The Story of Tonight

Chapter Thirty Nine

Sebastian Alexander Nadal-Miranda and Stella Adriana Nadal-Miranda came into the world twenty-three minutes apart in the middle of the night. Lin didn't hold back any tears as he saw his babies for the first time, both wailing loudly. He was in complete awe of the moment, and knew he'd never forget it.

Lia didn't sleep a minute while her mom and dad were in the OR room. She paced outside the restricted area to know the very moment her dad came out of the room. When he told her the great news, she cheered so loudly that it sparked the attention of the others in the waiting room. Lin didn't care. He thought they should all celebrate as loudly as they wanted to.

About an hour later, Vanessa and the babies, who both were doing amazing with high APGAR scores, were back in her room. Although she was a bit sore, it was the last thing on her mind when she looked at the babies that had just entered her life. She felt an overwhelming feeling of pride when Lia finally met them. She was thankful that Lin was a photo junkie, which only seemed to intensify since the arrival of the twins.

When the discussion of the names came about Lin and Vanessa landed on Stella and Sebastian, two names they had both fallen in love with that kept popping up on their individual lists. For the middle names Adriana was easy as it was Vaness's middle name, but when Lia had suggested Alexander as a middle name, Vanessa's immediate reaction was to roll her eyes as she was adamant that her child wasn't going to be named after a slave trader or the most cliche character in his father's show. When she reasoned that without the show though, they would have never gotten to this very moment, she couldn't help but cry. Damn hormones.

She let the joy of the babies mask the physical pain she was feeling. One of the reasons she hadn't wanted a c-section was because the recovery time was so much longer. Not only had her body been opened up and her muscles cut into, but she couldn't lift anything for weeks. That would mean the work would be on Lin and Lia. Lin was ultra busy with his final weeks of the show. Lia was a teenager and had her own agenda. She knew Lia would happily help but that wasn't her job. Luckily, both sets of parents were willing to help out.

One by one family and close friends came to the hospital to meet their new family members. Though they were a bit early, they were both on the upper side of 5 pounds. Lin and Vanessa happily showed them off. Vanessa needed her rest and would stay in the hospital a couple days to recover from the surgery.

Three days later, Lin had lugged the two baby carriers to the hospital so they could get a taxi home. Vanessa was wheeled down in a wheelchair. It would almost be like being on bed rest again for the near future. She felt a bit of a gloom taking over her - she was thrilled to have her babies but felt a disappointment that it hadn't gone to plan and that her movements were yet again restricted.

Lin threatened the cab driver with his life if he went even a mile per hour over the speed limit. They slowly made their way home. Lia and Lin each took a baby and Vanessa walked slowly.

The parental reinforcements would come later, but for now it was time to be a family of five alone. Lia excitedly took her sleeping sister straight to their nursery. She gently scooped her out, taking care to support her head.

Lin, Vanessa and Sebastian joined them a few minutes later, finding the teenager gently swaying with Stella.

Lin gently set his son in his crib and Vanessa gently told Lia it was time to put them down. It would soon be time to wake them up for a feeding. When the nurses had told them they needed to be fed every two hours Vanessa immediately felt exhausted. Would she ever sleep?

They all looked at the sleeping infants for a few minutes before gently closing the door. Lia decided to take a nap in her room and Lin encouraged his fiancé to do the same.