Tears | [BoyxBoy] | English

46

Yeheni was admitted to the hospital three days before her due date for her second delivery. I spent those three days in the hospital beside her without sleeping. Apart from Yeheni's occasional pain, the doctor said both her children were healthy in the womb. No matter how strong Yeheni tried to be, I could clearly see that the same fear of losing the babies was still in her mind.

'Nothing will happen this time, Yesh.' I touched her head. Yeheni greeted me with a comforting smile.

'I also hope that it will not be like before.' She slowly let out the words.

'Do you want something to eat?' I asked her. Yeheni paid attention when I said something that made me think that it was worth a pointless question rather than having nothing to say. I thought that by distracting her, she would lose her fear.

'I want an apple. A green apple.' When she said, I pulled out the fruit bag from the drawer, washed a green apple and cut it in half, and gave it to her. Yeheni dug the apple piece with her teeth like a quokka who got a nut.

That night I fell asleep on the chair with my head on her bed. In the middle of the night, I woke up to the sound of Yeheni crying.

'Yesh?' I asked her sleepily.

'It hurts.' She started crying again and barely realizing what was going on, I rushed out of the hospital room and called a nurse.

This time, like the first time, I was thrown out of the door and the door was closed. I could only hear Yeheni's wailing through the walls of the hospital, and I tried to look at her through the cloudy glass of the window.

This time the delivery was faster than the first time. I heard someone say that the time gap between the two children was seven minutes and I tiptoed to see the two children. When the situation calmed down a bit, I was allowed to enter the maternity ward.

Two small babies, like two newborn baby birds with pink skin, were curled up in the hospital crib. I did not see that they had opened their eyes yet.

'Want to take them in your hands?' When a nurse next to me asked, I looked at her fearfully and shook my head to say no.

The nurse smiled and covered the crib with a mosquito net cover. I looked at the two children because they looked very strange to me. I found it difficult to accept that these are my two children.

Now that I am a father, I felt strange. I writhed in embarrassment at the thought, even though no one was around.

Yeheni was placed on a pushed bed and brought into the room where she sat on the bed with her hands on the sides. I could tell by her eyes that she was in pain. Yeheni looked at me with a scared look.

'Are they alive?' She asked me as if scared.

I answered her trying to hold back the tears that welled up in my eyes. 'Yes yes... both of them are alive!'

Yeheni looked at me for a while as if her words were stuck in her mouth. The next moment she buried her own head in her hands and began to cry. She looked up and smiled and started crying again. I went forward and put my arms around her and started crying with her. This was the first time happy tears flowed from my eyes.

'Will she breastfeed them or do you want us to feed them? The doctor said your wife is a bit weak.' I looked at Yeheni when a nurse asked me.

'I need to breastfeed them.' Yeheni said pulling her nose up with teary eyes.

The nurse carefully handed the baby, who was wrapped in a pink nappy, from the cradle to Yeheni's hands. Although Yeheni's hands were shaking, she hugged the baby very carefully as if she was afraid that the baby would fall from her hands.

She first breastfed the daughter and secondly breastfed the son. Looking at the two children, she and I could not stop the tears from flowing down my eyes. After feeding, the two children were put back in the crib and put to sleep.

A nurse came there and asked Yeheni what food and drinks she needed. I stood by the crib and watched the two children while Yeheni chose her food. Their eyes were locked peacefully and they were hugging each other. I felt my heart leap with joy as I looked at their small hands clasped together.

'Ayye...' hearing Yeheni's soft voice, I walked near her. 

Sitting on the bed, Yeheni asked me to help her change into her light white shirt. I helped her put on her sleeveless white blouse. After putting on the dress, Yeheni wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hugged my body for a while. I leaned forward and kissed her lips as she moved away from my body for a moment and placed her hand on my cheek.

I couldn't figure out why I wanted to do that. But Yeheni responded to it. My face was wet with tears on her cheeks as her lips gently moved over mine.

After a while, she backed away. 'Am I a mother now?'

I smiled and held her hair behind her. 'Yes. A beautiful mother of two beautiful babies.'

After the food was brought, Yeheni ate quietly. I stood in the gap between the crib and the bed and watched the two children. I still couldn't accept that they were my children.

'Both babies are healthy. Son was born first. Weight is three kilos. The daughter was born second. Weight two and eight kilos.' A nurse handed me a report of both children.

I stared at it for a while. I had nothing else to do as Yeheni fell asleep on her bed. I took out my phone and started checking the messages.

I had received numerous text messages from Lithum and Dr. Niluka as well as Nethil asking how Yeheni and the children were doing. Once again tears of joy filled my eyes, I thanked them all and sent a photo of the two children.

In the evening, Nethil and his parents came to see the two children, bringing Yeheni a basket of green apples. After that, Dr. Niluka came with gift bags for the two children. She talked to Yeheni for a while and advised her to maintain her mental health.

The day passed with Yeheni feeding the two children and trying to talk to them. I went home and cooked food for Yeheni and came back to the hospital.

On that day when the two children were born, I did not feel any kind of sadness.

I was honestly happy that day without any fear. 

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TEARS

2022. 08. 10