letting him lean down to give his Mommy a kiss too.
"You behave, and don't run around, okay?" Stella told him.
"Okay, Mommy." Danny nodded.
Mac took him from the room, heading down to the visitor's lounge. He was grateful to find that Sid, Darla and his children were all there.
"How's she doing, Mac?" Sid asked.
"She's going to start pushing any time now. I just came to bring Danny down here." Mac said.
Don jumped up and ran to Mac, the other following him.
"Are the babies here yet? When can we see Mommy? What's going on?" They asked.
Mac smiled, putting Danny down.
"Calm down, guys. Mommy's fine, the babies aren't here yet, but I have to go and help Mommy, all right? The next time I come down, you should be able to come in and see Mommy and the babies, okay?" He said.
They nodded, going to sit back down, expect for Sheldon. He looked up at Mac, frowning.
"What is it, Sheldon?" Mac asked, knowing his son's 'question' face.
"You don't need to help Mom… she can push by herself. Can I come with you and watch?" He asked.
"I don't think you'd like that. There are tons of people in the room, and they're all busying around your Mother.' Mac said.
"In other words, no. I understand." Sheldon shrugged, going to sit down next to Sid.
Mac looked at Sid, and caught the smile. Mac shook his head, walking out of the room and back down to where Stella was. When he walked in, they had moved Stella onto her back, and had her feet in the stirrups. She was moaning in pain, and Mac immediately went to her side.
"It's okay, baby I'm here." Mac soothed.
Stella nodded, squeezing Mac's hand tight. He tried not to let Stella see his grimace at the shot of pain running through his hand, biting on his lip. He remembered all the other times they had been through this, and he smiled gently. Each had their moments that stood out in his mind, and this one would be no different.
"Okay, that's great Stella. Keep pushing." Bea told her.
Stella took in a deep breath and pushed as hard as she could. She also squeezed Mac's hand as hard as she could. Mac had forgotten how strong of a grip she had.
*
"Beautiful." Mac murmured.
Stella smiled up at him. It had taken her so long to push both babies out, but she had done it. The doctors took care of her, made sure her babies were healthy and cleaned her up a little for when the kids came in to see their Mom.
Stella was holding their little boy, and Mac was holding their little girl. Both were sound asleep, and two of the eight most gorgeous people he knew.
"What about a name?" Stella asked.
"Hmm? Names, right. Well, we both liked Adam, didn't we? Why don't we call him Adam?" Mac suggested.
"Adam. Adam Ross Taylor. Cute name." Stella laughed gently.
Mac smiled at her, running one finger down the cheek of his daughter. A few seconds later, the door to Stella's room burst open, and five kids rushed in, crowding around Stella.
"Can I see? Can I hold one of them? What are we going to call them? Where are we going to live?" Were the questions that flew her way.
"Hey, kids come on. Give your Mom some space." Mac said.
Don climbed up and sat on the edge of the bed. Sheldon took the chart that was at the end of his mom's bed, leafing through it, trying to make sense of it all. Danny sat with Aiden and Sid, leaving Darla to coo over Stella and Adam, and Lindsay to stand in front of Mac, arms outstretched.
Mac smiled at her, and carefully picked her up so she could sit in his lap and look at her new baby sister.
"Do I still get to help you pick out a name, Daddy?" She asked.
"Of course, baby. What did you come up with?"
"Well, I thought of a few names that she might like to have. First I thought of Millie. Then I thought, Ava." Lindsay said.
Mac smiled, holding her closer to him.
"And what did you decide?" He asked.
Lindsay smiled up at him, and pulled the blanket away from her sister's face, placing a kiss on her cheek.
"Jessica. Jessica Millie Taylor." She said and laughed when Jess squirmed.
Mac grinned down at Lindsay, kissing her forehead.
"That's a beautiful name, Lindsay. I think she'll be happy with it." Mac said to her.
Lindsay smiled up at him, and hopped off of his lap to go and tell her Mommy the name she had decided on. Mac watched her go; hearing Stella tell her what a beautiful name it was that she had picked out. Stella looked up at him, and he knew the name was a final decision. He looked down at the baby in his arms and smiled again.
"Hello, Jess. You're gonna fit right in."
T.B.C.