And In The End

01

September 23rd
Tobias's POV

"Come on, Tris," I say, gripping her hand as she lies in the hospital bed. "One more push." I bend down, brushing the hair out of her face. Pain folds around her face, even though she had an epidural.

"You're doing great," a nurse says. "One more big push, then you're done." Tris groans as she pushes once more, lying back in the bed, panting. Then, our baby cries.

After we announced the pregnancy last Christmas, life was great. Zeke and Shauna gave birth to Avri on February 7th, then got engaged on Valentine's day. They hurried ad got married on July 4th, having a small wedding.

The kids continued to grow. River turned 6 in March, followed by Everest in May. I then turned 28 in June. The twins turned 4 in July. As for Tris's 26th, we decided to stay home, not wanting to risk a repeat of the ear before.

After all the birthday's, we'd mostly been preparing for the baby. We made a lot of changes in our house.

For one, the twins got their own room since they have been getting a bit older. River stayed in her room while we made the room connected to her's (the twin's old room), the nursery. She's so excited for the baby and doesn't even mind that she'll probably get woken up a lot.

Down the hall, we had a huge spare room that acted mostly as an office. Over a few months, we had a wall built in between, creating two normal-sized rooms. Tris wanted it to be like River's and the baby's, so we had a bathroom built as well. Now the twins have their own connecting rooms. We still have the playroom downstairs along with a spare bedroom. Our home feels like our home now and will be complete when we get to bring our baby home.

As for the baby, Tris's pregnancy was great. All our friends have been great, getting ready with us and getting stuff for when the baby comes. Tris also had to get a lot of checkups since it was high-risk, but everything went smoothly. She started having contractions on her due date, the 22nd and went into active labor early on the 23rd. Then our fourth baby was born.

"Congratulations, Mom and Dad," the nurse says, wiping off the baby. I look over, holding back tears. "Your baby girl was born September 23rd, 5:48 am." She smiles, handing our baby to Tris. I watch a tear rolls down Tris's face as she soothes our baby girl, letting her suck on her pinky finger to get her to stop crying. I squat down next to the bed so that I'm eye-level with them.

"Hi, princess," I say, almost choking, holding her little hand.

"Does she have a name?" one of the nurses asks. I nod.

"Ivey Ray."

Tris's POV
The room is finally quiet as I lay back in the hospital bed, closing my eyes for the first time in what feels like days. After Ivey was born, the room was bustling, trying to get everything situated. Once the nurses were done, I fed Ivey, putting her to sleep. Though she wares me out, she is perfect. I am in love with everything about her. And Tobias is too.

I open my eyes just the slightest bit, watching him hold Ivey on his bare chest. I smile as I watch him, looking at her with awe in his eyes.

"Is she asleep?" I whisper, my voice cracking. Tobias nods, walking over to the bed. I move over just a bit, letting him sit down. I lean my chin on his shoulder, looking down at our baby girl in his arms.

"I can't believe we have four kids now," I whisper, laughing a little.

"Isn't it great?" Tobias smiles. I kiss his cheek, lying back on the bed. "When are the kids coming?"

"Eight," I sigh weakly. Last night, we dropped the kids off with Christina, Will, Everest, and Apollo, who had Uriah and Marlene come over to help. Christina is supposed to drop them off at the hospital at eight since we can go home at two o'clock.

"They are going to love her," he whispers, lying next to me. I roll onto my side so I am face to face with Ivey on Tobias's chest. My heart melts at the sight of her little cheek squished against his body. I lean up, kissing her nose.

"How could they not?" I laugh a little. Though, I am a little nervous. I don't know how the twins are going to react. "What time is it?" Tobias looks over at the clock, sighing.

"Seven-thirty."

"I'm sleeping," I whisper, curling up next to them. I fall asleep immediately.

A soft knock on the door wakes me up, jolting me a little. I open my eyes, finding Tobias lying next to me with Ivey on his chest. He's asleep. I smile, gazing at them for a moment before lightly shaking his arm.

"Tobias," I whisper, not wanting to wake Ivey. His eyes flutter open, looking at me confused for a moment. "The kids are at the door." Tobias smiles. He helps me sit up in bed, since my epidural hasn't worn off completely yet, and hands me Ivey. I hold her small body against my chest, covering her back with her little blanket. We don't have any clothes for her yet. Tobias gets up, pulls on a shirt, and heads to the door.

I cradle her in my arms, smiling down at her. I can't get enough of her chubby little cheeks. Not to mention, she has Tobias's lips.

"Hey, guys," I hear Tobias whisper. I look over, finding Christina, River, and Bellamy standing in the doorway, Blakelyn already in Tobias's arms.

"Mama!" Bellamy exclaims. I smile. Tobias brings them over, standing at the edge of the bed.

"Come meet your sister," I whisper. The twins climb onto the end of the bed, sitting with Tobias. Rover comes and sits next to me, Christina standing near the bed.

"Can I hold her?" River asks, peering down at Ivey with awe.

"Mmhm, you remember how?" River nods. She situates herself, holding out her arms. I gently place Ivey in her arms, watching River's face light up.

"Hi," she whispers. I smile even more. River sits there for a while, gazing at her baby sister while Tobias and I talk to Chris. She tells me that the kids have been good and they took Koda home with them. She says they can watch him as long as we need. I thank her as she leaves, leaving us alone as a family.

"I want to say hi," Blakelyn whisper, climbing out of Tobias's lap. River hands Ivey back to me as the twins both crawl over. They peer down at her.

"This is your baby sister," I whisper. One at a time, they lean down, kissing the top of Ivey's head.