Chapter Seventeen

"Jackson was six pounds exactly. He was born around... nine thirty on the twelfth of May. Colt's birthday is the tenth of March." Nick watched his mother flipping through her diary, filling in the birthdays of her grandchildren. He was surprised when she actually called to say that she was finally in town, but even more surprised when she actually invited him out for a coffee, so they could catch up. He wasn't sure about going at first, but Greg convinced him that it was the right thing to do.

"What about the twins? What did you have?" She queried, seeing his eyes immediately light up when she asked him.

"One of each. A boy and a girl. They were born on the eighth of August, about three in the mornin'. Ethan was first. He's got blue eyes and no hair." He smiled at her as she actually took an interest for once. "I think he was three pounds two ounces. Our first little girl came second. She's got a full head of hair and we think her eyes are brown. She's barely opened them, so it's hard to tell. She was two pounds six ounces when she was born."

"What did you decide to call her?"

"Uh... we're still decidin'." Nick clasped his coffee mug in his hands, watching his mother jotting down their birthdays into her diary. He noticed that his was still filled in, just ten days after his twins, surprised that his mother still did that. "Colt's bought them a teddy bear each with 'Baby Boy' and 'Baby Girl' stitched into their chests. Jackson wants to get those alphabet letterin' things for the twins' room, so we can spell out their names on the wall. We did the same in their room on his fourth birthday."

"How early were they?" His mother glanced up at him. "The baby your sister, Lillian lost was three pounds. She was twenty five or twenty six weeks."

"I think they're twenty nine or thirty weeks." Nick shrugged, trying to remember what Greg's doctor said, but it was all a blur before the babies arrived. "They didn't want to deliver them that early, but Greg had a placental abruption, so they didn't have a choice. Greg was bleedin' and one of the babies were at risk of being still born. Ethan's comin' off his ventilator today. They think he might be well enough to come home in a few weeks."

"Just in time for your birthday." The woman smiled, ordering another coffee as the waitress walked by them. "And when's Greg's birthday?"

Nick looked at her a moment, wondering what her intentions were. "May seventh."

"Do you have any plans for your birthday this year?" She queried, giving the waitress a smile as she refilled her mug for her. She took a careful sip of the hot liquid, noticing the expression on her son's face. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothin'." Nick shook his head. "I'm gonna be forty seven. I've got two babies and a husband in hospital and I'm waitin' for a letter from the hospital to rearrange my op."

"Op?" His mother gave him a confused look. "What kind of operation?"

"I've got cysts." He told her the truth. "It's better than gettin' testicular cancer again, but my doc wants to surgically remove them. I might lose the whole thing, dependin' on what my doc thinks."

"Will you have to go through chemo again?"

"He said no, but they have to get the cysts sent off to the lab to make sure."

His mother reached across the table for his hand, giving it a tight squeeze in her own. He remembered her doing the same thing a few times when he was a child, mostly when he was nervous about a game at school, a big test he thought he was going to fail or performing on stage in school plays.

"Visitin' hours start soon if you still wonna go up the hospital. Greg's still there, he's probably sleepin' at the moment, but he wouldn't mind you seein' the twins. How come you never told me I was premature?" He finally asked her what had been pressing against his mind since the funeral.

"Because you weren't that premature. You were four pounds, and they let us take you home after a few days. You reached all your milestones on time. You were a little smaller than everyone else, but I thought you just got that from my side of the family." Jillian finished the last sip of her coffee, so they could head off to the hospital to visit her new grandchildren for the first time. "Why is Greg still in the hospital? I thought the twins were born last week."

"They were. Greg had a placental abruption and he lost a lot of blood. They thought they were gonna have to do an emergency hysterectomy, so they've kept him in a few more days to keep an eye on him. I'm hopin' they'll let me take him home today. He's bored out of his mind in there."

When they arrived on the ward, they stopped beside the baby boy's incubator first, watching him gently sucking the pacifier in his mouth. He was in an open top incubator, lying flat on his back with an oversized diaper between his legs and a few monitors pinned to his tiny body. He wasn't on the full sized ventilator anymore, but he still had tubes of oxygen going up his nostrils and another feeding tube taped to his chin.

