This chapter is special (as you may have guessed) so I did it from both Harry and Nora's point's of view! I hope you enjoy it!
Also: saw Dunkirk this morning with my parents...spectacular film, incredible cast, and absolutely heart breaking. To see what those men went through and how tortured they were on that beach and in the water...makes me even more appreciative of anyone who's ever partaken in any war. Harry's acting was also good! I'm surprised cause I didn't know he was going to be in as much of the movie as he was! Very impressive! But did we expect anything less?
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3:47 A.M — Harry
I follow as they wheel Nora out of the the Emergency Room and into Labor and Delivery. I hold her hand as we move and she cries and whines from the pain. "You've got this, baby..."
"It hurts, Harry...oh god, it hurts, it hurts—fuck! Did you call Lara? Call my family..."
"I already did, they're on their way."
"What about Anne—where's Anne?"
"She and Robin are on the plane...they'll be here soon." The nurses help Nora into her bed and one of them pulls her legs apart. Her facial expression is not a promising one.
"She's gonna be in here for a while...she's not even close to ten centimeters dilated."
"How long?" I ask as she shrugs.
"Couple of hours, at least."
"But she's in labor?"
"She is, but this is common with twins, either she's dilated faster and we can deliver immediately, or she's not nearly dilated enough and we have to wait."
"Are the babies alright?"
"The babies will be fine." Doctor Ghausi walks into the room and pulls gloves onto his hands.
"Harry, nice to see you."
"You too, Doctor."
"Nora, my gal, you are doing great okay, keep up those breathing exercises that we talked about." It's very strange, having a handsome, young doctor looking in between her legs, but I try not to think too much into it. "Okay, Nora...we've got a ways to go, I need to keep your breathing steady, focus on something besides the pain. We're gonna do our best to get these kiddos out, alright?" I walk over to her bedside and hold her hand tightly.
"This is so on you—I blame you..." She says with gritted teeth. My eyes widen in mock shock. "And I'm not mentally ready for this...I was supposed to do yoga the day before, and I didn't get the chance so my mind isn't in the right state of calmness, and it's all your fault." I try my hardest to keep from laughing.
"May I ask why it's Harry's fault?" Doctor Ghausi smiles at both of us and I go to shake my head when Nora's face contorts, once more.
"This fucker got me off last night and I knew it would follow with the breakage of my fucking water..." The young doctor laughs.
"Nora, I can assure you, orgasms do not induce labor. I've gotten that concern plenty of times, and I promise, it's got nothing to do with it." He winks at me. "Harry, buddy, you're in the clear."
"Fuck." Nora sighs. I lean down and smooth her hair back so I can kiss her forehead, despite the dampness.
"Sorry, baby." She squeezes my forearm and I'm reminded what an Indian Burn feels like. However, I endure it, because she's currently enduring the pain of my children trying to push their way out of her body.
7:32 A.M — Nora
At this point, crying seems to be my only option. Harry had gone out to fetch me ice chips in the cafeteria and Lara was currently petting my hair, trying and failing to talk me through it. "I'm not even close yet! I have to be at ten centimeters, and I'm at six! Why the fucking fuck is it happening like this?" I lay my head back on the pillow. "Why did Lo pop out so soon? Why aren't they coming?"
"They're testing you, but they still need their mom to fight for them and get 'em out of there, okay, honey? Can you do that?"
"What do you want me to do? Pry my own fucking vagina open with my hands? I would if I could."
"Just keep breathing—"
"I love you, Lar, but if one more fucking person tells me to breathe, I'm gonna fucking freak." She laughs and nods.
"Fair enough."
"Where's Harry?" As if on cue, he comes hurrying through the door, ice chips in hand. I reach for him first. He cups my face in his hands and pads his thumbs along my skin.
"Hi, baby, how're you doing?" I'm feeling very, very sorry for myself, so I pout.
"It hurts, it's like period cramps in tsunami form."
"Oh, angel, I'm sorry...here, chew on some of these, it'll help get your mind off the pain, yeah? You're doing so well, Nora, I love you so much. They're almost here."
9:50 A.M — Harry
It was my mum, Lara and me inside the closed off room, and Doctor Ghausi was, once again, smack dab in between Nora's legs. She was screaming as she pushed and pushed and pushed. This had been the most horrendous seven and a half hours and I just wanted it to be over, for her sake, especially. She squeezes my hand with every ounce of her strength, and I surely feel it. "Keep pushing, Nora, baby. Keep pushing, you're almost there..." Baby number one was halfway out and she only had one more push to go. She grips my hand tighter and grits her teeth. A couple of seconds later, shrill crying echoes inside the room. I hear my mum and Lara cry a bit as well.
