It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

54. Liz

A/N: This isn't a very Hardzello-y chapter, but I really wanted to improve my writing plus I've always wanted to write a birth chapter as a way of practice. I promise this is all part of the story, you'll see why it's so important later on in the story. Enjoy!

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John sits down in the chair that is left next to Ben and Joe after shooting Mary a reassuring smile. "I'm not sure if Dad is gonna make it in time. He's stuck in traffic, and all possible roads to the hospital are closed. He's still more than fourty minutes away from here." John whispers in Joe's ear.
The ginger's eyes widen instantly. Meanwhile, the nurse is done attaching Mary to all kinds of monitors which keep track of the heartbeat of the babies and the contractions. She leaves the room after Mary asked for any kind of pain relief.
"I'll tell her." Joe whispers. He gets up, but decides to wait until Mary's contraction has faded.
John nods at that, knowing that Joe and Mary are way closer than he and Mary ever were. If someone can keep her from panicking, it's Joe.
Joe sits down on the edge of his sister's hospital bed. "Hey, sis?" He says to get her attention.
The girl looks up, which allows Joe to see her forehead glistening a bit with sweat.
"John just got off the phone with Dad. He is stuck in traffic and he's probably not gonna make it on time." He immediately sees a frown appear on her face. "I guess I'll have to manage on my own then." She whispers in a shaky voice.
Joe shakes his head, and is about to say that she is not at all on her own.

But before he can, the monitor next to the bed suddenly starts to beep loudly.
It sounds like an alarm. The bells and whistles that go off startle everyone in the room.
Ben immediately sees that this isn't very good, and pushes the red button next to the bed without hesitating.
John and Matt look at Ben questioning.
The blond doesn't say anything and only points at the monitor as a way of telling them that something's off.
"W-what's happening Joe?" Mary asks frightend as tears are starting to drop.
Joe lets go of her and looks at her helplessly. "I don't know." He says softly.
In complete panic, Mary turns to Matt.
The latter immediately sits down next to his girlfriend. He locks their fingers together and makes their foreheads touch.
"I can't do it. I'm too weak. It hurts so much and I'm exhausted already. Even the monitors know it." Mary sobs softly.
Matt shakes his head. "Don't say that." He whispers.
"Mary that's not true, you know that." John says to his little sister.

Meanwhile, the nurse from before has entered the room and is Ben explaining to her why he pushed the button.
"Mary? Can you lie down on the bed for me?" The nurse asks.
The girl nods overwhelmed and sprawls on the bed.
"What is going on?" Joe asks. He lets out a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding when he feels Ben taking his hand.
"The heart rate of baby 2 has dropped a bit, and we need to check if the baby is still getting enough oxygen." The nurse explains. "I'm going to do an ultrasound to see if there is still enough amniotic fluid in your womb."
Mary nods, and just lets it all happen.
Ben sits down and pulls Joe onto his lap when he sees the concerned look in the ginger's eyes.
Joe nuzzles his face into the collar of Ben's turtleneck. Suddenly he sees the nurse getting up from her chair.
"Is everything okay?" Matt asks.
The nurse nods. "Yes. Everything is okay for now. But to make sure both babies will have enough oxygen, we're gonna speed up the proces a bit. You're still 5 centimeters dilated. So we're gonna induct. That means you'll get to the 10 centimeter quicker, but also get more and heavier contractions. I'm afraid we don't have time to give you an epidural anymore." She explains to the girl.
Mary swallows and nods. She looks at her brothers, who both shoot her a encouraging smile. Before she can say anything to that, the nurse has left the room already.

