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Anna was on bedrest for the remainder of her pregnancy with a month to go, give or take. But we’d been able to hire enough employees to keep the place up and running. I’d mostly retired from my brothers’ business, instead focusing on my family and the non-profit. I still helped out, but my heart wasn’t in it as much as it was for the others. My little animal sanctuary was where it was at, though.
My phone buzzed. Anna was at the cabin since our house up here wasn’t quite finished. I answered it.
“Hello? Everything okay?”
“I don’t think so, Levi,” she said, and my heart skipped a beat. I could hear the pain in her voice. “I think I’m in labor. The bed is soaked… oh God, Levi!”
“I’ll be right there. I’ll call an ambulance on the way, just stay calm,” I said.
“I’m trying,” she said through heavy breathing.
I got off the phone with her and rushed to my truck, dialing 9-1-1 while I sprinted. I told them my wife was in labor, or at least suspected it, and hurried home as quickly as possible. Thankfully the land was only about a ten-minute drive from my place. I pulled into the driveway at a hundred miles an hour and parked all wonky. I beat the ambulance and ran inside to find Anna in bed in a fetal position. She was wearing just a nightgown, and everything was soaked. Her water had clearly broken.
“The ambulance is on the way,” I said as I dropped to her side. I had no idea how to deliver a baby, no idea what I was doing or how I could help. I cradled her hand in mine and she squeezed it tightly and let out a cry of pain.
“The contractions…are…coming…fast…”
“Breathe, sweetie. Just breathe. Don’t worry about talking.”
I could hear the sirens in the distance, thank God. They were close.
Tears streamed down Anna’s cheeks as she looked at me with absolute terror. I thought she was fearful of the labor, but as soon as her contractions died down, she whispered, “The babies… it’s too soon.”
“They’re early, yes, but we expected this with twins,” I reminded her gently.
“But we were hoping for at least another week or two,” she said. “At a minimum.”
“I know, sweetie. I know, but they’re coming whether we're ready or not. We can do this. You can do this. You’ve done so much. I have no doubt you can birth healthy babies right now. I believe in you.”
She closed her eyes and nodded, focusing on her breathing.
There was a knock at the door.
“It’s open,” I called out, not wanting to leave Anna’s side.
Paramedics flooded the little cabin and rushed into the bedroom. I let them take over, trusting they knew what they were doing.
“We have to get her to the hospital,” one of them said, stating the obvious.
Another added, “We don’t have time. A baby is coming already.”
The paramedic knelt between Anna’s legs, and another told me to hold her hand and comfort her. I stood by her side, trying to find the words to help her through it as the paramedic delivered the first baby.
“It’s a boy,” he announced.
The room was quiet. Too quiet.
“Why isn’t he crying?” I asked.
The paramedic handed him to another, and that one started swishing a finger in the baby's mouth. It felt like the entire earth stood still for that one moment. I watched as he worked on my son, who was so tiny in his hands. Too tiny to be real. I started to worry that maybe Anna was right, maybe it was too soon…. Anna let out a scream and I wasn’t sure if it was another contraction or the panic of not hearing our son cry.
But a second later, the little boy let out a whimper and a cry. It was the most precious sound I’d ever heard. Anna seemed to relax into the bed just as another contraction seemed to hit her.
“Number two is on its way,” the paramedic said.
Anna squeezed my hand, and I thought she might break the bones in her fingers by how tightly she gripped, but a second later, the paramedic said, “It’s a girl!”
Right away, our daughter had lungs of steel, crying out as the paramedic cleaned her off. Both our babies were here, and they were crying. I kissed Anna on the forehead and said, “You did it, sweetie. You did so good.”
