Chapter 14

March came in like a lamb, which meant it would probably leave like a lion. The kids had spring break in April. This far north, it made sense for spring break to be later toward summer. Snow days were not things we had to worry about when we were kids.

I roused slowly, the caress of a hand stroking over my side and then down to where I was already naked under the shirt roused me from the half-drowsing state I'd been in. Such a lovely dream, I shifted my hips so I could rub against the stiff cock pressed against my ass.

We were just past thirty-four weeks. Both babies were easily four pounds according to Doctor Patterson. If they came now, no one was going to stop the labor.

Thank fuck.

I honestly felt larger than I had during any of my other pregnancies. I was either damn tired or I couldn't sleep. Most of it at the same time. Frustrating, but there. My breasts were beyond heavy and the colostrum had started to leak.

Especially when Charlie was crying. Even though I'd weaned him at a year, it was like he wanted to go back to nursing again. That had been fun.

Warm lips trailed along my neck and I let out a low sigh. Oh, I thought it had been a dream. I tilted my head back, eyes opening in the dim light of the room. "Jake?"

"G'morning, Baby Girl," he whispered against my ear. "I thought I was going to have to work a little harder to wake you up."

"Hmm, you feel very hard." I loved the feel of him touching me, stroking me. When he eased a hand between my thighs, I let out another sigh.

"Oh, someone is very wet too." Jake practically hummed under his breath. "How are you feeling this morning, Baby Girl? Fingers or cock? I'll even put lips and tongue on the table."

The most delicious of shivers danced through me. "Hmm, is yes to all of the above on the menu?"

He scraped his teeth against my throat, before he eased one of my legs up and then he was sliding into me. The shallow thrusts didn't take him too deep, if anything he kept teasing me with a little deeper.

A little deeper.

Then he settled inside of me as he teased his fingers over my clit. "Oh, Baby Girl," he sighed. "You feel so damn good."

So did Jake. But I went from lazy, slow arousal, to inferno. When I pushed my hips backward, he chuckled again.

"Demanding," he teased even as he fisted my hair and braced my hip then he fucked into me with a lot more determination. I had no idea how long he'd been trying to wake me up, but I writhed against his cock as he kept his thrusting steady.

"I love how you feel." A keening sound tore from my throat. I adored how he felt. Hot and heavy inside of me. The stroke of his fingers on my clit, edging me higher and higher.

"Come for me," he ordered, his thrusts growing fiercer and his fingers firmer. The orgasm splintered on a wave and I came in a shudder. I swore I wet myself and fuck if I could be bothered to care.

The feel of his release as his hips stuttered suggested he really had been working for a while to wake me up. I savored the feel of him and how he cupped his hand against my slit. His cock was still buried inside of me and his mouth moved on my throat.

"I was really happy that Doctor Patterson hasn't taken sex off the table yet," he teased, drawing lazy circles with his tongue over my pulse point.

"No, she said I'd been active all the way through and my cervix isn't incompetent. It also helps reduce stress and improves sleep, releases oxytocin and helps to mask my aches and pains." Her very clinical assessment way back when had been hilarious. The guys hadn't been terribly sure during that first pregnancy and the last thing they wanted to do was hurt me or the baby.

"Hell yes, it's a wonderful thing to know my cock is good for your health." He bit down on my earlobe this time. "But as soon as you're all healed up from the birth, Baby Girl I want you on top and making me work for it."

What a wonderful idea. "Endorphins are so good for what ails you." I stretched against him. I wanted to be more active in these little assignations of ours. But the guys were definitely doing all the heavy lifting. And I couldn't even really lay here for long to enjoy the feel of him.

With a grunt, I sighed.

"Yep, pee time." Just like everyone else, he didn't seem to mind that my micro-bladder got in the way of everything. Currently, I was the one it bothered most. But still… He eased out of me and I swore there was another rush of fluid.

Okay, here was hoping I really hadn't peed myself. The low light in the room let me see where I was going as he helped me get up. I barely made it a step though when the rush was a lot more than it should of been.

"Oh shit," Jake said. "Don't move."

I froze for a second as he got the light on and then we both looked down.

My water had broken.

"You still need to pee?" He checked and I made a face.

