A Not So Sweet Fairytale

“DUDE my FUCKING HAND!!!! I never would have come down here if I had known my hand would become Torrie’s personal stress ball!” Billie Joe screamed as I gripped his hand, refusing to let go as the head of the first one came out.

“We’re supposed to be encouraging her, that’s what you came down here, of your own free will I might add, to do,” Mike reminded him while holding my other hand.

“That’s it Torrie. You got it now. Just keep pushing. This is what I came to see,” Tre` smiled at me, a little too intrigued by what was happening down there, but I was too out of it to get mad just yet.

“Suck up,” Billie Joe sneered at Tre`.

“You came to see?” Mike asked, ignoring Billie Joe and finally noticing the amount of concentration Tre` was giving this.

“I mean we,” Tre` corrected himself just as I screamed again.

“These STUpid fucKING conTRACtions!” I bellowed, the speech altered by the rhythmatic hell I was going through.

“Alright Mam. This is your last chance. Do you want pain medication or not?” The nurse asked for the hundredth time.

“NO!” I screamed, and realized I was losing my voice.

“Please Torrie?” Billie Joe begged, trying to get his hand out of the death grip I had it in. I glared at him with the malice I'd inherited from my father.

“I think I’d like it,” Billie Joe informed the nurse who smiled and left the room to fetch some painkillers for him.

***

Half an hour later, the thing was completely out of me. They handed Tre` the scissors to cut the umbilical cord and he nearly fainted, but was able to cut it successfully.

“Well this one’s a little boy,” The doctor pronounced, letting me hold the bloody mess for a few seconds before the contractions continued for the second and they took the first to get cleaned up.

“Ready for the next round?” The doctor asked, smiling and I grimaced. Mike just gave me this petrified look.

“WhAT?” I asked him blankly, too deeply immersed in my pain to remember that he didn’t know it was a they.

“Don’t the contractions stop once the baby’s out?” He asked. I glanced at Tre` who also gave me a questioning look.

“NOT when THERE’S anoTHER one COMing out RIGHT after IT,” I squeaked as the contractions persisted, secretly surprised that Tre` hadn’t said anything about them to Mike. He shook his head and smiled, but didn’t say a thing. The second round was so much more painful and I was getting tired. That just fueled the screaming even more and the once colorful language became a vivid mash of clashing colors with each new scream and Mike just kept getting more and more worried. They had asked Billie Joe and Tre` to leave because they kept adding more nurses to help out in the process, but they didn’t have room for everyone, so I was taking all my agony out on Mike’s single left hand.

“Get the fuck AWAY from me!!!” I screamed, red faced at the nurse to my right. She smiled kindly, then walked away as I flipped her off.

“Torrie. Come on,” Mike scolded, gently grasping my right hand and bringing it down to rest on the bed once more.

“Here comes the head- wait- Shit. The feet are coming out first,” The doctor breathed, and all the sudden I jolted as her hands went up to grasp the infant’s middle in an attempt to pull it down.

“Shhhh… It’s okay honey. It’ll all be over soon,” Mike told me, moving my hair from my sticky sweating forehead as I strained again. Within the next few major contractions the thing was at long last out of me, Mike had reluctantly cut the umbilical cord, and I looked at my daughter with my mother’s eyes and little tufts of hair scattered.

“Hello Charlotte,” I said, smiling down at her as they took her from my arms to clean her up, replacing her with my little boy whose name was still a work in progress and I felt the afterbirth coming out too with one final push.

A few minutes later the doctor came back with Charlotte and started, “Now because of your risks we did do a screening of the children,” she told me in an oh-not-so-reassuring-voice.

“And you found something?” I asked, gripping Charlotte as I surrendered the boy to a tearfully overjoyed Mike.

“Yeah, we did. Charlotte has what is called aortic stenosis and it’s basically a narrowing of the heart valves. It causes irregular heartbeats and will cause many problems later on in her life if she makes it. However, there is a medical procedure that she can undergo. It is a surgery where we would basically replace the valves affected with artificial ones if we cannot fix it ourselves. I am not willing to deceive you; this procedure is highly risky for an infant. Do we have your permission to give Charlotte the surgery that will let her live life?” She asked in a hushed tone.

I looked up at her and realized tears were streaming down both my cheeks, soaking the thin layer I had on and I nodded. As the doctor turned around I asked, “Is this a result of the drug I was given when I was in the first trimester?”

She hesitated, “More than likely yes.”

“When will the surgery happen?” Mike asked hoarsely and I realized he too was crying softly.

“Right now. They just have to clear a room. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes to collect her,” she said before running off. Mike motioned for Billie Joe and Tre` to come in.

“Here, why don’t you two hold the twins? I’m sure they’d love to go outside into the hall,” he hinted heavily and they followed suit. As soon as they were gone Mike sighed and looked at me.

“Torrie. I know this is hard, but I’m glad you’re doing this. You’re a mommy now and you’re gonna have decisions like this every day, but if you need to talk to someone about them let me know. I’m here for you as a father as well as a friend. But wow, and nice choice with the name,” he added, giving me a half hug around the shoulders and wiping away my tears with the tissue on hand. All I could do was stare at the wall for a few minutes before Mike motioned for the two to bring the twins back in. Billie Joe and Tre` glanced at Mike wondering what was clearly going on, but Mike dismissed it and handed me Charlotte and the little boy.

