by Rikki Dyson
Shane shook his head, ‘No,’ then turned and left Doctor Shaw’s office. He saw his last three patients then hurried home to Stacey. He was concerned about her attitude. She had never before talked to him that way. He was worried, more than just a little worried.
When Shane arrived home, he went straight away upstairs. Stacey was laying on the bed with her feet propped up on pillows. Shane sat on the side of the bed, reached out to Stacey and took her in his arms.
Stacey said, “How can you still love me when I was so mean and unfair to you. I’m sorry Shane, I didn’t mean to take it out on you. This is all my fault. You told me last night, making love wasn’t a good idea, but I wouldn’t listen. Now I may have jeopardized our babies and it’s all my fault for being such a wanton.”
Shane smiled, wondering where she came up with that word. “As I recall you weren’t alone, I was a bit lustful too,” he kissed her and said, “Steady on lass, I talked with Doctor Shaw, and she said, ‘No harm done.’ She just wants us to take precautions. The little ones are in the birth position. We don’t want them to come prematurely, now do we?
“No, of course not,” Stacey said. “Shane, I promise I won’t leave this flat until our babies get here and no more hanky-panky either.”
Shane held her tight and chuckled his low sensual laugh.
On the morning of June seventh, Stacey woke with a nagging pain in her back.
She went downstairs to fix Shane’s breakfast. On her way back upstairs a sharp pain hit her and her water broke. Stacey screamed for Shane. Half dressed, he grabbed his shirt and shoes. He carried Stacey to the car and raced to the hospital. Shane called ahead and was met at the emergency entrance. Stacey was taken immediately up to maternity
Stacey was in a lot of pain, but was trying to hold it back. Doctor Shaw arrived shortly after Stacey was admitted. Parts of Stacey’s delivery seemed like a dream. She remembered seeing Shane in scrubs and him holding her hand and talking to her. There was a man in the delivery room. Stacey became very agitated and demanded he get out.
“I’m sorry Mrs. McLeod, but I’m a nurse and I need to stay.”
As she had another contraction, Stacey said, “I don’t care if you’re Saint Peter, I said, get the hell out of here.” Stacey turned to Shane, and grabbed the neck of his scrubs and said with confidence, “Throw him out, Shane.”
Doctor Shaw didn’t want her patient more agitated than she was, so she asked Nurse Todd to leave. Stacey’s contractions came and went. One minute she was sweet as pie, then with the next contraction, she would become an aggressive harridan. Shane had been right beside Stacey the entire time, sponging her face and arms. Stacey lay for a few tranquil moments, then another hard contraction took her breath away. Again, she grabbed Shane by the neck of his scrubs and said through gritted teeth, “I’m not ever doing this again. Do you hear me? Never again.”
With the next hard contraction, out came a baby girl. Stacey lay back breathing deeply. Shane cut the cord and the nurse took the baby to clear her airway and note her vital statistics, then wrapped her up and handed her to Shane. Stacey was quietly watching as Shane took his daughter and was telling her how beautiful she is and that he would take her to her mommy.
Stacey took her in her arms and kissed her little head, then she unwrapped her so she could count fingers and toes. All of a sudden, Stacey screamed, “There are supposed to be two of them. Where’s my other daughter? Where’s my other baby? What have you done with her?”
Doctor Shaw and Shane were trying to make Stacey understand she had given birth to only one twin. Stacey was adamant there should be two already. Stacey had another sharp pain. Once again, she grabbed the neck of Shane’s scrubs and demanded he find their other daughter.
Another hard contraction hit Stacey, but she wouldn’t give up the first baby. Diane came in and pulled down her mask so Stacey could see her. She asked, “May I take your baby so I can check her over. I’ll do it right here so you can watch me.”
“Yes, Diane, thank you,” Stacey said as her last contraction hit and the second baby was born. Stacey was groggy, but wanted to see her second daughter. Shane brought her to her mommy, the same as he did with the first one. Stacey checked out her fingers and toes, then gave her to Diane.
Stacey took a deep breath and said, “Hold me tight Shane, I think I’m gonna disappear.” And promptly passed out.
Chapter-48
Godparents.
