When The Wrong One Loves You Right 1: A New Life

Chapter 23: Labor Pains

We reach the hospital and go inside. We are put in a room quickly. Lexi was there before we were.
"Hi sweetie. I'm so excited! I called your doctor she is on the way and your mom and brother too."
"Colten can you try to call Mark. I really want him here." I turn to him knowing it's probably useless to try.
"I'll see what I can do Ana." Colten said.
The minutes pass quickly. Colten was uncomfortable and stepped into the hall to make some phone calls. There are people in and out of the room checking on me. There was a man that came in and gave me an epidural, another did an ultrasound. My mom arrived and so do a lot of other people from the past I'd escaped. After a lot of contractions and waiting I finally get to a point where I am dilated to 10cm. The doctor tells me it's time to push. I take a deep breath. Colten had come back in the room and had a hold of my hand. My mom and Lexi stood on my other side holding my other hand.
"Breathe Ana, it will be over soon." Colten smiles at me.
I clench my jaw and begin to push. I scream. The pain is unbearable.
"I need Dante, Leo Where is Dante." I scream.
My brother rushes to the door and steps into the hall.
"Andreas get in here!" He yells.
"Again, deep breath and push on three." The doctor says and counts down.
I push and scream.
"Dante!" Tears run down my face and I scream. "I need you."
Dante's father comes to me quietly leaning in and taking my hand whilst pushing my mom and Lexi out of the way. "It's okay princess look at me, just like the first time remember."
"Is Dante here?" I asked. "Andreas I need him."
"No love, Dante and my wife are at the farm. They send their best and Dante said stay strong."
Andreas breathes with me and keeps my focus. I stare at his beautiful grey eyes identical to his sons and listen to him as talks me through the pain like he had when I was 15. I continue to push. The pain is unbearable, but it's easier than the last time or the time before.
I breathe deeply pushing again. Colten let's go of my hand a disappears. Seconds later Mark is standing next to me holding my hand, stealing my attention from Andreas. This moment couldn't be more perfect. I touch his face. I don't believe he's here.
"Is it really you?" I begin to cry.
"I'm here angel, I'm here." He takes my hand kissing my knuckles.
"Ana, I need you to push again. We almost have the head." The doctor says.
I turn my head to look at Andreas but he's gone. Matt has taken his place at my side. My mom and Lexi stand next to the doctor watching excitedly.
"Deep breath, three, two, one, push." The doctor says.
I push with all my might. The sound of crying fills the room.
"Again Ana. And push."
I push hard.
"Congratulations Ana! You have a baby boy. You have a few minutes before the next one is ready. Is this the father?" The doctor asks.
"Yes, Mark." I stare at him.
One of the nurses bring the baby over to me and lay the baby on my chest. I look at the baby. I don't think I have ever seen a more beautiful child. But I may just think that because he's mine. I look at Mark he looks like he may cry. I turn to Matt he has a similar expression on his face.
"I love you both." My eyes move back a forth between them.
This is a happy moment. Everyone I care about is in the room with me. Even the demons from my past. Everyone I tried to run away from. My brother stands with Andreas and a few of the Benedettis just inside of the room.
My precious baby nestles into my chest. Mark gently sets his giant hand on the baby's back shakily.
"Ok Ana, we need to pass the baby off we are about to have the second." The doctor says.
"I'll take him." Lexi says.
Mark gently lifts the baby handing him to Lexi. He lingers for a moment staring at the baby's face. He is making a silent promise to him and falling in love.
"Ready Ana? One, two, three. Push." The doctor says again.
I push with all my might. The room is filled with crying once more. I push again.
"We have another boy!" The doctor smiled. "I think that's it. Congratulations you're now the proud parents of twins. Have you chosen names yet?"
"No not yet." I say.
The doctor stops talking, the look on her face spelling concern.
"Nurse will you bring the ultrasound?" The doctor asks.
Cold jelly hits my stomach. The doctor rubs the machine against my belly.
"Looks like we aren't quite done Ana."
She steps away for a moment asking the nurse to prepare for another baby.
Fifteen minutes later my daughter was placed in my arms. We all fall had in love with the babies seconds after seeing them. The exhaustion I felt moments later was unbearable. Three babies. I couldn't believe it.
"I'm so tired." I say. "Can I sleep now?" 
