They Can't Protect Me From Loving You

“Come on, pick up your damn phone!” Eloise muttered as she listened to the dialling tone as she tried to get in touch with Brian.

“Still no answer?” Val questioned as Eloise was greeted by Brian’s voicemail message.

“Would one of you guys please answer your fucking phones!” Eloise yelled. “As soon as you get this get your fine ass out of that basement and get Sanders down to the hospital or he may miss the birth of his first born.” She said before hanging up and scrolling down to Jimmy’s name and pressing the call button.

“What the fuck are they doing?” Leana said from the driving seat as she caught a glimpse of Eloise's frustrated expression as she was again met by a voicemail message.

“Why bother having a fucking cell phone?” she yelled snapping her cell phone shut in annoyance.

“Try and get in touch with Gena and Lacey ask them to try and get hold of their men.” Leana said as Val grabbed Eloise's hand as another contraction hit.

“Please get hold of Matt. I need him there with me. He can’t miss this.” Val cried.

“I’m trying honey, he’ll be there I promise.” Eloise said scrolling through her contacts again to get Gena’s number.

“Finally, someone who knows what their cell phone is for!” Eloise said answering Gena’s greeting. “Do you have any idea where the guys are?”

“Um, aren’t they supposed to be at your house writing and stuff?” Gena asked confused.

“None of them are answering their cells and we’re on our way to the hospital with Val.” Eloise replied.

“What? She’s not due for another two weeks!” Gena yelled in reply.

“Well try telling the baby that, it wants to come out now!” Eloise yelled.

“Shit, um, ok, I’ll try and get hold of Zack and I’ll meet you there.” Gena said not waiting for a reply before hanging up.

“Where are they?” Val asked.

“Don’t worry honey, he’ll be here. They’re probably just busy working on songs and can’t hear their phones. Brian’s got to meet me in half and hour anyway.” Eloise assured her as Leana pulled into the hospital parking lot.

“Will you be ok walking or do you want me to get a wheelchair?” Leana asked.

“I’ll walk.” Val said concentrating on her breathing. Leana and Eloise both quickly got out of the car and rushed to help Val out and across the parking lot.

Once inside the hospital Val was taken through to the maternity ward, into a room of her own where she could make herself comfortable.

“Finally.” She muttered hearing the sound of her cell phone ringing with Matt’s personal ring tone. “Where did I put it?” she asked frantically searching through her bag just as Brian’s tone began to ring from Eloise's cell.

“About time!” she yelled.

“Baby, what’s going on?” Brian asked. “Ow.”

“El, where’s Val, why isn’t she answering her cell?” Matt yelled.

“Matt, calm down, we’re at the hospital, she went into labour, she’s ok just get here quickly.” she explained.

“I’m on my way!” he yelled before the line went dead.

It took less than ten minutes for Matt to burst through the door, followed shortly after by Brian.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Val yelled as Matt took hold of the hand Eloise had been holding.

“I’m so sorry babe, we were working on some riffs and didn’t here our cells.” Matt replied just as another contraction hit Val. Eloise couldn’t help but giggle as Matt buckled under the pain of Val squeezing his hand.

“They’re every twelve minutes now.” Eloise said glancing at her watch. “Baby, we’re going to have to leave in a minute.” She said turning to face Brian.

“No, you can’t leave me, I need you here.” Val said with a pleading look in her eyes.

“Honey I’m sorry but I’ve got to, besides, you’ve got Matt here now and Leana and the other girls. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She replied.

“Where are you guys sneaking off to anyway?” Leana asked with suspicious eyes. Eloise glanced towards Brian who smiled and nodded.

“Well…” she began as she took a step towards Brian who stepped towards her and placed an arm around her waist. “We’re actually only going down the hall, we’ve got an appointment to see Doctor Wesley…”

“My Gynaecologist?” Val asked confused as Brian and Eloise nodded.

“You mean….?” Leana began.

“We’re pregnant!” Brian announced with a beaming smile.

“Oh guys that’s brilliant news, I’m so pleased for you!” Leana cheered crossing the room to engulf Eloise in a hug.

“How far gone are you?” Val asked as Matt began to massage her back.

“That’s what we want to find out today.” Eloise said subconsciously placing a hand on her stomach.

“Congratulations guys.” Matt said smiling.

“Cheers dude, we’ve got to go but we’ll be back as soon as we can.” Brian said taking hold of Eloise's hand to lead her out of the room.

“Ok Mrs Haner, if you’d like to pull your top up slightly, this gel may be a little bit cold.” Doctor Wesley said with a smile. Eloise did as she asked and lay down on the treatment bed reaching immediately for Brian’s hand.

“Ok now, let’s have a look.” Doctor Wesley said as she switched on the monitor. Eloise and Brian both turned to watch the monitor with interest and amazement as the image of their baby appeared on the screen.

“Oh My God” Brian whispered. “That’s amazing.”

“Baby has a nice strong heart beat.” She said turning up the volume on the monitor so that Brian and Eloise could hear their baby’s heart beat.

“Oh, um…” Doctor Wesley muttered suddenly.

“What? What’s wrong?” Eloise panicked, lifting her head off the bed trying to see what the doctor had seen.

