"Buddy, they can do all kinds of things to resuscitate someone." Larry tried to soothe his best friend. "She can't be gone; this is Mary Louise Streep Gummer. She wouldn't leave this world like this. No way."
Don shook his head as he paced; and his whole body shook. "I heard that awful sound when someone codes; just like on TV. I saw the flatline on her monitor. She slipped away from me; I could feel it no matter how hard I tried to hold onto her. She was hemorrhaging; she was bleeding out, Larry. Damn it, I should have insisted on a C-Section. When I saw the toll it was taking on her and her body I should have insisted on a C-section. We KNEW the risks but they just kept pushing her body; I kept pushing her through the labor."
"Buddy, that's what we do as birthing partners and husbands and fathers; we encourage our wives through labor and that is EXACTLY what you did! If you REALLY thought she was in danger you would have taken her to that OR yourself; I know that. Hell, you probably would have performed the operation yourself if you thought that was best for her. Don, YOU flatlined almost two years ago. " Larry consoled. "Her love brought you back; don't you DARE give up on her. Your love and strength and positive thoughts will bring her back."
Don nodded as he continued to pace while he ran his fingers through his hair. "What are you doing back here?"
"I know you sent us all home earlier; but I wanted to check on you, just a feeling." Larry said.
Don couldn't help but think that ever since they were kids he and Larry had always been connected. "I'm glad you're here. I haven't called the kids; I can't yet. Just the thought breaks me heart."
"There's nothing to tell yet." Larry told his friend. "When you do call it will be with good news; I know it."
At that time Dr. Taylor came out with Meryl being pushed behind her. Don ran over to his unconscious, but BREATHING, wife. "Meryl!" He said kissing all over her face. "She's alive?"
"Don, there isn't time to talk." Dr. Taylor said running next to Meryl's bed as it was pushed frantically down the hallway. "I know this is going to be alot to take in; but let me get this all out."
Don nodded as he held onto his wife's hand with one hand and his other hand stroking her head as he ran by the bed. He noticed she was on an oxygen mask; but when he felt her pulse on her wrist it seemed steady. He saw Larry running behind him. "What? What's going on?"
"She's going to be okay; we brought her back quickly and she's stable. She never lost oxygen." Dr. Taylor said.
Don cried in relief as he kissed her hand. "Thank God."
"IF we do emergency surgery, NOW." Dr. Taylor took a deep breath. "We discovered she was pregnant with twins which means another baby is still inside her. The monitor was showing she was still having contractions; and that's when I discovered baby B. I stopped the bleeding, for now, and she's had a transfusion. However, we need this other baby out as soon as possible; then I can see if there's any additional damage. I know this is a lot to take in; but we have to take it now. I can get the baby out in two minutes if I have to. We have already given her anesthetic."
Don's mind was reeling. "Yeah, okay. Whatever you have to do to save her and the baby. Where do I scrub up?"
"Don, there isn't time. I'm sorry. Stay here." Dr. Taylor said as they got to the OR.
Don held onto the bed. "WAIT! I want to talk to her."
"Don, she's out; and we have to get in there as soon as possible." Dr. Taylor said.
Larry could see his best friend was about to lose it. "Just a moment; please, Doctor."
"Okay." Dr. Taylor said. "30 seconds, Don."
Don nodded as he bent down and kissed her lips. "I'm here, baby; I'm not going anywhere. You are sure full of surprises. I am so damn proud of you. You better come back to me, baby; we have lots to celebrate. I love you.; so damn much, Darl"
"Let's go." Dr. Taylor ordered the nurses as they pushed Meryl's bed into the OR. "I'll be out as soon as I can."
Larry patted Don on the back. "So, does this mean you'll be passing out twice as many cigars?"
"I guess." Don said in shock as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Twins?! Twins, Larry."
Larry shook his head as he led Don to a bench in the corner by the door they whisked Meryl through. "For some reason I'm not surprised; good job, Donny."
