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LOUISE COULDN'T CONTAIN her screams of pain. It was 9 months after hers and Jack's wedding and now she was pregnant.
She didn't mind at all at the time when she discovered her growing belly. She especially didn't mind when she told Jack the news and saw his reaction. He became a soppy mess, crying happily into her shoulder and constantly smothering her with affection and care.
It made their already unbreakable love even stronger as a little person began to grow inside her.
But after 9 months, the sudden pool of wetness that leaked down her legs and the constant pangs of pain shooting through her stomach caused her to really hate the man she married. Thankfully, when her water broke, the entire family was there. It was one of the special occasions where all sides of the family come together - the Davies, the Collins, Viola's parents and Matthew's too. The amount of experience that surged through the room was overwhelming for Louise as the two mothers and two sisters hastily guided her up to her childhood room upstairs, while the men gave her pathetic words of encouragement. Like they knew what she going through, she thought bitterly. She didn't mean to think such mean thoughts of her family, but she really wasn't in the mood for them.
Jack, however, was different from the other gentlemen in the family. He followed after them, holding tightly to Louise's hand. The Davie women tried to push him back to the lounge, but Louise insisted she wanted him there for the birth. She needed him there.
"I can't do it," Louise screamed out in pain, her back arching off the bed as the mothers and sisters prepped her.
"You've got to, Lou," Carey soothed her hair down. "You can do it, alright, love?"
Jack soon knelt by the side of the bed, his hand cradling his wife's. He winced in agony when Louise squeezed his finger tightly, hearing a faint crack coming from the knuckles. "You got this, my love. In a bit, we'll see a little me and you in your arms. It'll be worth it, I promise."
Louise cried, her tears falling into the pillow as she turned to face Jack's hopeful face. "It'll all be worth it," she whispered croakily.
Jack nodded with a grin, moving his hand to smooth down her unruly locks. "That's it, lass. All be worth it," he pressed a kiss to her tense hand to enclosed itself around his own hand tightly, but he managed to push to his own pain to back his head and focused on Louise's instead.
Margret and Pat parted Louise's legs and pulled her cotton knickers down her legs. "Right, you need to push, sweetie," Pat smiled to her daughter.
Louise screamed as she tried to baby out of her but gave up shortly after, flinging her head back to crash onto the pillow. "It hurts, Jack," she sobbed out, her angelic face red and coated with sweat and tears and masked with pain.
"I know, love," Jack teared up, wishing to take away her pain. "You're a strong woman, Louie. If anyone can do this, it's you, Louise Collins. Ye hear me? You can do this," Jack encouraged her, pressing kisses to each of her knuckles. "Push, angel. You're almost there. Just push for us, yeah?" Jack wiped away her tears, his thumb caressing her cheek.
After an hour of deafening screams and nearly broken fingers, Louise released one more gut-wrenching cry. It broke his heart to hear her like that but it was soon sown back together with the small high-pitch cry from the baby that Louise had finally pushed out. Carey quickly took the baby in her arms and wrapped it up in the family blanket.
Yet, Louise wasn't put to ease at all. She still felt like something was inside her. Jack was in tears as he watched Carey bundle their baby but the scream that rippled through Louise's throat caught his attention immediately. "Baby? What is it?!" Jack questioned, clutching onto his wife's hand.
"I think there's another one," she crooked out, pointing to her bloated stomach. Jack's eyes widened, so did the other women in the room. Margret placed her slightly wrinkled hand over Louise's stretched belly and felt the familiar kick of a baby.
"She's right," Margret nodded over to Pat. "You're twins," she grinned with excitement.
Jack felt like fainting out of excitement. He was not expecting such surprising news. But the painful grip on his hand snapped him back to reality. A few minutes later, another baby was brought into the world and bundled in a soft towel. Louise was exhausted as she slumped back into the bed.
Jack moved onto the bed with her, hauling her body up, so her head rested on his chest. Carey and Viola brought over their babies to them. "Congrats, loves," Viola spoke quietly. "You're got a little boy and a little girl."
Viola handed their baby girl to Jack and Carey passed their baby boy over to Louise. Both new parents cried at the sight of them. They couldn't tear their eyes from either of them.
The little girl had the darkest brown eyes and a thin sheet of brown hair covering her small head, whilst the little boy had blonde hair and light blue eyes. They were like the perfect miniature versions of Jack and Louise.
"You thought of any names yet, loves?" Pat asked her daughter and son-in-law, her arm linked with her daughter and Margret, whilst Viola's head rested on Carey's, as all four women stared in awe at the little family on the bed.
Jack and Louise looked at each. Their gaze conveying all their love, admiration and happiness in a simple eye-lock.
"Yeah," Jack whispered, not daring to speak any louder as the little girl in his arms began to drift off to sleep. "We decided on Molly Patrica Collins for a girl," Jack smiled as Pat began to cry at the small tribute to her as a middle name.
"And this one," she nodded softly down at the little boy in her arms. "Will be called Murphy Fredrick Collins," Margret clasped a hand over her heart at the small mention of her husband name.
"Wait until Wilf hears that," she cries out quietly.
Louise chuckled softly caressing her children's head softly before running a thumb over Jack's cheekbone. "I love you, Jackie."
Jack grinned, pressing a kiss to her palm. "I love you too, Louie."
Seh once again wrong before. This was now the best feeling she had ever felt. Nothing could ever top how she felt then. With her two sleeping children and her tearful husband by her side. No matter how long they had to wait for each other, nothing would ever tear them apart now. No war that God thrust upon the world next, no surprise births, no life, no death - nothing would get between the hearts of Jack and Louise Collins.
They belonged together and that's where they would stay.
