Derek handed a baby girl over to Nick. "They're cute, but don't make any more of these for several years."
"Yeah, I don't think there's gonna more of these any time soon," Nick said. "They've already caused a lot of trouble."
"You don't know what trouble is yet." Derek nodded towards Ilsa. "I think it's safe to say we know what she wants now."
Ilsa's eyes were trained on the baby boy as she held him. Nick looked over at her. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Pretty soon, you'll be saying hello to countless late night feedings, diaper changes and sleepless nights. The feedings are going to have to start very soon."
"I think she knows that," Nick said as he noticed Ilsa was starting to move the top of her nightgown and shift the baby into a different position.
The next night, Derek was woken again, this time by Philip. "It's Annika. I think she's in labor."
"Why is it that babies never want to be born at decent times of the day?" Derek grumbled upon learning Annika didn't want to go to a hospital. "Apparently, I'm not getting much sleep anytime soon."
"Could you try to convince her she needs a hospital?"
"I think I know why she doesn't want to go to the hospital."
"If it's about needles, they can't make her have an epidural."
"It's more than that. I can't explain it right now. We might not be able to get her to agree to going to a hospital unless something is wrong."
"I left Nick with her. He was trying to get her to agree to go to a hospital when I left the room."
"Then I need to get him out of there."
Derek and Philip went to the bedroom.
"Nick, go back to bed," Derek said.
"But I can get her out of here," Nick said.
"I'm sure you can, but you might put her and the babies in distress in the process. Just go back to bed."
"Fine, but you're gonna wish you took her to a hospital."
Annika started to panic at those words.
"I'd say she's already in distress and should be in the hospital right now," Nick said.
Derek had went over to Annika to calm her down.
"We can't just make her go to the hospital, Nick," Philip whispered to the former Navy SEAL.
"Ilsa and two babies are sleeping in another room. They're gonna get woken up. Just let me move her to the damn car."
"You can't," Derek said. "She's getting ready to have a baby right now. You can either go back to bed or you can help out in here."
Nick was quiet for a few seconds. "I'll go back to bed." He went out the door.
Derek went over to Philip. "I thought that would get him out of here. It might actually be another couple of hours before she's actually ready. We just needed him out of here. Now, we just need to get Annika calmed down."
Three hours later, Annika was pushing out the first baby. She seemed to have a better handle on the pain than her sister, despite her earlier fright.
The baby cried until it had been wrapped up and handed over to her parents.
The moment a new contraction started, the baby was moved away. The second came quickly.
"There we are. Two pretty little girls," Derek said as he put the baby into Annika's arms. "Eventually, you'll be chasing boys away from these two."
"That's going to be a long way off."
"Not as long as you think. They're teenagers before you know it."
A week later, Alex went into the parlor to find both Nick and Philip had fallen asleep on the couch with their newborn babies. "Someone get a camera before they wake up," she said.
"Which ones? Nick and Philip or the babies?" Derek asked.
"Does it matter? It's cute!"
"Nick won't be happy with you once he realizes what you done," Derek said as he came back a minute late with a camera.
"He'd be even more upset if we let Colton or Jo roll off," Alex said as she started taking pictures.
"That isn't about to happen. It's more likely that he's going to mix Jo up with Cassidy or Rowan."
"Who picked out the babies names anyway?"
"Let just say that Ilsa wouldn't let Nick name them after Babe Ruth and William Colt."
"How do you get Jo from Babe Ruth?" Alex asked with a laugh.
"You don't. Ilsa just named her that. As to Cassidy and Rowan, I don't know anything about what made Annika and Philip choose those names."
Philip opened his eyes a little. "I told Annika she couldn't name either of them Columbia, and Annika just liked the name Rowan. All you had to do to find out was ask."