Trouble Times Two

Chapter Sixty

Monday

Maisie is so happy to see us when we get to her room.

She's nowhere near the actual birth, she's four centimetres dilated and her water broke just an hour ago. It's terrible seeing her in pain.

"Maisie, good luck, love you." I say and I hug her.

"I love you too." She says and I wave.

"Good luck Maisie, I hope it goes smoothly." Donovan says and he hugs her too.

"Be there for her man. She won't hesitate to cut you off if you annoy her and she will replace you in this room Dacre." Donovan says as he hugs his brother.

"He's right but you'll be fine." I hug Dacre as well and we leave to sit outside.

Paisley runs in and waves quickly to us and we wave back but she leaves the room quickly again to kiss Donovan on the forehead and for some reason kisses me on the forehead too.

She laughs when she realises but goes back in quickly.

Aunt Tara and Uncle Carl come speeding down as well and they hug us both before entering the room.

A nurse exits and speaks to us.

"Her room will be a no entry zone apart from medical personnel, please respect that if you don't want to enter the room now."

"Of course we will, will there be any way to receive updates?" Donovan asks and the nurse asks us to follow her and we do so.

"This screen will receive updates as the nurse at the computer types each milestone." She points to the window and we realise we can see Maisie. "As Miss Rosling has allowed, you guys can lift the blind and look in to see what's going on as well as receive updates on the screen. We usually use this for children who are being taken care of and need to see their parents but anyone who the party says can have this access, will."

"Okay, thank you." I respond.

"Alright. Stay patient guys and here you go." She gives us some snacks, well a lot and drinks and water. "There are also pillows and blankets in the corner and the seats you're on recline." Maisie chose a bougie place to give birth.

"Thank you." Donovan says and the nurse leaves and closes the door.

He starts munching on some chips and I wish I could eat right now. I'm so nervous my stomach feels like it's doing flips on a trampolines. I'm also just not hungry.

He puts a chip in front of my mouth and I shake my head.

"No, no. You barely ate yesterday, you're eating." He says and I give him a look of mock annoyance and then eat it.

It's tasty and while it's not the most nourishing food ever, it makes me smile.

He continues handing me chips like I'm a little rat but I enjoy being cared for. As someone who isn't needy, having someone to take care of me and my needs really makes me very happy.

I start to pull away fairly quickly though and he notices something is wrong. He doesn't say anything but I can see him glancing over at me in the reflection of the TV which was pitch black right now as there were no updates yet.

I eventually start to completely shelter myself from him, as if he's an enemy, as if he's someone out to get me. I know he isn't but I shut down when people start to try and take care of me.

I get up and walk out and around the ward.

I go to window of the room where all the babies are kept to be monitored.

I see so many tiny little babies and I see two babies, next to one another and I look at the names.

They're twins.

The mother and father come to the ward and say hello to them and play with them and they see me.

"Hi, are you having a baby too?" The mother says as she comes out to see me.

"No, not for another couple of years, I'm only eighteen. My older cousin is having her babies." I say and she smiles at me.

"Come in." She says and I look at all the little baby faces. She picks up the first baby. "This is twin number one, Joey and twin number two, Jimmy. They are my angels. We struggled so much to have a baby, then suddenly we have two."

I smile at her kid being called Jimmy, it was James' nickname.

Her husband introduces himself and shows me baby number two.

"Looking after twins isn't easy." I say.

"That much I know, all the book say it will be hard but I know it'll be even harder than that. Looking after one baby is hard, let alone two who need the exact same amount of care." Her husband says and I nod.

"I'm a twin. It's hard. It's also difficult to follow rules and treat them equally and the truth is, that will never happen. You can never treat them equally even though they are technically the most equal of siblings. Their needs will be different to one another and you think it's not fair to do this for one twin and vice versa but the truth is that it doesn't matter. Just as long as you make sure all the needs you can realistically meet will be met, they'll both be happy." I say and they look at me with this soft look in their eyes.

"That is the most genuine advice I've ever heard. All this advice, especially twin related stuff, has been so robotic and to be honest, stupid. If you don't mind answering, do you and your twin get along?" Her husband asks.

"No." They look panicked. "Before you start to stress, I am the youngest of ten, I was always treated different and everyone's needs always came first. My parents were always addressing the oldest siblings needs first. Two of my brothers are twins and they were treated well and they are close with one another. Your boys will be fine, if you guys execute yourself the way you already present yourself. You guys seem amazing and any kid would be lucky to have you as parents."

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Send me your contact info so we can stay in touch." The woman says and she hugs me, tight.

"No biggie. Here you go." I say and hand my phone to her and she adds her contact information to my phone and calls her number.

"Oh yeah I'm Karla and he's Duane. You are?"

"I'm Giana. It was nice meeting you." I say and wave.

"Yeah, and you. I hope your cousins delivery goes well." Duane says and I thank them again before leaving.