One Night ✔

58. One Night

"I don't think my skin can possibly stretch any further" I observe, standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom while Lucas runs a brush through my hair. "Do you?" I ask, glancing up at him. 

Lucas chuckles, "I think your skin will stretch however much more it needs to if the girls need more time." Huffing quietly under my breath, I cradle my bump. It's already been three weeks since I last thought I couldn't possibly get any bigger and yet per measurements taken at the doctor a couple days ago, I had. The good news though, the girls had dropped which meant that any day my water could break and it would finally be time. 

Something I was definitely more excited for this go-around. Thinking back on my pregnancy with Avery, I could still remember when she dropped and the reality of my situation hit me hard; that I was going to be bringing her into the world on my own. That wasn't the case this time though; Lucas would be there through every contraction and I was immensely thankful for that. 

"Have you thought any more about my name suggestions?" My fiance asks, redirecting my train of thought. I purse my lips. Over the last few weeks as we put the finishing touches on the nursery, we spent a lot of time discussing names and thus far, there was only one thing we were agreed on and that was the middle name of one of the girls. 

"I like Abigail" I admit. That one meant a father's joy which I presume is exactly why Lucas had gravitated towards it, but it didn't quite work with the middle name we liked which meant we'd have to pick a different middle name for her and give the chosen name to her sister-. 

"What about Darlene?" He presses further. 

Turning to face him and placing my hands on his shoulders, I sigh. "I love the meaning but the name leaves something to be desired." Continuing to rifle through the names he's suggested throughout my pregnancy, I settle on one that holds some merit. "Do you still like Jocelyn?"

A smile tugs at his lips, "the name meaning happy? Yea, I do. And, it would work with the middle name perfectly." He wasn't wrong. I test the full name on my tongue and immediately fall in love with it. Raising an eyebrow at me as he reads my expression, he laughs in disbelief. "Did we finally decide on a name?"

Joining in on his laughter, I slide my hands around to wrap around his neck. "Don't get too excited, there's still the issue of Abigail's middle name."

"Well-." He begins when all of a sudden I feel a sharp, stabbing pain in my lower back that makes me quite literally stumble into him. "Riles, you alright?" He asks, checking as his worried gaze lingers. 

"Mhm" I hum, "I'm fine." Straightnening my back and standing up, I open my mouth to continue our conversation when the pain strikes again and I find myself doubling over. 

"Yea, no. You're not fine." Lucas says decisively. "We need to get you to the hospital."

Waving off his persistent worry, I inhale a deep breath a force a smile onto my lips. "It's probably just false labor pains. My water hasn't even-." But before the statement even has a chance to leave my lips, a sudden rush of water spills onto the floor and my eyes widen. 

"Riles, baby," Lucas says gently as he steps towards me. "There isn't anything false about this. We gotta go" he says insistently and without further argument from me, he leads me out of the bathroom. 

~ 🌌 ~

Within minutes of being admitted I'm hooked up to a billion monitors, all of them monitoring something whether it be contractions, heart rates of myself and the twins; my room is so loud with all the constant beeping that I can't even hear myself think. 

"Mom!" Avery rushes into the room, having been excused from the rest of the school day after Lucas called to tell the office that I was in labor. "Are you okay? How are the babies? Does it hurt?" She asks rapidly. I chuckle, reaching out to cup my daughter's cheek.