With every contraction, I felt a gush.
I knew that this was real labour and I knew they weren't going to try and stop it this time.
The babies were on their way.
"I called Meg." George said when he returned with Fred followed him. "She told us to wait a little... either until there's five minutes between each contraction of if your water breaks."
"But I'm not thirty-six weeks." I said and looked up at him. "I'm only thirty-five..."
"And five days." He pointed out, brushing his hand over my hair before he leaned down to kiss me. "You can do this... you're strong, remember?"
"Strong my arse." I scoffed. "I'm getting that epidural the second we get to the clinic."
George chuckled and then kissed my head.
I laid there for thirty minutes, having contractions that got stronger, sharper and more intense and along with the contractions, I was having a horrible backache and headache.
Fred was timing the contractions while George was doing his best to take care of me but I really just found them all annoying.
"You're shaking." He said, running his hand up and down my legs, trying to soothe me.
"How long apart are the contractions?" I asked and looked at Fred.
"Seven minutes."
I groaned.
"I have to pee again."
George helped me sit up and I pulled myself up to stand.
"Do you need help getting out there?"
I shook my head as I started making my way into the bathroom. I closed the door behind me and then locked it.
The minute I pulled my sweatpants and underwear down, I saw blood in them.
Not a lot, but it was definitely blood.
I hurried to pee, put a pad in my underwear and then finished up in here before making my way out to the others.
"I'm bleeding." I said, not knowing what to think about it.
Bleeding was never a good sign in pregnancy but I was in labour and was gonna give birth so... I didn't know.
"Can you call Meg?" I asked, making my way back over to the sofa, supporting my stomach as I sat down.
"...wait." George frowned. "You're bleeding? Where?"
"Where do you think?" I asked in annoyance.
Another contraction hit me and Fred quickly turned on the stop watch on his phone.
At the same time, George got up and started pacing around the room while taking to Meg.
"She's bleeding... shaking like crazy. There's—" George turned to Fred. "...wait, how many minutes?"
"Six."
"Six minutes between contractions and they last about a minute now." George told Meg. "Yeah, she's having backaches and headaches too..."
George nodded while staying quiet for a moment, as if she could see him nod.
I was sitting on the sofa, taking deep breaths until the contraction finally stopped.
"That was terrible." I muttered, and Fred stopped the stopwatch. "How long was that?"
"Sixty-two seconds."
I nodded slowly.
I couldn't stop shaking. I tried to calm my nerves but my body wouldn't.
"Alright. Thank you. We'll see you soon."
George hung up and slid his phone into his pocket.
"She told us to come in."
"Alright." I nodded. "I'm gonna take a shower."
"A shower? Dia, you're in labour and you're bleeding and you want to take a shower?"
"I am not going in looking like shit!" I exclaimed and got off the sofa. "I'm taking a shower."
"Fine." He nodded. "I'm getting the car ready. I'm also gonna go grab some more clothes for the babies in case they don't fit what we packed."
I simply nodded before making my way upstairs.
Not far after I had stepped into the shower, I had another contraction and then my water broke.
I supported my weight by placing a hand against the wall, looking down at the floor with my lips parted.
"Oh..." I muttered to myself.
Alright this is really happening.
I quickly finished my shower and got dressed into something comfortable for the trip to the hospital and when I made my way downstairs, George stood ready with my coat.
"Here, turn around..."
I did and he helped me get the jacket on, then helped me with my shoes.
Fred was already in the car and after saying goodbye to Lee, we walked outside.
I had a contraction as we neared the car and while trying to just breath my way through it, I had to stop and lean on the door.
George was there, an arm wrapped around me, rubbing my bump with his hand to try and soothe it.
"It's okay." He whispered. "You'll be okay."
I leaned my head back against his chest, continuing to take deep breaths.
"Think ahead..." he whispered. "...in a few days we're sitting with the twins, probably back home. They're sleeping peacefully and we stand there and discuss who they look more like."
He pressed a kiss to my cheek before he helped me around the car, opening the door for me.
He helped me and supported my weight as I got into the car, then slammed the door shut.
"You okay, princess?" Fred asked and leaned forward to look at me.
I held up a hand to shut him off.
"I want that fucking epidural."
"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll give it to you the second we arrive." He said. "Just remember to breathe."
I am breathing you idiot!"
George got into the car and due to me being focused on the contraction, he helped me with my seatbelt, then pulled his own on.
"How long until we're there?" I asked as the contraction calmed down.
"Twenty minutes." He told me, and I groaned.
"Why couldn't we just fucking apparate or something?"
"It's a muggle clinic, darling. We can't just appear out of nowhere."
"Well, I'm sorry that I don't feel like sitting in a car for twenty minutes with babies trying to get out of my vagina!"
We pulled up at the clinic at six in the evenings, almost two hours after my first contraction happened.
George and I had had a late lunch around four and that was when the contraction first hit.
When we got there, I was immediately assigned to a room when they saw how much pain I was in and how much I was shaking.
Everything was happening so fast from then on. They needed to make sure I wasn't at risk.
I had a bucket which I threw up in. They had given that to me when I explained that I felt nauseous.
My heart rate was high and the babies heart rates were high. My blood pressure had risen a lot and I had a fever which meant that once the babies were bone, they'd have to spend some time in the NICU.
I was moved to a delivery room where I was given the epidural as well as a spiral to stop the shaking and to get our heart rates down.
It only took minutes from me getting the medication to me feeling better. I laid in the bed, feeling sleepy from all the pain I had been in and from throwing up and shaking uncontrollably.
George was sitting in a chair next to the bed and Fred was looking out of the window.
"I don't think I've felt this good since September." I chuckled and George smiled at me as he grabbed my hand and brought it up to kiss it.
I looked over at the two different baby stations that had been set up to be ready for when the babies were here.
"It's getting real." I said. "This is actually happening."
"It is." He said, brushing his hand over my hand repeatedly. "We're having twins."
I looked at him and smiled as I brought my other hand up to brush his hair out of his face.
"How're you feeling?" He asked and shoved my hand away before placing his against my forehead. "You're still burning up."
"I've already told you, I feel great." I said. "I can't feel anything from the waist and down which surprisingly enough is a relief."
I closed my eyes.
"But I'm so fucking tired."
"Yeah." He chuckled. "I can only imagine."