"He really is bald." Jillian giggled softly, taking a step closer to get a better look at his adorable little face. He had his legs curled tight, while his little arms were stretched out in front of him. He curled his fingers into his hand every so often, mimicking a cat kneading his paws. "He's very tiny." She tilted her head to the side as she caught him opening his eyes slightly. He snapped them shut a second later, making an adorable grunting sound as he tightened his arms to his chest. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah." Nick stepped closer, placing his little finger in his son's hand. "He's the more healthier of the twins. He struggled with his breathin' a little the first day, but he's been fine since. The nurse said that they sometimes just forget to breathe, because they're so young."

"That's Apnea isn't it?" She queried, getting a nod from her son. "Your sister, Gwen did that to us when she was a couple of months old. We had to rush her into hospital, thinkin' they were just goin' to tell us there was nothin' they could do, because we couldn't get her to keep breathin'. I think she was just feelin' left out because I was so busy with my career when she was born."

"Do you want to hold him?" He suggested, getting a surprised look from the woman. "We've held him already." He assured her, before he found their usual nurse to ask her if they could hold him. She found a chair for Nick's mother, getting the woman seated, before she lifted out the tiny baby into her arms.

"Don't worry about the wires or anything. You won't pull anything out or hurt him." She assured the woman. "Do you want the baby girl too?"

"Yeah." Nick tried not to sound too excited as the nurse turned to the incubator behind them. She opened up the top of the incubator, adjusting the wires and things attached to the baby, before she placed her in Jillian's other arm. Greg's mother Jean had already had her hold of each of them, so he knew that she wouldn't get jealous if she found out that his mother was now holding both babies.

"Aw, she's even tinnier." His mother couldn't see a lot behind the huge ventilator over the baby girl's face, but it gave her chills as she looked so similar to her father when he was born. "Look at that little face. She's a miniature you. You wouldn't know they were twins lookin' at them."

"Vicki and Ronnie are fraternal twins too." Nick pointed out to her.

"Yeah, but they looked like twins when they were babies. It was only when they were around five or six that Vicki's hair started to curl, while Ronnie's hair got darker." His mother pointed out to him, stroking her fingertip across the back of her new granddaughter's hand. "Have you picked some middle names for them yet?"

"No, we can't even decide on a first name for her. Colt has my name as his middle name and Jacks has Greg's, so we're not quite sure what their middle names could be. How'd you pick mine?"

Jillian smiled slightly, not sure if her son would like it. "Well, you were born in Parker's stable. You probably don't remember him. He was quite an old horse. I don't think he was even around when you started walkin'. Your father wanted that to be your first name, but we named you after my great grandfather instead." She told him another little fact that he didn't know. "You could use grandparents or friends names as their middle names. Half your sisters middle names were just picked at random. We didn't have that many female friends or relatives when they were born, so they don't really have a meanin' behind them."

Nick smiled at her as his daughter clutched the woman's finger tightly in her little hand. "I just can't wait to take em home with us now. We've got all their stuff set up in their room and at the end of our bed, but we don't have the babies there yet."

"They'll be home before you know it. Then you'll be wishin' you could have a break from them."

"No chance." Nick shook his head, looking forward to every part of raising the twins. He eventually got to hold his twins again, while his mother snapped a few pictures of them to take home with her. He didn't think she would be too keen on the idea of going to see Greg, so he called her a cab to take her back to her hotel, so he could see his husband alone.

"Can I have my toothbrush?" Greg reached his hand out the bathroom, waiting for his husband to find it in his bag. He handed it to him after a few seconds, leaning against the doorway to watch him. "Doc Jordan said I'm being discharged today. I can't wait to take a bath or sleep in my own bed, wake up to you and the boys with my stuff all around me." He coated his toothbrush in paste, before he stuffed it into his mouth. "You 'kay?"

"Yeah." Nick nodded, tilting his head back against the frame of the doorway. "My Mama's here. She took me out to coffee and I took her to see the babies. She still cringes whenever I say 'Greg and I' or just the sound of name."

"At least she's here." Greg rinsed his mouth out, handing Nick his toothbrush. "Small steps Nicky, she'll get to all the other stuff. You should be happy that she's even trying to be okay with all of this. Your life to her is against everything that she believes in, but she wants to be there for you, because that's what Mom's do." He searched through the bag for some clothes, getting Nick's help to put them on. "Did you TiVo all my shows?"

"Yes, dear." Nick chuckled softly, helping him put his arms through the sleeves of his sweatshirt. "I gotcha the boxset of that other one you like, so you can watch them while I'm out at work next week."

