Four Weeks Later — Friday, June 1st 2018
"Does it hurt...here?" He asks, his fingers softly tracing over her all too swollen chest.
"It hurts everywhere...I honestly feel like they're going to fucking pop." They're both laying on the bed, Nora on her back and Harry on his stomach, while he gazes at the mass of baby womb in front of him. "Do you know that I'm going to have stretch marks...like, all over my fucking body? Did you know that, Harry?"
"I assumed you would, yes."
"Well, balls." She sighs. Harry chuckles at her usage of the derogatory term. "I don't want stretch marks."
"I think you'll be beautiful regardless, Nora." He continues to trace his fingers along the stretched skin. "Would you like to fool around a bit?" She shrugs.
"Maybe...but I feel like my body is incapable of producing an orgasm without triggering the sploosh of my water."
"That was really gross, the way you worded that, my goodness." His scowl makes her giggle. He thinks about it more and rolls over, covering his face. "Ew, Nora!"
"It's completely natural!" She protests, "What do you expect is going to happen? A poof of rainbow confetti to come floating out?"
"I don't know, but I don't want to think about it."
"I nominate you to clean it up, kind sir."
"Like...what is it? Is it actual water, or is it like...body water?" Now it was Nora's turn to scowl.
"Oh god..." She shakes her head. "You're right, I don't want to think about it either." He uncovers his face and turns to her.
"I can't believe they're coming in a week—well, eight days."
"Rosie."
"Hm?"
"Her name is Rosie." Nora's eyes bore into their ceiling as her hands palm her belly. Harry crawls closer and kisses her jawline.
"I was thinking the same thing."
"Rosie and Peter?" Harry nods.
"I can't wait to meet them...they're going to be the most perfect little things we've ever laid our eyes on, you know that right?"
"Well, we did create them, honey." He grins a dimply grin.
"I suppose we did." Nora reaches over and pulls his hand on top of hers.
"If someone had told me two years ago, that I'd be engaged to the most incredible man in the entire fucking world, and about to pop two babies out of my body...I probably would have flipped them off and laughed in their face...but nowhere has ever felt safer than right here, with you and with this big ass, motherfucking tummy. I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world."
"I used to think about my future with Evelyn, you know, having children with her...raising a family, maybe in the countryside."
"What changed?"
"I couldn't...I couldn't ever picture her as a mum. I remember looking at her one night, and we were at this restaurant, and a baby, like a very new baby was crying...it wasn't even that nice of a restaurant, but this mother was cooing at this child and eventually, it quieted down but Evelyn was so unhappy, like, that she had to hear this baby crying for less than thirty seconds. That was kind of the beginning of the third year of our relationship, and well, you know the rest." She tickled the ink on his arms, her nails gently moving up and down. "I love kids, you know this. It's always been the ultimate goal...the dream. When I first met you and we talked in your hotel room that day, you told me all about Lo and you showed me the hundreds of pictures that you had of her and you really loved her...I told my mum about that. I told her how you are and how family-oriented you are...how loving and kind and compassionate you are. That stood out to me above so much else. That, and your love for life and spontaneity and cursing..." Nora smiles brightly at him. "And your love for me. It's something indescribable, being loved by you, Nora Dodson. And it's something that I will cherish for the rest of my life."
"We are going to cherish you, and adore you forever, your kids and me. We'll never stop as long as you never stop." Harry holds his pinkie out to hers and they fold them around each other.
"I will never, ever stop." He kisses her hand. "Can we fool around now?"
"I'll blow you, how about that?" He shrugs. That sounds almost perfect.
"I'll take it, but you know that half the fun is making you squirm."
"You really wanna give it a go?" He nods, confidently.
"I really do." Nora rolls her eyes, though she's actually totally looking forward to this. It's been far too long since he's gotten her off and now, as he slowly pulls her boxer shorts away, it's not happening fast enough.
"Okay, Mr. slow-and-steady...hurry it up."
"Oh, so you do want it now."
"I do, okay, you win, please get it going." He follows her wishes and chucks her underwear and shorts off to the side, before going in, head first. Nora immediately gasps at the feeling of his lips on her lips. Harry is magnificent when it comes to quickly finishing her off, so after less than a minute, she's gasping for air and he's smiling at his handiwork. Watching her come undone was certainly one of his favorite sights. "Okay...let me just catch my breath here and then I'll do you, baby."
===
She wakes up with mild cramps to start, but as soon as her eyes open fully, the really horrific pain begins coursing through her body. "Contractions..." She whispers quietly. "Motherfucking contractions." She begins nudging Harry and he groans. "Harry wake the fuck—" Sploosh. Right onto the incredibly soft cotton sheets. "Harry fucking wake up!" She finally yells and this forces him into immediate panic mode, upon sitting up.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"They're coming...my water just broke and I'm having seriously painful contractions." Although his initial reaction was to panic, he took the next few seconds to truly compose himself.
"Alright, we knew this was going to happen. Our bag is packed, everything is ready. Let's get you changed, yeah?" Nora nods, but winces as he helps her out of the bed.
"These are fucking brutal..."
"I know, angel. Can you breathe for me? We'll get there quickly, I promise." While Nora strips out of her soiled clothes, Harry pulls the bed linens off and throws them in the laundry pile, along with her tank and shorts. He hands her a fresh outfit, leggings and some overly flows Free People tee, and then he helps her into her favorite bunny slippers—ones that may or may not have been purchased for this event entirely. Nora thought they were cute.
"Eight days...eight—" Another round of contractions have her doubling over, "—motherfucking days early."
"They're already keeping us on our toes." Harry helps her down the stairs and grabs the keys for Nora's Jeep, they decided parking the Alfa Romeo out front wasn't the smartest choice. He pulled safely away from the curb and headed straight for Manhattan General. As they drove, Nora's breathing was ragged and Harry was silently stressing. He hands her his phone from the cupholder, "Will you call my mum? Just put it on speaker." She did so quickly and held it closer to him. It rang twice and she picked up.
"Darling, for goodness sake, what time is it there?"
"Nora's in labor! Her water broke about fifteen minutes ago and we're on our way to the hospital! I'm going to book you and Gem two tickets, is she home or in London?"
"She's on holiday with Michal! They're in...Spain right now, I believe. Book Robin and I a flight out of Manchester, we'll get ready right now."
"I'll call you when it's done, I love you—"
"Put Nora on, Harold."
"She is, you're on speaker..."
"Anne...I'm here."
"Oh, petal, I know it hurts, I know...will you breathe with me. Hee-hee-hoo. Hee-hee-hoo. Hee-hee-hoo. Over and over." Nora breathes with her, "Nice and slow, lovey. You've got this, I love you both and I will see you in a few hours."
"Please, get here, Anne...I need you."
"I'll be there just as soon as I can, petal. Keep breathing."
"I'll text you, mum."
"Alright, darling. Drive safely. Love you." They hang up and Harry pushes forward on the gas. Cedars-Sinai isn't much further but he calls them anyway, letting them know that they're en-route. It was certainly going to be a long night.