Unfortunately, yes. He didn't waste time on working out how to get me out of the middle of the mess, he just picked me up. As soon as I was in the bathroom, he went back for his phone. Then he was back in the bathroom to help me clean up.

Within ten minutes, the rest of my husbands arrived and the plan we'd had in place for months commenced.

Coop helped me get dressed in something warm, but easy to remove. Ian worked on cleaning up the floor while Archie went for the vehicles. Jeremy was up and by the time Coop and I left the bathroom, he was sending all of us out.

"I'll take care of this. Get Miss Frankie to the hospital. I've also called Doctor Patterson."

"Thank you, Jeremy," I said, pausing to kiss his cheek. He put a hand on my shoulder. It was tantamount to a full on hug. "They'll call you as soon as we have any news."

"I know."

Eddie was downstairs with Carly. It was her week to be up helping us. "Go," she was telling him. "I'll stay with the kids. You can help keep the boys calm."

Then she gave me a hug and kiss as they got me in a coat. Ian was behind us with my hospital bag.

"I'll call everyone else," she continued and then Eddie was offering me an arm. Once in the car, I worked on trying to keep my breathing even.

My heart raced, but I hadn't felt any contractions yet. That didn't mean anything. I felt no contractions with Josh until right before he came and then they were fast and so was he.

Eddie was upfront with Coop driving. They'd both sent Archie into the back with me. Hand clasping mine with Jake on my other side and Ian behind me, I said, "I suppose now wouldn't be a good time for road trip songs?"

Coop grinned at me over his shoulder then hit something on his phone before he pulled out of the garage.

Aerosmith.

Good choice.

The driveto the delivery center didn't take long. Doctor Patterson wasn't at the hospital, which was a bit further away. That worked out. As soon as we pulled up, the gray skies gave way to rain.

Eddie was out of the vehicle first and striding inside, then he was back with a nurse and a wheelchair. I hated wheelchairs, but I didn't complain. The ache in my lower back was beginning to spread.

Jake lifted me out and Archie was there to help me sit. Then my feet were on the little footboards. The nurse wheeled me inside with the guys following. Coop still had to park.

Doctor Patterson was standing at the desk as we came in. She gave us all a smile. "How are we feeling?"

"Not bad," I told her. "Actually—pretty calm." Which after all the months of anxiety and sleeplessness, I had to admit—this was amazing.

"Good. Let's get you in a gown, and set up on a monitor and I'll come take a look, shall I?"

The rooms at the delivery center were very nice. You could almost forget it was a hospital. The spacious design let all the guys be in there without it feeling crowded. Eddie stepped outside of the curtained off area so we could get me in a hospital gown.

Granted, I wasn't shy anymore but there was no room for that at all during delivery. Once I was in the gown and on the bed, Jake pulled a cover over my lap. Then the nurses descended.

I had an IV in and then the monitor on the bump. Doctor Patterson came in to do her exam and I tried not to think about the mess from Jake.

To be fair, it was hardly the first time this happened. Her amused glance said it all.

"I don't think we're going to be waiting on them for long," she said. "You're already dilated to six centimeters. Contractions are steady. How are you feeling?"

"Still not totally feeling the contractions yet. It's more like Josh. My back hurts."

"Okay, that's normal. Could just be the angle of how they are laying. We've got two very steady heartbeats and your blood pressure is holding, but we're going to keep watching it. Any distress for any of you and it'll be a c-section."

I nodded. "Agreed." She'd get no argument out of me. Sure, we could do this the vaginal birth way, I'd done it three times before so at least I knew what to expect.

"Okay, let's keep you comfortable and I'll be back in a little bit."

As she stepped out, Eddie came to join us. Archie had become a statue at my side and I tilted my head to look up at him. His jaw was clamped, a muscle ticked away in his cheek, and his gaze was a thousand miles away.

"What do we think of Armand?"

Coop mashed his lips together to keep from laughing. Jake grinned and Ian shook his head. Archie didn't quite respond yet.

"Maybe Andrew."

No response.

"Atlas," I said and that snapped Archie's gaze to me.

"What?"

I grinned. "Looking for more boy names that start with A. You didn't seem to mind Armand."

His expression turned comical. "We are not naming him after The Vampire Chronicles."