"We are all finished. You can rest Ana. We are going to have everyone leave the room, so we can get everything cleaned up. Congratulations again. Mark will you join me for a moment?"
Mark walks out of the room with the doctor. I give lots of hugs to my family and friends. Everyone slowly funnels out of the room until Leo, Matt and the Benedettis are the only ones left. Leo stood in the far corner of the room talking to someone quietly in Italian.
"Congrats trouble." My childhood best friend said coming over to me.
"Sergio!" I half scream putting my arms up and wrapping him in a tight hug.
"I missed you so much." He said kissing my lips like he always did and smothering my face in kisses.
"Stop it." I said pushing him back.
"Sergio knock it off." Vance said to his little brother.
"Sorry. I got carried away. She's my best friend and I haven't seen her since we were seventeen."
"None of us have so you need to back off." Vance said before leaning in and giving me a hug. "Congratulations Ana."
"Thank you. Is Vincenzo here?" I asked hugging him.
"He is. I don't think he's going to come see you. He's in the waiting room. He was pretty upset when I left him."
"He has a right to be. I killed his baby." I said sadly.
"You didn't kill the baby Ana. You had an abortion because weren't ready to be a mother. Vince was more upset that you didn't say anything before you left than he was about you aborting the baby." Viktor said giving me a quick hug.
"I was scared." I say as he pulls back.
"He knew that. He forgave you but he's never stopped missing you." Adriano said pushing past his brothers to give me a hug. "Sorry to say hey and run but I have something I have to go take care of."
"Are you going to come back?"
"I'll be back to see you before you leave babe." Adriano said. "Congratulations baby."
"Thank you." I say letting him go.
"Isaac give the baby back. Let's go." Adriano commanded.
"I can't. I want to keep her. She's adorable." Issac walks toward me holding one of my babies. "What do you think Annie? Are you going to share?"
"I'm sure after a couple days I'll be overwhelmed enough I might." I said to him.
He gave me the baby and kissed my forehead.
"Congratulations Annie."
"Thank you." I said. "Bye guys."
"Us too." Vance said. "We all have business to take care of so we have to go."
"Is Vince going to come see me?"
"He will come see you when he's ready Annie." Vance said giving me a hug. "I tell him you asked for him."
I gave hugs to the Benedettis and they all left the room. Matt is the last one in the room. The doctor walks back in.
"Doctor can you still do paternity?" I ask.
"Yes, Ana who are we testing?"
I look at Matt.
"Yes, let me get some swabs. It will take a few minutes and we will have results within the next few hours."
The doctor leaves the room and returns quickly swabbing Matt's mouth five times.
He leans down kissing me on the forehead.
"Congratulations angel."
"Don't leave, please stay for just a day?"
"We won't leave you Ana. Go to sleep. We will be here when you wake up."
I wrap my arms around him. I hold him for a while before he pulls away and walks out of the room. I drift to sleep while the nurses clean up. The doctor wakes me about three hours later to share the results of the test with me. Matt is the father of all my babies. My heart sinks. How am I going to explain this to Mark? I quickly fall back asleep not ready to deal with this problem.
I wake, and the room is bright. Mark is sitting next to the bed holding my hand. His head is laid down and he seems to be asleep. Matt is sitting by the window playing on his phone. He looks up to me realizing I'm awake.
"What did the doctor say? He asked quietly.
"Can we talk about it later?"
"Sure Angel."
"Can you turn the guest bedroom at the house into a baby's room."
"Yes. I already have people working on it. Don't worry about anything Ana. I am going to take care of you."
"Thank you. Thank you for staying."
"I didn't have a choice. Mark insisted that we stay a couple of days at least. I promised him when we left that we would be here, so he could reconnect with you and his children. He would have never stayed away or silent for that long otherwise. I checked on you a few times. Mark had trouble staying away when he would come with me."
Matt stops talking as my phone rings. I look quickly at the screen and send it to voice mail.
"Did you just send our boss to voice mail." Mark opens his eyes to look at me.
"Yes, yes I did."
"Why?"
"He has been overly friendly and really handsy since you left."
Mark gets a concerned look on his face.
"What do you mean?" His voice is almost angry. He sits up looking at me. "Did he touch you."
Tears begin to well up in my eyes and I clench my jaw and nod slowly.
