IT'S FINALLY HERE!
"Great things are done by a series of small things put together." - Vincent van Gogh
February was normally one of my favorite months of the year. There was Valentine's Day, a holiday I had grown to love very much since having a husband. There was snow, chocolate, and my birthday at the end of the month. This year, however, I hated February. I lived in Angeles so there was no hope for snow since the weather there was dry and hot year-round. I had to watch my sugar intake so I wasn't able to eat as much chocolate and lastly, I was as big as the palace so I spent most of my time lounging either in my room or in the Women's Room.
Marlee was sympathetic and tried her best to make me feel better but I knew the only way I would feel better was to actually have the babies. Besides, she'd gone through a singleton pregnancy; she could only sympathize so much. Kile was also taking up a large part of her time since he had learned how to run.
By the time my birthday rolled around, I was ready to go to Dr. Ashlar and demand that he give me the drugs to induce labor. I hadn't slept comfortably in months and just crossing the room made me out of breath. Maxon did his best to comfort me but just like with Marlee, he could only do so much. He, for the most part, just stayed out of the way of my foul mood.
The night of my birthday I had a harder time than usual falling asleep. I just prepared myself for a long night of little sleep when I felt more pressure start to build in my pelvic region, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. "Hey, Maxon," I whispered, nudging him.
"Yeah?" he breathed out, not really awake. I nudged him harder this time, causing him to jump and sit up quickly. "What?"
"I just had a contraction…I think," I added, not fully certain of what I had felt.
He frowned. "You think? Did it hurt?"
I shrugged. "I mean, they're not supposed to really hurt in the beginning." I looked over at him. "This is happening," I finally said.
"You'll be okay," he assured me, lifting my hand to his lips and brushing a kiss over my knuckles. He got out of bed and grabbed my robe and helped me slip it on. We slowly made our way downstairs to the infirmary. Dr. Ashlar was not there yet, unfortunately, but one of the nurses promised to phone him. In the meantime she led me to what was typically our examination room but would be the room I deliver the babies in.
"Oh no, I forgot my blanket," I moaned, leaning my head against the pillows behind my head.
Maxon smiled. "It's right upstairs, I can go get it at anytime."
I nodded and smiled back at him. Dr. Ashlar walked in then and shook Maxon's hand before flipping through some papers on his clipboard. "So, Marnie told me that you're having contractions."
"It was just one actually but it was pretty strong," I told him.
Dr. Ashlar nodded and wrote something down before turning to the machines I was hooked up to. "Okay, well I think I need to do an ultrasound and also check how dilated you are." He didn't offer any more explanation. After the ultrasound and he checked my dilation, he sat down on a stool next to my bed which I immediately took as a not-good sign.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Well, America, your babies are more than ready to be born but they're being stubborn. What you felt earlier was just a false-alarm. You're not dilated at all; that's how I know that you're not in labor. Now, like I said, the babies could be born any day. What I suggest is not prolong the inevitable: you are already here, you may as well have the babies today."
Maxon frowned in confusion. "But you said she's not going into labor?"
Dr. Ashlar nodded, understanding the question. "We've discussed the possibility of medically inducing labor before. You do remember talking about that, correct?"
"Yes," I told him. "What's your professional opinion?"
He sighed and shrugged a little bit. "If it were my wife, I would recommend that we just do it now. So long as you don't mind your children having their birthday the day after yours," he joked.
I smiled and turned to Maxon. In his eyes I saw his answer well and clear so I turned back to Dr. Ashlar and said, "Okay, let's do it."
Dr. Ashlar smiled and nodded, writing something else on his clipboard. "Okay, I'm going to need some time to prepare. You two feel free to take a moment to yourselves. Your hours alone are numbered," he joked, walking from the room.
Tears started collecting in my eyes as I looked over at Maxon. "Are you ready for this?" I asked, reaching for his hands so our hands could twist together.
He smiled. "I've been ready for this since August, since we started talking about having kids…since we got married."
"Could you go get my blanket? And I suppose we need the babies' clothes and everything. I should call my mom as well. She'd be so upset to hear that I planned this and didn't tell anyone."
Maxon nodded and kissed my forehead tenderly, wrapping a hand around the back of my neck. "I'll be right back. Take my phone and call your mom in the meantime," he instructed, placing his cell phone in my hand.
I watched him leave and then called my mom. I explained to her what was happening and she assured me that she would be over at the palace with my sisters in a few hours, seeing as it was still very early in the morning. I decided to doze a bit and get some sleep while waiting for Maxon to come back but the hospital was so cold and the air was starch, preventing me from getting comfortable. Not to mention the excitement and nerves I was feeling.
Maxon came back about a half hour later with a mug of coffee along with a bag full of the stuff we needed for the babies and my blanket. He also brought me a pair of socks to keep my feet warm. "I'm sure that by breakfast all of the staff will know that we're having the babies since I passed a couple maids and some guards on my way here. Did you get a hold of your mom?"
"Yep, she'll be over later," I informed him, adjusting my blanket so it was arranged properly on me. He put my socks on for me since that was a task that was near impossible with my belly.