****

"Okay Mary, you're almost ready to push. I'll explain everything that is gonna happen, and after that it's time to welcome your little ones." A new nurse says to Mary.
Matt immediately takes his girlfriend's hand when he hears that.
Ben chuckles softly when he sees the twinkles in Joe's hazel eyes.
"So, when I tell you to, I want you to push as hard as you can. After your babies are born were gonna kind of snatch them away from you. Just to take them to the check-up room to make sure they're totally okay. After that we'll lay them on your chest so they can get to know you. I don't want you to panic if you don't hear them cry after they're born. That doesn't always mean something is wrong. Okay?"
The nurse looks from Mary to Matt to make sure both teenagers got it. When the two nod, she smiles. "Okay then. Take a deep breath, and once you feel a contraction you may start pushing."
Ben, Joe and John get up, and walk over to Mary. "You can do it. We'll be right outside if you need us, okay?" Joe whispers before hugging the girl tightly.
After also John and Ben hugged her, the three leave the room.

~~~

A modest cry fills the hospital room. "There is baby number one! It's a little girl." The nurse says as she lifts up the girl a bit so Mary can see her daughter.
The girl is still out of breath because of the pushing, and is still in so much pain. But the moment she sees her daughter she briefly forgets about that. When she looks at Matt, she sees the admiration in his eyes.
As told, the baby girl gets taken to the check-up room immediately.
Matt kisses Mary before rushing outside to tell the others that the first baby is here. "She's here! Baby number one is here!" He exclaims proudly.
Joe, Ben and John jump up from their chairs. "Really? Congratulations!" Joe says with a huge smile.
After John and Ben have also congratulated him, Matt rushes back inside.
"You're doing so great Mary. Get ready to go again, okay?" The nurse says to the girl.

Meanwhile, Joseph hurriedly enters the hospital, quickly running towards the right ward. There he sees his sons and Ben sitting in the hallway. "Boys! Did I miss it?" He asks out of breath.
The three shake their heads. "You're just in time. She's halfway." Joe says.
John nods in agreement. "You already have one granddaughter."
Joseph immediately smiles when he hears that.

Inside the hospital room, the nurse speaks up again: "Okay Mary, time to push again."
Mary nods, and takes a deep breath. She listens to the nurse counting.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 8, 9, 10. And breathe. Very well."
After pushing twice more, Mary hears the nurse saying something that sounds like a 'you're almost there' but it sounds quite distant.
"And there is you're second daughter."
Mary closes her eyes, completely out of breath. Only after a few seconds she notices something.
No crying.
But the nurse told her not to panic, so that's what she's trying to do. She doesn't get much more time to think about it, because a male nurse enters the room.
"Here is daughter number one, totally healthy and ready to meet mommy." He says friendly to Mary. He carefully hands her the little baby girl.

The baby is completely swaddled in a light pink cloth, and is wearing a white hat.
"She's beautiful." Matt whispers before giving both Mary and his daughter a kiss on the head.
After admiring the little girl for a while, Mary looks up at her boyfriend. "Go get Joe and the others now, okay? Or he'll have a heartattack from the suspense." She says with a smile.
The nurse gets up. "I'll get them, you two stay seated."
The moment Joe enters the room, he rushes over to his sister and his newborn niece. "Oh my god I'm so proud of you!" He whisper-yells.
Mary smiles. "I'm so glad it's over. I'm exhausted." She admits with a soft giggle. "But they were more than worth it."
"Does this beauty have a name yet?" John asks after admiring his baby niece.
Mary nods with a smile. "This is Liz." She says proudly.
Everyone smiles widely.
"That's a beautiful name." Ben says.
The others nod in agreement.
Joseph walks over to his daughter, a proud smile on his face. "Hi sweetheart. I'm so incredibly proud of you. I'm glad I got here on time." He whispers.
"So am I." Mary whispers. After staring the little one in her arms for a while, Mary hands Liz over to Matt so he can meet her as well.

Then the male nurse enters, but this time without a little girl on his arm. He beckons his colleague, and together the two leave the room.
Mary and Matt haven't noticed it yet, but Ben and Joe have. The look on the face of the male nurse before he left isn't very reassuring.
"Benny, did you see that?" Joe asks in a quite trembling voice.
Ben nods. He gives the ginger a kiss on the lips to reassure the boy. He can feel Joe's muscles relax a bit. "I'm sure it's just about some paper stuff." He says, although he doesn't know that for sure.
Joe takes a deep breath, and nods, wanting to believe it with all his heart.
Ben intertwines their fingers as some extra reassuring.
"Maybe I should go ask them what is going on?" Joe asks after five minutes of waiting.
But that isn't necessary anymore, because at that point the two nurses enter the room again. "Mary? We need to speak to you about your other daughter."
The girl looks up with an anxious look on her face. "W-why? Is something wrong?"

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Ayooo

Can anyone guess how I came up with the name Liz?😏

I hope this chapter was enjoyable despite the lack of Hardzello. Next chapters will have more, I promise!

Much love from me aka queenborhap_gifs♡