"I'll kill him!" Mark stands up quickly and walks to the window. His breathing is heavy. Matt sits silently with fire in his eyes.
"Did he hurt you?" Matt asks.
I nod.
"Ana why didn't you fight back?" Mark asks still looking out the window.
"I did, but he's our boss and I didn't want to lose my job. I didn't know if I'd ever see you again."
Mark closes his eyes. His breathing still heavy.
"This wouldn't have happened to you if I'd been here."
"Mark it's not your fault. You couldn't know that he would do what he did."
"I'm sorry Ana."
There is a knock on the door and the nurse walks in.
"Good morning Ana! I hope I'm not interrupting. I was wondering if you were ready to feed your babies. I'm sure your body won't produce enough to feed all of them, so you are going to have to supplement with formula. If your ready I would love to help you."
I sniffle a little bit.
"Yeah, bring them in."  I say.
The nurse leaves the room returning quickly with one of my boys.
"Are you comfortable feeding with others in the room."
"Umm." I look at Mark. He looks at his brother. His face is still angry and clearly says get out.
"I'm not going." Matt's voice is stern.
Mark takes a deep breath and walks over to us taking a seat next to the bed.
"Okay." I look at the nurse.
She helps me take my smock off and places the baby on my chest. She shows me how to hold the baby, so he can eat and helps get him latched. It was the same process as it was when I'd had Dante's twins.
"Have you chosen names yet?" The nurse asks.
"No, we haven't even talked about it." I say.
"The sooner you decide the better. You can't leave until we have names and the paper work is finished."
"We will get it done." Mark says.
The nurse leaves the room giving us a moment to ourselves.
Mark's eyes are fixed on the baby. His face has softened, and his breathing is calm. He places a hand on my cheek. I lean into it closing my eyes.
"You are so important to me Angel." He said.
"You too." I say looking up at him.
Tears come to my eyes. I'm totally, completely in love with this man. I'm scared of losing him. I don't want him to disappear again.
"Never leave me again." I say.
"I can't promise you that Ana, but I will do everything in my power to stay with you as long as possible." Mark says sincerely. "Who was the woman at the airport? You told me she was your mother."
"You did. I told you Lucia was a mother to me. My mother hasn't really been there for me for most of my life. My actual mother is the one you met before you left."
The air is tense. I begin feeling a little awkward and decided to change the subject.
"What do you want to name them?" I ask.
"Whatever you want, but with my last name." Mark smiles at me.
"I want them named after people that are important to us."
"Ok Ana. Who did you have in mind?"
"What was your dad's name?"
"Xavier. I don't remember his middle name." Mark answers.
"Martin." Matt says looking out the window. "Dad's middle name was Martin."
"We need one girl name and a boy." I say.
"Natalie Marie? After our grandmother?" Mark says inquisitively.
"Tyler Vincent." Matt says.
"Who was he?" I ask
"Our best friend growing up. He was closer to Matt then me. He was in the car with Matt, in the accident all those months ago." Mark answers.
"Yeah, I like it. That was easier than I thought it would be." I say.
"I've missed you Ana." Mark wraps his arms around us.
This moment is so perfect.
The nurses return pushing two more babies in rolling hospital bassinets. Another nurse follows her with the other two.
"What paper work needs filled out?" Mark asks the first nurse.
"I will bring it to you and walk you through it."
Mark fills out paper work while I feed the babies. Little Natalie decides she's not going to fall asleep like her siblings. She cries and cries. Matt takes her from me. She stops crying almost immediately.
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Nothing. I guess she likes me." He said.
"Good thing." I say quietly.
The doctor comes in to check on me. She says everything looks good and tells us we can go home this evening. There are lots of people in and out of the room all day. I ask Matt to go get the SUV for us, so we can go home. Mark looks at him sideways wondering what I just asked him to do.
The day has been long. Colten and Lexi come back after work to visit with us. I hug Colten thanking him for bringing Mark back to me. A few of the Benedettis come back to see me again. I'm glad Vince never did come see me. Finally, we are ready to leave. Adriano leads the way. Sergio, Mark, and Matt carry the babies out behind him. Leo helps me into the passenger's seat and The Benedettis say goodbye.