Dr. Ashlar came by later with a few nurses who helped me get hooked up to more monitors and insert the IV for the Pitocin. My nerves calmed a bit once I was able to hear the babies' heartbeats, knowing I would be holding them in my arms by the end of the day.
Maxon woke me up from a two-hour nap so I could eat a light breakfast of fruit and water. The contractions were getting a little worse but only to the point of being uncomfortable and sore, not exactly painful. The sun had fully risen by the time my mom came with Kenna and May in tow. They kept me occupied while Maxon got some things organized with his advisors so he wouldn't have to worry about work for the next few days. The contractions were starting to get fiercer and soon enough I didn't have much comparison to the pain I was experiencing.
I was halfway dilated by noon and that is when I decided to get the epidural. Maxon helped me to sit on the edge of the bed and stood close to me so I could rest my head against his shoulder. I was so tired but I was only halfway through. The epidural hurt more than the actual contractions but once it kicked in the pain subsided to the point that I was able to sleep a bit.
Time after that blurred together until about four o'clock when pain started to come back to me and Dr. Ashlar determined that I was fully dilated. I could feel the change in pain in my body as it turned into more of a pressure.
Nurses flooded into the room and gave Maxon, Mom and Kenna scrubs to put on over their clothes. May agreed to wait outside with Marlee, Carter, Aspen, Lucy and Georgia. Maxon pressed his forehead against mine as the midwife exchanged notes with Dr. Ashlar so she could officially take over for the birth. "Are you ready?" he whispered.
I nodded and wiped a tear away. "I'm already so emotional," I joked.
He laughed. I could see tears in his eyes though so I knew I wasn't the only one. "Our lives are about to change forever."
"But for the better," I added. He smiled and kissed my temple, standing up straight so that he could hold my leg the way the nurse showed him. I looked into his eyes and immediately reached for his free hand, wanting to feel his steady strength at my side. Kenna held my other leg and my mom just sat by my head so she could encourage me.
I looked over at her and saw her crying for once. I could count on one hand the amount of times she had cried over the past couple years. "He would be so proud of you, Ames," she told me and I didn't need to ask who she was talking about; I knew it was my father.
I reached for her hand and squeezed it. "I know."
The midwife gave me some simple instructions in the pattern I would be following for pushing, breathing and resting. After just a few pushes though, I was well spent. And I had to deliver two babies. I pushed for about forty minutes before a nurse finally announced that she could see the head. "Look at all of that hair!" she exclaimed. The first baby came at five fort-two on February twenty-seventh. "Baby A is a girl!" Dr. Ashlar announced as they held her up for me to see.
My heart swelled almost painfully when I saw her. My little princess. I looked over at Maxon and he looked right back at me, both of us with wide eyes as we first saw what we had created. A nurse laid her on my chest and I cooed to her naturally, almost by instinct. "Hi Amber," I breathed out, staring down at her. "Hey, pretty girl." She was crying loudly but I didn't care, I just kept kissing her head and whispering against her soft skin.
Maxon ran a finger down her cheek, tears freely falling out of his eyes. She stayed on my chest as the midwife told me to start pushing again for the next baby which we now knew would be the boy. Seven minutes later, Shalom came into the world.
They both laid on my bare chest as Maxon cut the umbilical cord, officially cutting them off from me. I just couldn't stop staring at my little babies. The two perfect little people that Maxon and I had created out of love. The nurses eventually had to take them to make sure they were healthy and run some tests. Maxon went to both of them and made silly faces at them as the nurses cleaned me up and got me in a new gown.
"I know what we need!" Maxon exclaimed, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out the digital camera I had given him for Christmas. He proceeded to go back to the babies and snap pictures of them.
Mom had the birth certificates and filled out Amber's but then looked at me when she started Shalom's. "I know all about Amber's name but not your son's," she realized.
I smiled tiredly. "Yeah, I wanted to surprise you. We're naming him…Shalom Maddox Schreave." I held my breath, waiting for her reaction.
"Really?" she breathed out.
"It was Maxon's pick, actually," I told her, using any excuse as usual to boast about him in front of her. She abruptly stood up and walked over to him to hug him. Kenna took her seat but I didn't miss the tears coming out of her eyes. "What?" I asked, figuring that she was well past crying.
She shook her head. "Nothing. I just know that Dad would hate for you to waste the chance for a really cool name on naming your son after him."
I actually managed to find the energy to laugh. "I know, but Dad isn't here. We want to commemorate him somehow." I adjusted my back uncomfortably as Maxon walked over to give me Amber. He then went back so he could hold Shalom. He was beaming with pride for both of his babies but I could already see the bond growing between him and his son.
"Well done, Your Majesty. A very smooth birth, I must say," Dr. Ashlar applauded with some echoes from the nurses who were bustling around the room. "I'd recommend just keeping the babies close against your skin; that contact is very pivotal these next few days. Let instinct rule for when to feed them. If you have trouble, your midwife will be in my office so you can send for her."