"Do you need to get back home?" Don asked his best friend.
Larry shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere."
"She has to be okay, Larry." Don choked. "I can't lose her a second time."
Larry patted his best friend's back. "She won't leave you with twins."
"She better not." Don said twirling his wedding band. "Her coloring looked better than when she flatlined; and they pulled me away from her."
Larry was silently praying that his best friend's wife would indeed be okay. "That's good, then; the doctor seemed really hopeful. They're going to do everything they can. Don't forget what the doctor said, she's STABLE."
"I need her, Larry." Don choked as Larry nodded. "She's my best friend; no offense."
Larry laughed at Don. "As she should be."
"Don." Dr. Taylor rushed out. "I have news."
***
Meryl felt heavy; she felt like her eyes and arms and legs were heavy but she heard voices, and cries. Don. She heard her Don; she felt his arm around her and could tell her head was on his arm. She would recognize that feeling of warmth and security from anywhere. She heard baby cries. Their baby. She had him. She remembered Don telling her it was a boy. She remembered Don begging her to come back. Where did she go? She had no idea. She felt like she was coming out of a fog. It seemed so hard to open her eyes but she had to. Her throat felt scratchy. "Don? Don Man?"
"Baby!" Don exclaimed as he kissed her head. "You're awake! Thank God!"
Meryl was confused when she saw Don holding their baby in a pink blanket. "Is that our baby?"
"One of them." Don winked as he kissed her again. "Waiting for her mama to wake up."
Meryl was confused. "Her? I thought we had a baby boy. One of them?"
"Margaret Natalie Gummer; just as you wanted to name her." Don nodded at Larry as Meryl ran her finger, tiredly, over the baby's little cheek.
Larry walked over to Meryl. "Bradley Michael Gummer, here is your mommy."
"What?" Meryl cried as she took her son into her arms. "Twins? How? When?"
Larry laughed that Meryl pretty much had the same reaction as her husband; and he told her so. "That was pretty much your husband's reaction. I'm going to get going. You four need some time together to process everything. I'll swear Liz to secrecy until you tell everyone. I'm so glad you're okay, M."
"Thanks." Meryl choked as she held her son close, kissing his little head over and over, and she looked at her daughter then husband. "Even though I have no idea what happened."
Larry patted Don on the back. "He'll explain; take care, bud."
"Thanks for staying with me." Don choked as Larry nodded. Soon as Larry was gone Don turned to Meryl and kissed all over her face making her laugh through her tears. "I love you so much."
Meryl choked as she bent down to kiss their babies and then his lips over and over. "I love you, my Don Man." Meryl shook her head. "They're both ours? Really?"
"Look at them." Don laughed holding up Margaret as she held Bradley. "Don't they look like ours?"
Meryl nodded through her tears. "Margaret looks like Lou and Bradley looks like Hen; he looks like you."
"Twins." Don laughed. "Can you believe it? I'm just so glad you came back to us; that you came back to me. You scared the living shit out of me. Don't you EVER do that to me again."
Meryl shook her head. "Baby, I think you're going to need to fill in some blanks for me. What time is it? What day is it? I feel like I've been asleep forever."
"It's about 2:30 in the morning on Saturday September 29th." Don smiled. "Margaret was born at 12:15 this morning weight 5lbs and 8oz.; and Bradley was born at 11:55 last night weighing 6lbs and 1 oz. Bradley is 21 inches long and Margaret is 19 inches long."
Meryl nodded as she held Bradley close to her and held out her arm for the other baby. "Can we switch?"
"Sure." Don laughed as he took his son in his arms and she took their daughter in hers; both of them kissing their babies on their heads. "Baby, what do you remember?"
