I gave Frank a soft kiss, smiling as he held me in his arms.
"Daddy, I love you," I whispered.
"I know, Kitten, I love you too," he said.
I smiled, snuggling up close to him. We watched tv while I ate my snack.
"Frank!" Jamia shouted from upstairs.
Frank went upstairs and I laid down on the couch. I heard a commotion upstairs before I went upstairs to see what was happening.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Jamia is going into labor," Frank said. "Can you go grab your backpack and get into the car?"
I squealed excitedly and ran down to the kitchen to grab my bag before I went out to the car. I waited patiently before the two finally came out and we drove to Hayley's house. We went inside and they talked with the doctor for a while.
"Here, Gee, it's not time for the babies to come yet," Frank said. "Why don't you sit here on your iPad and watch Netflix? There's a bottle of milk in your bag."
Frank sat me down on the couch and I bit my lip nervously.
"Promise me you'll come back to get one it's time?" I asked. "I don't want to miss it."
"Of course I'll get you," he said. "Although she's in labor it can take a while for her to actually deliver."
I nodded my head and the two of them went downstairs with Hayley. I sat there watching Netflix for what felt like hours, watching other nurses enter the house as the yelling from downstairs grew louder.
"Gee, come on," Frank said.
I smiled and took his hand as we went down to the basement. Jamia was laying on the hospital bed, clearly in a great deal of pain.
"Alright, Jamia, you're doing great," Hayley said. "You just need to breathe."
"Baby, you go stand on Mia's other side and hold her hand, okay?" Frank asked and I nodded.
I held onto her hand and smiled.
"Alright, Jamia, you need to push now," Hayley said.
Jamia squeezed my hand and I winced slightly from how hard she was squeezing it.
"Just a little bit more," she said.
Jamia screamed, sweating covering her skin as she pushed.
"Just once more," she said. "Come on, one more big push."
Jamia cried as she pushed and then I heard a little baby crying. I gasped softly as I tried to look.
"A beautiful little boy," she said.
I smiled as Jamia relaxed against the mattress. One of the nurses went to go clean him off and I watched as everyone focused on Jamia again.
"Alright, sweetheart, you're one down, only three more to go," Hayley said.
"Oh god, it hurts," Jamia whimpered.
"I know but just a little bit more and you'll be bringing four little angels into the world," Hayley said.
Jamia nodded and started pushing again. She groaned, squeezing my hand again.
"You're almost there, sweetheart," Hayley said. "She's crowning."
Both Frank and I tried to be reassuring to help her. There was more little crying as another baby was born. I got a peek at her and smiled, she was so beautiful.
"You're halfway there," Hayley said.
Jamia nodded, taking a little break as she relaxed against the mattress, even if it was only a few seconds of peace. I watched the nurse put my daughter into an oversized hospital crib with her brother.
"C-can that be wheeled over next to me?" I asked nervously.
The nurse smiled and nodded, wheeling the crib over next to me. I smiled and gently reached down to hold both their hands. They were both so little, wrapped in little blankets and they both had little hats on their heads.
"She's almost here," Hayley said. "Just a little bit more."
Soon enough there was more crying and the third baby was handed to a nurse.
"A-Am I almost done?" Jamia asked, she sounded exhausted.
"Yes, sweetheart, you're almost done," Hayley said. "And this one should be the easiest, she's the smallest."
Jamia nodded, closing her eyes. She continued pushing as they put the third baby into the crib with her siblings.
"Hi there," I cooed softly over all the other chaos in the room.
It seemed like one moment it was loud and crazy before Jamia was relaxed against the bed and the nurses fell silent.
"She isn't breathing," Hayley said.
I could feel my heart stop in my chest as I looked at them.
"We need to get her some oxygen," Hayley ordered.
"What's happening? What's wrong with her?" I asked, full panic setting in as I thought I might hyperventilate.
Frank came around the head of the bed and wrapped his arms around me.
"Baby, don't worry," he whispered softly.
I cried as I watched them try to get her to start breathing. Frank rubbed my back gently and when I looked up I saw him crying too.
"Wh-why isn't she breathing?" I whimpered.
I watched as they gave her oxygen, trying to save her life.
"She's dead?" I asked.
"No, she isn't dead," Hayley denied. "She just isn't breathing. She's still alive."
