Learn From Cigarette Burns

-|| FF Three Months ||-
"Stitch, babe, you're going to have to run around outside pretty soon to do your business." I mumbled as I ran my hand across his slick, black and white fur.

In response, Stitch raised his head, whining loudly as if in protest, before he rested his head back down on my feet. I laughed softly and then pushed myself up, off of the bed. Stitch yelped in annoyance as he sat up, and then watched me as I struggled to my feet. Once on my feet, I swayed slightly on the spot, and then reached over, placing my hand on my bedside table to steady myself.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out in a loud sigh and then glanced down at my belly. I always thought that it people were exaggerating when they said that when you're pregnant, you can't even see your own two feet. But now that I was nine months pregnant, and due any day now, I'll have to say that now I'm a believer.

Placing a hand on the small of my back, I straightened myself up and then looked back to my dog that had been given to me by a boy that was now one of my close friends.

"Stitch, time to get out, now, or else I’m gonna grab the broom and shoo you out." I threatened.

In response, Stitch growled a little under his breath and then stood up. Hopping off of the bed, he trotted out of the room, heading in the general direction of the living room.

I rolled my eyes slightly and then made my way out of the bedroom and into the hallway. Stopping by the closet, I made a move to open the door to grab a coat but stopped short when I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen.

Gasping slightly, I placed my hand on my belly, and tried my hardest to stay calm. These attempts were shot, however, when I felt another sharp pain, and the strange sensation that I had suddenly peed on myself. My eyes grew wide when I realized that my water had just broken, and I tried my hardest to hurry to the living room to grab my cell phone.

As soon as I got to the living room, I eased myself down onto the couch and then picked up my cell phone. Taking long, deep breaths, I hit the speed dial to John's cell, and then held it up to my ear, waiting anxiously for him to answer, all the while, trying to suck it up and ignore the sharp pains every so often.

Closing my eyes, I lay my head against the back of the couch in an attempt to hold back the tears of fear. On the other end of the line, John's phone seemed to ring forever before he finally picked it up.

"Hey sweetheart," he greeted me, "did you remember something else we needed here at the store?"

"John, my water just broke," I whimpered softly.

"I, wait ... what?" John asked slowly.

"I said my fucking water just broke." I cried, suddenly unable to hold back the tears any longer. "I need you to take me to the hospital."

"But, I ... what about our groceries? I have a whole cart full of - "

"Leave it, John." I growled lowly. "Or else I'm poppin' your babies out on our brand new couch."

"Okay, okay, just hold tight, sweetheart, I'm on my way." He assured me.

"John don't hang up on me." I begged. "I'm scared."

"Shh, I won't hang up, Dee." He assured me. "Everything will be fine."

"Hurry." I whispered. "It hurts so bad."

"I'm on the road right now." John replied. "I'll be there soon, I swear."

"Talk to me, John." I sobbed softly as the pain started to increase even more. "Help me keep my mind off of this pain."

Rather calmly, John began talking about things that had happened in high school, bringing back all the good and funny memories of us and our friends. Every so often, I heard his voice quiver and shake, the only sign of his worries getting the best of him. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I heard John pull up in the driveway.

Not bothering to turn off his car, John rushed into the house. He shoved his phone back into his pocket as he crossed the room at a slow run and kneeled down beside me. Placing one hand on my belly, he used the other to wipe the beads of sweat from my forehead.

"Come on, sweetheart," he said gently, "let's get you to the hospital."

He took my Blackberry from me and tossed it aside before he carefully took me into his arms, picking me up bridal style. Holding tightly to him, I buried my face into the crook of his neck, and whimpered softly.

The entire ride to the hospital, John whispered soft words of comfort to me, all the while holding tightly to my hand. All kinds of thoughts and worries were running wild through my mind. I had been actually been one week past my due date; carrying twins, my doctor said that most women hardly carry their babies full term, let alone carry them past their due date.

I had been told that if my water didn't break within a couple of days, they would break it for me and induce labor. I wouldn't even be able to begin to explain scared I was to hear that. But, compare that to how scared I was now, I would probably opt for the induced labor part.

At the hospital, John carried me into the ER and demanded that they page Dr. Stokes. Before long, I was lying in a hospital bed, wearing a new hospital gown, hooked up to an IV, while the nurse took my vitals.

Dr. Stokes had given me something for the pain, but I'm not exactly sure what it was. Every so often I would feel a sharp contraction, but it wasn't anything compared to the intensity of the contractions I was having at the house and during the ride over.

Beside me, John was discussing a few things with Dr. Stokes, none of which I understood. I caught a few select words, such as 'contractions' and 'dilated', but I wasn't interested enough to string them together with any of the other words I heard.

After a couple of minutes, Dr. Stokes left, as did his nurse, leaving just John and I in the room. Feeling him take my hand in his, I turned my tired eyes to him and watched him as he sat down on the edge of my bed.

