"Are you going to sleep forever, Mrs. Rose?" he asked. Rachel nodded in the darkness, then suddenly rolled over as fast as her sore body would allow when she realized who was speaking.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed in the dark. "And how did you get the twins in here?"
Rose smiled but doubted Rachel could see it in the darkness. "Well," he began slowly, "I'm here because of the twins, and they are here through careful planning and a rather large bribe."
"Are they all right?" she asked with sudden worry.
"They're fine, Rachel," Rose answered with a smile. "I just thought they should spend some more time with their mother and father, that's all." He stood and walked across the private room. From the hall he could hear the hospital staff going about their nightly routine.
"Let me hold them," said Rachel, reaching out both arms.
"You can hold one," answered Rose, bending over the bed to release the bundle in his right arm. "The nurse will be back in ten minutes to take the babies to the nursery. We have until then."
He eased down to the edge of the bed and cradled the small bundle in both arms. So small and utterly trusting, the boy had not awakened the entire time Rose held him.
"We should consider names," whispered Rachel.
"There will be plenty of time for that," Rose said quietly. For now it was enough to know that the twins were here. Names seemed so unnecessary.
"We should consider ..."
"Not now, Rachel. Tomorrow we can consider anything you want, but tonight I just want to wrap myself in emotion and simply experience."
Rose waited for a response, but she made none. Emotion was enough for Rachel as well.
For the next ten minutes Rose sat in the darkened room with his wife and his children and reveled in his feelings. There were no wars, no killings, no painful loss. Everything was exactly as it should be. In his heart he was still a warrior, but now he was something more. Something stronger. Something better.
It made all the difference in the world.
D. R. T. Page 27