“Alright, Cairo this time, I want you to push until I tell you to stop,” Dr. Jameson instructed.
“Okay, okay,” Cairo panted, doing her best to get her energy channeled.
“Now, push!”
Cairo took in a deep breath and bore down, training her mind and her energy down as low as she could get it.
“Mmmm,” she moaned. “Grrrrr,” she growled. “Ahhhh!”
“That’s good, Cairo. The baby’s head is out, so take a second, lean back, and get ready for the next one. Dad, you wanna see?”
He did. Israel looked down between his wife’s apex for his first look at their baby. His eyes widened, and Israel was immediately transfixed by everything he saw and everything it meant.
“Okay, one more big push, and we’ll have the shoulders out,” Jameson instructed. “Now, push, Cairo, push.”
“Nnnuuuuhhhhnnnn, Cairo moaned as she did what the doctor said.
“You can reach down and lift your baby to you if you want.”
She did. Cairo lifted up with her mother supporting her back on one side, and her husband supporting her on the other and reached between her legs. The first touch of her child’s skin was amazing, but when she wrapped her loving hands around the baby and lifted the child from her womb onto her chest, the feeling was beyond exhilarating. She was flesh to flesh with their baby.
“It’s a girl,” Dr. Jameson announced.
“Oh my God,” Cairo hummed. “Babe, we’ve got a baby.”
Israel couldn’t speak, and the grand moms were too excited to utter a word. All he could do was lean over and kiss his wife and kiss his baby. He was so happy.
And then Cairo’s eyes widened as she felt something that didn’t feel right. She looked at Dr. Jameson.
“I’m checking,” Dr. Jameson responded without the question being raised. The placenta should have been expelled once the baby came out, but there was another movement. Reaching inside, Dr. Jameson realized what it was.
“You remember when we heard the echo of the baby’s heartbeat?”
Both Israel and Cairo nodded, but forming words in response was too hard.
“The echo wasn’t from one heartbeat,” Jameson explained. “It was from the second.”
“Huh? What?” Israel asked, perplexed.
“Were gonna have to cut the cord on this one, dad, because the next one is coming out.”
“Twins?” Catherine gasped.
“Twins,” Dr. Jameson confirmed.
The nurse went into action, handing Israel scissors designed for cutting the umbilical cord, while another nurse eased the firstborn from Cairo’s arms so that she could focus on birthing their second.
“You can do this, Cairo. You’ve done so well, sweetie, you can do this,” Aziza encouraged.
They didn’t have time for anything else. The second baby was on the way, and Cairo felt another contraction.
“Just like we did before, beloved,” Israel encouraged. His heart was reeling. His body was shaking, but that was nothing compared to what Cairo was feeling. She had just had the most amazing experience of life, and God was giving her a chance to do it again. A double blessing.
“Push, Cairo,” Dr. Jameson said.
She didn’t have to say more. Cairo felt her baby moving down the birth canal. She felt the intense pain of the push, and then she felt the immediate release when the baby’s head was out.
“Come on, mom,” Jameson smiled. “Lift your baby to you.”
Cairo was sweating, and she was tired, and when she reached down and felt her second baby, she was elated. Tears spilled from her lids as she lifted her baby onto her chest and felt that first magical touch.
“It’s a girl!” Dr. Jameson announced.
“Twin girls,” Catherine sobbed as she and Aziza shared a tear-filled hug.
“She’s beautiful,” Cairo breathed.
“They both are,” Israel smiled as the nurse placed the swaddled firstborn in his arms.
Cairo was tired, but the joy of her daughters seemed to erase all the tiredness and all the pain. The medical team made sure that Cairo was well and that the twins were well. They all received good reports.
“Twins, babe. I can’t believe it,” Israel sighed as a tear spilled onto his cheek. “I love you so much.”
“You are so outnumbered right now,” she teased.
“He sure is,” Aziza added.
“We’re gonna give you all some time,” Catherine smiled. It was a smile she and Aziza would be wearing for a long time.
“Before you go, don’t you want to know what your granddaughters' names are?” Israel smiled.
“You have names already?” Catherine asked.
“We do,” Cairo smiled. She and Israel spent a lot of time lying in bed at night, thinking of the perfect names for their child. They picked out a name for a girl and a name for a boy since they didn’t want to know the gender of the child until he or she was born. They settled on a name for each sex and had a second name that they loved too. So, for the couple, this part was easy. It was the easiest part of the entire process.
“Grand moms meet Egypt,” Cairo smiled.
“And Isis,” Israel announced.
“Egypt and Isis,” Catherine smiled and then looked at Aziza. The look on Aziza’s face said everything Catherine felt.
“We love it!”
As the moms exited the room, Israel sat down on the bed with Cairo. They held their daughters and kissed each other. Cairo closed her eyes. She had gone from unhappily single, to happily married, to now, the mother of two beautiful daughters. Cairo was filled with an amazing sense of completeness. She was whole.
The End
Thank you so much for reading, Israel, book 2 of The Brothers Ali. I am excited about this series, and I hope you will continue on this journey with me. I loved writing this book, and I hope you loved it! I would really appreciate it, especially if you enjoyed the story if you would leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. For Indie authors, reviews are the lifeblood of our work. They give other readers insight into the story and greater visibility for the authors. Thanks in advance, and I hope you will continue reading the Moore Friends Series with me!
Coming soon!
Khalid Book 3
Racquel Alexander, Owner of Charles’ Barber Experience, is consumed with extending her father’s legacy by expanding the Barber Experience into new markets. Losing her father changed Racquel’s worldview, narrowing her focus to only those things that help her father live on and not just in her memory.
Khalid Ali, Director of Investments for Ali International is all about the business of conquering new territories, investing in new ventures, and expanding his family’s legacy. He is persistent, determined, and focused.
A thunderstorm, a flat tire, and a knight in shining armor coming to save her changes the course of Racquel’s existence, but not in a good way. That accidental encounter brings her nemesis, Khalid Ali, into her orbit, rocking Racquel’s foundation and disturbing every preconceived notion she ever had of him. Holding on to old things is easy. Accepting new things is hard. Khalid dares Racquel to accept new things like how his nearness compels her soul to swoon and her heart to thunder in her chest; and how their undeniable magnetism seismically shifts the atmosphere and causes the earth to quake under their feet.
When enemies become lovers, it's tumultuous and passionate and confusing and incredible. When enemies fall in love, it’s unpredictable.
If you haven’t already, please check out,
Other Books Written by Celeste:
The Brothers Ali Series
Basel Book 1
All That & Moore Series:
Hidden Missing Moore
I Am Moore
Teach Me Moore
Expect Moore
So Much Moore
Never Moore
I Found Moore
Promise Me Moore
My Cherie A Moore
Moore to Love Series:
Sti
pulations
Gabriel's Melody
Temptations
Moore Friends Series:
Something New
A Love So New
Before I Fall
Falling
Lady Guardians Series:
Onyx Rides
Cruisin'
Curvalicious
Standalone
The Gift
Romantically Ever After Boxset
Teach Me How to Love
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Israel Page 17