I nodded, not taking my eyes off of Amber. They both had tufts of red hair and dark brown eyes that Dr. Ashlar said would become lighter in the coming days. Amber had my facial features while Shalom had Maxon's. They were the perfect mix. Mom watched us bond with our children and smiled at me. "You two make beautiful babies," she told me.
"We do, don't we?" I asked as Amber wrapped her tiny hand around my index finger.
"Well, America really did most of the work," Maxon joked, making a few nurses and Kenna laugh. Maxon finally handed Shalom over to me and helped me open the front of my gown so I could lay them on my chest.
Dr. Ashlar checked some final things on the monitor and then started to personally ask me some questions. He left a few minutes later with some more instructions for my mom to make sure that I slept. After another half hour of cuddling, my mild queasiness I had been feeling turned into full on nausea. Mom and Kenna barely managed to get me a bucket and the babies out of my arms before I had to lean over my bed to throw up.
Maxon grabbed a hair tie and pulled my hair back for me so it would be out of my face. He instantly started panicking but Mom and Kenna assured him that it was normal and told him to find some mints or hard candy for me to suck on.
I managed to sleep for a few hours before feeding both of them. My milk hadn't come in yet so I wasn't sure how satisfying it was for them but they were placated and they both slept for a few hours after that.
The next morning we were visited by what felt like hundreds of people. Maxon wanted to keep the visitor list short but since most of them were advisors and family, it was nearly impossible to turn anyone away. Marlee, Lucy, and Georgia gushed over the twins while Carter gave Maxon, August, and Aspen valuable fatherly advice.
After lunch the advisors started coming. Maxon and I were content living in our little perfect bubble with the twins until one of the advisors asked the question that would send our world into a whirlwind. "So, which one was born first?" James asked, Astra sitting in his lap.
"Amber. I wouldn't expect anything else from a daughter of America," Maxon joked, rocking her from side-to-side.
James looked perplexed. "So then which one is the heir?"
"What do you mean which one is the heir?" I asked, looking away from Shalom.
"If Amber was born first, is she the heir or are you going the traditional route and making Shalom the heir?" he clarified.
Maxon shrugged. "We actually haven't thought about it. But we'll discuss it over the next week and get back to you all." That's my Maxon, always giving the diplomatic answer to hide the fact that we had no idea what we were doing.
Shortly after that James left and we were finally alone for the first time in hours. "Maxon, you need an heir," I whispered to him, looking down at my son. How could we have forgotten? After all of the talk earlier on in my pregnancy and the excitement surround the fact that one of the twins was a boy…we had forgotten that we had a duty to our country in these precious babies.
"You should get some sleep," Maxon said quietly, taking Shalom from me. He already had the natural talent of cradling both babies in his arms. He sat down at the edge of my bed. "You had a long day yesterday and I want you back to your one hundred percent."
"But the advisors…"
He shook his head and stopped me with a kiss. "We'll worry about that later." That was Maxon-ese for I have no idea what we're going to do but you just sit tight while I figure that out. I could kick him sometimes because of how pompous he could be but considering how tired I was, I wasn't about to argue.
And there it is! That tricky question that won't officially be answered until May 2015! Hope y'all are having a good day!
Don't forget that if you want you can look at the dresses in my profile and I also posted links for America's jewelry she got from Maxon for Christmas. Thanks for the reviews guys!
zqueens: okay, no i didn't. i named Amber after Amberly but that reviewer and i were just freaking out over the coincidence!
Mac: I'm honestly surprised no one saw it coming. i really thought that everyone would be like "oh, yeah, big surprise. Not." the chapter before Daphne was saying that she was sure there were more men out there and then Kota was moving to France...yeah i thought i was making it pretty obvious.
Prnamber3909: now i feel bad because i actually never submitted the application. i decided that i really need a job on campus because i just do not have the time right now to commit to anything.
Weatherbug02: they were referencing the Sandusky scandal which just makes me mad because the football team was virtually uninvolved. people can argue with me all they want and tell me that i'm brainwashed by Joe Pa but i will stand by my team no matter what.
PEETAMELLARKLOVER123: no. :( i didn't submit the application. i explained this in Prnamber3909's response up above here. i just don't have the time and they were looking for a seasonal employee and since i'm going home for four weeks during the Christmas season, i figured it wouldn't be best for me to apply for it. maybe though, when i'm a famous author and done publishing books in fifty years i'll consider working there again.
lilythemermaid: what if i told you i am Kiera Cass and this is really the Heir?...haha i'm not but wouldn't that be cray! and yeah, didn't go through applying. just read one of the responses above for an explanation.
Someone the World Forgot: oh, i have BIG plans for Amber and some things will be too big for even Maxon to fix. *wink wink*
Theoneforever: is this it? is this what you were waiting for?!
winterprincess: yeah i searched all over kingdom come for Maxon's exact birthdate (IF ANYONE CAN FIND IT, YOU'D BE THE REAL MVP) so i just went with early August. i realize now that the twins were pretty early actually but let's just say they were right on time. ;)
luv2read4reading: i think i'd be even luckier if i can eventually get my book on B&N's shelves! :)