Matt drives us to the house he bought. I am reminded of my last memory of this place. I feel guilty and uncomfortable. Matt notices how I feel but doesn't say anything. I am sure he feels the same way. Lexi rides with Colten and Leo in his own car. They all follow us. The tension between Colten and Matt has been so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"Um Wow." Lexi says to me as she helps me out of the car. "When did this happen?"
"Matt bought it for me almost six months ago.
"So why have you been staying in your crumby apartment?"
"It was easier to stay at the apartment when it was just me. But now there isn't space for all of us there."
Mark is listening to the conversation. He looks at me. "Six months ago? You could have been staying here the whole time. It would have been safer here."
"I wanted to wait for you." I say shrugging my shoulders. "Do you want to stand here and talk about it or do you want to go inside?"
"Lexi can you take the baby?" Mark asks handing her the car seat.
"Umm, Yeah sure." She takes the baby joyfully.
Mark walks up behind me sweeping me off my feet in his arms. I scream and begin to laugh as I hold on to him.
He turns in a little, whispering in my ear. "It's too bad we have to wait a three weeks before we can do anything. If I would have known about this before we would have consummated the house already."
"If you wait we can consummate every room." I chew on the bottom of his ear a little. He pulls back and kisses me.
We get in the house. Matt shows everyone around. I choose to stay downstairs with Leo and the babies. Leo has had his phone glued to his ear since yesterday. He stands by the window now looking outside. After my friends leave the room I decide I'm annoyed with it.
"Leo who are you talking to?" I ask.
"Micah Pruitt."
"Why?" I ask.
"Because for ten years he was your bodyguard and he cares about you."
"Isn't he still my bodyguard?" I ask. "The contract he signed with dad said he would keep me safe until on of both of us was dead. Can I say hi?"
"Switch it to video chat." Leo said into the phone as he came over to sit with me.
Leo turned the phone so I could see the screen. All I could see was the ceiling. Micah moves around off the screen.
"Hi Micah!" I said.
"Hi baby." Micah said.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Um, paperwork mostly. Leo told me you went into labor last night. I suppose congratulations are in order."
"Thank you. Do you want to see them?"
"Them?" He asks.
"I had triplets."
"Isn't that like nine babies now?" He asks sound distracted.
"Six Micah. Stop whatever your doing and talk to me." I demand.
"Sorry princess." The phone is lifted suddenly and Micah stares back at me smiling his charming smile. "You are so stunning Anabeth."
"Um no I'm not. I look like I crawled out of a horror movie." I giggle gesturing to my messy hair and the bags under my eyes.
"I think your being to hard on yourself." He said. "I'll always think your beautiful no matter how messy your hair is. Let's see them."
I took Leo's phone and turned the camera around going to the babies car seats.
"This is Victor, Natalie, and Xavier." I said moving the phone to each of my children as I said their names.
"They are gorgeous Anabeth."
"Are you in the city?" I asked.
"No. I'm at your dad's"
He moves the camera so I can see behind him.
"Micah, what did you do to my room?" I ask concerned with the mess behind him.
"It's not yours anymore, it's mine now." He smiles.
"Then why is all my stuff in there?"
"It's also mine. I wear your clothes around when no one else is here." He jokes.
I laugh at him dropping to my knees to sit I front of the babies.
"Phone Ana." Leo said walking up behind me.
I handed to phone up to him and continued laughing. He held the phone so I could see the screen again.
"I think I lost her." Micah said to my brother and chuckled.
"Your such a moron." I continue to laugh. "I miss you so much."
"You should come visit me Anabeth. If that's all it takes to get you laughing like this you must be super stressed."
"You don't even know." I say moping the rouge tears off my face with the bottom of my shirt.
"I'm being serious. If you want to runaway from the life you ran away for you know where I am. This is your home baby. You are always welcome here."
"I know." I say giving him a sad smile as I thought about actually going home.
"Wow, Ana this is amazing." Lexi says sounding jealous as she walked back in the room.
"Yeah. I thought so too." I say to her.
"Too bad you got Mark before I did."
I laugh. "You would have been smart enough to use protection, this wouldn't have happened for you."
"Your probably right." She said disappointed. "Who are you talking to?"
"Micah, I'm sorry I have to go. Hopefully we can talk later." I said ignoring her and turning my attention back to the phone.
