Ebony

Baby, Baby, Baby

"Ok Ivory, give me a deep breath and a big push"

Ivory frantically shook her head

"No, no. I can't do this"

"Ivory, yes you can. Now I need you to give me a big push. He's almost out" her doctor replied

Ivory nodded her head, tears pouring from her eyes. She gripped Safari's hand like her life depended on it as she sucked in a hust of wind and pushed with all her might.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Good, one more time"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"You wanna pull him out?" he asked, looking up at Ivory.

She quickly nodded her head as he directed her hands to her lower region. She was quickly met by small, slippery arms and an equally slippery head. She placed her hands under his arms and gave a slight pull. Within seconds, he was out of her and into her arms.

"He's beautiful" she cried to Safari, who was in awe

"Alright. Time for your baby girl" the doctor said, preparing for the next round. Ivory tore her eyes away from her son as she handed him to a nurse.

"Remember, deep breaths and big pushes. Let's get her here" the doctor said enthusiastically.

Ivory nodded and grabbed Safari's now red hand once again.

"1,2,3 push!"

"Aaaaaagggghhhhhh!"

"Give me another one"

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

"I can see her head! 1,2,3!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Great job Ivory, her head is almost out!"

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

"Her head is out! Can we get some shoulders? 1 , 2 , 3!"

"Ohhhhh my goooooooddddddd!"

"I've got her! I'm pulling her out!"

Ivory immediately felt the intense pressure she had felt for three hours go away. Her twins were finally here. She looked over at Safari, who held tears in his eyes.

"You did so good babe. They're perfect" he cried

Ivory sat up as much as she could as her daughter was passed over to her. Another nurse picked up their son and passed him to Safari.

"We can settle on names as soon as you're ready" a nurse said

Ivory nodded her head and looked down at her daughter.

"Johari" she cooed

Safari smiled as he looked down at them.

"I like it" he said softly before looking down at his son.

"You should name him" Ivory said

"You probably won't like it...." he trailed off

"Try me"

"Um, Jafari? I know you wanted it to start with a J, but I wanted him to be s Jr so-

"Johari Marie and Jafari James McEwen? They're gonna have a tough time in school, but I like it" she replied

Safari smiled as he looked down at his children, admiring every feature.

"Everything I do from this point on is for them" Ivory whispered, thinking of the days that would follow. A man from the registrar handed Ivory a clipboard with a few papers. She wrote down the twins names and signed the papers before handing them back to the man. While she did this Safari sat in a chair with a baby in each arm.

"I have some news" the doctor said, re-entering the room

"At the least, you can go home tomorrow and if your twins have excellent vitals, you can take them with you" he said

Safari beamed at the thought of bringing his babies home, sooner than later. Ivory simply nodded her head,already knowing that it was a good possibility. She'd planned everything out to a t, which Safari would soon find out. He was so enamored with the sight of his children that he essentially tuned out his surroundings.

"Safari, can you run out and grab something to eat? I'm starving" Ivory said, looking over at him.

Safari bit his lip before looking down at the twins, contemplating if he wanted to put them down.

"Uhh sure" he said slowly

He placed Jafari in the small bed next to Ivory and Johari in the one next to her brother. He then speed walked out of the room, so he could get back fast. Not even two minutes after he left, an employee from the hospital registrar entered the room, holding birth certificates.

"We can wait until dad gets back" the man said politely.

"Oh, that's not necessary. He won't be signing the birth certificates" Ivory said quickly

"Oh?" the man said in a confused tone

He looked over the papers Ivory had previously signed, trying to put two and two together.

"Oh...you didn't list a father.....so the twins have your last name, correct?" he asked quietly

"Yes....he's not their biological father....he's just my boyfriend" Ivory lied

"I understand" the man said, as he handed Ivory the birth certificates

"Well then, I just need your signature then" he said, handing Ivory a pen.

She quickly signed her name, leaving the father line blank.
*********************************

* One Day Ago*

"Are you sure you wanna do this? This could go really bad" Achebe said nervously.

"Yes. I can't put them through what I went through....it's too unstable"

"Yeah....well I'll help you no matter what, you know that"

"I know, that's why I need you to do this with me. Tafari will never know"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. We just have to fight at dinner in order for this to work"

Achebe nodded her head and let out a shaky breath

"It's going to be ok....we just have to do everything as planned"

"But he'll stop at nothing to-

"I know what you're gonna say and I've already got it covered. I know what I'm doing. Everything will be fine"

"For both of our sake, I hope you're right" Achebe said. She said a final goodbye and hung up the phone, turning her attention back to her laptop. She scrolled down the webpage after reading the header, "Visit Spain!"

* This story is coming to an end, so brace yourself ;)*