It Begins With Us

48.

The shrill sound of babies crying rings out in the room, and my sharp pain becomes a dull, pounding aches. My arms stretch out and I reach for them. My babies, my boys. Ryle, Henry, and Seamus.

"Please." I whisper and Ryle carefully takes them from the doctor and then walks over to me, clad in his scrubs, whispering precious little nothings in their ears.

"Alba." Ryle says my name as he passes me one of them.

"Henry." I take the fragile baby into my arms and cradle him to my chest. "Seamus." I say his name, my fingers reaching for the one left in Ryle's arms.

"Here." Ryle whispers placing him on my chest as well. Ryle steps back to give me space and I shake my head vigorously because my arms are full, I'd have grabbed onto him otherwise.

"Come here babe." I croak distractedly as I watch the little boys on my chest.

Ryle steps back to the side of the bed and drags his fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp.

"They're perfect." I whisper and he smiles.

"Just like you." Ryle whispers in my ear and kisses my sweaty temple.

And if I wasn't so breathless I'd have said 'No, you'.

-

"Oh this is interesting." Mama says poking little Henry's nose. "This one has straight hair like his daddy, but black hair like his Mama."

"Mmhmm." Kimy nods. "And this one have curly hair like his Mommy, but blond color like his Daddy."

"Clare, the one you are holding is Henry." Ryle grins and she nods. "And Kimy. The one you're holding is Seamus." I say and she freezes.

"This one?" She asks pointing at the little boy in her arms and I nod.

"That's sweet." Mama nods. "Kimy, trade with me."

"Okay." Kimy smiles adoring down at Henry and they carefully and expertly switch babies.

I watch as Mama watches them, observes them.

"They're beautiful." She tells us.

"Well, they did originally come from me after all." Ryle grins proudly for the hundredth time and I snort.

"What? Am I wrong?" He asks and the three of us simply roll our eyes. "Thought so." He remarks playfully.

-

"Oh, look at this one's curly hair." Alyssa says quietly, gently touching Henry's curly blond hair.

"And look at this one's freckles." Marshall grins proudly at Seamus in Alyssa's arms.

"Henry and Seamus." Ryle frowns at them and they ignore him. "This one and that one." He mutters to himself, turning to me and kissing my head. "I'll be back with some coffee for you."

"Okay, thank you." I smile and watch him leave.

"Alba." Marshall clears his throat and walks over to me.

"I'll go too. Here you go." He says carefully handing Henry over to me and following after Ryle.

"Okay." I whisper cradling Henry close to my chest.

"Alba?" Alyssa speaks up and walks over to me.

She sits down at the foot of my bed, gently rocking Seamus.

"Yeah?" I ask furrowing my brows. "What's going on?"

"I.... wanted to apologize." She stops and takes a deep breath. "I didn't think this would ever happen for Ryle...again. I didn't think it was possible, and that was my mistake."

"It was." I agree with her, my voice deep with emotions.

"I wish I had trusted in him, loved him enough to help him like you did. I'm just-I'm grateful.... to you. For everything."

"No need to thank me. I love him, so it's the least I could do for him." I nod my head, swallowing unnecessary words. "Just stick with Ryle from now on, don't leave him hungry for his sisters love."

"I understand." She nods staring down at Seamus. "Your boys are gorgeous." she adds and I smile.

"I hear they take after their father." I joke and she smiles.

"I'm sure you hear that a lot." She whispers, her voice filled with relief.

'Well what do you know.' I think as I watch Alyssa, stray tears rolling down her face as she gently caresses Seamus's face.

-

My eyes flicker open and before I could rub the sleep out of my eyes I notice that I'm in bed, alone. I turn over snuggling deeper into my pillows, to check on the boy's. Instead, I find Ryle, standing over the crib, looking down at the boys. His hands are moving, gently caressing their hands, and cheeks. I carefully sit up and watch him as he sways in a sort of trance, softly humming.

"Ryle?" I call out to him and his snaps in my direction.

"Oh, Alba." He hesitates, then straightens up and walks over. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, but what happened?" I ask, tilting my head into his chest as he climbs in between my back and the headboard.

"I just can't stop watching them." He whispers into my hair. "They're very quiet kids, you know?"

"I know." I smile.

"I relax and my eyes, they just gravitate right over to them." He sighs and my heart squeezes.

"That's beautiful." I say quietly and turn my head up to kiss the underneath of his jaw.

"You think so?" He says with a far off look. "I think that's just what it is to be a father. I was just like this whenever I had Emmy with me. But whenever I didn't have her near, I was a restless mess. I wanted to have her in front of my eyes every second. And now, I can finally have that."

"Awww." I murmur into his soft cotton shirt as I fall asleep to the sound of his adoration.