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Lizzie turned in my hold, placing a hand on my chest while she smiled. “I worry about you too, you know.”
I kissed her forehead. “I know.”
“Noah!” Avery screamed from the bathroom. Lizzie took one frightened glance at me before we were out of our seats and running across the condo, the glass of juice shattering against the coffee table. The floor shook beneath my steps as I pounded my way to Avery. She was toppled over, clinging to the bathtub with her left hand, her right cradling her belly.
“What’s wrong?” I pressed, holding my arms out to her. She looked at me with wide eyes, terrified, and I recognized that expression like a second impulse. I noticed her skirt pooled around her ankles, damp from her water breaking. “Lizzie! Get clean towels and sheets!”
I knelt to rub Avery’s back while quickly studying the bathroom. They had a wall of glass in their shower, so using a plastic curtain on the floor was out of the question. I heard Lizzie patter throughout the condo, shrieking with panic that was not going to help Avery.
“I’m going to call for an ambulance,” I told her, continuing to rub circles around her lower back, “but until they get here, it’s you and me. You’re going to be okay, the babies will be perfect, and I’ll stay with you the entire time.”
“O-okay,” she stammered, barely breathing with her word. “Get Sean! I need Sean!”
“I called him,” Lizzie gasped for breath in the doorway, handing me a pile of fabric. “He’s on his way. Noah, what can I do?”
“Well,” I placed my arms on Avery’s hips, trying to stand next to her and guide her posture, “Avery needs to be on her hands and knees. It’ll alleviate some of the pain. Lizzie, get the sheet spread out and wash your hands five times. Then come over here, help her get undressed, and I’ll wash my hands.”
“Five,” Lizzie uttered, repeating my word, her eyes like saucers as she watched Avery.
I took one hand from Avery and tugged on Lizzie’s thumb. “We’re all going to be okay. I do this every day. Now, wash your damn hands so we can meet these beautiful babies.” I put my head on Avery’s shoulder, listening to her breathe and timing her contractions. “Do you think they’ll have those big green eyes?”
“Yes,” she laughed between contractions.
When Lizzie was clean, I guided her to hold Avery and told her to time the contractions while I washed my hands. With the sheets placed onto the floor, Lizzie and I helped Avery onto her hands and knees.
“Do you…remember…when we first met…” Avery looked up at Lizzie, their eyes locking. Lizzie started to cry, squatting to be at Avery’s side. I felt guilty, like an intruder stealing a moment from them, so I was quiet.
Lizzie held Avery’s face, kissing her forehead until it was covered in a sheath of affection. “I think we were both swooning over your husband. God, he’s such a jackass! I can’t believe he did this to you.”
“Blame…Jesse…and Ella,” Avery whimpered.
“Ladies,” I chuckled, “it takes two…”
Lizzie pointed a finger in my face. “Don’t you start.” Point taken. I finished drying my hands, listening to Avery’s contraction stop. They were getting closer, and Lizzie could only do so much to console her.
“Lizzie, take off your shirt,” I barked, tearing off my sweater. “I’ll need you to hold whoever comes out first.”
“He’s bossy,” Lizzie chuckled, her face pressed against Avery’s, “and I really like it.”
I heard Avery laugh between sobs, shaking my head at Lizzie while I settled onto my knees near Avery. The sheets and towels bunched around Avery’s knees and hands as she twisted and grasped the fabric with each contraction. I knew she hurt; I didn’t let her courage and silence distract me. And Lizzie, well, it didn’t help that her hands trembled while trying to soothe Avery.
“Lizzie,” I whispered, nudging her with my toe. Her eyes snapped to mine, her pout tightly closed. “Breathe, darlin’. This is how we all came to be.”
“I was a cesarean,” Lizzie muttered, staring at me, expressionless. I shook my head, closing my eyes to avoid laughing at her.
“If everything goes as planned,” I informed them, examining Avery and feeling her belly, “these little guys will come out pretty close together. Lizzie, I need you to be my nurse here. You’ll need to take one of those towels and clean him off, wipe anything from his nose, give his tummy a gentle rub to help his breathing, and then you’ll need to wrap a towel around him while holding him against your chest. Skin to skin. Okay, Lizzie? You with me here, babe?”
“Skin to skin.” She nodded, her eyes widening with each directive. “I can do it.”
“If Sean or the ambulance don’t get here first, I’ll take the second one so Avery has a minute to turn over. But before that, she’ll deliver the placentas, and I’ll need you to hold both babies then.”
“B-both…”
I kept rubbing circles around Avery’s lower back as I lifted my left hand to pinch Lizzie’s chin, pulling her wide eyes to my gaze. “Elizabeth Jacqueline Lewis! Avery needs you right now. You can do this. I believe in both of you.”
Avery cried beneath me, her head dropping in pain. I reached over her back, gliding my fingers through her hair to pull it back into a tighter knot, receiving her whimper of appreciation before Avery started to sob. Lizzie took off her top and knelt next to me. She was petrified, and I was about to deliver her best friend’s twins; there was no time to even consider how damn beautiful she was in my periphery.
“I love you,” Lizzie told Avery. I wanted to tell her this was the scariest part and it’d be over so quickly, but I knew she’d be a force when the babies came. Both Avery and Lizzie would be.
