Picking Up the Pieces

“Are you not going to take her to the hospital?” Rene asked after I decided to set up the inflatable pool in the middle of the apartment where I was told to come too.

“No there’s no time. She’s to far gone for us to drive. She’s going to have to give birth here”

“Hell NO” he snapped before I could even carry on. “We both know we don’t know how to deliver kids and I really don’t want to learn today”

I had to laugh at the panicked looked on my brothers face. He might be a devoted father but it was no secret that he had passed out as his girlfriend gave birth to his daughter.

I didn’t want to miss out on any part of this process and I was prepared to do anything necessary for Reyna during this time.

“You might not know how to help but I’ve been taking classes and I know what I need to do. Anyway I have called her midwife and she’s on her way” I explained as he looked on in confusion at me.

“How?…wh-when did you learn?”

I scratched my neck before answering.

“Since she’s left I’ve done a little bit of growing and if I’m going to be a present father I need to show Reyna that she could trust me. So over the past few moths I’ve been taking birthing classes as well as doing a few other things to prepare me for not just the birth but also the experience of being a dad” I explained as Rene looked at me with a little smirk.

“What?” I snarled back at him annoyed with the look he had given me.

“Nothing” he shrugged but I still didn’t give up as he prepared to give me an explanation. “Ok I’m proud of you. I’m glad you’ve decided to man up and do something to show everyone that you are growing up”

This time is was my turn to shrug.

“Well I want my family back but I also know that I have to work for it. And by showing Rey that I can be a responsible dad maybe she’ll give me a chance to be a good boyfriend and maybe a husband to her” I confessed as Rene nodded.

“So you are that serious about her?”

“There’s no one else I want to be with” I confessed without hesitation.

And it was true. It had taken me almost losing everything that was important to me to realise how much I need and wanted to have Rey in my life forever and I wasn’t giving up on her without a fight.

***

“You have to take deep breathes and exhale through your nose” Sergio advised as another contraction hit me.

“How the fuck do you know that?” I snapped at him as I gripped on his hand to make him pay for putting me through this pain.

“I’ve been practising” he began as I looked at him with an angry expression. He must have been confused by my response because he explained further. “I’ve been taking classes with your midwife. I wanted to make sure I could give you all the best support during this” he continued as I raised an eyebrow as I continued to breath.

“And you didn’t bother to tell me?” I snapped as I gripped tighter to his hand in both frustration and pain.

“I wanted to surprise you” he explained sheepishly.

“Well I’m fucking surprised” I swore again as I felt as if my womb was ripped apart.

Sergio opened his mouth to say something but I didn’t hear it as the midwife indicated that I was ready to deliver the first baby.

“Now Reyna I need you to give me one big push” she began as she got into the pool with me to help me through the delivery.

**

“That went very well” the midwife smile in an annoyingly sweet way as I realised I wanted to rip her throat out. It had taken me 45 minutes to push out my first daughter out and I didn’t think I had the strength to do it again.

“I can’t do it” I cried as Paqui took hold of her first twin after they had cleaned her off.

“Yes you can Rey” Sergio tried to reassure me but it only seemed to push me over the edge.

“How would you know Sergio? Have you ever tried pushing out a while person from your vagina because if you have I would LOVE swap places with you right now” I yelled at him but he said nothing back as he listened to my rant.

“You don’t how much this pregnancy has hurt. Its bad enough I’m bloated ALL THE TIME but all I ever want to do is eat. You also want know what the worst part of this whole thing is? I’ll tell you what it is. You promised to be there for me all the time but your not. You don’t call me to find out how I am. You may go to doctor’s appointments with me but I want more than that. I want you to be with me when I feel weird pains in the middle of the night. Or when they kick, you should be there to experience it. This isn’t just my responsibility now Sergio. It’s both our jobs… forever. You can’t be here some of the time. I need you to help me through all of this ALL THE TIME” I yelled as I finally released the thoughts I had been thinking for the past few months.

I looked around the room, which was now occupied by the midwife, Sergio and me. As I took in her terrified expression, I realised that I should probably get the next baby out of the way so the poor woman could leave and so Sergio and me could discuss whatever issues we have.

“I think I’m ready to push again” I whispered after a few minutes of silence. The midwife nodded before getting back into the pool to help me with labour.

This time Sergio also got in as he sat beside me to help me push.

I turned to look at him to ask what he was doing but he shook his head as he explained what he was doing.

“Your right. I needed to be here for you every step of the way and I promise from now on I will because I love you Rey and I want you back” he stated simply as I looked on in surprise.

I didn’t have time to respond to his declaration as another pain shot through me as I prepared to give birth again.