Meryl closed her eyes for a minute then opened them. "I remember having Bradley. I remember you being right there with me, kissing me and holding my hand, and us hearing it was a boy. I remember telling you I didn't feel well and that I loved you. I heard you yelling for me to come back but I didn't know where I went; I was there. I remember you pulling my hand towards you. I remember you screaming. I remember you kissing me at some point. Then I remember waking up here in your arms."
"I do like kissing you; at any and all points." Don flirted with a kiss to her lips. "Baby, there is going to be a lot to take in and I promise I will answer your questions the best I can; okay?"
Meryl nodded as she laid Bradley on her chest; kissing his head. "Okay; I changed my mind, I want her, too. I need them both with me right now, I'm sorry."
"Here you go, love; don't apologize for how much you love our little miracles." Don said laying Margaret on her chest. "Better?"
Meryl nodded with tears. "I feel so guilty not knowing there were two."
"It is NOT your fault; I will get why we didn't know about her here in a minute." Don said with a kiss to her lips as she nodded. "Right before you had Bradley I wanted him out of you as quickly as possible because I could tell the strain your body was under. Right after he was born you started bleeding out; between the hemorrhaging and having him your body was under too much strain and also because of having Margaret in you still, though we didn't know that, and you flatlined. You coded. I felt you slip from me."
Meryl shook her head as she tried to understand and follow everything. "I died?"
"Yeah, baby, you did." Don choked as he kissed their babies and then her lips over and over. "My nightmare came true."
Meryl swallowed as he wiped her tears. "But I felt you."
"What do you mean you 'felt' me?" Don asked.
Meryl shrugged. "I remember walking towards a light and your voice calling to me and feeling your hand in mine; it felt so right. You brought me back, baby. I know you were fighting for me."
"I will until my last breath." Don said with great emotion. "I wouldn't leave you but they pushed me out of the room as they worked on you; telling me I had to leave so they could work on you. Larry happened to came to check on us and saw me in a pile on the floor. I felt I had lost you and they wouldn't even let me see Bradley. I was a mess."
Meryl nodded with tears in her eyes. "I've been there; not that long ago. I am so sorry you had to go through that."
"You're here; and that's all that matters." Don sighed. "Not long after that, Dr. Taylor came out and said they brought you back but the monitors detected you were still having contractions from our fierce little girl. They ran pushing your bed out of the room and said you needed an emergency c-section. I couldn't understand how you were pregnant with twins and we didn't know. Miss. Margaret here was probably hiding behind her brother and their heartbeats were in sync. They said that its more likely for a woman of wisdom..."
Meryl arched her eyebrow. "An old woman is what I think you mean."
"A wise woman is what I mean." Don winked. "To ovulate more than one egg."
Meryl laughed; then something occurred to her as she became extremely serious. "What about Ainsley? We never had Ainsley at all? It was Margaret?"
"No, we still had Ainsley but either Bradley or Margaret absorbed Ainsley; is how Dr. Taylor explained it to me after your surgery." Don said as Meryl nodded sadly. "But look at these two beautiful babies we have in addition to Ainsley."
Meryl shook her head in disbelief. "We have twins? I still can't believe it. You're something else, Mr. Gummer."
"Right back at ya, beautiful." Don winked as he took a deep breath. "I kissed you over and over, told you I loved you and to fight, and then they whisked you into surgery. Larry waited with me and pretty quickly Dr. Taylor came out saying they got Margaret out; and she is fine."
Meryl breathed in relief. "Bradley?"
"He's doing great; they do want to run some more tests on both of them, routine." Don said. "Their pediatrician said it can wait. They wanted you to have some time with them and nurse; and I do too. All of their preliminary checks were perfect, I promise."
Meryl nodded. "So, that's it?"
"Not quite." Don sighed. "I had to sign a consent for you to have a hysterectomy."
Meryl's eyes got huge. "You let them give me a hysterectomy? It's my body, Don!"
"Of course I did!" Don exclaimed.
Meryl shook her head. "Don, this is going to completely change me and alter my sex drive. Did you even stop to think what I would want? How this would affect our intimate relationship? I'll go into menopause."