"Dr. Stokes said that you're dilating pretty fast, but everything is looking good. There aren't any complications, nothing that isn't looking how it's supposed to look." He said softly. "At this rate, he said that you'll probably be fully dilated within the hour or so."

"Why not sooner?" I mumbled. "It's so uncomfortable, I want these kids out."

John laughed softly before he leaned over and pressed his lips softly to mine. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." I whispered back. "But I still want these kids out."

"Soon." John smiled.

Staring up at him, I couldn't help but notice how his green eyes shone brightly, something that only happened when he was truly happy. After everything we've put each other through, I think it's safe to say that we deserve to be happy. True, at the moment I was scared out of my mind, but I knew everything was going to be alright. As long as John was with me, everything was going to be alright.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I felt my eyes widen a considerable amount as my wife screamed a handful of obscenities at me. When she was done screaming at me, she tightened her hand around mine and started all over with the insults.

"John, I hate you!" My wife screamed at me, while squeezing the feeling out of my hand.

My eyes widened even more and I glanced across the bed to David, who was holding onto Dee’s other hand. His expression matched mine, and he shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to say. In the meantime, Dee was done screaming at me for the moment, and was listening to Dr. Stokes, breathing when he told her to, and pushing when he told her to.

"Okay, okay, good, Dee." Dr. Stokes encouraged her. "One more push and your first baby will be out."

With that, Dee yelled a few more choice words at me before she did as she was told. Within a matter of seconds the room was filled with the cries of our oldest baby, and Dr. Stokes cut the umbilical cord before handing our baby off to one of the nurses.

"Alright, Dee, this one will be easier." Dr. Stokes assured her. "Just like last time, push."

"I don't have any energy though." Dee cried. "I can't."

"Come on, sweetheart," I cooed, "just push, Dr. Stokes will help you with the rest."

"You fucking push, John," she snapped meanly at me before letting out another small sob.

Taking a deep breath, Dee squeezed my hand even tighter as she pushed. About three minutes later, I heard the cries of our second born child. Hearing their cries, Dee relaxed and sighed heavily, thankful that it was finally all over.

"Congratulations," Dr. Stokes smiled as he stood up, "you have two healthy babies. One boy and one girl."

"A boy and a girl?" Dee questioned breathlessly. "Goodness, John, to be honest I wanted boys. Girls are such dramatic bitches.”

At her words, I heard David laugh softly to himself. “Congratulations, sister. From what I can see, they’re beautiful. High five on the good lookin’ kids.”

I watched in amusement as my wife held up a tired hand and gave her brother a half assed high five.

After lowering her hand, she turned back in my general direction. "I hate you, John." She sobbed softly.

"No you don't." I grinned before I leaned over and pressed my lips to hers. "I love you." I mumbled as I pulled away.

"I love you too." She whispered as the tired tears continued to fall from her eyes. "I wanna see my babies."

At her wish, two nurses brought our two children over to us. I helped Dee sit up a little bit before one of the nurses handed her our little girl first.

"She's your oldest." The nurses smiled as Dee took her, and cradled her against her chest.

"And here is her beautiful brother." The other nurse said as she handed me our second born child.

"They're gorgeous." Dee whispered as she studied them both.

"They look like you." I said softly.

I wasn't lying; they had her soft features, her gentle hazel eyes, and even tuffs of hair that looked to be the same as Dee's dark brown hair.

Carefully, I placed a soft kiss on my son’s forehead, and then leaned over to my daughter's forehead, kissing hers as well.

"From this moment on," I sighed softly, "I’m not only going to be wrapped around Dee’s finger, but theirs as well." Across the way, I saw David smirk at my comment, but he chose not to say anything.

The nurses laughed quietly as they gently took our children from us, explaining that they were going to get them cleaned up and situated in the nursery. I watched as they left the room, and couldn't help but let a smile pull across my lips before I turned back to Dee.

"You're still going to give me more kids." She mumbled.

"I know," I whispered softly, "I will one day."

"Remember, I want lots of kids." She whispered tiredly.

"How about we just start with the two we have now." I smiled.

"Alright." She said softly as she closed her eyes.

Smiling to myself, I leaned over and kissed her lips. Tiredly, she kissed me back before I pulled away and ran a hand down the side of her face, caressing her cheek softly with my fingertips.

"So," David said, causing me to turn my attention up to him, "this should be interesting." He smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, you’ll be back in a couple of months,” I told him. “See how interesting things get then.”

Suppressing a smile, David turned around, and started his way toward the door. "I know." He said simply before he disappeared into the hallway, probably going to tell the rest of our company that everything had turned out good.

Gazing back to my wife, I reached over and took her hand in mine. Interesting to say the least, these next few months were going to be rough.