Hear Your Heart

Yawning, Olivia turned onto her side, her hand tentatively rubbing at her large bump. It had been a tiresome night, Olivia had been kept awake by a bout of cramps which had failed to subside, and she doubted that she was going to get any more sleep. Her little girl had been awfully active overnight. Yawning a little more, she moved to rub her eyes before she shifted her feet, freezing at the strangely damp sensation that existed beneath her skin. Gasping quietly, she gently lifted the blankets off of her figure and peeked down at the sheets, noting the vast wet patch which had appeared. It wasn’t soaking, if anything, it was merely a little moist, but that scared Olivia more. Her waters had clearly broken a little while ago. Swallowing, she ran her fingers over the sheets before she placed her hand against Iker’s shoulder, shaking the snoring keeper awake. “Iker” she whispered “Amor, I need you to wake up now” she added, her voice quaking a little.

Iker stirred slightly and turned onto his back, his dark eyes blinking. “Querida, what is wrong?” he slurred, his voice heavy with sleep.

Olivia swallowed gently before she peeked up at him. “My waters broke” she whispered “Apparently a little while ago, and we need to go to the hospital” she explained.

Iker seemed to take a second, processing what his wife was saying, before his jaw fell open. “You’re…You’re…”

“Yes” Olivia interjected curtly “And I don’t know how far along I am, so I need you to swallow your shock for a little while, get dressed, grab Thiago and the bag and take me to hospital” she added, her voice a little sharp as another contraction hit.

Iker blinked, but quickly nodded his head, practically vaulting out of the bed.

Olivia watched him go and smiled a little. She had a feeling that this was going to be a long day for him.

~#~
“Thiago’s settled in the hospital crèche” Iker announced as he padded back into Olivia’s private room, sparing her a small smile. It had been a while, Olivia had been admitted at 7:05am and it was now approaching noon, but Iker was confident that they wouldn’t be hanging around for much longer. The last time Tracey had been by, she had said that Olivia was nearly 7 centimetres dilated, and Iker knew that that was a good sign. He hated that notion that Olivia was in pain and wanted it to last for as little time as possible. He wanted her to be able to relax.

“I bet that was hard” Olivia grumbled, fighting through another contraction.

Iker nodded “That was why I was gone for the last half hour, but as soon as one of the nurses came by with a toy he liked, he was off. I’ll go check on him in a little while” he mused as he padded back towards his seat at Olivia’s side.

Olivia nodded gently before she rested her head back on the pillow, letting out a low groan.

“I wish there was something I could do, Oli” Iker whispered gently and he took her hand, allowing her to squeeze the extremity.

“There is. Never get me pregnant again” Olivia grumbled.

Iker spared her a small smile and moved to kiss her hand gently. “I am sure you don’t mean that” he mused gently.

Olivia shrugged, making a non-committal noise, before Tracey padded into the room, a soft smile on her face. “Hey” she mused “I thought I would take another look, see how we are getting on here” she explained.

Olivia nodded her head gently and gripped Iker’s hand tightly, causing the keeper to grimace slightly.

“Well, it looks like we’re just about ready to go” Tracey enthused, smiling up at the expecting couple “Oli, on the count of 3, I need you to push OK?” she posed.

Olivia nodded her head quickly.

“1…2…3” Tracey counted slowly before Olivia pushed with all her of her might, letting out a low pitched groan as she grabbed onto Iker’s hand. The keeper grimaced, knowing that his hand was most likely bruised, but kept it still, knowing that Olivia needed it. “Ok, that was good Oli, but I need more. There is very little happening down here” she explained softly.

“How can nothing be happening?” Olivia wailed.

“It’s probably fine” Tracey reassured “But I need more OK? On the count of 3. 1…2…3” she mused.

Olivia tensed again, pushing with everything that she had, before she fell back into the bed.

“Ok, Oli, that was better. It would appear that the baby is breech, which means she is upside down to what we would usually expect. Unfortunately, that means you need to push even harder” Tracey explained.

Olivia sobbed a little, claiming that she couldn’t, before Iker leant down, pressing a kiss to her clammy forehead. “Vamos, querida” he whispered softly “For Catalina” he added.

Olivia peeked up at him and nodded gently, preparing to push once more.

~#~
“Princesa” Iker whispered as he held the little girl in his arms, his dark eyes marveling at the tiny bundle which stirred so slightly in the white blanket she was wrapped in. She was tiny, smaller than Iker had imagined she would be, but she was still perfect. She had a splattering of brown hair and the cutest little face that Iker had ever seen. “She’s perfect, Oli” he murmured softly “Gracias for carrying her and then for pushing her into the world” he babbled.

Olivia spared him a small laugh. “She is beautiful, isn’t she?” she cooed gently.

Iker nodded his head. “So beautiful, just like her beautiful madre” he enthused, shifting Catalina against him.

Olivia blushed softly at his compliment before she stretched her arms out, asking wordlessly for Iker to place their newborn daughter into them. “Welcome to the world, princesa” she cooed as Catalina whimpered slightly “We’re going to love you so much, Lina” she whispered, pressing a kiss to the little girl’s head.

Iker smiled fondly at the sight ahead of him. It was a sight he had doubted he would ever see. “Are you going to go and get Thiago?” Olivia posed, looking away from Catalina for a second.

Iker shook his head. “He can wait in the crèche for a few more minutes. I kind of want to spend a few more seconds with my girls” he whispered, sitting beside her.

Olivia smiled gently and leant up to peck his lips, wordlessly thanking him for helping her to make the little girl who laid in her arms.