"You're starting next week." Greg frowned, disappointed that they wouldn't get to spend any time together. He braced himself against the sink as Nick put his socks and sneakers on for him, getting him ready to leave as soon as the doctor came by to discharge him. "That sucks, I wanted you home with me."

Nick helped him to sit back on the bed, making sure he didn't pop a stitch. "We're gonna be broke by the end of the year at his rate. We've both taken so much time off work this year. We've got hospital bills and four kids to feed soon, as well as the mortgage and utilities, your crappy car payments."

Greg rolled his eyes at him, resting his head back against the pillow behind him. "I can sell myself on the street if you want. Make a couple of extra bucks to put food on the table? What, do you think I'm too old and fat to sell my body?"

"No, I think you're still as gorgeous as the day I met you. And I don't want some pervy older man payin' you money to sleep with him. The thought of it makes my skin crawl." He shivered as he felt a tingle up his spine, before he leant across the younger man to press a kiss to his forehead. "We'll be fine. We just have to cut down to the essentials for a while. No more of that coffee..."

"Ooh..." Greg pouted his lip out at him. "Take away my life why don't you."

"I thought I was your life." The older man smirked, perching himself on the edge of Greg's bed. "Greg... if anythin' happens to me..."

"No, don't do this, Nick. It's just a routine op. They've done like a million of them."

"Just listen." Nick took his partner's hands into his own, looking up into his eyes. "I almost lost you, G. There is a small chance that I might not make it through this operation, and I want to make sure that you and the kids have everythin' that you need."

"Nicky..." Greg moaned his name in frustration. "I don't want to talk about this, because it's not going to happen. If we talk about it, it's like you're giving up, you're accepting it, like you're not willing to fight for your life anymore. And I don't want to hear that. All I want to know is when it is and when I'll have you back home. Nothing else. Got it?"

Nick gave him a slight nod, smiling a second later as he thought he'd never hear Greg ordering him about again. He leant across the younger man's body, gently nipping at his bottom lip. "All I was goin' to say is that I don't want you to be alone. If anythin' happens to me..."

"Nicky..."

"If anythin' happens to me, I just want you to be happy. You don't do so well alone, I mean you've survived, but you've never been happy alone."

"You want me to sleep around when you're dead and buried? Fine, I'll do it. But I don't want to talk about it." Pulling Nick closer towards him, he sealed a kiss to his lips, mostly to just stop him from talking. "If you talk about it one more time, I cannot be held responsible for my actions." He smiled at him, gently brushing his thumb across Nick's lips. "This isn't the end. It can't be. We've got everything that we've ever wanted, more. We have four kids. We were going for three."

Nick turned towards the door as he heard it open, relieved to finally see the doctor. He climbed off the bed as he came in, listening to all of his advice about taking care of Greg's c-section wound, along with the pain medication that he was prescribing for him to take.

"Ah, ah... sit." Nick loaded the younger man into a wheelchair as soon as he was discharged, insisting on wheeling him out to see their twins, before they headed home. They were only allowed a few minutes with them since visiting hours were technically over, but Greg treasured every second that they were in his arms.

"Okay, close your eyes." Helping the younger man out of his truck once they were home, Nick closed the car door for him, placing his hand over Greg's eyes to keep him from peeking. "Walk forwards... I gotcha." He spoke softly, supporting him with his other arm towards the door. He smiled as Greg almost missed the step, keeping his arm around him to help him inside. "No peekin'."

"Okay." Greg held onto his husband's arm tightly, wondering what the big surprise was. He heard the front door clicking shut behind him, before Nick's hand slowly moved away from his eyes. He kept them closed as he was directed towards the front room, bracing himself for someone to yell 'surprise', but it was all quiet so far.

"Okay..." Nick positioned him in the doorway, whispering against his neck. "Open your eyes, baby."

The younger man slowly fluttered his eyes open, surprised to see Catherine, Sara and his mother sat in his front room, surrounded by gifts in brightly coloured wrapping paper. His boys immediately jumped up from the sofa, running towards him to hug him. "Hi... what's all this?"

"We thought you deserved a baby shower." Catherine climbed to her feet first, pressing a kiss to Greg's cheek, before she gave him a light hug. "We've got some stuff for you and the twins." Sara caught a hug after her, while his mother waited until he was sitting down beside her. "We wanted to throw you a sorta welcome home party, but Nick thought you'd like this more, since you never got one before."

