Carter

by Sheridan Anne

  Twenty minutes later, Gigi comes in and takes one look at the boys in the bath. She smirks as she takes in the sight and chuckles to herself. “I had a woman in there last night who shit all through it,” she tells them before coming and examining me.

  The boys scramble to get out of the bath while Carter and Cassie giggle some more. Gigi narrows her eyes on them, clearly working out that they’re high on gas but ignores it.

  “You jealous?” I ask Carter as Gigi shoves her hand up my gown and has a good look around.

  “Hell yeah,” he grunts. “I’d give anything to get up in there again.”

  “Ugh,” Bobby groans as he gets a look at Gigi’s hand placement.

  “You know she can’t have sex for like six weeks,” Cassie says from across the room.

  “What?” Carter grunts.

  He doesn’t get a response as Gigi finishes up examining me and gives me a bright smile. “You’re at eight centimeters, so it shouldn’t be too long now. I’d say maybe another hour or two and you’ll be holding your babies.”

  Carter squeezes my hand and presses a kiss to my sweaty forehead. “You’re nearly there, babe.”

  “I know,” I smile. “I can’t wait.”

  Gigi smiles and leaves the room but returns moments later with two baby cribs that she lines up against the wall. “Wow, shit’s getting real,” I murmur to Carter, keeping my eyes locked on the cribs that in the next hour or so, will hold my twins.

  “Sure is,” he says.

  The next hour and a half is the longest hour and a half known to man.

  Gigi comes back in and confirms I’m at ten centimeters. She kicks everyone but Carter out of the room and demands he gets off the bed. He does as he’s told as the room fills with a shit load of nurses, twice as usual to look after each of the babies.

  Gigi pages Dr. Thompson who shows up moments later and tells me it’s just about time to get this show on the road.

  Nerves filter through me and I start freaking out over what I’m about to do. Carter grabs a cold face rag and pats down my face. “You’re going to be great,” he says. “You’ve got this.”

  I nod as Dr. Thompson says it’s time to put my legs up in the stirrups. I grab the little gas sucky thing and jam it in my mouth, knowing I’m going to be needing it more than ever.

  My legs go up and I concentrate on Dr. Thompson, not wanting to miss a thing. “Alright, Brianna. On your next contraction, I’m going to need you to push.”

  I nod again as I squeeze onto Carter’s hand. I can do this.

  I just have to do a little pushing, rip my body in half and I’ll be rewarded with two beautiful little babies.

  I. Can. Do. This.

  I feel the contraction coming along and take a deep breath.

  Chapter 24

  Carter

  Holy shit. I’m pretty certain I’m about to collapse.

  It’s all happening way too fast. Brianna’s legs are thrown up into the stirrups and the doctor stands at the end of the bed while the nurses flurry around the room, preparing for the birth of our children.

  Dr. Thompson looks to Brianna with a serious look. “Alright, Brianna. On your next contraction, I’m going to need you to push.”

  Wow. This is it. I’ll have children soon.

  Shit. I hope I don’t fuck them up. Sean seems to be able to do it and if he can, then surely, I can, too.

  Bri squeezes my hand I realize the contraction is on its way. I look down at her with the gas thing in her mouth. She looks up at me in fear and I give her an encouraging smile. She’s got this. She’s the most amazing woman I know.

  “Ok, Brianna. Push.” Dr. Thompson says.

  Bri does as she’s told and squeezes down on my hand so hard, I think it might be broken. Her beautiful eyes disappear as she squeezes them closed and pushes as hard as she can.

  Gigi stands at her other side, holding her hand and pushing her leg back as she slowly counts down from ten.

  “Fuck,” Bri grunts in pain as she inhales, desperate for a breath of air.

  “Push again,” Dr. Thompson orders, giving Bri only a quick second to relax.

  Tears come out of her eyes but she keeps it up being the strong woman I know she is. She squeezes my hand harder and I find myself mentally pushing with her. “Come on, babe, keep going. You’re doing great.” I encourage.