"It's fine baby. I'll get your number from Leo and text you later alright? I have a ton of work to get done tonight."
"I love you." I say to him.
"I love you to baby."
Leo shuts the video chat off and puts the phone back to his ear walking out to the garage as he speaks Italian.
"Who is Micah?" Lexi asks annunciating his name and giving me a sinful look.
"A friend from home." I answer.
"A friend that got you hot with just a simple phone call."
"It's not like that." I smile at her.
"Maybe I should go talk to him and see what it's like." Lexi walks in the direction my brother just went.
"No Lexi stop." I say embarrassed.
"See." She gives me the same look as before and smiles.
We giggle together as the boys walk back in the room. The babies begin to stir. Natalie begins to cry. Matt unbuckles her and picks her up quickly calming her down.
"So, what did you decide for names?" Lexi asks following Matt's example and picking a baby up.
"Xavier Martin, Tyler Vincent, and Natalie Marie." I answer.
"How are you going to tell them apart?" She asks.
"The nurse suggested we use a color code. She said to use a sharpie because the ink won't hurt their skin. I don't know if I like that idea though."
"Hmm, can you use ribbon or something like that?"
"No ribbon is a choking hazard. We will figure it out."
"How are you feeling Ana?" Colten asks sitting across from me.
"Exhausted."
"Do you want to go up and go to sleep?" Mark asks.
"But what about..."
"I can handle this. If your tired, I want you to rest."
"I will stay and help if you'd like." Lexi chimes in.
I stand reluctantly and go up to bed. I drift asleep quickly.

***

I wake up and Mark is cuddled up to me. His arms are wrapped around me tight. I could wake up like this every morning. I love him. I wiggle out of his arms to check on the babies. They all are asleep. I wonder what Mark did to get them all asleep. It's quite possible he is the perfect man. I walked down stairs to make breakfast. Matt is sitting in the den typing on a laptop. I try to sneak past without him seeing me.
"Good morning Ana." He said not looking up.
"Good morning." I say.
"Come here."
I roll my eyes turning back to him. I drag my feet like a teenager.
"What did the doctor say yesterday?" He asked.
"The results were inconclusive. She said you and Mark have identical DNA."
"So we will never know."
"Yeah." I said.
"I have something for you. Mark would want you to have it."
Matt pulls a small velvet box out of his pocket. And hands it to me. I open it. Inside is a necklace. The pendent is a leaf. Half of it is silver. The other side is a shiny green stone. It's on a thin silver chain.
"This is beautiful." I say.
"It was my mother's. She always said it was a symbol of a happy life." Matt said.
"Are you sure you want me to have it? It's a piece of your family."
"Yes. You are a part of my family. Turn around."
He takes the box from me. I turn around and he brings his arms around me putting the necklace on me. My heart is beating fast.
"Relax Ana. I'm not going to hurt you. I will never hurt you." He sighs. "We have to leave again. I don't want the gang to find you. I need you to be safe."
"How long are you going to be gone this time?"
"I don't know."
"Don't tell me that." I turn back to face him. Tears begin flowing down my face. "I can't do this by myself."
He wraps his arms around me. "I'm sorry Ana, it's for the best. I will figure out how to fix this ok. I will fix it Ana."
"I can't do this without you, both of you. Please. Please don't leave me again."
I crumble in Matt's arms, sobbing. I didn't realize Mark as he comes downstairs and stands just behind me.
"Ana." Mark puts his hand on my back.
I turn to Mark. I would rather cry in his arms then his brothers.
"Don't leave me, don't leave me again." I sob holding him tightly.
"I'm sorry Ana. I can't risk putting you and the babies in danger. It's better if we go."
"I can have some of my people help her if you'd like." Matt says.
"It's up to you Ana. Do you want help after we leave?" Mark asks.
"Yes, but I would rather have my own help that I know and trust."
"I'm still going to have my guys look after all of you. I want you to be safe." Matt says.
"Do you think Maryann would come help me?"
"I think she would be thrilled that you thought of her." Mark answers.
The rest of the day is bittersweet. I stay clung to my bad boy, never leaving his side. I wanted as much Mark time as I could get. Who knows how long it will be before I see him again. Our final moments were painful. We cried as we say our goodbyes. Matt had to force his brother into the car. I watched them disappear down the street and fell apart as they left.