Leather Jacket

Chapter 39 One way or Another

"What happened up there ?" Marco asked pulling me to the side.

"Uh , nothing. I just think my water broke that's it. It's nothing.  Let's keep going. " I said trying to get back to the party while Marco placed both of his hands on either sides of my shoulders watching me.

"What ? Where?" 

"Like ... over there... an hour ago... ish ?" I said nonchalant trying my best to ignore the burning pain practically ripping me apart from the inside.

"An hour !? Alice why didn't you tell me !? Since when have you had contractions?"

"This morning?" I said whincing knowing full well I wasn't making this any better on my part. If Marco was upset about something, he was going to be upset about it.

"This morning!? Alice what were thinking?" He said pulling me more to the side.

"I was thinking that I didn't want to ruin the one chance Dante got something to himself. He's going to be sharing everything from now on for the rest of his life. He doesn't need to share his birthday too Marco. "

"I understand that. But what did you think you were going to do ? Hold your breath and keep squeezing? Alice, we got to get you to a doctor. " he said more softly and caring , as I realized that what I thought right now wasn't important any more. I had two other lives to think about.

"Okay." I said in defeat while Marco pulled Tom , Frankie and Dom to the side.

"Tom , you and Frankie clear the party out and make sure this place is spotless. Dom , I need you to look after Dante until we get back from the hospital." He instructed while he lead me to the car out front. They didn't even have time to question anything, neither did I get to say goodbye to Dante. Like I said ; when Marco's got his mind set on something, he was going to get it one way or another.

I lied back on the car seat while it felt like Marco practically flew through traffic. It didn't take him that long to get me to the hospital and settled in,  and I was NOT complaining about it. This time around I was not only carrying two but it felt like I was in twice as much pain and discomfort as well.

"Better ?" He asked , rubbing circles on my hand while I pinched my eyes shut trying to get as comfortable as I could under the circumstances.

"Thanks to you."

"Yeah , and you would've been sooner if you had told me this morning. "

"Marco look , I didn't want to ruin Dante's day. Would you have thrown the party anyway if you knew about this earlier ?" He didn't answer and that was an affirming yes in itself. 
"Exactly ." I said turning on my side towards him.

"You're really tough you know that ?" He said with a smile a I listened to him talk. "I hope all of our children inherits atleast half of your strength. " he said placing a kiss to my hand making the pain just slightly more bearable. 

"I don't know how we're going to do this." I said in realization as it became more and more real. 

"Do what ?"

"Handle three children so close in age . I mean I know we've talked about it before but now it's so much more real . I don't want Dante to feel less than , Marco. I really don't. Promise me we'll do anything we can to remind him he's just as important and special as his brother's."

"I promise." He said giving my hand a squeeze and placing a kiss to my lips. I know it sounds silly to most people but to me this was a very important principle. Eldest children often felt over looked because of younger siblings requiring much more time and attention, especially when their so much closer in age. That's the last thing I would EVER wish upon Dante.

After a few hours has passed and we hit 2am , nothing has happend yet besides me being in constant pain. They said that sometimes these things happend with multiple pregnancies and lucky me just so have happened to be amongst the 3% it did happen to. So , against Marco and I's wishes I was scheduled to get a C-section early in the morning. They could've done it the moment they advised it but I wanted atleast a day between their birthdays. If they were going to have to almost share birthdays, the least I could do was bite down on the pain for a little longer so it was a day apart. I wasn't going to lie and say I was okay with this , this was the last thing I wanted. Oddly enough I enjoyed and cherished my birth experience with Dante so much that I so badly wanted to redo everything a second time. Crazy, I know. But I guess this was safer for all three of us so I didn't want to keep on pretending this wasn't real and endanger all of our lives.

At 8:45 I was wheeled into the delivery room with Marco dressed in scrubs following closely behind. A weird experience I never thought I would have to experience. I didn't remember much that happend, mostly because there wasn't much to remember. There was no me lashing out at Marco because he put me through this , no pushing and no comforting words since I wasn't doing anything aside from lying on a cold metal table with a sheet dividing my view from my numbed lower regions.

9:15 am.

The first cry was heard.

It was the first thing I remembered and the first thing that made me realize that despite the difference in birthing experience, I was still becoming a mother. And exactly 3 minutes after , another cry was heard while they handed me them to see. I so badly wanted to reach out and hold them but this was as far as I could go while they closed me back up. I got to see them for a brief 10 seconds before they were rushed out to a different room to be checked. I watched as Marco longingly stared behind them and then back at me.

"Go. " I said giving him a smile. "I'll be okay." He gave me the brightest smile , placing a kiss to my lips before running behind them. He was a great father already. I had no doubt in my mind about it.

The next thing I knew , I was waking up in my room again seeing Marco sitting with a baby in each arm as I watched him interact with them with so much love and care.

"How long was I out for ?" I asked stirring -feeling the painful stitches - and remembering what my body just went through.

"Woah, don't move Alice. They said this is a lot different. You're going to have those stitches for a while. " he said walking over to me and handing me a baby. "You were out for an hour"

"Which one was born first ?" I asked while I watched him check the bracelets around their ankles and confirming it was the one I was holding.

"That one." He said with a smile as I tried to suppress my laugh. They both looked so similar. I wondered how we would ever be able to tell them apart. What if we mixed them up by accident? And they end up growing up as the other because we couldn't tell them apart? Or we switched them or something?

"I know it's a bit overwhelming but I've had some time to really look at them while you were resting. " Marco said sitting next to me "see , this one has a little birthmark behind his ear. And this one's at the back of his neck." He said while I watched him point out their faint but helpful differences. It made me so happy to see Marco this passionate . I sometimes think he was more cut out to be a father than he was for a leader.

"What are we going to name them ?" I asked looking at him while he tilt his head to the side.

"How about we name this one Emilio ? " he said pointing to the one in my arms -the eldest of the two -

"And this one Mario ?" I said suggestive while the brightest smile spread across his face looking like it could reach the stars.

"Emilio and Mario Romano. I love it. "

That's it ! I know it's not quite a cliffhanger but not every chapter has to be right ? Or am I wrong ? Thank you so much for reading. Remember to leave your thoughts in the comment section below . Until next time keep howling my wolves ❤🐺