When Stacey woke, the sun was shining through the blinds. She raised up on her elbows to look around. Shane was asleep in a lounge chair still wearing his scrubs.
“Shane, why are you sleeping here?”
Shane rubbed the sleep from his eyes and said, “So I could be near you.”
He came and sat on the side of Stacey’s bed and asked, “How do you feel sweetheart?”
“Good, I think. Where are our baby daughters and why am I hooked up to this stuff?”
Shane kissed Stacey, then took her hand and said, “You had a wee bit of hemorrhaging after discharging the placenta. Doctor Shaw had to take you to surgery and perform a DNC, but everything is fine now.”
“I wanna see my babies, are they both okay?”
“Yes, their both fine sweetheart. Don’t worry. I’ll ask the nurse to bring them in, if you promise not to start knocking me about again,” Shane said with a grin.
“What do you mean?” Stacey asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” Shane said as he walked to the door smiling.
A nurse came in and removed the heart monitor and closed off the IV, but didn’t remove it. Shane returned with a nurse and one of the twins. The nurse said, “We have a hungry little girl here who would like to see her mommy.”
Shane was standing behind the nurse with the biggest grin on his face. The nurse showed Stacey how to nurse the baby, and then she left to bring the other twin in a little while. Shane sat on the side of the bed and watched Stacey nurse the baby. Stacey could hardly keep her eyes off the baby. She had to check her fingers and toes all over again.
Shane laughed and said, “She’s perfect lass, every last inch of her and so is her sister.” Shane leaned up, kissed Stacey’s forehead and said, “You did a grand job lass. Thank you.”
After both babies had been fed, Stacey had her own breakfast. Stacey encouraged Shane to go eat too and get out of his scrubs. When Shane returned, he brought a document stating the girl’s names and measurements. Jessica Leighanne McLeod, born 6 / 7/ 04-time 3:20 p.m. weight 5 lb-3 oz, length 21 inches. Jacquelyn Suzanne McLeod born 6 / 7 /04-time 3:45 p.m. weight 5 lb-3 0z length 21 inches.
“Are you sure Jessie came first?” Stacey asked.
“Yes, my love, Diane put her anklet on her straight away when she took her from your arms. She did the same with Jackie.”
Stacey called her mom and dad, then Aunt Lora and Richard. Shane had already called his parents, plus his grandmother. His mom and dad were on their way down from Scotland to see their new granddaughters.
Stacey had just finished feeding the babies and had freshened up when Aunt Lora and Richard arrived. The babies were lying in the crib sleeping. There was much oohing and aahing over the two little dark haired, brown-eyed beauties. Stacey took Shane’s hand and asked Aunt Lora and Richard, “Would you both like to hold one? There’s two of them, you know.”
“Yes, darling, we’d love too, but they’re asleep.”
“That’s the best time,” Shane said as he went over and picked up one at a time and gave them to Aunt Lora and Richard.
“Now that you both have one in your arms,” Stacey said. “How would you feel about being their godparents?”
Lora and Richard both looked dumb founded. Aunt Lora asked, “Are you serious? We’re old.”
“We know how old you are,” Stacey said. “Do you not wanna be their godparents?”
“Of course, we do,” Richard said. “I can’t think of anything more wonderful than that. Thank you, Stacey and Shane for sharing your daughters w
ith us.”
“Yes, yes,” Aunt Lora said. “We’ll be the best godparents ever. Which one am I holding?”
“Who knows,” Stacey said. “You’ll have to read their anklets.”
On their way home Richard told Lora, “The luckiest day of my life was when I met you, but the day I walked out of Shane’s office and met Stacey has to be a close second. Every good thing in my life has happened since then. Now we’re going to be godparents to those two beautiful little dolls. It will almost be like having our own.”
“I know,” Lora said. “I feel like I should pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming. I can hardly wait to start spoiling them.”
Richard chortled and said, “We’ll need to mind ourselves about that. That could get us kicked out of the godparent spot.”
Lora smiled at Richard and said, “Never mind that. I was Stacey’s godmother and she turned out just fine, don’t you think?”
“You’ll get no argument from me,” Richard said. “You know how much I admire Stacey.”