"Who gives a fucking shit?!" Done exclaimed standing up as he started to pace. "You lost I don't know how many units of blood. You were fucking bleeding out. Should I have refused and let you fucking die? Would that have been better? I don't give a shit if we don't fuck as regularly or have to use lube or whatever. Having you with me, having you with US, is more important to me than anything. I sure as hell hope you would know that by now! Don't you get it, Mary Louise?" Don was completely breaking down. "You died! YOUR HEART STOPPED FUCKING BEATING! Exactly what we have been afraid of for 9 months! You could not be here; and we could have lost our daughter as well. So, when I am handed our second baby, one of a twin we conceived in our 60's, and I'm told if you don't have a hysterectomy then we will lose you; of course I gave consent. I don't give a shit about sex; I give a shit about you. You are everything to me. I lost you once this morning; I was going to be damned if I lost you again."
Meryl had tears streaming down her face as she nodded. "Baby, please come here. I can't get up and I need you to hold us. Please, come here."
"I thought I lost you, M." Don cried as he got back in the bed taking his wife and their babies in his arms. "Of course I would do anything to make sure that didn't happen again; to make sure our children didn't lose you."
Meryl nodded as she turned her head to kiss his lips over and over. "I know, baby; you did everything right. You are the only one I would want to make that choice for me. I can't imagine how awful all this was for you. I didn't meant to take this out on you. It's just a lot to take in."
"I know it is." Don sighed as he pulled away and kissed her forehead. "I shouldn't have lost it like that; I'm sorry."
Meryl shook her head as she kissed his cheek. "Yes, you should have. I was just worried about us; about losing what we share. About not pleasing..."
"You listen to me, Mary Louise Gummer." Don said strongly as he held her head in his hands and pressed his forehead to hers. "You are the love of my life; you are it for me. From the first time I saw you and kissed your hand I knew I had found the ONE; and you ARE, NO MATTER WHAT. You risked your LIFE to bring our two miracles into this world. Your body has gone through complete and utter hell. You pleasing me isn't about sex. It's about having you here to hold. It's about having you here to laugh with; to cry with. It's about having you here to raise our babies with. To be with me when all of our other children get married; and when we have more grandchildren. You please me every damn day of my life; of OUR lives together. I don't need sex for you to please me; I just need you with me. Besides, I really don't think you have ANYTHING to worry about. If things are different we will cross that bridge. I just want YOU; I NEED YOU. That was the worst hour of my life!"
Meryl nodded as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "You're right. Thank you for taking such amazing care of us." She raised her head to press her forehead to his. "I love you so damn much, Donald Gummer; thank you for these miracles."
"Not more than I love you." Don whispered kissing her lips. "Thank you for our beautiful and perfect babies. I don't know how to thank you."
Meryl smiled softly at him. "Spend the rest of your life with me?"
"Done; that's an easy one!" He smiled. "Since you had a hysterectomy along with a C-Section your recovery will be about 6 weeks. You can lift the babies but that's about it. You need ANYTHING then you tell me. You can't drive but that's okay because I'll be right there with you."
Meryl smiled at him as she rubbed her cheek against his. "I know you will be, Don Man."
"They gave you some pain medication that is safe while nursing; and said they will continue to. You still need to take it really easy." Don told her. "But you're here with us; and that's all that matters."
"I'm the luckiest girl in the world." Meryl smiled at her husband and then looked at their babies. "We really have twins?"
"We really have twins." Don laughed. "Good thing I have my MacBook up here."
Meryl wasn't following. "Why?"
"I need to reorder everything; now we need double." Don laughed. "And put a rush on delivery."
Meryl nodded as she chuckled even though it caused pain. "I guess we do need two of everything now."
"How are you feeling, baby?" Don asked cupping her cheek in his hand. "It's been a long 16 hours. Well, it's been a long 9 months."
