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“Okay, let’s keep you comfortable and I’ll be back in a little bit.”
As she stepped out, Eddie came to join us. Archie had become a statue at my side and I tilted my head to look up at him. His jaw was clamped, a muscle ticked away in his cheek, and his gaze was a thousand miles away.
“What do we think of Armand?”
Coop mashed his lips together to keep from laughing. Jake grinned and Ian shook his head. Archie didn’t quite respond yet.
“Maybe Andrew.”
No response.
“Atlas,” I said and that snapped Archie’s gaze to me.
“What?”
I grinned. “Looking for more boy names that start with A. You didn’t seem to mind Armand.”
His expression turned comical. “We are not naming him after The Vampire Chronicles.”
“Pfft,” I said. “Alaric would work then.”
“That’s Vampire Diaries.” He gave me a narrow-eyed look, but I didn’t mind in the slightest. He was talking again and we’d broken through the terror and the shock. “Besides, I think I prefer Filbert.”
“Okay,” Eddie said with all due sobriety. “At this rate, neither of you are getting to name these kids.”
I grinned. “You don’t like Filbert? What about Fairbanks?”
The laughter felt good. So did the kiss Archie gave me. The next couple of hours passed by swiftly. Nurses came and went. I had to talk to the social worker who asked me the same set of questions they always asked.
While I appreciated it, it always felt kind of silly for me. Yet I loved the idea of the help being there for everyone. The contractions actually began to hit more firmly at the top of the third hour.
Jake offered me some ice chips. I would kill for coffee. But no food or drink. Doctor Patterson was back. “You don’t appear to want to take our time today.”
“Sorry, Doctor,” I told her and then had to hold that thought as another contraction hit.
“Keep breathing, Babe,” Archie said. “You gotta breathe with it.”
Yeah, breathing with it sucked, but I tried to push out the air and then as the pain eased off I took a deeper breath.
“No waiting today,” I said, licking my lips.
Eddie retreated to the top of the bed and Ian lifted his chin to him. The guys were taking turns and they were all keeping an eye on the time, the monitors, and me. Coop stationed himself near Archie. None of them had ever passed out, but Doctor Patterson horrified them with that story of the dad who fainted so now they watched out for each other.
It was adorable.
“We are definitely ready to get you into position.” Oh right, the doctor was checking how dilated I was. It said something that I barely noticed anymore.
The next contraction hit and I’d remembered to suck in the deep breath first, then I pushed it out as I rode the pain. When it passed, they were getting me more forward, feet in the stirrups.
“Okay, pushing twins is a lot like pushing a single baby, you just get to do it twice. You’ve already got one ready to crown and they are in position—you ready to do this, Mama?”
I grinned at the doctor, though it might have been a grimace too because the contractions were coming again and a lot faster.
“Archie…”
“Right here,” he said clasping my hand with his. Jake had baby duty, when they came out they moved them to test them and do all the things. Jake would go with them. Sticking close. Ian would back him up.
Coop moved around to take Ian’s spot and he clasped my free hand. “Let’s do this, Beautiful. We’re about to grow this family.”
