by Lucy Gage
Nina slowly made her way toward him. She stopped about five feet away, as though she didn’t want to be too close to him.
“I hear you’re getting married on Monday.”
Liam nodded. “Doesn’t seem like much point in waiting. We know what we want and everyone is here, so…”
“Right,” she said, seeming hurt. She turned to go.
“Nina…” She looked back at him, a question in her eyes. “I didn’t…”
“Didn’t what? Mean to hurt me? Actually love me? Know about the baby? Know she still loved you? You said it all before. I heard you. Loud and clear.”
She started to walk away again.
“I could have.”
She whipped around and looked at him, her expression full of confusion. He swallowed hard.
“If things had been different, I could have loved you. If I wasn’t in love with her, I wouldn’t have left you.”
She nodded. “It’s a small consolation to know that I might have been good enough if you hadn’t already been in love with someone else. Good luck. I’m sure you’ll be happy. Maybe I will, too, someday.”
With that, she strode away, not bothering to look back.
**********
Jenna stood in her new bedroom, looking out the window as Liam walked across the lawn and down to the beach. She wondered how long he had been standing there, watching her with Rob. If he’d been there more than a few seconds, he would have seen them in an intimate moment. It didn’t happen often, less so now that Emily was in the picture, but they’d always been careful to be less physical with their affection when Liam was around. That display had been a slip.
A couple minutes later, Nina wandered down to the beach, where Liam had just gone. Watching her caused an ache to expand in Jenna’s heart. Why couldn’t that girl get a hint? Just then, a sharp pain ripped through her abdomen and radiated to her back. It lasted for about a minute and she panted through it, clutching the window sill. When it passed, she let her shoulders slump.
She rubbed her belly. “Cam, now is not the time to switch up your kicking routine, buddy. Uncle Rob needs to get married with as little drama as possible. Mommy can’t have his new wife thinking she’s trying to steal the show. That won’t go over well.”
When her heart rate had calmed again, Jenna turned toward the bed and caught a glimpse of Nina’s red hair. The woman was walking up the steps to the beach and looked like she had been crying. She was walking quickly, jogging, really. She looked at the bench, like she wanted to sit. As if she thought better of it, she shook her head and ran toward the house in the direction of the driveway.
Whatever had transpired between Nina and Liam on that beach, it had been upsetting. Jenna could only hope that Liam had rejected her advances. Because it was blatantly clear that the woman was in love with him. And Jenna wasn’t stupid enough to think that he had no feelings for her in return.
**********
The ceremony was beautiful, short and sweet, with the two of them obviously in love. Lucky for his best friend, Liam was in the desperately in love camp today and found them adorable. He sat next to Jenna during the ceremony, rubbing her back and holding her hand. He’d promised Em that they would sit out of Nina’s line of vision so that she could perform the ceremony without seeing the two of them.
Lunch wasn’t quite ready, yet, because they were ahead of schedule, so Liam grabbed some crackers for Jenna. Occasionally, he’d see her grimace and he wondered if she was still having those false labor pains. As soon as they had a moment alone, he’d tell her that he wanted to take her to the hospital, just to make sure everything was okay.
They finally sat down to lunch and despite the fact that the food was delicious – Anja, as always, had outdone herself – Liam could hardly taste anything. The more time passed, the frequency of discomfort on Jenna’s face increased and he became worried.
Lunch was done and Jenna rose to use the bathroom. When she took a step, she collapsed at the waist. Liam jumped up and ran to her side.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
She couldn’t speak and her face was turning red. He could only assume she was experiencing serious pain. It passed and she panted, trying to catch her breath.
Jenna looked suddenly pale, like she might pass out.
“Liam, Liam, she’s bleeding,” Emily said, panic in her voice.
Jenna looked at him and whispered, “The baby,” as she let out an agonized cry. He helped her to sit in a chair.
Rob grabbed for the land line. “What are you doing?” Liam asked, “If you call 9-1-1, the photographers are going to show up here soon after. I’ll take her to the hospital in Brunswick.”
“I don’t give a shit about the paparazzi! I’m calling 9-1-1! She could die, Liam!” Rob shouted. He got the first responders on the phone and relayed the information to them. “She’s about 7 months. Yes, thirty-four weeks.”
Holy shit. The weight of what Rob had said hit him. She could die. The baby could die. He started to panic, and then he remembered that it wouldn’t help Jenna if he did.
“You’re gonna be okay. Rob called for an ambulance. They’ll be here any minute.”
“You’re coming with me?” Jenna asked, panicked herself.
“Of course I’m coming. I promise I won’t leave you.”
She nodded and let out another cry of pain. “It hurts, Liam,” she grunted.
“I know, baby. I’m here. Listen, there’s the ambulance. We’re going to the hospital, okay? If they’ll let me, I’ll ride there with you. If not, I’ll be right behind, okay?”
“Okay,” she replied, shaky.
The EMTs rushed into the house and took charge. They asked questions like how far along she was, if she’d had complications, if she was carrying multiples. They lifted her onto the stretcher, hooked her up to oxygen, took her vital signs, attached a fetal monitor to her belly, asked her when the last time was that she felt the baby move.
