"AHHHHH!"
"Breathe, baby. Take deep breaths."
Remi squeezed Marcelo's hand using all of the strength that he had in his body.
"NO, I W-WANT A C-SECTION!"
"It's a bit too late for that, Remi. Her head is coming out of you," Rick said.
Since both babies continued to grow successfully inside of Remi with no nutritional or growth issues and without causing Remi any issues, Remi got to have the babies naturally. He was sure that was the best thing to do. Why fix something that isn't broken?
However, Remi for sure began to wish he had've taken Rick up on the cesarean section option.
"I CAN'T DO THI—AHHH!" Remi screamed again. "HER HEAD IS T-TOO BIG."
"Remi, just push," Rick said.
"CELO, TELL HIM I NEED A C-SECTION."
"It's too lat—" Marcelo was cut off when he felt Remi's small hand squeezing the life out of his hand. Marcelo was certain that Remi crushed some of his bones. "Ow! Get him a c-section, please."
"No, he needs to push. The quicker he pushes, the quicker he'll be finished."
"That's not... not t-true. I've been pushing for three hours, and there's still no b-baby."
"Remi, it's only been ten minutes."
"¡No me importa!" Remi cried out in pain as a contraction spread through his body.
"¿Realmente quieres discutir conmigo sobre esto?"
"Sí. ¡Ahora consígueme una cesárea!"
What the actual hell? Marcelo thought.
"Remi, as your uncle, I wish that I could give you what you want. But if you do not hurry up and push, your babies will not survive."
Remi whimpered and looked at Marcelo. He didn't remember birth hurting this bad. "Celo, it h-hurts." Marcelo grabbed Remi's face in his hands and nodded.
"I know it does, baby. But please, you have to push. This will all be over if you just push. Please, just push for me. Get our babies out."
Remi continued to cry but this time, he nodded and turned his head forward again. He hiccuped and took a deep breath before putting his chin against his chest, pushing hard as he screamed.
"There you go, baby. Keep pushing," Marcelo encouraged.
And Remi did. It hurt like hell, but he pushed and pushed and pushed until he heard a soft cry fill his ears. He paused and opened his eyes. It was then that he saw her. Maia. Her little body was flailing around in Rick's hands as she threw a fit, crying her little lungs out.
Remi didn't get to enjoy the sight for too long before he felt another contraction attack his body. He cried out in pain again and grabbed at his belly.
"Start pushing again, Remi. One more little one's gotta come out."
As Remi began pushing again, his cheeks were flooded with tears. He never stopped pushing though. All that he wanted to do was curl up in bed with the babies, but he couldn't do that when one of them were still inside of him.
Therefore, Remi pushed with everything in him. Marcelo had never seen him in this much pain before. He felt so bad that he wasn't there to hold Remi's hand when Remi went through this with Elio.
Keeping his hand locked with Remi's, Marcelo tilted his head and looked in between Remi's legs. What he saw made him want to smile just as much as it made him want to pass out.
He saw their third child being pushed out of Remi. Instead of passing out, he smiled and moved his head towards Remi again. "Almost done, baby. You got this. Almost there."
Pushing even harder, Remi kept his focus on pushing. Nothing but pushing. No pain, no suffering. Just pushing. Only pushing. Eyes on the prize.
And as payment for the hard work, seconds later, Remi heard another soft cry float into the air. He collapsed back against the hospital bed, panting just like last time. He wiped his cheeks with the back of his hand and looked over just as Rick carried the baby over and laid him in Remi's arms.
It was Rome. The intersex baby.
Right behind Rick, a nurse carried the first baby over and laid her in Remi's other arm.
It was Maia.
Both babies had a beautiful layer of red hair on their heads just like Elio. They fidgeted around, searching for something. It wasn't until the babies curled up against Remi that Remi realized that that something was himself.
Looking up to his left, Remi saw Marcelo leaning down, gazing at the babies with tears running down his cheeks. He moved forward and placed a thankful kiss on Remi's lips.
"You did it, Teo," Marcelo smiled. Remi smiled back and hiccuped, leaning into Marcelo as tears began running down his cheeks again. He was so tired and in so much pain, but it was all worth it now that Rome and Maia were here.
"They're so beautiful."
"Just like you."