Meryl smiled at him with tears in her eyes. "I have never felt happier."
"Even with the hysterectomy?" Don asked concerned.
Meryl nodded with a kiss to his lips. "Because it means I am with the 3 of you. I would do anything for that to happen."
"Me too." Don smiled. "I haven't called the kids yet; or anyone else, Larry just happened to appear in the right place at the right time. I'm not sure if you remember, but we sent the kids home before you started pushing last night. I figured we could call them at a reasonable time and ask them to come up."
Meryl smiled and nodded. "And not say anything until they get here with your parents."
"I agree; I swore Larry to secrecy and you heard him say he would do the same with Liz." Don laughed. "I'll call Third, Maeve, Mary in the morning; I want to call Mike and Maggie to tell them about the names."
"Me too; and I can't wait to see the look on your dad's face." Meryl smiled. "But in the meantime, I just want it to be us for now."
"Me too, love." Don said kissing her softly on the lips when he heard a knock at the door and he rolled his eyes at Meryl making her laugh. "Every time I try to kiss you in here." He said making her laugh. "Come in."
A nurse walked in with a smile. "Mrs. Gummer, how would you like to try nursing now that you are awake?"
"Really?" Meryl asked excitedly. "I would love to; though they have been pretty content."
The nurse nodded as she smiled. "We gave them bottles while you were in surgery; but just a little something until you were awake."
"I told them I was sure you would want to nurse them as soon as possible." Don said getting up from where he was sitting next to Meryl on the bed.
Meryl nodded and then got a panicked look on her face as she looked towards her husband. "Where are you going?"
"I'm not going anywhere, Darl." Don said kissing her head. "Just getting up to give you more room. I'm right here."
Meryl nodded. "I'm just nervous with two."
"Here, give me Margaret." Don said taking his daughter in his arms. "Since Bradley ate first earlier. Now, I will be right here on the edge of the bed as we learn, together, again."
***
"Well?" Meryl asked her husband when it was just the two of them. "How did I do?"
Don kissed the top of Margaret's head as he held her; while Meryl held Bradley. "You were amazing. You did great! We'll get the hang of two at once. It will just be a learning curve. I'm glad we get to learn together."
"Me too; best partner there is." Meryl said with a kiss to his lips. "They are pretty incredible."
Don beamed as he nodded at her. "Just like their mother. Here, give him to me."
"What are you going to do?" Meryl asked giving Bradley to Don.
Don smiled as he walked the babies over to their bassinets and put them in; then pushed the bassinets over to his side of the bed. "They are sleeping, which they need; and now you are going to sleep."
"Don, I already missed their first two hours." Meryl sighed.
Don shook his head as he got back in bed beside her. "And, if you don't rest you will miss even more. The nurse wanted them to sleep in the nursery; I backed you up for keeping them in here but I want and need you to rest."
"You'll wake me up if I don't wake up to their cries?" Meryl asked.
Don nodded as he pulled the covers up over them and pulled her close. "I promise. Are you in pain? Does this hurt?"
"It feels perfect." Meryl said kissing his lips."I love you so much."
Don closed his eyes as he savored the feel of their tender, yet passionate, kisses. "I love you too, my girl, so much. Thank you for coming back to me. I felt like a piece of me died when you did."
"I know that feeling." Meryl choked as she stroked his cheek. "I will always come back for you and our kids; that's what we do. I can't tell you how damn happy you have made me, Donald Gummer."
Donald smiled at her. "You don't have to tell me, I know; because it's just as happy as you've made me. Twins."
"Twins." Meryl laughed. "I have a feeling the best is yet to come, Mr. Gummer."
Don smiled as he held her close, kissing her head as his eyes closed now that he felt all was how it should be with his wife in his arms and their babies sleeping in bassinets next to him. "I think you are right, Mrs. Gummer."
***
A/N: Hope you enjoyed that little cliffhanger and you enjoy the new book!