It was all so much, it made Liam’s head swim.
“Is the father here?” a female EMT asked.
“I’m the father.” Liam said.
“Okay, Mr. Ackerman…”
“It’s Neely.”
“Okay, Mr. Neely, we’re taking her to Mid Coast Hospital. You can ride in the truck or you can follow us there. We’ll need you to sign the paperwork when we get to the hospital.”
Holy shit, this was worse than he thought.
“He can’t,” Rob interjected.
“What do you mean, I can’t?” Liam asked.
“You don’t have medical Power of Attorney,” Rob replied.
“We’ll have to treat her without it, then,” the EMT said.
“No,” Rob said. “I have Power of Attorney.”
Liam looked at Rob like he had two heads. “What?”
The EMT replied, “Well, then, you better hop in the truck. We’ll meet you at the hospital, Mr. Neely.”
Rob looked at Liam, something in his eyes saying he was torn. Em. “Em and I will be right behind you,” Liam said.
“Yeah, of course.” Rob hugged Liam. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Right.” Liam was trying not to cry. Rob nodded and kissed his wife quickly, then ran and jumped into the ambulance. He held Jenna’s hand as soon as he sat down. “I’m here, honey,” he said before the doors closed.
“Let’s go,” Rick said from the driver’s door of the Escalade. Liam and Emily sat in the back and clicked seat belts as Rick raced after the ambulance.
Emily squeezed Liam’s hand. “Breathe,” she said.
Liam nodded. “How the hell does he have Power of Attorney for Jenna?” he asked to no one in particular. Rick met his eyes briefly in the mirror and looked away quickly, saying nothing. He knew something. “What are you not saying?” Liam asked.
“Not my place,” Rick replied.
“Bullshit.”
“Liam, it doesn’t matter right now, does it?” Em asked.
He shook his head.
Liam nodded. “Okay.” He tried not to panic too much, but the heavy feeling in his gut wouldn’t go away.
His phone rang and before it could play the first two notes of The Beatles’ In My Life, he answered it.
“Mary Cate,” he whispered.
“What the hell happened?”
“How did you…never mind. I know. Jenna…” A tear slipped.
He couldn’t say it. Emily took the phone from his hand and said, “Mary Cate?”
“Who the hell is this?” Liam heard his sister shout.
“This is Emily. Rob’s…wife. Jenna just went to the hospital in an ambulance. She…she was bleeding.”
“Holy mother of God,” she cried. Liam couldn’t hear the rest on her end.
“We’re on our way to Mid Coast Hospital. You can meet us there. Yes. Brunswick. Right. Um, I’m not sure. We’re headed to the ER. Okay. Yes. Call Liam when you get there and we’ll let you know. Right.” Emily looked at him. “You okay to talk to her?”
He nodded. “Mary Cate.”
“I’m coming. She’s going to be okay, Liam. I’ll be there as soon as I can, all right? I’m going through the York toll right now. I’ll be there in a little over an hour. I’ll call her mom, okay? And she’ll call Jenna’s dad. Hold on little brother.”
“Thanks. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
It seemed like it took eons, but they were at the hospital in just over 20 minutes. It was a good thing Rob had called 9-1-1. By the time they arrived at the ER, Rob was standing there, hands in his hair and tears in his eyes and Jenna was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is she?” Liam asked, frantic.
“They took her in for emergency surgery. They…they can’t find the baby’s heartbeat. They need to deliver. Now.”
Liam probably would have collapsed if Rick hadn’t grabbed his waist and kept him from crumbling to the floor. Emily hugged Rob, who was in a state of shock himself.
“What do we do now?” Liam whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks in streams.
He couldn’t lose her now. Not after all they’d been through, not when they were finally going to be together permanently, be a family. To even consider it was unfathomable.
Rob cleared his throat. “I have to sign the paperwork and then they want us to wait in the maternity unit.”
Liam nodded. “We’ll wait for you.”
“No, just…go on ahead. I’ll…I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“I’m waiting,” Rick said. “That’s non-negotiable.”
“Okay. Em, can you go with Liam?”
“Of course. Come on, sweetie. Let’s go. I know where it is. My doctor’s office is here.” She took Liam’s hand and held it as they walked away toward the bank of elevators.
Liam followed Emily, but he saw Rick and Rob glance toward them as they headed to the elevators, the brothers Deacon in a heated discussion, heads close together.
Inside the elevator, Liam said, “Something is fishy.”
“I don’t disagree with you, but now isn’t the time. We’ll deal with it later, okay? Don’t think about it now. Let’s just get up there and wait for news.”
**********
It felt like hours, but it probably wasn’t more than an hour or so later when an intern with an Indian accent came to the waiting room of the maternity ward.
“Mr. Deacon?”
Rob looked at Liam and they both approached the doctor. “That’s me. Do you have news? Is she okay?”
“Uh, well, perhaps we should discuss this in private?” the doctor replied.
“No. He’s…this is Liam Neely. He’s her fiancé and the baby’s father. Whatever you have to say to me, he needs to hear it, too.”