Chapter-49
Granddaughters
Stacey had finally become accustom to nursing the twins. At each feeding, Jessie was first to nurse. She was always red faced and crying when she was brought in to nurse. She was petulant and high tempered. Jackie was placid and peaceful. Stacey felt this little daughter had inherited Shane’s easygoing ways. Stacey knew she had been a little hellion when she was little, so she was not surprised to see much of herself in Jessie.
On the fourth day, of feeding the nurse brought Jackie in first. When Stacey put her to the left breast, she stiffened her little body, doubled her little fists and screamed. This scared Stacey terribly. The nurse was still there, so in near panic Stacey asked, “What have I done? What have I done?”
Both Stacey and the nurse were checking hands, feet and diapers. They couldn’t find anything wrong. When Stacey turned the baby the other way to check more, Jackie stopped crying, relaxed herself and was nudging at her mother’s breast. Stacey gave her the breast and Jackie was as contented as a little lamb. Stacey looked at the nurse and they both started laughing. Stacey just couldn’t believe a four-day-old baby could know from which breast she was nursing. Stacey turned her to the other breast and the baby did the same thing over again.
The nurse said, “Well, I think it’s quite obvious, this young lady knows what she wants.”
“Yes,” Stacey said. “Well, so much for my theory on her placid personality.”
Shane could hardly believe it when Stacey told him about his daughter, so at the next feeding she showed him.
Stacey spent five days in hospital. Her mom and dad arrived on the tenth of June, a day before Stacey was scheduled to be discharged. Jessie was looking forward to helping with the twins. Stacey’s dad wanted to talk with Doctor Shaw. Doctor Shaw was about ready to go into hiding. She felt like there were doctors coming out of the walls.
First, there was Shane, then his father from Scotland. Now there was a Doctor Scott from Texas. Two days ago, she had a call from a Doctor Flemming from Houston Texas. He said he was Stacey’s grandfather. She assured each of them that Stacey and babies were doing well.
Doctor Shaw came to see Stacey early in the morning the day she was being released. She said, “Sorry to come so early Stacey, but I wanted to avoid the stampede. Don’t you have any normal people in your family?”
“Oh sure,” Stacey said. “My gramps is a veterinarian; his youngest son is a rancher. I have two twin uncles that are oil well firefighters. Then there’s an FBI agent and a lawyer, oh yes, there’s a psychiatrist too. That’s just the males. The females are impressive also. Do you want me to tell you more? They’ll all be over in a few weeks. Would you like to meet them?”
“No, no thank you,” Doctor Shaw said. “I’ll be on vacation then.”
The day Stacey and the twins came home, Elizabeth and Andrew returned to Scotland. They would be back in a couple of weeks and bring Grandmother McLeod and Mrs. Beebe.
Stacey’s mom and dad stayed a week. Like the McLeod’s, they were enchanted with their little granddaughters. Mr. Chen called Stacey and Shane, to inquire if he was needed yet. Stacey told him they were up to their ears with helpful relatives, but he was welcome anytime. He promised he would be over in a few weeks.
Shane was so relieved when all their relatives when home. He loved them all dearly, but it seemed he never had time to be alone with his wife and daughters. He loved watching Stacey care for their daughters. It was like her motherly instinct took over the minute they were born. Shane told Stacey how happy he was to have the flat to themselves again. “What can I do to help?” he asked. “It seems you’re feeding, bathing or changing nappies every minute of the day and half the night.”
Mrs. Wyatt still came five days a week to clean. Aunt Lora and Richard stopped by often. So far, Shane hadn’t felt all that needed. When he mentioned this to Stacey, she told him, “Everyone is trying to take the burden off of you. They know how busy you are at the hospital.”
“That’s very kind of everyone, but I want to be a part of this too.” “Good,” Stacey said. “You can help with the feeding. You can feed Jessie. She’s such a little angel and doesn’t mind being fed by bottle, but Jackie refuses to take a bottle and throws a hissie fit when we try.”
After the following weekend, Shane was relieved to be back at hospital. He felt he was suffering from sleep deprivation. He hadn’t felt that way since his intern days. He had a new respect for Stacey. It seemed she was up every few minutes to feed or change the babies. Shane felt a little guilty for not protesting when Stacey told him to stay in bed, that she could take care of the girls. You need your rest to do your work. People depend on you. I can catch a nap during the day when the girls sleep, but you can’t.
