Before The Beginning

Chapter 42: The Best Day of Our Life

Begin!

~Quinten's POV

The due date was March 31st. I was nervous as hell when Karrie went into labor. On one of our past check-ups, a doctor had recommended a c-section if we wanted to go that route, but Karrie was under the impression that she could handle it. In her own words, "I've been through worse, doing it the hard way won't kill me." That didn't make me any less worried, but I had to admire her strength. We were at the headquarters when she went into labor, so rather than be in a real hospital we had to go to our medical ward. Not that this was a problem, aside from Bea and Bertrand having to commute here from their house; but they got here as fast as they could.

"Is she alright," Bea asked.

"Yes, she's not ready yet though; they said it could take a while," I replied. "And Bea, come in there with me, Karrie wants to ask you something."

Bea nodded and left Bertrand to watch Violet while he waited. (She was about to turn one in just over a week.) I took Bea into the room Karrie was waiting in.

"Hi Bea," Karrie said smiling.

"Hey, Karrie, how do you feel?"

"Not the best, but I've been through worse. They said I'm close to being ready. I wanted to ask you a favor though..."

"Of course, what do you need?"

"...Would you be my midwife for this?"

Since we weren't in a real hospital it was more possible for this to be done, as Bea had more of a higher status than other volunteers. Karrie and I had already asked about this with the other doctor who was assisting us, and they had said it was doable as long as we were careful.

"I'd be happy to, for my friend." Bea replied. "Let me just tell Bertie what's happening first and then I'll get ready."

She left the room and I took a seat beside the bed. "I can't believe this is happening..."

"I know right," Karrie said. "I feel like I waited an eternity for this day."

"Yeah and it's gonna feel like it's been an eternity once it's over," I joked.

She giggled. "At least I have you to help me feel better..."

Once Bea returned, she had put on some protective doctor's clothes and had brought the other doctors with her. Upon checking, turns out it was time. We're about to be parents...

~...

"Are they ok? There's nothing wrong with them right?" Karrie asked tiredly.

"Yes, Karrie they're all perfectly healthy, and we color-coded the blankets to tell them apart. They're almost completely identical," Bea said. "The boys came first; they're all five minutes apart. I'm sure it's gonna make for some interesting arguments about who's older."

One of the doctors handed over our first baby in a cyan blanket. "This one came first, I'll need his name so I can make a certificate. And we can keep these medical tags to help out with that. So what's his name?"

"Duncan Ryan Quagmire," Karrie replied.

Bea wrote this onto a small bracelet tag and wrapped it around Duncan's wrist. We repeated this process with Quigley and finally with Isadora. Quigley was wrapped in a red blanket and Isadora's was pink. I adjusted Karrie's position so she could sit up and have them all on her lap easier. We barely heard Bea and the other doctors mention they'd give us some privacy as we looked at our children.

When Bea said they were mostly identical she wasn't kidding. Duncan and Quigley were virtually indistinguishable. I suppose we'll have to wait until they can decide on their own appearances for that to change. They all had the same mixture of facial features between us, and they all had a small amount of black hair. The only distinction between Isadora and her brothers, aside from gender, was that her eyes were brown like Karrie's; while Duncan and Quigley had my green eyes. I smiled gently as I watched Karrie cry tears of joy.