  “Shut up,” she groans while mid push.

  Gigi, finishes her countdown and the contraction finishes, giving her a small break. Bri works on her breathing while I press the cold towel to her face and wipe away the tears. She looks up at me. “I can’t do this,” she says shaking her head.

  “You can,” I tell her.

  “The head is right here, Brianna. Another push on the next contraction should have the head out, but I’m going to need a big push,” Dr. Thompson instructs.

  I can’t help but have a look. My eyes widen and my jaw drops as I see what’s going on down in Bri’s lady bits. Giving birth is the most natural thing a human body could possibly do, yet it looks so alien. I know it’s my baby down there, but it’s freaking gross. “Carter,” Bri begs. “Please don’t look.”

  I get back to my position beside her and lean down to her face. I give her a gentle kiss and tell her the one thing that could possibly give her the motivation to keep going. “I can see his head, babe. He has dark hair, just like you.”

  “Really?” she asks, looking up at me with desperation in her eyes.

  “Yeah, babe. He wants to come out.”

  Bri’s bottom lip wobbles and I know she’d rather be doing anything else than going through this pain. She nods at the doctor and searches for my hand again. I grab hold of it and she squeezes. “The contraction’s coming,” she tells the doctor.

  “Right, let’s do this, Brianna,” she encourages. “Big push, let’s get his head out.”

  Bri takes a massive breath and pushes with all she’s got. I can see the pain written all over her face and I know she dying to scream, but she’s holding it in, pushing right through the pain.

  Fuck, she’s amazing.

  Gigi continues counting and the speed at which she counts makes me want to smack her in the face. I mean, can’t she see my woman’s in pain? Count faster.

  “Ok, ok,” Dr. Thompson says. “Stop there.” Bri instantly relaxes and takes a deep breath. “Good job, Brianna. The head is out.”

  “Really?” she questions, breathless.

  “Yes,” the doctor smiles.

  I’m itching to check it out but I know Brianna would deck me if I did. “Babe, I got to see this,” I beg.

  She lets out a huff and rolls eyes her towards me. “Do you have to?”

  “Please?” I beg.

  “Fine,” she groans.

  I get my ass straight down to the end of the bed and have a look. “Wow,” I murmur as I see my child looking back up at me. “That’s crazy.” His little head is poking out of Brianna’s lady bits. He’s all blue, squishy and covered in all sorts of shit, but it’s fucking amazing.

  That’s my child. I realize in this very instant that I would go to the ends of the world to protect these children. Hell, I’d give my life for theirs.

  My heart swells as I look at him. I’ve never seen something so precious in my life. “Babe, he’s beautiful,” I tell her

  “Really?” she asks as the doctor goes about checking that the cord isn’t around his neck.

  I go back up to her and take her hand in mine. “Yeah, babe. He’s beautiful, just like his mummy.”

  She smiles up at me as Dr. Thompson tells her it’s time to push the rest of him out. On the next contraction, she pushes and before we know it, our child is being placed on Brianna’s chest. “Congratulations,” Dr. Thompson says. “You were right, it’s a boy.”

  Tears stream down Brianna’s face as she cradles our son in her hands. I press a kiss to her forehead and look back at the beautiful creature we’ve created. Nurses shuffle in with blankets and begin wiping him down. He
starts crying and the sound instantly wraps around me.

  “Welcome to the world, buddy,” Brianna soothes as the tears continue flowing from her eyes. She looks up at me with love. “This is so unreal,” she smiles. “It’s so worth the pain.”

  “I always knew it would be,” I tell her.

  “Do they have names yet?” Gigi asks as she admires our son.

  “Yeah,” Brianna smiles. “Do you know if this was the baby on the left or right side?”

  “I believe this little handsome guy was the one jammed under your ribs on the left,” Dr. Thompson says.

  Bri smiles the most beautiful smile. “Then this little man is Nate,” she says.

  “I love it,” Gigi says. “What about baby number two?”

  “Parker,” Bri says.

  “Perfect,” I whisper.

