Page 68 of The Virgin's Baby
“The babies are coming today?” Lucius asked.
“It seems so.” Ransom led me out of the room. “I’m getting her up to the labor department.” He looked at his grandfather’s doctor. “Please get a nurse here to give Grandad whatever he needs? I want him feeling better as soon as possible. We need one more set of loving arms to hold baby Lucius when he’s born.”
Lucius stopped me as he grabbed my arm. “Does this mean that I get to be in there when the babies are born, little momma?”
I smiled at him as he’d mentioned he wanted to be there. So my doctor and I came up with a plan. “We’ve made adjustments to the delivery room we’re going to be in. Thanks to all that money you have, we can make miracles happen.”
Ransom wasn’t letting any time get wasted. “Come on, tell him on the way up, Aspen. I want you in bed with monitors all over you ASAP.”
Rolling my eyes, I went on, “He’s going to be so bossy throughout this, I just know it. Anyway, Lucius, we’ve set it all up. There’s this clothesline thingy with sheets thrown over it that will separate you from seeing anything yucky. But you’ll still be a real part of things too. And when the babies are born, you will see them at the same time we do.”
“How much did you pay for a clothesline and sheets?” Lucius asked with a frown.
Ransom pushed the button on the elevator. “Ten bucks.”
“All the money in the world and you came up with that idea, Aspen? I tell you what, you’ve got that penny-pinching knack, girl.” Lucius patted my arm as we walked into the elevator.
Even if I were the heiress to a billion-dollar oil company, I would never forget where I’d been. “It’s just my way.”
Only a few hours later, there I was with my feet up in stirrups and sweating up a storm as one contraction hit me after another. Ransom was as red in the face as I was as he counted through each one, holding my hand as I squeezed it hard.
The nurse shook her head as she looked at the chart. “That was a mean one, honey. You sure you don’t want that epidural?”
Catching my breath, I told her, “I want to feel this whole experience. I missed out on making them the old-fashioned way. I want to experience the old-fashioned way of giving birth to them.”
I knew no one understood me. Why would they? Not many virgins had ever decided to be impregnated the way I had. Not when they had a perfectly capable man who wanted to have a baby.
Oddly enough, the wait for Ransom made it even sweeter when I got to have him. He had taken my heart without me even knowing it. The love I had for him crept up on me a little at a time.
When something comes on slowly, it tends to sink in deeper than if it’s given quickly. Or so I thought anyway.
The process of having those three babies took nineteen hours. A long time. Time enough for me to let so much settle into my heart, soul, and mind. My love for those kids would only grow, but it was already deep and honest.
Elijah took the first ride out. Ransom waited right next to me, holding my hand and straining right along with me as I pushed the four-pound boy out into the world.
His scream was shrill and loud, prompting Lucius to call out, “Oh, boy, he’s gonna be a good one!”
I fell so deeply in love with that little dark-haired boy as soon as I laid eyes on him. “He looks like his daddy. I love you, Elijah.”
“Daddy loves you too, son,” Ransom said. “Oh, God. That felt so weird saying that.” Then he beamed with pride. “I’ve got a son!”
“You’ve got two of them,” I reminded him.
The contractions eased up for only a few minutes. Then they returned with a vengeance. “Ah! Here we go again. I wonder who’s next in line.”
Ten short minutes later came our little princess, Arian. “Momma loves you, baby girl,” I called out weakly. The time and pain were getting to me.
Ransom could see that. He kissed me on the forehead. “Only one more, little momma.”
I didn’t think I could do it again. It was too much. I had nothing left. “Ransom, I don’t think I can push anymore. I’m worn out.”
The next thing I knew Lucius popped his head over the sheet that separated us. “Little momma, I know you’re hurting. I know you’re tired. And I know I have no idea what kind of pain and tired you are. But I know this. You’re a fighter. You’re one strong individual. And you can do this. I have faith in you.”
With the support of my whole family, I gave it one last shot and three minutes later little Lucius was screaming at the top of his lungs. We’d brought our three little embryos all the way home.
A home I knew we all would make sure stayed happy. We’d found our happy ending, and each one of us would treasure it always and forever.
The End
