Page 38 of Staff Only

I kept my word to Roland, holding his hand through it all. He couldn’t feel anything that was going on behind the curtain, just a brief tugging sensation as they took out first one baby, then the other. Opal, in true older sister fashion, demanded to go first, soon crying loudly to announce her arrival. Jayden, however, didn’t seem to mind waiting his turn. He seemed more patient, letting out a brief bleat while he was being cleaned up, before being swaddled.

“Congrats, daddies,” Dr. Zappek said. “Your children look perfect.” I couldn’t see his grin behind his mask, but the corners of his his eyes were crinkled.

“Thank you,” I told him with genuine gratitude. While he ducked down behind the curtain again, to finish up with the surgery, I watched as the nurses took care of the babies.

My fingers itched with the need to reach for them, but it wasn’t time yet. Roland’s hand tightened on mine, and I knew he was feeling that same need. His eyes were brimming with tears of joy, and when I touched my own cheeks, I found them wet.

“I love you so much,” I told him, resting my forehead on his.

“I love you too.”

It took a little while to get Roland all stitched up, but finally, all four of us were brought back to our room. The babies were asleep in little cradles, but as soon as I had Roland settled, I brought them over to the bed. I passed Opal over to Roland for her to feed, while I held Jayden skin to skin, then we traded.

Once we’d both finally had some breakfast, and the babies were fed, bathed, and napping in our arms, Roland blew out a long breath. “I can already tell you I’m not looking forward to the painkillers wearing off, but it’s all worth it to bring these precious babies into the world. I can’t believe they’re ours.”

“Believe it,” I told him, laughing lightly as I perched on the bed next to him. He wiggled gently over to give me a little more room.

“I guess we should call our parents?” he asked, wincing. I could understand his reluctance; I wasn’t quite ready to let the outside world in yet either, but I knew how excited they were to be grandparents for the first time. They had all wanted to be here in person, but Roland was already stressing out about the day, so we’d asked them to give us some time.

I sighed. “Okay. Five minutes, then I’m claiming there’s a poop emergency and we need to go.”

“Deal,” he agreed, grinning.

Pulling out my phone with my free hand, I put together a group video chat. The screen divided in half, Roland’s parents on top, my father on the bottom.

“Is it done? Are my grandbabies here?” Bethany asked, practically vibrating with giddy excitement.

Beside her, Walter wasn’t faring any better. He had his face scrunched against hers, trying to get a peek at the screen. “Beth, I can’t see,” he grumbled.

“Congratulations,” my father said, stoic as usual, but his eyes were twinkling. He already had a soft spot for these two, and I had no doubt that he would be spoiling them rotten.

I angled the phone around so they could get a view of the babies. “May I introduce you to Jayden and Opal,” I whispered. We’d kept our name choices a secret, so this was the first they were hearing them.

Bethany squealed as quietly as she could manage so she didn’t wake them up, holding a hand over her mouth. “Oh my goodness, they’re so precious. Look at those little noses… Walter, I think Jayden looks like you.” Walter said something in reply, but he’d been squeezed out of the shot, and I couldn’t hear what he said. “And Ro? How are you feeling?” Bethany asked.

“I’m okay, just tired,” Roland said, giving an exaggerated yawn, setting us up for an out from this call. I had to duck out of the camera so they didn’t see me almost losing it. Roland was a horrible actor.

“Aww, honey,” she said. “I tell you what, I’ll give you guys a few days to get acquainted, but you can expect me to be there by the weekend. I’ll help with the laundry and dishes, fill your freezer with enough meals to last you the first month.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I told her. We’d already anticipated that she wouldn’t be able to stay away. “We’ve already got the guest room set up for you and Dad.” Roland’s parents insisted I call them Mom and Dad. My father, meanwhile, had told Roland he could do the same, but so far, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. Instead, he called him Reiny—it was as casual as he’d been able to go.

Soon enough, after more fake yawns (and possibly a couple real ones too), we managed to wrap up the call. Roland really did need his rest, after all. “Get some sleep, sweetheart,” I told him, kissing his forehead.

“If you insist,” he said, his eyelids already drooping. Roland would get a few days in the hospital to recover, and to make sure the babies were doing well, and then, at long last, I could bring my family home, where they belonged.

Our lives had been entirely upended, and I was so ready for the chaos.

Epilogue

Roland

Opal kicked her feet wildly, setting the ruffles of her dress bouncing, the bow clipped in her thick brown hair just barely holding on. Jayden, on the other hand, was lying on the bed calmly, watching me intently with those clear blue eyes.

Emily peeked at them over my shoulder. “You know they’re just going to spit up on those outfits like three minutes into the ceremony, right?” she asked.

“Yep, but look how cute they are right now,” I baby-talked, tickling their bellies. It was hard to tell what they were thinking, but I took the excessive amount of drool to be absolute joy—or maybe that was just me.

I was getting married! Again…

---