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I looked at him as he counted down each of those three pushes. For a few clandestine moments, it was just me and him in that room. No IVs, no nurses, not even Sylvia or Valentina. He was my whole world for a few precious moments, before I would meet our twins and introduce them to my son and my whole world would change all over again.
The second baby slid out of me, and the nurses carried it away, crying. Cole didn’t look at the baby this time, his focus on kissing my sweaty brow, my nose, my cheeks, my lips, my jaw, my neck.
“God, you are a magical woman, Marley,” he whispered to me. “God, you are beautiful and perfect. Thank you for growing my family. Thank you for being my wife.”
I didn’t have long to bask in his love before I was introduced to a completely new love entirely.
Our twins were brought over to me and laid on my chest, their bare skin warm and clean against mine. As I looked at their perfect little scrunched faces, I felt my eyes fill with tears and spill over as I cradled them close.
Two girls, identical twins. Cole and I had opted not to find out the biological sexes of the babies because, well, we’d wanted a surprise, and who even knew what would pan out as they grew up.
They were so little, and so fragile. And I knew I would do anything to keep them safe and happy. I knew I would do anything to protect them and nurture them. I would show them the entire world and help them understand it.
And I would do it with Cole.
“They’re beautiful,” Cole said.
“They really are,” I sobbed. “They’re so perfect.”
“Just like you,” he said, kissing the side of my head.
* * *
Later that evening, my delivery room felt more like a hotel party with everyone who showed up to welcome our babies to the world. Lana and Travis smuggled in champagne in a sparkling cider bottle, which I politely refused, much to their dismay.
“Girl, you need to drink,” Travis urged.
“I need to nurse, which I can’t do if I drink champagne,” I said. “You’re going to have to wait a few more months to party with me again.”
“Boooo! Fine,” Travis said with a wink, letting me know he didn’t mean it.
Noah, just as he had been during my entire pregnancy, was enamored with the girls. Watching them sleep in their little beds, all swaddled. He would ask questions every once in a while, but mostly, he just seemed to want to stare at them. That seemed to be all Cole could do as well.
Rosie had gone back to headquarters to break the news and even rewarded us with a video of everyone in the foyer calling out their congratulations as Rosie and Ashton filmed them from the top of the staircase. It was wild to see everyone standing all in one place. It was crazy to see how much our pack had grown in just under a year. Almost two-hundred people strong now.
Ginger and Paulette came to the hospital last, Paulette happily declaring that the store decided not to press charges after finding out I was actually pregnant and that we weren’t some sort of four-woman grifter team who’d faked an emergency to steal expensive wedding dresses.
“I’m banned from the store, but it’s fine. Their shit was overpriced, anyway,” Paulette explained.
As I looked over everyone in the room, I was filled with so much warmth and love for the family I’d found after I’d had to leave my own behind. To go from a bus station with nothing but the clothes on my back to being in this room surrounded by my growing family—with hundreds of friends waiting back home for us—was nothing short of a miracle.
I was so lucky. And my luck just kept growing, along with my love for my life, my husband, and my three children.
Yes. I was so incredibly lucky.
And the most beautiful part?
My life with my ever-growing family was only just getting started.