Greg smiled at his husband, wondering how he managed to keep this a secret. "You really didn't have to do all this."

"Oh we didn't buy them all." Jean assured him, lifting her grandson, Jackson onto her lap, while Colt took a seat with Nick across the table from them. "The bulk of them maybe, but not all."

"Most of these are from the lab." Sara motioned to the neatly packed little boxes on their coffee table. "So which ones do you wonna open first?"

Greg gave his pseudo sister a smile, before he grabbed for the box directly in front of him. He felt like a kid on Christmas morning as he ripped through the wrapping paper, finding a hand knit quilt from one of the receptionists at the lab. He grabbed for the card next, smiling as Ruth had apologised that she didn't know it was twins, so there was only the one quilt for now. He excitedly reached for another, finding a hat and booties set with little bunnies stitched into them. He handed a few to the boys and his husband to unwrap, while his mother handed round the little cupcakes that she had baked.

All three of them excitedly unwrapped the new presents for the twins, finding more adorable little clothes; from soft woollen cardigans, knitted hats and mittens to vests and sleep suits with cute little animals printed on them. Once the smaller gifts were out of the way, they started finding soft toys, cuddly animals and mobiles for above their cribs.

Saving the larger presents until last, Greg left it to the boys to rip off the wrapping paper, receiving his first twin stroller. Nick showed him how to turn the seats to either face the front of the back, along with the adjustable padding inside to support the baby's as they grew. He also pointed out the fact that it wasn't very bulky, so it fit through most doorways.

"You bought it?" Greg gave him a surprised look as they were already having money troubles.

"No, my Mama did. She wanted to buy somethin' for the twins, so I told her that we didn't have a stroller yet and she took me with her to buy it."

"It's nice." Greg gripped the comfortable handles, gently rolling it backwards and forwards across the floor for a moment. He saw the make etched into the pattern of the seats, knowing that was an expensive brand as he had gone to look with Evelyn a few weeks ago. He decided not to say anything though, even though he felt a little guilty about accepting such an expensive gift from someone who had never really been interested in their lives before. "I love it." He sealed a kiss to Nick's lips, knowing how important this was to him. He had been waiting for this day for a long time and now that his mother was finally starting to take an interest in his life, Greg didn't want to be the one to ruin that.

"Okay, cake time." Jean ushered them all through to the kitchen, un-boxing the cake with twin baby's in icing. She took a photo as a keep sake for them, before she started cutting out slices for each of them. "Who wants what? Pink or blue."

"I'm good. I think I'm gonna go lie down." Greg motioned towards the stairs, smiling as Nick immediately rushed to help him. He supported him all the way up the stairs, helping him to take his sweatshirt and sneakers off, so he could lie down in his own bed. "Nicky... I have to tell you something that the doctors told me when you weren't there."

Nick took a seat on the edge of the bed, moving himself to lie down beside him as Greg looked as though he wanted a more serious discussion.

"I was pretty out of it at the time, but you were there, you probably saw more of it. They told me that when the twins came out, they had some trouble trying to get our baby girl to breathe." He reminded his partner of the events that he'd much sooner forget. "They said it was her placenta that ruptured inside me, so she didn't get as much oxygen as her brother did. They think she might have some brain damage." He spoke softly, glad it was him telling Nick rather than a doctor, but he really wished that he didn't have to. "They can't know for sure because she's so young, but she had swelling on her brain and a bleed which could indicate more damage than the lack of oxygen she had when she was born."

"Is she okay?" Nick clutched the younger man's hand a little tighter, looking up into his eyes. "The bleed on her brain. It wasn't..."

"Serious? They don't think so." He shook his head, putting his arm around Nick as he slid closer. "One of them said it was quite common with premature babies. They called it cerebral hypoxia." He knew that Nick would want to research it like he did everything else, so he made sure that he remembered exactly what they called it. "We won't know how severe until she's a little bigger. They said it could be anywhere between severe brain damage to mild damage." He pulled Nick's head against his shoulder, pressing his lips to the side of his head.

"What are we supposed to do?" He whispered against his partner's neck, feeling his tears burning against his closed eyelids.

Greg clutched him tightly, feeling his own lower lip starting to quiver. "There isn't anything that we can do." He admitted, weaving his fingers through his partner's hair as he held him close. "She's fighting, Nicky. We have to keep fighting for her too. We have to treasure every little victory."

Thank you for reading, please review.

~ Holly