“Nothing, I promise. Just look closely at the screen. You see this here, that’s one leg.” She began pointing to the screen as Eloise and Brian both nodded.

“And here’s the second leg.” She moved a finger slightly, turning briefly to watch them both nod again.

“Well that there is a third leg…” she said moving her finger to point at another shape on the screen.

“Three legs?” Eloise asked feeling confused.

“You mean there’s two babies in there?” Brian asked, his eyes briefly leaving the screen to look at Doctor Wesley.

“Um, yeah, it looks like you’re expecting twins and one is hiding behind the other.” She replied turning to judge their reactions.

“T-twins?” Brian stuttered, squeezing Eloise's hand tighter. Eloise turned to look at him, noticing the colour draining from his cheeks.

“Are you ok babe?” Eloise asked nervously. Brian turned his head slowly from the monitor to face Eloise.

“Could we handle twins?” he asked in a worried whisper. Eloise couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Babe, we’ll be fine, I promise.” She assured him with a smile. Brian nodded quietly, returning the smile as Doctor Wesley finished what she needed to do.

“Don’t worry, twins tend to come as a shock to people, you wouldn’t be the first person to freak out.” she said smiling as she wiped the excess gel of Eloise's stomach.

“Now then, I can tell you that you are actually fourteen and a half weeks, giving you a due date of March 21st.” she said turning to face Eloise.

“March 21st?” Eloise checked she’d heard correctly as Doctor Wesley nodded sympathetically.

“I’m sorry honey.” She said quietly reaching to squeeze her hand. “I saw the date in your notes.”

“March 21st? Shit, a year after you, we, lost our first baby?” Brian replied the words almost sticking in his throat.

“To the day.” She replied in a barely audible whisper as she pushed herself up so that she was sat on the edge of the bed. Brian got up off his seat and walked around to her side.

“It’ll be ok, we’ll keep a good eye on you to make sure the twins develop well and stay healthy. Here, some scan photos for you.” Doctor Wesley replied handing them a small wallet with pictures in.

“Thanks.” Eloise replied.

“I’ll see you in a few weeks. But right now I’ve got to run I’m afraid, I have a patient in labour.” She replied turning to leave.

“That wouldn’t be Val Dibenedetto would it?” Eloise asked slipping off the bed with Brian’s hand firmly in hers.

“Oh of course, she’s a friend of yours isn’t she?” she asked as they walked out of the room and down the corridor.

“How’s she doing?” Eloise asked Jimmy who was pacing back and forth outside Val’s room.

“Leana just came out, said something about eight centimetres dilated and the contractions being less than a minute apart now.” He replied with a confused look on his face.

“Where’ve you two been anyway?” he asked and Eloise and Brian exchanged a smiling glance at each other.

“Come and sit down a moment Jim.” Eloise said walking over to the seats where the others were all sat waiting for news about Val.

“What’s going on?” Zack asked with a puzzled expression.

“We’ve got some news.” Eloise said with a widening smile as she watched smiles appear on her friends’ faces.

“Are you…?” Lacey asked her eyes widening with excitement.

“With twins!” Brian added.

“TWINS!” there was a unified yell from all their friends causing others in the waiting room to turn to look at them.

“Here, take a look.” Eloise said passing the envelope with the scan photos to Jimmy. As her friends gushed over the scan pictures Eloise glanced up to see Leana coming out of Val’s room.

“They’re moving her through to delivery.” She announced standing beside Jimmy. “Oh hey, how did things go?” she added on seeing Brian and Eloise.

“Twins.” Eloise replied.

“Twins?” she asked her eyes widening.

“Wait, you knew?” Jimmy asked turning to face Leana with wide eyes.

“Yeah, they told me when I was in with Val, just before they went to the OB GYN.” She replied just as Val was being wheeled out of the room with Matt by her side.

Almost three hours past with each of the four girls taking it in turns to spend time with Val. She was exhausted and was pleading with everyone around her to get the baby out.

“Hang on in there baby.” Matt cooed as Eloise wiped over Val’s forehead with a cold flannel.

“How much longer is he going to be?” Val asked Doctor Wesley as she examined her yet again.

“Not too long, I can see the head’s starting to crown.” She replied.

“There we go honey, not long now.” Eloise assured her as she reached for her hand. Eloise braced herself against the bed ready for her to squeeze.

“That’s it Val, keep pushing, you’re doing great.” Dr Wesley encouraged.
It took Val another three pushes to finally get the screaming bundle that was Liam Alexander Sanders out into the world. He was cleaned up and weighed as seven pounds exactly before he was wrapped in a blanket and placed onto his tired mother’s arms.

“I’ll leave you to it for a bit.” Eloise whispered with a smile. “He’s beautiful.” She added before leaving the room to announce the birth to their waiting friends. She wasn’t out there long however before Matt joined them to beckon them all back into the room.

“Guys, I’d like you to meet Liam Alexander.” Matt said quietly beaming with pride as he held the tiny baby in his giant arms. The room was quickly filled with oohs and ahhs from the group as Brian snaked his arms around Eloise's waist, his hands resting on the small bump that had began to form. He briefly kissed her cheek before resting his chin on her shoulder.

“That will be us soon babe.” He said quietly into her ear as they both watched Matt pass Liam into the arms of his mother.

“Can’t wait.” She replied with a wide smile.