“What do you think his name should be?” Mike asked me, trying to pull me out of my staring state without success and I just shrugged.

“How bout Dino, like DinoSAUR,” Tre` suggested enthusiastically and I shook my head.

“Pee-Wee?” Billie Joe ventured and I finally woke up from my spacing state.

“What?! Do you want him to get beaten up every day after school? Besides, with that kind of name he’d never get laid,” I pointed out.

“Ooooh. That’s true. Hmmm… How about Romeo?” Billie Joe tried again.

“But that’s just begging for drama in the romantic department. I don’t really want to deal with that. I was thinking more of… Jack? Jeffrey? Eros?” I suggested and all three simply gave me blank stares.

“How bout Apollo?” Tre` suggested and it was my turn to give him a blank look.

“What? I went to college,” he defended himself.

“Yeah, clown college,” I reminded him.

“Well something about him meant death so we always messed around with it,” he admitted.

“That would be his bow,” Billie Joe sighed.

“What?” Mike questioned, his bright blue eyes big in surprise.

“Tre` told us about it. Remember?” Mike shook his head. “Well he did. His bow was the symbol of death. He also had a twin,” I looked at him.

“What was its name?” I asked.

“Artemis,” Mike sighed, apparently remembering at last.

“Well then his name will be Apollo Jackson Dirnt and her name will be Charlotte Artemis Dirnt,” I said, looking at both of their sleepy eyes and I felt a tear streaking down my cheek at their innocence and a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw that the nurse was right in front of me.

“It’s time,” she said simply.

“I love you Charlotte. I’ll see you soon,” I squeaked, gently hugging her. With that, the nurse took Charlotte from me and went on her way, down to the surgery room.

“How long will it take?” I asked suddenly, but she was already out of the room and well down on her way towards the elevator. Tre` gently took Apollo as I curled up and cried more as Tre` and Billie Joe left the room silently. Mike sat down next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I rested my head on his chest and wrapped my arms around my knees.

“Shhhh…It’ll be okay,” Mike assured me.

You don’t know that.

For the next couple hours I sat in agony, awaiting news, resting my quivering chin on Mike, while Billie Joe and Tre` sat patiently in the chairs on the other side of the room, passing Apollo back and forth, trying to make him laugh. Then the nurse came back in and her face bore her message. She didn’t need to say anything, but she did.

“We did everything we could. She just- her heat gave out before we could replace it. However we finished the surgery anyways and got her heart started again," I felt my heart start again as she continued, overjoyed at the simple fact she had managed to live "But there’s bound to be some damage. She’ll have to stay here tonight,” she told me in a matter of fact way and I breathed again. “I don’t know how much damage occurred, but it is possible it was enough for her to become mentally retarded,” she continued, and then raced out of the room like her ass was on fire to let us absorb the information.

Still concentrating on trying to breathe, I silently damned Jason to the hell he so well deserved.

“Torrie. It’ll be okay. She’s okay, isn’t she?” Mike asked me, the empty shell.

“Of course she is,” Billie Joe affirmed.

“Maybe,” I reminded them coldly.

***

“Hello?” Mike answered the phone and from the screaming on the other end I could tell exactly who it was.

“Oh shit. Just what I needed right now,” I breathed sarcastically.

“I’m sorry, but she was going right into labor. I figured you could just meet us at the--- I know, but things happened and I haven’t had the chance yet--- Sure. Right on Main then onto the highway then follow the signs to Memorial. It’s kinda hard to--- Bye,” he sighed, hanging up the phone and I could tell they’d hung up on him.

I looked at him questioningly since I didn’t want to wake Billie Joe, Tre`, or Apollo who had all fallen asleep hours ago.

“They’ll be here in half an hour- maybe forty-five minutes if we’re lucky,” he answered, unsmiling.

I leaned back in the bed and bit my tongue to stop from screaming out loud.

How could you do this to me? After the past twelve hours, this is what I get? Ugh…

“Shall we warn the innocent bystanders?” I asked motioning towards Billie Joe and Tre`.

“Probably a good idea. I have a feeling they won’t hang around though,” he mumbled and I looked straight at him.

“Why? Have you been bitching about them without me?” I asked in disbelief.

“Maybe. It doesn’t really matter does it?” He smiled hurriedly. “I’ll wake them up. After all, Tre`s started drooling already and Billie Joe is mumbling. I think they’re out cold. They might as well go home,” he told me and I nodded as he got up, handed me Apollo, since he had been holding him for the past three hours, and silently approached the guys.

“Hey buddy. I’m giving you fair warning, the devil’s spawn are on their way,” he said, shaking them both awake.

“Hmmm?” A confused Billie Joe murmured.

“Torrie’s grandparents are on their way,” he clarified.

“Oh shit,” Tre` cursed.

“Wanna scram?” Mike offered.

“Nah. If you and Torrie have to deal with them, we might as well help shield you,” Billie Joe reasoned and I wanted to hug him right then.