Matthias

by Katie Dowe

  Matthias pressed the remote and turned the television on. “Watch a soap opera and get a few laughs at the badly written scripts,” he told her grimly. “Get caught up in the young and careless and wonder how on earth people can hop from one bed to the next without batting an eyelash. And when you are tired of that, there is music available for you to listen to. I have quite a selection of classical music you can listen to.” He strode over to the bed and sat on the side of it, his intense dark eyes staring into hers. “I want you relaxed, Caitlin, the doctors want you relaxed, and if I have to personally stay here and see that you do then I will. Stop trying to scare me, dammit! That’s all I am asking.”

  “I don’t watch television and I cannot listen to music every single day for a month! I have always worked, Matthias! I am not used to inactivity.”

  “Do you get that you are carrying four children at the same time? Do you?” he asked her in exasperation. “We cannot keep having the same fight repeatedly, Caitlin, it is getting old and it is stressing me out.”

  “Considering that I am the one carrying them, I should be the one stressed out,” she muttered.

  “And I wish to God that I could do more than just watch while you go through everything you are going through!” He dug his fingers through his hair and Caitlin’s heart was touched by the look of helpless anxiety on his handsome face. He was well and truly worried, and she had to try and alleviate his concerns even if it meant just watching some meaningless show on television. She took the remote and started channel surfing.

  “You are going to watch television when we are having a discussion?” he asked her incredulously.

  “I am setting the television to record the soap operas and the times so that I do not miss any. By the time the month is over, I will be able to binge watch every one of them,” she told him lightly.

  He stared at her for a moment and then taking her hand in his he lifted it to his lips and kissed her gently. “You get to tell me who is sleeping with whom,” he said solemnly.

  “Every last detail of it,” she warned him, her hand squeezing his. “I do not mean to cause you worry, Matthias, and I want you to believe that I want these babies to be safe as much as you do.”

  “I know.” He got on his side and pulled her into his arms. “I am sorry for being such a pain in the ass, but I am scared as hell.”

  “I know.” She snuggled closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her. “We are in this together and I want you to remember that.”

  “I do.”

  *****

  Her dad came to visit her that same weekend and told Matthias to take a break. “I will make sure she does not lift a finger,” he assured him.

  “I have to go to New York for several hours, but I will be back by the end of the day,” Matthias said as he sat down next to Caitlin who had been promoted to the living room where she was sitting with her feet propped up on an ottoman. “No calls from Steve about the launch tomorrow. Everything is under control and you have nothing to worry about. Please promise me that you will not think of work at all.”

  “I have not thought about work for two weeks,” she told him dryly. “Chances are I am not going to be able to function when I do get back there.”

  “We will talk about that when I get back.” He kissed her lightly before getting to his feet. “Thank you, Calvin.”

  “She is my daughter, son,” he reminded Matthias.

  “I know.” Matthias hesitated a moment before turning on his heels as he left the room. Caitlin waited until she heard the front door close before she said anything.

  “I cannot make a move because of him,” Caitlin said wryly as she picked up her lemonade and tasted it. Lately, the babies were objecting to anything citrus, but she had felt a craving for some icy lemonade and the housekeeper had prepared a jug full before she left for the day. She was almost five months pregnant and was already so big that she was wondering if she would ever be able to go back to her size two after she had the babies, but she was not going to think about that now!

  Calvin Sharpe handed her the cookie plate and voiced his own concerns. “I am worried about you, honey.”

  “Dad, please! Not you too!” she protested. “I am fine. Dr. Fritz said the babies are healthy and I am doing fine. My blood pressure is at a regular level and my anemia is under control. I must deal with Matthias’ paranoia on a regular basis, so I really do not need to deal with someone else’s. I am fine, we are fine, and in two months or so I will be delivering four babies and I have to remain positive.”

  Her father patted her hand and deliberately turned the conversation to something else.

  Chapter 12

  “We are going to have to take the babies,” Dr. Fritz told them in a calm voice. Caitlin had woken up early this morning with searing cramps.

  “It’s not yet thirty weeks,” Caitlin said as she pressed a hand to her swollen stomach. She was barely seven months pregnant and had discovered a month ago that they were having triplets who were boys and a single girl. The girl was the smallest and struggling to stay alive. They had decided on Matthew, Michael, and Mark, and for the girl, Catherine. If there would be a girl; the thought was uppermost in both their minds, but they refused to voice it. Both had become attached to all four children and wanted them all!

  “Is it safe for them to come out so soon?” Matthias was doing his best to remain calm, but it was very difficult.

  “We have no choice I am afraid, and we are just two weeks shy of the time they were really scheduled to make their appearances,” Dr. Fritz told them. An entire team of doctors and nurses were in the private room and that was making them more nervous than anything. Dr. Fritz interpreted their concerns and addressed them immediately. “Faith General is a learning hospital and several of these doctors are just here for the experience.” He walked closer to the bed and took Caitlin’s hand in his. “I know it is stressful right now, but we are giving you something to stop the cramps. Your blood pressure is worrying and for us to do the C-section, it will have to go down. We are going to need you to think of something soothing and relax your mind. We have to get those babies out as soon as possible.”

