Page 113 of Sweet Twins For My Brother's Best Friend

When I arrive, it’s late at night. An Uber takes me directly from the airport to the hospital. It’s only about 15 miles so the drive won’t take too long at this time of day.

My palms sweat and I stare straight ahead. The driver tries to talk to me, but I can’t focus.

Eventually, he gives up and leaves me to stare in silence out the window. The lights of LA and the water rival each other, and I think that their only real nemesis is the color of Hannah’s eyes.

I imagine her now, crying out in agony without me, and I can only hope that her parents and Tyler are offering her some relief.

She’s been unable to call for the more than 7 hours I’ve been on a plane, and guilt has made a home in my chest knowing how panicked and stressed she is right now.

Finally, I arrive at the hospital and rush, my luggage in hand, to the front desk and then to the maternity unit.

I skip the elevator and rush up the stairs, holding my bag across my back, the weight not a concern compared to what Hannah’s got to be feeling.

A Labor & Delivery nurse tells me where to find her. Busting in the door, I call out, “Hannah, baby, I’m here. I made it, right? Did I make it?”

A nurse sidles up to me. “You’re Dad, I’m guessing. We’ve been waiting for you. You made it. Baby number one is crowning now. I need you to go hold Mom’s hand for me and help her breathe through this.”

I’m at her side immediately, holding her warm and sweaty hand in mine.

It feels good to feel her again, and she squeezes my fingers with the strength of…someone giving birth to twins.

I let her squeeze them as hard as she wants to and use my other hand to stroke her hair, pulling sweaty strands away from her face. Still, she’s ethereal, dewy and glowing. “You’ve got this, Hanny,” I murmur between clenched teeth.

She looks up at me with frozen fear and whispers back, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You can absolutely do this, Hannah!” Dr. Meyers tells her. “It’s too late to go back now, Mama. We got you, though; we’re gonna get you through it.”

I look at the doctor, then turn and hold Hannah’s sweaty palms with mine.

I press my forehead against hers so that it’s just us and assure her, “You take your time. They’ll come at their own pace. They won’t stay in there forever. You don’t worry what anyone says or thinks. You make the right choice foryou.”

I pull back away from her and she nods fiercely before breathing in, then out, and it’s all a blur of screaming and crying and chatter and movement.

It’s like being on a train station but not getting on. everythingng around me is chaos and motion, and I’m the thing in the way.

But finally, the doctor’s pressing two naked babies up against Hannah’s chest and saying, “A girl and a boy, congratulations, Mom.”

Hannah drops her head back for a moment and closes her eyes before snapping them open again and asking, “Wait, what did you say? We’re having two boys.”

“Oh, well, we must have read the ultrasound wrong. It happens. Give them both a quick cuddle and we’re off with them to the NICU to get them checked out. They are two months early, which isn’t unusual with twins, but they’re small and we need to be sure we’re on top of any lung or breathing issues. A nurse will stay and help you get cleaned up. Luckily, you didn’t even need any stitches since these little guys just slipped right out. I’ll be back to check on you in a while.”

The nurses clean up Hannah and take us to her own room and away from the craziness of the Labor & Delivery rooms.

I tell Hannah, “I’m going to go tell Tyler and your folks that you’re okay and that the babies are here. Maybe they can go down to the NICU and see them briefly.”

She nods quietly and seems as if she’s about to fall asleep.

At the door, I turn and ask, “Oh, and who’s Scott?”

“Hm? Oh. My boyfriend,” she teases. “Were we supposed to be exclusive?”

I run my tongue over my teeth. “You’re going to pay for that one later,” I promise her, looking through my eyebrows at her.

Catching my meaning, a nurse a few feet away calls out, “Not for 4 to 6 weeks, she won’t!”

Chapter Fifty-One

Hannah

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