"Pfft," I said. "Alaric would work then."

"That's Vampire Diaries." He gave me a narrow-eyed look, but I didn't mind in the slightest. He was talking again and we'd broken through the terror and the shock. "Besides, I think I prefer Filbert."

"Okay," Eddie said with all due sobriety. "At this rate, neither of you are getting to name these kids."

I grinned. "You don't like Filbert? What about Fairbanks?"

The laughter felt good. So did the kiss Archie gave me. The next couple of hours passed by swiftly. Nurses came and went. I had to talk to the social worker who asked me the same set of questions they always asked.

While I appreciated it, it always felt kind of silly for me. Yet I loved the idea of the help being there for everyone. The contractions actually began to hit more firmly at the top of the third hour.

Jake offered me some ice chips. I would kill for coffee. But no food or drink. Doctor Patterson was back. "You don't appear to want to take our time today."

"Sorry, Doctor," I told her and then had to hold that thought as another contraction hit.

"Keep breathing, Babe," Archie said. "You gotta breathe with it."

Yeah, breathing with it sucked, but I tried to push out the air and then as the pain eased off I took a deeper breath.

"No waiting today," I said, licking my lips.

Eddie retreated to the top of the bed and Ian lifted his chin to him. The guys were taking turns and they were all keeping an eye on the time, the monitors, and me. Coop stationed himself near Archie. None of them had ever passed out, but Doctor Patterson horrified them with that story of the dad who fainted so now they watched out for each other.

It was adorable.

"We are definitely ready to get you into position." Oh right, the doctor was checking how dilated I was. It said something that I barely noticed anymore.

The next contraction hit and I'd remembered to suck in the deep breath first, then I pushed it out as I rode the pain. When it passed, they were getting me more forward, feet in the stirrups.

"Okay, pushing twins is a lot like pushing a single baby, you just get to do it twice. You've already got one ready to crown and they are in position—you ready to do this, Mama?"

I grinned at the doctor, though it might have been a grimace too because the contractions were coming again and a lot faster.

"Archie…"

"Right here," he said clasping my hand with his. Jake had baby duty, when they came out they moved them to test them and do all the things. Jake would go with them. Sticking close. Ian would back him up.

Coop moved around to take Ian's spot and he clasped my free hand. "Let's do this, Beautiful. We're about to grow this family."

"We've been growing it," I said with a laugh and then sucked in that breath a second before the contraction rippled through me. I swore the bump moved.

"Next one, we're going to push," the doctor said as the rest of her team poured in. I suppose I could have asked for the epidural.

Probably should have, but then the pain was there and the contraction.

"Push, Babe," Archie said. "Five. Four…"

He counted it down and then I could breathe again. Not for long. The babies were determined. Three more rounds of pushing and I felt the baby moving and then they were out and the relief was so profound.

For a split second the room was almost too quiet, even with all the beeping then a healthy cry filled the air. There was a baby lying on my skin and Doctor Patterson was helping Archie cut the cord. I wanted to hold them but the contractions were already back.

"Okay, sounds like baby sister doesn't want her big brother getting all the attention."

Brother.

Sister and brother.

Tears sparked in my eyes and I glanced up to find Archie grinning wildly. Jake nodded to me as he followed the baby boy and then I was in the middle of the contractions again.

She took a little more effort, but Amelia arrived five minutes exactly after her brother. I was sobbing in both relief and joy.

Healthy.

Almost five and a half pounds each. Nineteen inches long for Amelia and nineteen and a half for…

"Aidan," I said, and Archie glanced from the baby boy he was cradling to me. He nodded slowly. "Aidan Edward."

I liked it. Amelia for his grandmother. Edward for his grandfather. Aidan for us and the new lives we were celebrating.

It was the fastest labor I'd ever had and the babies were perfect. They needed some time and monitoring, but they were a healthy enough weight. Much longer and Doctor Patterson indicated we'd definitely have needed a c-section.

I was already in love with them. The guys were too. Eddie—he cradled Amelia like she was the most precious thing on the planet and he kept glancing over at Aidan. Archie wore an expression that was equal parts awe and adoration.

Our happily ever after kept growing and changing. It was the best kind of ending.

Another beginning…