  “All these doctors in white lab coats are not making it easier for me to be calm,” she said half-jokingly.

  “I am going to clear the room for the time being and leave the two of you alone.” He glanced at his watch and signaled for the rest of the doctors to take their leave before he continued. “I want you to think positive thoughts. I always advise my patients to go to a happy place. What is your happy place, Caitlin?”

  She looked up at Matthias who was seated on the bed with his arm around her shoulder. “I want to say it is with my husband, but he has been annoying me for the last few months.”

  “For good reason.” Matthias bent and kissed the top of her head. “I want you to repeat after me: It’s going to be fine.”

  “And if it is not?”

  “Contrary to the last, right?” he asked dryly. “Humor me, please.”

  She grinned impishly and repeated what he had told her.

  “Now keep repeating it in your head.”

  “Like some mindless idiot?”

  “Caitlin.”

  “Okay, fine.” She closed her eyes and he took her hand in his. Taking very deep breaths, Caitlin forced herself to be calm and within minutes she had reached a place of serenity. She opened her eyes and realized that it was just the two of them inside the room. “This place is like a five-star hotel,” she murmured as she looked around the room.

  “Nothing but the best for you and our children.” Matthias stroked her hair soothingly as if trying to transfer the calm he was not feeling to her. “By later tonight, we will be holding all four children in our arms.”

  “I know you told me to be positive, but what if she does not survive, Matthias? She is fighting for her life even before she is born. What if that is a sign?”

  “A sign of what?” he asked her tersely. Taking a deep breath, he tr
ied another approach. “Catherine is going to make it, our daughter is strong and resilient, and she will make it! I cannot think about the alternative and I would rather you not think about it either. Please, Caitlin, I just want us to get through this.”

  She nodded and snuggled into his arms. “Positive thoughts,” she murmured.

  He bent and kissed the top of her head, without responding. He was scared spineless, but he had to hold it together for her sake! He could not let her see how much he was suffering. He had to be strong! He had spent nights watching her to make sure that she was not feeling any pain and he was not able to hear her in time. She had been due to come in two weeks’ time, but her feet had gotten more swollen and her blood pressure kept going up which had caused the doctors some concern. She had been on complete bedrest for the last two months and had been instructed not to even think about work. Matthias had been taking over most of her work and meeting with the staff on her behalf. He had called her father and told him that they had been on their way to the hospital. He had said he would be coming over as soon as he finished classes. It was the end of June which meant that summer was on and most schools were on break.

  They both looked up as the doctors came in again. “We are going to have the nurse check your vitals and take you up to the operating room, Caitlin,” Dr. Fritz advised her. He looked at Matthias. “We do not usually allow the fathers inside the OR, Matt.”

  “If you think I am leaving her now, you have to be out of your mind!” he said grimly. “Suit me up, doctor, because I am going in.”

  Dr. Fritz nodded to one of the nurses who went to get a surgical gown and cap for him to put on.

  “You are going to be fine, baby,” he told her as he held her hand. They were wheeling her towards the elevator to go up to the OR.

  “I know, positive thoughts, right?” she said with a slight smile.

  “Definitely positive thoughts,” he agreed.

  “We did not choose a middle name for Catherine,” she reminded him. By this time, they had arrived at their destination and the nurses and the rest of the doctors were already in the room.

  “Lin,” he said immediately.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Beautiful jade.”

  “I like that,” she murmured.

  “You are going to have to give us some space, Matt,” Dr. Fritz told him firmly.

  He nodded and bringing her hand to his lips he kissed it slowly. “You are going to be fine.”

  She nodded and wished he had told her that he loved her. Even now when they were not sure of the outcome, he could not bring himself to say it!

  Matthias stepped back and watched avidly as the anesthesiologist set to work to numb the lower part of her body.

  He forced himself to watch as they hooked up the tubes and had to close his eyes as Dr. Fritz took a knife to her belly. Everything went on fine until it was time to deliver the third baby. He did not budge even when the nurses tagged the babies as they came out, using numbers because they had not given them the names yet. Then everything started happening at once. His heart jumped into his throat as he heard the loud beeping of the machine and saw when her eyes closed.

  “What is happening?” he shouted above the instructions being given.

  “Your daughter is barely breathing, and Caitlin’s blood pressure is dropping,” Dr. Fritz told him. “I am going to ask you to go outside and allow us to do our work, Matt.”

  “No.”

  “Matt, I am wasting precious time talking to you when I need to save two people’s lives. Please. Your sons have been put into the nursery, I want you to go and be with them now while we take care of this.”

  “Save my wife,” he said tersely as he left the room.

  The nurse smiled at him as he stepped into the private nursery. “They are quite strong for preemies,” the woman told him as she checked their vitals. “They are breathing on their own and basically healthy.” She looked at Matthias. “Have you named them yet?”

