Chapter 37

Ricci

I’m now a hundred years pregnant, wondering if I’ll give birth to a toddler, as I make my way into the school gymnasium. Today is the Winter Festival and Manny, as well as his brothers, got Marisol’s booth all set up. Since I haven’t been sleeping well the past few weeks, I waited until Mama A came and picked me up.

“Mija, wait for me,” she calls out, coming to my side. “You should let us help you, you’re not as stable as you once were now that the little one has grown so big.”

“I didn’t think I’d have a big baby,” I admit, looking at how my abdomen announces my presence these days. I had to stop working at the diner because I couldn’t balance a tray anymore.

“All of my babies were what my George called whoppers,” she states. “Even Luci was ten pounds.”

“Ten pounds?” I ask, feeling nauseous.

“Mama, are you scaring my wife again?” Manny asks, walking over to us. I smile when his hands wrap around me to cup where our child is currently dancing around in my stomach. “I think your child just kicked me,” he whispers.

“So, this baby is mine when they do something to you?” I tease.

Most nights when we’re relaxing before bed, we watch the acrobatics display in my belly and try to guess what body part is ‘revealing’ itself. I’m pretty sure we’re wrong most of the time, but the intimacy it’s given us is something I absolutely love. I’m so wobbly now that Manny showers with me so I don’t fall, and he’s even taken over shaving my legs for me. When I had mentioned it needed to be done, he told me he didn’t care if I was as hairy as Bigfoot, then my hormones struck because I heard it differently in my head, so what did my husband do? He got a fancy electric razor and has taken great pleasure in ‘grooming’ me.

“No fear, just facts,” Mama A retorts, grinning at him. “I just wish you had wanted to know what you were having.”

“Mama, those gender reveal things are over the top most of the time anyhow,” Manny says. “We know the baby is healthy, and it’s not as if we can’t get gender specific clothes once he or she arrives.”

“But that means the room is so generic.”

“It’s really not, Mama A,” I interject. “We went with a baby jungle animal theme which is perfect for a boy or a girl.” It’s freaking adorable is what it is, and my sisters have been heavily involved in getting the nursery ready. Well, them and Marisol. I swear, the three of them are constantly coming home with things ‘for the baby’ which is almost to the point of ridiculousness.

“Si, si, I know. I just want to know if I’m buying overalls or tutus,” she grumbles, making me laugh.

“Let’s go see how your other granddaughter is doing at her booth,” Manny suggests, guiding me through the crowd of people to the far corner where I see a massive line waiting.

“It looks like she’s doing good,” I exclaim, seeing Ivy and Lacie both taking money while Marisol bags up purchases.

* * *

Manny made me sit down when he saw my legs were starting to swell but I wasn’t willing to go. Not when my girl was slowly selling out of all the things we made. While we had some of the usual things you see at a Christmas bazaar, like wreaths, and small, painted trees, we also had the tile signs, birdhouses painted with the school’s mascot, decorative holiday towels, and wooden toys that Manny and his brothers had made. Marisol’s booth was definitely a family affair as even Mama A donated several quilts, as well as a few crocheted lapghans.

“Do you want something to drink?” Ivy asks, startling me out of the lists I was making in my head of everything I still need to do before Christmas. Most of the presents have been bought and wrapped, but I have a few more small things I want to get for Marisol, as well as stocking stuffers for all the adults’ stockings. Of course, as overprotective as Manny is these days, I’ll probably have to go online to shop.

“No, I think I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back,” I tell her, awkwardly standing to my feet.

I’m nearly to the ladies’ room when I feel a gush of fluid flow down my legs. Looking down, I see a puddle forming at my feet and realize the small pains I’ve been having are labor pains. “Manny!” I call out, drawing not only his attention, but everyone else’s as well.

Within seconds, he’s by my side. When he sees the problem, he scoops me up in his arms bridal style and shoulders his way through the crowd. “Marisol, we’re headed to the hospital,” he calls out as we pass her booth.

“Go, go,” Gabriella, Manny’s niece, says. “All of you, go. The prices are marked, I’ve got this. Just someone come and get me when this is over.”

Since there’s maybe an hour left and so little remaining of Marisol’s items, I put my hand on Manny’s arm and ask, “Can Diego or Matias stay until she’s done then bring her up to the hospital? That way, they can take all of this down and you won’t have to worry about coming back.”

“Good idea.” He stops and asks Diego who agrees to stay with Gabriella while the rest of the family falls in step behind us.

* * *

I don’t know what to expect when we arrive at the hospital, but nurses practically running around as the doctor barks orders isn’t it at all.

“Manny?” I whisper, pulling on his shirt sleeve. I’ve been changed into a hospital gown, had an IV inserted, and been checked by the doctor, which is what preceded all the chaos currently going on around me. “What’s wrong?” I ask when he leans in to hear me over the medical staff.

“I think you’re further along in the labor process than they thought you’d be with a first-time birth, sweetheart. Are you in any real pain?”

I think about it and shake my head. “No, not really. More like twinges if anything.”

“Well, young lady, that’s a good thing because there’s no time for an epidural,” the doctor announces, while washing his hands. I watch him dry them then slip on a pair of gloves. “Because we’re about to have a baby. Are you ready?”

“Kind of too late if I’m not, isn’t it?” I tease.

He looks at Manny and smiles. “This might be the most enjoyable delivery I’ve ever had. Usually, the woman is threatening to geld the man. It’s difficult to be between her legs when she’s got violence on the mind, you know?”

Manny chuckles while taking my hand in his. As always, he laces our fingers together, which I’m grateful for when I feel a wave of pain roll through me. “Doctor? I’m feeling some pain,” I advise.

“Totally understandable considering I’m watching a baby’s head come out of your vagina,” he replies. “Now, push, Ricci. Push hard.”