  “Ok, Brianna,” the doctor says. “Can we hand little Nate off to Gigi. It’s time to meet Parker.”

  Unable to really move, Gigi comes forward and scoops Nate off her chest and takes him over to the crib where a nurse goes about cleaning him off properly and getting a nappy and onesie onto his cold little body.

  Brianna squeezes down on my hand and I realize, it’s time. The contraction is coming on and along with that comes the pushing. I can’t even begin to understand the enormous amounts of pain Bri must be in. All I know is that I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to her.

  She pushes with everything she’s got, squeezes my hand, cries, and pants until our second child is safely delivered into the world.

  Parker is placed up on Brianna’s chest and the tears instantly start again. I’ve never felt so overwhelmed. Today is easily the best day of my life.

  Parker is whisked off and cleaned up by the nurses. Little tags are placed around their ankles so we can tell them apart and I find myself constantly hovering over them, making sure they’re safe.

  The nurses rush around the room cleaning up all the spilled bodily juices while I help Brianna rid herself of her bloody gown. She somehow finds the strength to put herself through a quick shower before coming back completely refreshed.

  She lays down in the clean bed and indicates for me to bring our babies over. A nurse comes in and says it’s time to feed them, which is a whole new experience. I mean, the little guys instantly know exactly what to do.

  Once she’s finished feeding them, I roll both the cribs over to her bed and put them side by side, so she can finally get a good look at them.

  “They’re beautiful,” she says, taking them in, both fast asleep after the exhausting day they’ve had.

  She pats the bed beside her and I squish in, being careful not to bump her as her body attempts to recover from the traumatic events it’s just been through. She curls into my arms and we spend the next twenty minutes basking in the feeling of finally being a family.

  She simply can’t wait any longer and begs me to grab one for her. “Nate or Parker?” I ask.

  She looks up at me with a smile and a sparkle in her exhausted eyes. “Both,” she says.

  “Ok,” I chuckle.

  I carefully get out of bed and get the babies out of their cribs, doing my best not to wake them in the process. I fail miserably and end up waking them both up, but they’re just so exhausted that Bri instantly puts them back to sleep with her soothing rocking and singing.

  I look at my children in my future wife’s arms and fall in love all over again. Bri looks down at the twins with such love in her eyes that I find myself wondering how I could have been so stupid to not want this. It’s the best feeling in the world.

  “Do you want to bring everyone in?” she asks.

  A smile rips across my face. Introducing my babies to my family is honestly the next best thing. I’ve never been so proud as I strut out of the room to find them sitting on the ground in the hallways making complete menaces of themselves.

  “You guys feel like meeting some babies?” I ask.

  Their eyes snap up at my voice and Cassie and Bobby practically fly off the floor and crash into the room. They follow me in and I’m not surprised when Cassie doesn’t make it to the bed. She stops in the middle of the room and breaks into sobs with Jax having to come to the rescue.

  “Oh, my God,” she sobs as she takes in Brianna with both babies in her arms. I don’t blame her though, it truly is beautiful. “Can… Can I hold them?”

  “Of course,” Brianna smiles, indicating with a nod of her head to come on over.

  Cass takes Parker in her arms and begins sobbing once again while Bobby steals Nate out of Brianna’s other arm.

  Cass and Bobby come and stand together so everyone can look at the twins together while Sean comes over with Georgie so she can meet her new twin cousins. Each and every single person in the room is blown away by how identical they are and are instantly swooning over them.

  Congratulations and love are thrown all around the room and I find myself basking in it, so freaking proud of what Bri and I have created.

  “Looks like we’ve got the next two best NHL players right here,” Bobby says, making both Logan and Jax agree.

  “They’re going to be great additions to the New York Titans,” Bobby grins.

  “Fuck that,” Logan and Jax say in unison.

  “They’ll be joining the Denver Thunder.”

  On and on it goes…

  As Bri begins to yawn, everyone starts dawdling out so she can rest. Once the room is cleared out, I’m finally left alone with my future wife and children and I’ve never been so happy.