  He nodded. “Matthew Li Jing for the first one, Michael Chao, and Mark Chen.” He gazed down at the three boys who looked so identical that they would have a very hard time telling them apart. They looked so tiny that he was not sure he would be able to hold them for a long time as he would be afraid of breaking them. They had curly raven hair and golden-brown skin and he could swear that they all had their mother’s slightly flared nostrils. He wanted to enjoy them but not while the doctors were fighting to save his wife and daughter’s lives.

  “I will just note their names and place the cards onto their cots,” she said with a smile. “The doctors are going to do all they can to save them, Mr. Zeng.”

  “I hope so,” he said grimly.

  His father-in-law came by a few minutes later and he did not have anything new to tell him because no one had come out to say anything to him. He was slowly going crazy with the silence!

  “It’s being one hour and still nothing.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and wandered over to the window to look down onto the grounds. From where the waiting room was situated, he could see into the parking lot and he could see reporters camped out waiting to find out the ‘famous Zeng quadruplets’ that they had been looking forward to seeing ever since they had found out.

  “You have the best doctors in that room with them, Matthias, and I am positive that they are doing their very best,” Calvin Sharpe pointed out. He had seen his grandsons and had been so taken with them that he had found it hard to leave them and allow them to sleep.

  “How can you be so calm?” Matthias demanded.

  “Because working myself up will not solve the problem by working up yourself about it.” He patted the chair next to his indicating that Matthias should take a seat. Matthias looked at the man as if he had taken leave of his senses.

  “Please humor me.”

  Matthias sat next to him reluctantly.

  “Caitlin has always been a strong and determined young woman even when she was little. She wanted to do ballet and sing on the church choir and even though she could not carry a tune to save her life or dance a straight line, she did both because she was determined never to give up on anything she put her mind to. She wanted to enter the debate team at her school, and she stayed up half the night researching her subject and her opponents, and she won the debate. She is the most determined female I have ever seen and believe me, I have met a few. She is convinced she inherited it from me, but she was wrong! Her mother was a stay-at-home mom but one of the smartest women and the strongest one I ever knew. She was a trained social worker, but when she discovered that she was pregnant with Caitlin, she wanted to be there for her, to give her the care she needed. Caitlin was a preemie as well, did she tell you?”

  Matthias stared at the man in surprise. “No, she did not.”

  “Exactly two months too early. She was supposed to be born in March but came in January instead. I was scared at how tiny she was, but Catherine was determined to take care of her and nurture her the best possible way. And it helped. By the time she was five months old, she had gained enough weight so that she did not have to keep coming to the hospital every month. She stayed here for three months and my wife stayed with her. It was frustrating to me, but I kept my opinions to myself.”

  Matthias nodded slowly. “I just want them to be okay.” He ran his fingers through his hair and looked towards the doors. “I need them to be okay.”

  Before Calvin could answer, the doors were pushed open and Dr. Fritz came through them. Matthias shot to his feet, his intense dark eyes demanding answers. “They are both okay. It was touch and go there for a moment where your daughter was concerned, but she is going to make it. She is very small and will have to stay in an incubator until she is more developed, but she will be fine.”

  “Thank you,” Matthias said shakily. “May I see them?”

  Dr. Fritz nodded. “Caitlin is a bit groggy and will fall asleep any moment now and your daughter is sleeping.”

&
nbsp; “Her name is Catherine,” Matthias said huskily. He turned to look at his wife’s father. “You want to go in?”

  He shook his head. “Go and be with your wife and daughter. I think I will swing by the nursery and look at my grandsons again.”

  “Hi,” Caitlin whispered as he came into the room.

  “Hi.” He pulled up a chair next to the bed and took her hand in his. “You gave me quite a scare.”

  “I am sorry.” She struggled to keep her eyes open as she looked at him. “Have you seen our daughter?”

  “Not yet. But I was told that she is a fighter like her mom.” He lifted her hand to kiss her hand. “How are you?”

  “I feel like I went several rounds in a boxing ring,” she said with a tiny laugh. “And I think that I came out the loser.”

  “I disagree,” he told her with a smile. “I would say you came out the winner.”

  “Would you mind coming on the bed so that I can feel you next to me?”

  “Gladly.” He kicked off his shoes and got in next to her, pulling her into his arms. “Now go to sleep.”

  *****

  Matthias wheeled her into the private nursery assigned to the four children late that night after they had both woken up from a three-hour long sleep. Her father had just left with the assurance that he would be back tomorrow first thing. Caitlin fed her sons who were awake by then and being attended to by nurses who were assigned to them. But it was her daughter who had her attention.

  “Is she supposed to be so tiny?” Caitlin felt her heart hitch as she stared at the impossibly tiny figure of her daughter in the incubator. She moved her head back to look at her husband who was staring at their daughter. She had a head of straight black hair and beautiful skin even at that age.

  “She weighs three pounds while her brothers weigh in at four pounds.” Matthias told her.

  “Can we hold her?”

  “Not just yet, Mrs. Zeng,” the nurse told her.