Manny helps me, using his back to prop me up as I push until the doctor tells me to stop. He watches the monitor that’s next to me that’s showing my contractions and when another starts to indicate its arrival, he says, “Push, push, push, push. Good girl.”

Over and over again, I push when I’m told to, breathing like the Lamaze instructor taught us in class, yet the baby seems determined to park itself in my vajayjay.

“I’m probably so stretched out a Mack truck could drive up there,” I whisper, sweat and tears intermingling on my face.

“Sweetheart, I promise, it’ll go back to what it was before,” Manny says. “And even if it doesn’t, I’ll still love you.”

“How do you know? I mean, you’ve never given birth, have you?” I sass. “Sorry, sorry. Just worried that our baby isn’t wanting to meet us after all this drama.”

“You mean having your water break in the school gymnasium?” he questions.

“Yeah, that. Shit, I hope someone cleaned up the mess.”

“I’m sure by now they did, honey, since the whole family is in the waiting room for this one’s arrival,” he says.

I’m about to say something snarky when the doctor says, “Now, Ricci. Push, push, push, push, push.”

I grunt and groan, the pressure almost unbearable until suddenly, there’s blessed relief, and I hear the unmistakable cry of a baby. Glancing down, I know my expression must be puzzled because Manny looks at me and asks, “What’s that look for?”

“They said I was measuring to have at least an eight to nine pound baby,” I reply. “But the baby looks no bigger than a peanut.”

The doctor interrupts us when he looks between my legs then says, “Because the other one was hiding this whole time.”

Manny’s eyes grow wide, and he glances at me before he says, “Twins? We have twins?”

Hell, I don’t even know what the first baby is other than Baby A as I just heard the nurse announce. Right now, the little one is being held on my abdomen against my skin while the second baby pretty much pops right out. No fuss, no muss, no drama.

“Let’s see what we’ve got, shall we?” the doctor asks, almost rhetorically. “Ah, Baby A is a little boy, Baby B is a little girl. Congratulations, Mom and Dad! Dad, would you like to cut the cords?”

* * *

It takes a little while to get both babies weighed and cleaned up, but while Manny is overseeing the nurses as they take care of that, the doctor is sewing up my episiotomy after I delivered the afterbirth. Once he’s finished and congratulates us again, two other nurses come in and help me get cleaned up. Although, truthfully, that will involve a full shower, none of that baby wipe crap. Granted, they did have one of those small basins, so it was better than wipes, but even still, I feel slightly disgusting.

When the babies are brought over to me, I carefully take each one, with the nurses helping to prop them up in my arms.

“We’ll let your family know you’ll be out shortly but won’t say a word about it being twins,” one of the nurses says. “And, like the doctor says, this was one of the best deliveries we’ve had in a very long time. Congratulations, Mom and Dad.”

“What should we name them?” Manny asks once we’re alone.

“What about Lucinda Noelle and Javier Luis?” I reply. “Lucinda for your sister, Javier for your grandpa?” I see the tears well in my husband’s eyes and lean against his arm. “Thank you, Manny. If I hadn’t started over with you, and you with me, we wouldn’t have these two miracles from Heaven right now.”

“Yes. Are you ready for our family yet?” he teases, grinning down at me.

“Definitely. Looks like the girls will need to go get another crib, hmm?”

“As if any of the women in either of our families has a problem shopping.”

“I bet your mom has stuff for a little boy and a little girl already,” I tease, snickering. “But just in case, let her know she needs both overalls and a tutu.” She so wanted us to do a reveal, but that just wasn’t for me.

“Be right back, and you’re probably right. Thank you, wife, for my babies.”

* * *

Hours later, after our families have left with promises to return in the morning after they shop, I doze off while watching Manny talk to our children.

“They’re beautiful, Button,” Papa B says, hugging me.

“You know?” I ask, looking around. Once again, I’m in that strange place I was in before. On one hand, I know he’s no longer alive, yet he’s standing right in front of me.

“Yes we do, sweetie,” Mama B replies. “We’re so proud of you and couldn’t have asked for a better daughter.” When I go to protest, she shushes me. “You were ours, Ricci. We didn’t need a piece of paper to tell us otherwise. Now, go enjoy your family. I foresee plenty of laughter and love in the following years.”

“Will I see you again?” I ask.

“Someday, a long time from now, you’ll be with us again. We’ll check in on you from time to time, though.”

“Okay. I love you both so much.”

“Sleep now, Button. You’ve got some busy years ahead of you.”

I wake up with Papa B’s laughter in my head and smile over at Manny.

“What’s going on, sweetheart?” he asks, having just settled Luci and Javier in the isolettes the nurses brought in for us.

“I just had the strangest dream. Mama and Papa B were there, and they congratulated me on the babies and marrying you,” I reply, still kind of in a daze. “It happened before too, when I was so sick. Is that even possible?”

“I think, in times of great sadness and also joy, that those we love are able to reach through the veil and communicate with us. Mama has told us stories of how Papa talked to her.”

“Well, I don’t care whether it’s true or not, I believe it happened and that’s all that matters. Now, are you sleeping on that cot or climbing in with me?”

He chuckles while slipping off his shoes before he slides into my hospital bed and pulls me into his arms. “Third best day of my life so far.”

“What were the first two?” I ask, my curiosity roused.

“The first was the day I found you in my workshop. The second was when you became my wife.”

“What about Marisol?” I whisper, not wanting our oldest child to be left out.

“Any of our kids will be included in the third best day, sweetheart,” he replies, kissing me. “Now, get some sleep. I suspect our babies will be awake and wanting to eat soon.”

“Night, Manny,” I murmur, already sliding back into sleep.

“Night, Ricci.”