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I was in the midst of my thoughts when a contraction started at my lower belly. I thought it was another Braxton Hicks contraction—it happened every so often, but then it started to hurt, a lot. I cringed and held onto the counter, panic bells ringing in my head. The babies were coming. I looked up at the confused expressions of the twins, panting and gasping for air.
“Are you alright?” Ryan asked. “You don’t look well.”
“Take me to the hospital.”
***
The most excruciating moment of my life had ended.
Most mothers can be relieved after the first baby comes out, but not me. After one, another one came, and I had to go through all those horrible contractions again. I nearly thought labor was going to kill me. It was like a bulldozer pummeling my back. Once my labor ended, I was ready to pass out—until I heard the cries of my children.
“Your boys, ma’am,” a nurse said, holding two bundles to her chest. At first, when I found out they were boys, I was filled with disappointment, and a little bit of dread. But when the nurse passed my darlings over, and I looked at their adorable, small faces and tiny feet and hands, I only experienced fulfillment and pure happiness.
My two boys—the loveliest things in the world.
I’d do everything in my power to care for them, protect them, and make sure they’d forever stay this unmarred and beautiful.
“Look at the both of you,” I whispered. I brought each of them to my face and kissed their cheeks. Both of them stopped crying and looked up at me with their round, sparkling eyes. One of them reached out a miniature hand to touch my jaw. I smiled, tears of joy escaping to my cheeks. Ethan and Nathan—the names of our baby boys. We were hoping for girls, and decided to name them Elizabeth and Isabella, but kept back-up male names just in case.
Riley and Ryan stood by my side. They were fathers now.
“Can we hold them?” Riley asked, looking nervous.
I nodded and passed a boy to each of them. Ryan took Ethan, while Riley carried Nathan. They rocked their little boys in their arms, amazement lighting up their faces. I could tell my husbands had fallen in love with our children in no time at all. Riley fumbled with his baby more than Ryan did, surprisingly.
Ryan rocked Ethan back and forth. “Who am I holding?”
“Ethan,” I answered.
“You can tell them apart?”
I winked. “I have this uncanny ability.”
“They’re amazing,” Riley said, adoration filling his eyes.
“Of course, they’re mine.”
Just then, Nathan burst out into tears. His brother followed soon after, starting with a soft whining sound before becoming as loud as a fire alarm.
Their fathers went into a flurry of panic, rocking the babies and pacing around. Riley was the most frantic of the two. “What are we supposed to do? They won’t keep quiet, Scarlet.”
My motherly instinct kicked in. I spread my arms out.
“Pass them to me,” I said, grinning.
The were going to be good fathers. They acted slightly clueless, but it wasn’t difficult to tell how much they loved their sons.
We were a strange family, but we’d work things out, step by step, taking things one at a time.
“Wendy, what is the stock on our cupcakes?”
Wendy had been my most important shop as**sistant for the last couple of years. She was absolutely indispensable for the running of my bakery and I’d never have been able to make it this far without her. She had had over ten years of experience in the field, in addition to four years of culinary school. The twins paid her top salary to work for me in the beginning, but recently, things had taken off so well that my business could support her without hurting our balance books.
She tucked some pans into the ovens and set the timer. “More than three hundred, dearies; it’ll last us for most of this morning.”
My cupcakes had been selling like crazy. I’d like to think it was mainly because of how they tasted—the many returning customers were proof of that. But advertising played a huge role as well. I hyped them up often using social media.
I shook my head. “We need more for today.”
“I’m on it,” Wendy said. She already had the next batter done and started pouring it into the cupcake cups.
“And the birthday cakes?” Those were selling well, too. Business was booming, almost too well, and I had another store opening up soon.
“I’ve asked John to start working on them.”
Oh no, John. He was a talented boy, but a bit dull and clumsy. He was working part-time, and wasn’t particularly skilled in the craft. “I’ll have to watch over him.”
“You do that, dear. You know how he gets. I’ll be over in a minute to take over. I’m almost done with the cupcakes.”
