Arranged

Delivery

Vixen's POV:
We're right back where we were almost a year ago. I'm holding her hands as she prepares for the first push, rocking back and forth and breathing hard, looking me in my eyes. Camara, Z, and King stand in the doorway and When Mia says to push, she closes her eyes tight and holds her breath as she pushes hard, her hands squeezing mine.... superhumanly tight. She exhales and puts her hands in the water to balance herself, and takes a couple deep breaths preparing for the second push. On three, she pushes and holds it for ten seconds, then lets it go, taking her hands out of the water and putting them on my arms for some support.

I pick up the towel next to me and I wipe the sweat from her head as she breathes in and out.

"You doing okay?" I say, moving her hair back off her face.

"I just want these babies out of me." she replies, lying her head on my shoulder.

"Baby A is coming fast. Baby's crowning, give me a big push, okay?" Mia says.

She nods her head and wraps her arms around my waists, hugging me. "Are you comfortable here?" I ask her, kissing her head.

"Mhm." she hums.

Just as she says that, another contraction hits. I rub her back and she rocks backwards, trying to ease the pain and Mia then speaks up.

"After this contraction passes, I need you to push, okay?" she says, moving stuff around and preparing for the next push.

"Okay." Kyla replies tiredly.

The contraction stops after a couple seconds and Kyla takes a deep breath and begins to push again. She exhales and lets her weight drop onto me breathing in relief. "That's Baby A. King, get over here." Mia says.

King paces over and Mia directs him as she prepares to get the other one out. Kyla pushes with all her strength and after five of them, my baby girl is here.

"Fuck." Mia says. "Shit, shit,shit. Stay calm."

My head shoots over to look at her. "What's wrong with her? Mia tell me something." I say, starting to panic internally.

"Mia please tell me she's okay." Kyla says starting to cry as I push her hair behind her ear to place a kiss on her head.

"Her umbilical cord is wrapped around her throat, five times, maybe more, looks like, and tight. She's losing color, her heart rate is plummeting. We don't have a lot of time to save her, so give me those scissors, King. Now."

Kyla starts to cry as Mia begins to unwrap the cord from her neck, carefully but quickly.

"She's gonna be fine, baby, I promise. Don't cry. Shhhh, I'm here, okay?" I say, trying to calm her as she cries on my chest, hugging me.

Mia tries her best to unwrap her neck, and then she suctions the fluid out of her nose, and the baby starts crying. The most glorious sound in the world.

I let out a deep, relieved breath and then Mia hands me my daughter. Another one. Just like her mom. Her eyes, and her nose are mine. But her lips.... everything else is Kyla. After I hold her against my skin for a couple minutes, me and Kyla switch.

My son.

He looks just like me. But he's got some of his mother's features too. His chin, his ears, his lips. Just like mine. But his eyes, his nose, his face shape.. that's his mom. I smile as I look down at him and a tear falls from my eye. I would've missed this. I would've missed this if I were still two states away, incarcerated and missing out on this beautiful moment.

Baby girl came out a healthy five pounds and five ounces. Baby boy came out at five pounds and seven ounces. It's crazy that they were so close. As we sit in the bed, hours later, I look around, analyzing the room. "It hasn't changed a bit." I say, rubbing our son's head as he sleeps.

"What hasn't changed?" Kyla asks, breastfeeding our daughter.

"This room. Except that." I say, pointing to the bookcase. On one shelf sits a picture of me and Kyla at a ball we hosted. Kyla has on that beautiful red dress and her baby bump is visible as she looks up at me, her right hand in mine, her other arm wrapped around my neck. I have on a black tuxedo and I look down at her adoringly as my other hand rests on her lower back. It's captured at a upward kind of angle and everyone else in the back are blurred, the picture only focused on us. It's beautiful.

"I was gonna get a bigger one to put up on the wall at the top of the staircase. Thought it'd be nice." she says. After she finishes feeding, we swap and she starts to feed our boy.

"Have you thought of any names for them yet?" I ask, lying back with the baby on my chest, rubbing her head softly.

"No. I couldn't think of anything. We thought of Aleah's together, but it was mostly you."

"Well I'll help you. You can choose."

"I can't-"

"It's a name. Pick something that just.. flows." I say, shrugging. "Our daughter's gonna be just like you. I can see it now. Spitfire. Bold. But a sweetheart to her parents and friends. Hopefully. So pick a name that goes with that. Our son, obviously is gonna learn to be strong. He's gonna learn to be a leader, just like his father. An heir to the Reed throne. So pick one that goes with those qualities." I say, looking over at her.

She sighs and thinks, sitting back. "I dunno, uhm.... Harley? Or... Fallon. Kai. I think that's it. I like that one."

"Kai Reed. That's creative. Now. Baby boy."

"Finley? Maybe Dallas or Azai. Harvey... I dunno. I have a lot of names. I just can't choose one." she says, sighing and throwing her head back, clearly stressed out. I put my hand on her face and I rub her cheek gently, looking into her eyes and at her lips.

"Hey. Don't stress about it. We'll figure it out, okay?" she nods and I pull close to her to place a soft kiss on her lips. "What about Eli? Maybe Jacob, or Issac." She pauses and looks up at me.

"What if we named him Harley? I like it. It's different and it sounds.. powerful in a way. Plus it's cute. I don't wanna lose that name."

"See? Was that so bad?" I say, smiling as she leans in for another kiss. When I go to put the twins to bed, I look around their nursery and it's beautiful. It's white and grey themed with a little couch and a little white crib for them to share.

There's a lot of other things in here that I missed. I'm half awake right now and I just want to sleep next to my wife for the first time in eight months. I go back to the room and I lie down next to her, hugging her body close to me. "I missed you." I say, rubbing the back of her thighs as my head rests on her chest.

"I've missed you too. More than you know." she says back, kissing my head.

"I uhm... I just want you to know that I never ran away from us. I never just completely gave up on us. I know you felt that way when I left so easily. You probably thought I wanted to take the easy way out. But I felt I had to be strong about it. For you. For Aleah, and for Harley and Kai. I didn't want you upset about me leaving for god knows how long, but what did I expect from my unknowingly pregnant, and already emotional wife?" I say laughing and making her laugh. "I love you. And I mean it. No matter where I am or how far apart we are, even if it's two states. I fucking love you."

"And I love you. Always."