Whiskey 'n Lace

~ Chapter Forty-One ~

Life did a complete flip after Atlas, Genevieve, and Viola were born. It was as if Rafael and Olivia finally felt full, as if they had finally placed the last three missing pieces to their puzzle.

“How are the babies?” Olivia yawned as her husband came over and stood beside her hospital bed.

“They are doing great, baby. The nurses and doctor are still just cleaning them up and recording their weights and lengths.”

“What about Viola? She was the one with the cord around her neck, right?” Olivia breathed as she tried to catch a glimpse of her crying babies.

“She has a light bruise around her neck, but they say it will fade with time. She’s perfect, just like Atlas and Genevieve.”

“I can’t believe that I just birthed three babies… how did I manage to do that?” Olivia asked as Lucia walked back into the room.

“Because you, my love, are a badass.” Lucia grinned. Olivia smiled softly before nodding.

“I guess I am a badass.” Olivia laughed weakly as she held her stomach. It felt weird to hold her stomach now, especially since her three precious babies weren’t in there anymore.

“Olivia?” Rafael asked, and Olivia quickly turned to look at her husband.

“Yeah?”

“The nurses want to know if you’d like to hold the babies. They are clean and ready to be snuggled.” Rafael breathed, and Olivia nodded quickly.

“Of course I want to hold them! Bring those Barba babies to me!” Olivia smiled.

///

After lunch time, Olivia was feeling well enough for visitors. The first set of visitors were Stephanie and Matilda, who were so ready to hold three adorable little babies.

“Auntie.” Matilda smiled as she walked into the room with her mother.

“Hey, Mattie. How are you, love?” Olivia asked, as Matilda dropped her mother’s hand and ran to her aunt’s bed.

“I’m better now! I have cousins!” She giggled, and Olivia smiled.

“You do, baby! They are the cutest little things!” Olivia grinned.

“How’d everything go?” Stephanie asked, as she walked over and gently caressed her older sister’s hair.

“It was hard, Steph. Viola’s cord was wrapped around her neck.” Olivia whispered, because she didn’t want to scare her niece.

“Mattie, why don’t you go and wash your hands. I bet Uncle Rafa will be coming back soon with the babies so we can meet them. Okay?”

“Okay!” The little girl grinned, before she ran to the bathroom.

“Is Viola okay now?” Stephanie asked worriedly, and Olivia nodded.

“Yeah, she’s good now. She was being very vocal once she was born, and she is incredibly sweet, just like her brother and sister.” Olivia spoke.

“I should have been here to help you out. I had a hard labor and delivery…” Stephanie frowned.

“Don’t feel bad about this, Steph. Especially since you were with Mattie and this labor was incredibly long.”

“Next time I promise to be here with you.” Stephanie smiled, and Olivia laughed weakly.

“I don’t know if there will be a next time, but if there is, you can have a front-row seat.”

Not long after Stephanie and Matilda arrived, Rafael brought the triplets down with a set of nurses. He had been down in the nursery with the babies as they were getting tests run, just to make sure they were still doing okay being away from himself and his wife.

“They are little, Auntie.” Matilda whispered, from where she sat on her uncle’s lap and held Atlas.

“I know, it’s because there were three of them growing in my belly.” Olivia spoke, as she watched her niece.

“Your belly was huge… I guess I didn’t realize that there were three.” Matilda spoke, and Stephanie laughed softly as she looked over at her daughter.

“You knew, sweetie. You just forgot.”

///

Rafael’s grandmother, sister, and brother-in-law were the next to come up before visiting hours were over with. Olivia and Rafael were officially alone with their babies, and it was kind of scary.

“Diapers are changed and these three are ready for bedtime.” Rafael smiled, as he carried his little girls to Olivia before moving and lifting Atlas up.

“Do we get to keep them tonight or are they getting taken down to the nursery?” Olivia asked.

“I don’t know. I guess we will see.” Rafael yawned. He settled down onto the bed with his wife before looking between all three of his babies.

“Stephanie told me that she’d be there for the next one.” Olivia whispered, as she kept her eyes focused on her daughters.

“Next one?” Rafael asked.

“Next baby.” Olivia breathed as she turned to look at her husband.

“What? She is already asking us about more babies, not even a day after our triplets were born?”

“I know, it wasn’t the best time… but it got me thinking about a lot of different things.”

“Like what?” Rafael questioned, as Atlas gave out a noisy yawn.

“If there was ever going to be a next time, which I’m thinking there won’t be… all I can think about is my moms not being there with us. Just like they weren’t here this time. I hoped that they would have been here to watch Atlas, Genevieve, and Viola make their entrances into the world… but they are too focused on their favorite child.”

“I know how much you wanted them to be here, even before we found out that we were expecting, but it would have been too stressful. They would have made today all about themselves.”

“I just wonder if maybe we should tell them. Like I could call them and tell them… then maybe they might come around.”

“Don’t you think they will always be too focused on Charlie to even want to be here?”

“Probably… but I can at least give it a shot, right?”

“If you’d like.” Rafael spoke with a small frown.

“Don’t worry, baby. If they break my heart, at least I know I’m stronger now thanks to these three beautiful babies.”