  I climb in next to Bri and wrap her in my arms. “You did good, babe,” I tell her as my eyes remain locked on our twins.

  “We did good,” she corrects.

  I look down at her and press my lips against hers. “I can’t wait to make an honest woman out of you,” I tell her as my fingers run through her hair.

  She grins up at me and I see the love shining right back. “I love you, so much,” she says as the emotions begin to overwhelm her with tears springing to her eyes.

  “I love you, too, Brianna Lucas. You’re my absolute world and you’ve just made it so much bigger.”

  The softest smile comes over her beautiful face as she tilts her chin up to kiss me. I give her exactly what she needs as I hold her gently. She pulls back with another yawn and I run my fingers through her hair. “Why don’t you rest, babe? You’ve had a massive day.”

  “But the babies…” she says, looking at them in concern.

  “I’ve got it, babe. I’ll wake you if they need you. They’re safe with me.” I tell her, fully prepared to watch over my children. With me around, no harm or foul will ever come their way, Brianna included.

  She nods her head and I continue running my fingers through her hair. With one last yawn, she closes her eyes and falls into a well deserved sleep, safely in my arms.

  I look around the room at my sleeping family and know, this is it for me. I can’t wait to get them home and begin our lives the way they were always meant to be.

  My world is complete. My heart is full, I’m finally happy and complete. Nothing could bring me down. The joy I feel is incredible. It’s the best high. The only thing missing is the label of being able to call Brianna my wife, but the very second I can, I will.

  Epilogue

  Carter

  12 Months later

  I stand by the altar on my parent’s estate with my brothers and my twin boys right by my side. Logan, Sean, Jax, and Bobby are next to me with Logan holding Nate and Sean holding Parker. It’s been a year since the boys were born and to say they’ve been a handful is an understatement. It’s been fucking crazy.

  They drive me insane in the best kind of way and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t think I really thought about just how much work a baby is, let alone two of them. They’ve kept me and Brianna on our toes.

  Brianna and I hadn’t even left the parking lot of the hospital before we got in our first fight which centered all around the stupid car seats
. She was convinced they weren’t installed correctly, but of course, I was. She even had me call someone to come and check them over before she would allow the boys to ride in them. The guy came and confirmed that yes, I did install them properly.

  To this day, she still won’t accept that I was right, but I wouldn’t expect anything else from her. It’s one of the many reasons why I’m standing here today, desperate to make her my wife.

  I look over at my boys, tucked safely in my brothers’ arms and give them a wide grin. They look like the next generation of heart breakers in their suits. They smile back at me and my world lights up even more.

  “You ready for this?” Logan asks.

  “Hell, yeah,” I grin. If anything, I’ve been standing here way too long. I’ve already had to wait a year for her to marry me so I just want this show to hurry up and get started.

  The guests pour in, all wanting to take their sweet time and I resist the urge to tell them to sit their asses down and get the wedding underway.

  I wait the longest half an hour of my life and all the wait manages to do is remind me that my parents aren’t here. I’m the last of the Waters siblings to get married and they’ve been gone for all of them, though, I know they’re here in spirit, looking down on us.

  The guests take their seats and the music finally starts.

  My heart melts the second little Georgie starts making her way down the aisle. She’s the best flower girl I’ve ever seen, even though at eighteen months old, she’s still a little wobbly. She tips out all the rose petals at the top of the aisle before her eyes land on her Daddy and she takes off like a rocket to get to him. Oh well, she did her best.

  She refuses to stand on the girl’s side so Parker gets passed onto Jax while Sean scoops up his little girl.

  The music continues and Bri’s bridesmaids come down next. Elle struts down the aisle with tears in her eyes looking stunning as usual, though more so with her tiny little four month baby bump.

  Cassie follows up the bridesmaids as the maid of honor, looking absolutely gorgeous in her bridesmaid dress and eight month baby bump. She makes flirty glances at Jax and I have to cut that shit down before they end up screwing behind the altar.