I sniffled as I watched and Frank ran his fingers through my hair.
"Come on, Lily, breathe," I whispered.
I sniffled, wiping my eyes was I watched all the nurses surrounding my baby.
"She's breathing!" Hayley exclaimed.
All the nurses cheered and I let out a cry of relief. I smiled as they cut the cord and went to get her cleaned up. I smiled, holding onto Miles' hand.
"You okay, Mia?" Frank asked quietly, leaning down close to her.
Jamia nodded softly. "Just tired."
Frank smiled and kissed her cheek.
"Would you like to hold her?" Hayley asked.
Frank nodded and she handed him Lily.
"Oh my god, she's beautiful," Frank whispered.
I smiled, watching the way his eyes glassed over with tears.
"And she's so little, I can just hold her in one hand, she's tiny," Frank whispered.
I smiled as he set her down with the others. She was so much smaller than the rest.
"They're okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, they're all healthy," Hayley said. "Now, let's go help the mom."
One of the nurses pulled the crib into the corner where there was some armchairs for us to sit in. I smiled, reaching in to look at them.
"I love them so much," I whispered.
Frank nodded, a huge grin on his face.
"Right, so which one is Cherry and which is Bandit?" Frank asked.
"Uh, let's name the first one born Bandit so it's in alphabetical order," I said and he chuckled. "So she's the one next to Miles."
"Can we see their little kitty ears?" Frank asked.
I took off Miles' hat to reveal his tiny little baby kitty ears and I saw the way Frank seemed to melt.
"Precious," Frank mumbled. "Oh god, he's so beautiful, he's my beautiful little boy."
I smiled, carefully putting his hat back on.
"They're so little and adorable," he whispered.
I smiled, resting my head on his shoulder.
"I love you," I mumbled.
"I love you too, Kitten," Frank said, reaching over to kiss my cheek.
I smiled, nuzzling against him.
"Did you bring the baby bag?" I asked.
"Yeah, I made sure to grab it," he said.
"Good, they're gonna need to be fed soon," I said. "So we'll need to mix the formula and warm it up."
"Well, I'm sure Hayley's got a microwave we can use," he said.
"No, you can't use a microwave," I denied. "Microwaves makes hot spots that can burn the baby's mouth. You have to run it under hot water instead."
"Oh, okay," Frank said. "I-I guess there's still a lot more for me to learn about actually taking care of babies. I don't really know anything about taking care of kids, the only child I've had to take care of was Ruby and I've only had to watch her once before you came and you started taking care of her instead. I-I don't really know anything about children, especially children that are so little."
"You'll get the hang of it, it isn't too hard," I said.
Frank nodded, holding my hand.
"It's past your bedtime, do you wanna take a little nap or something?" He asked.
"No, I don't want to sleep right now," I said.
I gently picked Bandit up, smiling down at her.
"So Jamia's gonna stay the night here and we want to keep the babies too for observation, especially to watch the runt," Hayley said. "You two are free to stay here overnight as well, or you can go home and get your last good night's rest while one of the nurses care for them."
"No, I stay with them," I said.
"Yeah, I want to stay too," Frank said. "I'll just need to run home to grab an overnight bag for us."
"Alright, well, we'll have nurses in and out of here all night but please try to make yourselves comfortable," she said. "The couch is a pull out couch so the two of you can sleep here right next to the kittens."
"Thank you, Doctor Williams," Frank said.
She smiled and left us alone and I looked over to Jamia. She had been moved onto a new, clean hospital bed and was currently just sleeping peacefully.
"She looks so worn out," I said quietly.
"I'm sure she is, we just need to let her sleep now," Frank said.
"Good, she needs to go sleepy," I said.
"I think you need to go sleepy too," Frank said.
"But I'm not sleepy," I whimpered.
"Baby, you're gonna need to rest now because I really don't think we're gonna be getting a lot of sleep tonight," he said. "And the babies are sleeping right now so it's the perfect time for you to sleep while I run home and grab a bag of some clothes and things like that."
"Okay," I mumbled. "I-I guess it will be okay to go sleepy for a little bit."
Frank smiled, laying me down on a couch as he put a blanket on me. He gave me a soft kiss before walking out of the room. I looked at my little babies in the crib, watching them lovingly as I fell asleep.