-----------------
"They all have your hair," Remi giggled and caressed the babies' heads as they breastfed. Their tiny little gulps sounded throughout the room, and it was the cutest thing ever.
"They do, don't they?" Marcelo smiled. Remi smiled back, his hand on the back of Marcelo's neck, rubbing the soft skin. "Think I should go get Elio now?"
"Yeah. He's probably anxious to see them."
Marcelo left out, heading through the halls to the waiting room where everyone was waiting. Meanwhile, Remi continued to rub Rome and Maia's heads gently. "Ready to meet Eli, babies? He's a big, big sweetheart. I think you guys'll love him."
Rome and Maia both wriggled around like they used to inside of Remi 24/7. Then, Remi was surprised to see their eyes flutter open at the same time. Being newborns, they didn't have any color in their eyes yet, but that didn't make them any less adorable.
Just as the babies opened their eyes, the hospital room door opened and in came Marcelo and Elio.
"Hi, Eli belly," Remi smiled tiredly.
"Hey, Mama," Elio smiled back and trotted over to the bed, hopping on.
"Be careful, buddy," Marcelo warned. Then, he sat next to Elio and that's when he saw that Rome and Maia's eyes were open. "Look at them!" he chuckled.
"Yeah, they just opened their eyes before you guys came in."
"Oh, man," Marcelo chuckled again. "This is your sister and your brother, Lio."
"Mai and Wome?"
"Yeah, Maia and Rome."
"Oooo." Elio moved closer to Remi and placed one of his hands carefully on Rome's chest. "Who's dis, Mama?"
"This is Rome."
"Hi, Wome. I'm Eli-o." Elio said enunciating a separation between Eli and o. Then, he reached over Rome and placed his hand on Maia's chest. "Hey, Mai. I'm Eli-o."
The babies followed Elio as best as they could with their newborn eyes. They were actually pretty good at doing so, especially since they were able to hear Elio's youthful voice at the same time.
Now finding a new fascination, the babies both unlatched from Remi, focusing on Elio. Remi wiped their tiny lips off before he got Marcelo to get Maia and burp her while he himself burped Rome. Elio just sat in the middle happily, turning every now and then to talk to either or Maia and Rome.
Once the babies were burped, Remi swaddled them up in their blankets where they both found comfort and fell asleep. Sleepy babies.
The babies slept for forever—as they should. Even once the gang all filed in, they were still fast asleep, dreaming about whatever it is that babies dream about.
The gang was so infatuated with the two. They were finally here. It seemed as if Remi had been pregnant with them for a lifetime. The two were mini Marces just like Elio, their red tufts of hair already vibrant and beautiful.
"I heard you were arguing with Rick the whole time," Alvaro brought up.
"Okay, now that I look back, I was being a little bit stubborn. But I was in pain, okay!" Remi chuckled, making everyone laugh.
"I guess that's why you don't have relatives as your doctor," Marcelo said.
"Yeah, that was a weird decision," Mrs. Callum said.
"I know, I know. But he delivered Elio, so I trust him more than the other doctors to be honest."
"Touché."
Remi smiled and leaned against Marcelo's side tiredly, Marcelo's arm around his shoulder. Remi was sure that he looked like shit. God, he felt like shit. He felt like he'd just gotten ran over by a Max bus. Or a school bus if that makes it worse. And he was so tired.
He wanted sleep, but he knew that he wouldn't get a lot of it any time soon now that Rome and Maia were here. If he thought they kept him up a lot while they were inside of him, it's a different story now.
And the pain. There was a slight dull throb in his southern areas. It was like having Elio all over again times two. The nurses gave him pain medication, but of course medicine doesn't really help after you've just pushed out a human—two humans at that.
However, all of this stress and suffering was worth it. There were two more additions to the family that was stronger than ever.
Rome and Maia Reid.
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A/N:
And with that, thank you all so much for reading this book. It is officially over which makes me so sad. I have gotten so attached to the characters as I've been writing this book, so it hurts me so much that it is over.
However, I won't say that this is the end because it is not. There may be future chapters soon. If not, don't worry. There will also be another book on one of Marcelo and Remi's children. Of course, it will take me a while to write so bear with me.
But again, thank you guys so much for reading this book. I hope you guys had as much fun with it as I did.
See you next time 💗