"Alright Nora, your son is safe and healthy, but we gotta get this baby girl out." Doctor Ghausi hands Peter to one of the nurses, and as I look over at him, at my son, I feel Nora's grip loosen entirely. When I turn back to her, I watch as her eyes flutter closed and her head falls back.
"Nora?" I shake her a bit, "Nora—Dr. Ghausi!"
"Get her some oxygen, now!" He yells, as the nurses push me back and circle her bedside.
"Her vitals are dropping!" One of them says to him.
"The girl is feet first, I need Nora in the O.R. right now for an emergency C-section!" They work quickly while I'm left shocked and confused. I feel my mum's hands on my shoulders, but I can't seem to process what exactly is happening.
"What's going on? What happened to Nora? Is my sister alright?" Lara frantically asks the nurses tending to Peter.
"She's had a long night, her body needs some rest. She's going to be fine and the baby girl is going to be fine." I walk over to them and she smiles at me. "Dad, meet your son. He's beautiful." She hands me the swaddled little boy and I'm overwhelmed by the love I already feel for him. His eyes are shut tight but he's perfect. I can already tell that he's nothing short of perfect. The male nurse comes up to me now.
"C-section surgeries will be fairly quick, she should be out within the hour." He takes my son away. "You can see him as soon as we've checked his vitals." I nod and rub my face.
"She's going into surgery and I didn't even tell her that I love her—"
"She knows, darling. She knows."
11:15 A.M — Harry
I sit in between my mum and Elijah, with Nick, Eric and Lara across from us. Lola is too busy coloring to fully understand what was going on. The time seems to be dragging on in slow motion. Each second feeling unbearably longer than the rest.
"Gemma and Michal are flying in on Tuesday, love. They're going to stay in a hotel, I think."
"Why?" I ask her, "We have plenty of room for them." My mum brushes a few curls away from my forehead.
"Harry...I promise you darling, a few days in, with two newborns and three extra people in the house, you'll be begging them to leave. I think it's easier for everyone, this way, they'll have their own space."
"Will they at least let me pay for it?"
"I'm sure Gem can be persuaded." Doctor Ghausi walks out and I've already forgotten all about my sister and her boyfriend. I stand up and he smiles as I do so.
"The girl was born at 10:42 A.M, weighing exactly five and a half pounds...she's as healthy as her brother."
"And Nora?"
"Nora is stable and the anesthetic should be wearing off any minute now. You can go see her, and once she's awake, we'll bring both of them in." I feel the tears, once again, slip down my cheeks as I hug my mum and everyone else.
"Thank you so much, Doctor." He nods.
"Congratulations, guys." We all make our way into her room and she's already beginning to stir awake. As she gains consciousness and eyes all of us, she winces.
"What the fuck happened?" We laugh because, of course that's the first sentence to come rolling off her tongue. I kneel down beside her and smile at her. My beautiful girl.
"Peter came first, he's healthy and 5.6 pounds. Rosie was feet first and you couldn't really push anymore, so they had to do a C-section to get her out, but you're okay and she's okay, she's 5 and a half pounds—they're both okay, baby." I kiss her head, letting my mouth linger there for as long as I can. "You did so amazing, Nora. I'm so proud of you." She cries and exhausted cry.
"That was the worst night of my life and these kids are so grounded for putting me through it." Jokes are always a good sign. As her family and my mum and Robin each take turns embracing her, I take her in. Heavy, dark bags under her makeup-less, bloodshot eyes, chapped lips and sweat-dampened hair...she's still the most remarkable girl I've ever seen in my entire life and I am so terribly in love with her. Two nurse come in, each holding a swaddled little bundle. The male nurse who took Peter from me earlier, handed him to Nora and the female nurse smiled as she gave Rosie to me. I traced my pointer finger gently down her cheek and I began to cry. She was mine. Peter was mine. And they had the most wonderful mum in the entire world, but they didn't know that yet.
"Hello, sweet girl..." I coo down at her. Nora was crying as she looked at Peter. This was as real as things get. This was our life, our future. And as I look back and forth between our two breathtaking children, our amazing and supportive family and her—my perfect Nora—I'm not sure it gets any better, but I know that this is what I've been waiting for.