The intern pulled them aside and talked quietly. “I’m Dr. Singh. Jenna is going to be okay, but her uterus ruptured and we had to perform a hysterectomy to save her life and stop the blood loss. She’s in recovery right now. You can see her as soon as she wakes up.”
“What does that mean?” Liam asked.
The doctor looked at Rob, who nodded. “It means we had to remove her uterus. She will no longer be able to carry a child. I’m sorry.”
Liam’s breathing stuttered. He was almost afraid to ask the next question. “And the baby? Is he okay?”
“They’re both fine. They made a rather abrupt entrance into the world, but they’re actually considered full term and their stats are all excellent.”
“What do you mean, ‘they’?” Liam asked, confused.
“Your fiancée delivered twins. You didn’t know?”
He was in shock. Rob shook his head – apparently he had no idea. Twins?
“No. She didn’t know, either.”
“Well, you’ve got a son and a daughter. Both very healthy and strong for twins. It’s lucky that you were so close to the hospital when this happened. I’m surprised her doctor let her travel so late in her pregnancy with twins.”
“I don’t think they ever knew she was carrying twins. The ultrasound never showed two babies,” Rob said. Liam looked at him oddly. How did Rob know that?
“Well, you got two for the price of one, then. Would you like to meet them?” the doctor asked, looking at Rob and then Liam.
“Can I?” Liam replied, his focus back where it should be.
The doctor looked to Rob for confirmation, and then said, “Of course. The rest of the family can come back later, but I can take you to the nursery now.”
Rob nodded and smiled, relief etched on his face.
“Can you let everyone know?” Liam asked Rob.
“Of course. We’ll contact her parents and when Mary Cate arrives, I’ll have her call your family.”
“Thanks.”
The doctor led Liam through the maternity unit to the nursery. They had him don a gown and sat him in a rocker, then wheeled two bassinets over to him.
“Have you held a baby?” the nurse asked.
“Yeah. I have six nieces.”
“Would you like to hold them both at the same time?”
“Can I do that?”
“If you’re comfortable with it, yes. Hold each arm like you’re going to cradle them and I’ll set them in your arms. Have you thought about names?” she asked as she went to lift the first baby out. The tag on the bassinet was blue, so he assumed it was the boy.
Holy shit. He had a son and a daughter.
“Um, we didn’t know we were having twins, so we only picked a name for him.”
She placed the baby in his left arm. Liam almost couldn’t catch his breath. The baby was sleeping, but he yawned and his perfect little mouth reminded him of Jenna. The rest of the baby, though, looked identical to Lila Beth at birth, which meant he looked just like Liam – his niece had been the spitting image of his own baby pictures.
“Hi there, Cam. I’m your daddy.” The baby sighed.
The nurse lifted the bundle from the other bassinet. She placed the baby in his right arm. Tears sprang to Liam’s eyes. She looked like Jenna.
“You, little one, were a big surprise. I think you’re gonna be trouble, little lady.”
“Would you like me to take a picture?”
“Uh, yeah. My phone is in my pocket,” Liam noted.
She extracted his iPhone, snapped a photo and set the phone beside him.
“I’ll give you some time with them. We still have to do some tests. Nothing to worry about, just standard newborn tests. Your fiancée should wake up soon and you can go see her while the babies have their tests done.”
Liam nodded and thanked her. Two babies! Holy shit. In a way, it was a blessing, since now they couldn’t have any more babies together. Thank God the babies came when they did, and not while they were on their way back to LA.
“Are you two going to be trouble like me and Mary Cate were? I’m thinking yes, since you came into this w
orld scaring the crap out of me. Odds are good that this won’t be the end of it. You’re gonna like being twins. You’ve got a built-in best friend from the beginning. Someone who’ll always be there for you, no matter what. Your auntie and I can tell you all the ins and outs of being twins. I’m sure your mom is going to be really surprised when she finds out there are two of you. It explains why she was getting kicked all the time. Bet you were taking turns, weren’t you? My Ma, your gramma, she said we used to do that to her, too.”
The nurse was back. “Mr. Neely? Your fiancée is awake and asking for you. We’ll bring the babies down to the room so she can see they’re okay and then we’ll give you two some time alone while they have their tests. Is that all right?”
Liam nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds great.”
The nurse took each baby from him, one at a time, and placed them in the bassinets. He recalled from when his nieces were born that they didn’t let babies travel outside the nursery or the mom’s room unless they were in the bassinet. Liam followed the nurse down the hall to a big, comfortable room that was about the same size as his bedroom at home.
“Hey, you,” Jenna croaked when she saw him. “Did I scare you?” she asked. Looking at her, pale, with an oxygen tube still in her nose and an IV in her hand, not to mention the blood pressure cuff, Liam was reminded how dangerously close he had come to losing her.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he commanded as he kissed her lips, which were a little dry.
“I promise, I won’t. Why are there two bassinets?” she asked.
“Funny story. Seems you had two of them in there.”
“What? I was carrying twins? How did they not figure that out before? And how is that even possible? I know you’re a twin, Liam, but the father has no influence on whether or not twins happen. It’s not like I was taking fertility drugs.”
He shook his head. He hadn’t even thought about that part. She was too smart. “No idea.”