After a few weeks, the girls finally settled down to a routine. They nursed at ten p.m. and slept until six a.m. This gave Stacey more or less normal nights and much needed rest. However, inevitably, there were nights when both Shane and Stacey walked the floor with two crying unhappy babies.
Chapter-50
Summer two-thousand-four
The weeks flew by. Mr. Chen came for a couple of weeks in July. He and Mrs. Wyatt got along splendidly. Stacey left the cooking up to him, not only was he better at it, but the twins kept her busy. She was grateful for all the help she could get. Shane helped as much as he could. He knew the supermarket clerks well by now, but he didn’t know for the life of him how two wee lassies could go through so many nappies.
Shane cut his hours back at the hospital. He tried to get home by four-thirty to assist Stacey with his much-needed help with the twins. Most nights the twins slept soundly, but some nights were spent walking the floor with unhappy daughters. Mr. Chen seemed to know just the right thing to do to comfort them; so in all honesty, Shane felt Mr. Chen was a godsend.
Ethan Howard with his sister-in-law, Terri and the twins Damon and Deirdre came up from Birmingham for the day to visit and see the new twins. Stacey and Shane insisted they stay for dinner. Stacey called Aunt Lora and Richard to join them.
On Stacey’s birthday, Shane had a special gift for her. Stacey had been searching the internet for cost of a Hummer 3. She felt sure one of her bulls would pay for it. On her birthday with all their friends there, Shane gave Stacey a beautifully wrapped box. Inside was a brochure of a Hummer 3.
“Thank you,” Stacey said.
“There’s more,” Shane said as he took her to the balcony. In the street below sat a red Hummer 3 with a big white bow on top. Stacey couldn’t hug and kiss her husband enough. Their friends were laughing and clapping. All Stacey could say was, “Thank you. I love you. I know our girls will be safe in it.”
Shane loved giving Stacey jewelry, but he knew this meant more to her than diamonds or gold. Inside Stacey was a down to earth girl. She was so different from any other woman he’d ever known. She had brought sunshine, laughter and freshness into his life, and now two beautiful baby daughters. Shane knew he was
the luckiest man alive. For some strange reason this made him think of Eric Fitz-Morgan. Shane pushed that thought away. Stacey was his wife now. The other was just a dream from a long dead past. Stacey never spoke of the dream anymore, so why the bloody hell was he thinking of him now?
Stacey took his hand and asked, “Are you okay?”
Shane took her in his arms and said, “Yes, sweetheart. Very much so. We’ll take the girls out for a spin tomorrow. Right?”
Two days later Stacey had her six-week check-up. Doctor Shaw was adamant that Stacey be on birth control. Stacey’s uterus wall lining had thinned and Doctor Shaw was a little concerned.
“I assure you Doctor Shaw, I’ll be happy to go back on birth control. Giving birth is something I would rather not do anytime soon again, if ever.”
Doctor Shaw put Stacey on Depo-Provera injections every three months, and she wanted to examine her every six months.
The first week in August, Stacey and Shane had a surprise visit from Eric and Jennifer. Stacey was so excited to see them. They stayed the better part of a week. They were on their way to the Taklimakan desert in Xinjiang, China, where an archaeology excavation was in progress. Caucasian burials had been discovered there.
Stacey was so excited for them, but asked, “What happened to the Peru Dig?”
“They gave us a choice and we chose China and the Taklimakan Dig. Can you imagine Caucasian people living in China that far back?”
Stacey said, “How about I pack up the girls and we go with you?”
“Let’s go,” Eric said. “We’ll teach these little gals to be archeologist. They’ll love digging in the dirt.”
Shane knew they were joking around; however, the thought of Stacey taking the girls and going somewhere bothered him immensely.
Stacey saw the change in Shane’s face and wondered what was going through his mind. Shane knew their daughters were her first priority as well as himself. Of course, she missed the camaraderie and excitement of the dig, but she would be mostly in the laboratory when she was free to go back to school again.