Page 119 of Sunshine
“Really?” Izzy bounces on her toes, her eyes falling to my stomach, then darting to my face as she searches for confirmation that I am, in fact, about to give birth.
“I don’t know, sweetie.” I shoot Dylan an accusatory glare even as I wriggle to find a position that doesn’t make my back hurt. “I’ve had two little pains, and there’s still a few weeks until my due date. Daddy might be worried for nothing.”
“Twins come early all the time,” Izzy says, repeating information we’ve given her to prepare her for the possibility that I could go into labor at any moment.
“That’s right,” Dylan says with a pointed look my way.
And, of course, it’s that exact moment I’m struck with a pain twice as sharp as the two before it, sharp enough that I grab my stomach and cry out.
“Izzy? Listen to me.” Dylan’s voice is urgent but in control. “I need you to go find Aunt Daisy and tell her to get the truck and Mommy’s overnight bag from the main house. Tell her to meet us out front as soon as she can. Okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.” Izzy flings her arms around his neck in an excited hug, then does the same to me.
“I love you, Mommy,” she whispers in my ear.
“I love you too, baby,” I whisper back.
Then she’s tearing across the room, calling out at the top of her lungs. “Aunt Daisy! Mommy’s about to have the babies! Quick! Daddy needs the car and the bags!”
And in that brief moment before all hell breaks loose, Dylan catches my eye as he blinks back tears.
“I love you,” he murmurs.
So much more than those three words pass between us then. A lifetime of memories behind us. Another lifetime of love to come. “I love you too.”
Daisy skids to a stop beside my recliner, eyes wild and her smile wide. “Is it true? Are you really in labor?”
“I—” I double over as a contraction hits me, and my stomach tightens past the point of tolerance. “Ah…shit. Yes. I think I’m in labor.”
“I’ll get your car,” Finn says as he strides past, a set of keys already in his hand.
“I’ll go with you,” Daisy adds. “I know where the bags are.”
“Can I come too?” Izzy begs, bouncing around us as Dylan helps me up and out of the chair.
“It could take a long time for the babies to get here,” Dylan tells her. “It’s better if you stay here until they arrive, and then when they’re here and happy and healthy and ready to meet you, I’ll come back to take you to the hospital. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Izzy pouts a little, and I throw Annalise a grateful smile as she comes over to take Izzy’s little hand in hers.
“I know it’s not my weekend,” she says, “but I can stay an extra day or two if you need the help.”
“We appreciate that,” I tell her. “And it might be a good idea. Thanks.”
Dylan gives Izzy a glance, noting the way I do how hard she’s holding onto Annalise’s fingers, then nods. “Thank you. That would be great.”
“Penelope?” My mom maneuvers her way to my side so she can wrap me up in her arms. “I’m so proud of you, honey. And so happy for you. You deserve all these good things.”
My throat tightens, and I blink back tears. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Now go!” She laughs through her tears as she takes a step back. “I can’t wait to meet my granddaughters.”
In the end, Dylan is very wrong, and it doesn’t take a long time for the babies to get here. Not even long enough for me to get to the hospital and request the epidural I’ve been dreaming about for months.
Within an hour of being admitted, our daughter Ivy Davenport arrives in the world kicking and screaming and with a head of reddish-blonde hair. Twenty minutes later, her sister Lily follows, quiet and content to take it all in, looking a little like her big sister Izzy with her brown-colored curls.
And I’m an exhausted but happy mess of emotion and relief, tears streaming down my face as Dylan cradles a tiny wrapped-up bundle, and I clutch a still-hungry baby to my bare chest.
