The Miracle of Chidlbirth
Chapter 34: The Miracle of Childbirth
When Cindy woke up this morning, Peter was already out of bed. "Weird," she thought as felt like it was six in the morning, on a Saturday none the less. After lying awake in a couple of minutes, Cindy sat up from the bed. However, it was a bit hard to do so with her gigantic belly. It was almost a year ago since she and Peter got married, and right now she was pregnant with Peter's children for nine months, one week, and three days.
Cindy was starting to get a little anxious about the birth. She was almost two weeks past her due date, and she really couldn't wait for the twins to be born. At first, Cindy was a little scared of the pregnancy because of the fear of their children being hunted by both their enemies and the media. However, Peter eased her worries with the promise of protecting her and the twins with everything he's got. Afterwards, Cindy's worries were gone and in its place was the happiness of a mother-to-be. Not only that, but they've been extremely happy when they found out that Cindy was pregnant with not only one kid, but twins.
Right now, Cindy went into the living room, only to find Peter sitting on the couch. He was reading an online article on a tablet but looked up when Cindy entered the room.
"Morning honey," Peter said with a smile.
"Morning sweetie," Cindy replied with a yawn, which caused Peter to laugh.
"Still tired?" Peter asked. Cindy replied with a nod. "It's almost eleven a.m.," he said while walking over to Cindy and wrapping his arms around her...as much as he could because Cindy's stomach filled a lot.
"Eleven? Wow," Cindy said in a surprising tone. Then she smiled and kissed Peter. The kiss was passionate and lasted for a couple of minutes until the couple broke it.
"Mmn...you're in a good mood today," Peter said. Cindy had been a bit needy for the past few months. When she started to gain some weight, she felt like she was becoming less attractive for Peter, and every time when he kissed her, it reminded her that he was still attracted to her despite the extra pounds she gained.
"Yeah. It feels like today may be a special day," Cindy said sweetly to Peter.
Peter chuckled at what Cindy said. "You've been saying that every day since we passed the due date for the twins," he stated.
"I know, but it really feels like something is going to happen today."
"Okay sweetie. I believe you," Peter said and gave Cindy a quick kiss before turning to the kitchen. "You want anything?" he asked.
"Some coffee would be great Peter," Cindy replied from the couch.
"Very well. Coffee it is."
However, as Peter was about to make some coffee, she felt something wet coming down her legs, followed up by a jolt of pain.
"ARGH!" she yelled, grabbing Peter's attention.
"Cindy?! Are you okay?!" Peter said as he was coming towards his pregnant wife.
"I-I'm fine...wait...the twins! The twins are coming!"
"Are you sure?!"
"Does it look like anything else?!" Cindy said in annoyance.
"Oh my god...yeah, right. Calm down now," Peter said as he shook his head before caressing her left arm. "Okay, I'm going to call Reed to see if we can go to the Baxter Building right now."
"Yeah...you might...want to hurry on that..." Cindy panted as she was breathing deeply.
"Got it."
Peter then grabbed his smartphone from the counter and dialed Reed's number.
"Peter?"
"Reed! We need help now!"
"Whoa, calm down Peter. What's going on?"
"Cindy's going to labor, and we need help now!"
"Okay, hurry over and I'll prepare the equipment for this."
"Got it." Peter then picked up Cindy, carried her bridal style, and went out the front door of their apartment.
A few minutes later, Peter and Cindy finally arrived at the Baxter Building, where they were immediately greeted by Reed and Susan with a stretcher. Peter then laid Cindy on the stretcher, where Reed, Susan, and Peter carried her to the medical room. As they got there, they entered into the room where the medical equipment was.
"Peter, I'm not sure if I can do this."
"Honey, you'll be fine. You can do it."
"Well, I don't really have a choice now, do I?"
"No, not really."
Peter tried to smile, but it was hard in this situation because he was seeing Cindy in extreme pain. As they were waiting in the medical room while Cindy was being prepared, something beeped inside of Cindy. As soon as she heard that sound, a contradiction hit her and she braced herself, gripping Peter's hand very hard. The pain came like a sneak attack from the darkness. Cindy thought she might have cried out now, but she wasn't sure. Everything was in a painful blur, and all of a sudden, everything happened quickly as all of the contractions she had earlier led up to a few seconds. She was hurting so much that she wasn't aware of the words coming out her mouth, but judging by the shock, bewilderment, and sort of guilty fear on Peter's face, they weren't even kind. In fact, some of the words that came out her mouth were in Korean.
"Wow. That's something I don't hear every day," Susan muttered. Peter let out a small sigh and continued to run his fingers up and down Cindy's arm. She was so exhausted that Peter anxiously thought that she was going to pass out.
"Keep breathing honey," Peter said worryingly, clearing her bangs out of her face.
"What does it look like I'm doing?!" Cindy exclaimed. "I'd be dead right now if I wasn't breathing!"
At that moment, Peter felt like it would be better to shut up and be quiet now. Cindy's grasp on his hand might have broken it, even with Peter's enhanced durability. Peter felt like his hand was about to go blue from his wife's strong grip on him.
"You're almost there," Reed said to Cindy calmly over her exclamations. He announced to the room at large that a head was visible. Peter trembled with excitement. He held his arm around Cindy as she leaned forward and pressed his lips to her temple; she was crying with effort. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and loosened her grip on Peter's hand. He stroked her fingers.
"One more big push Cindy," Susan instructed her. Cindy didn't do anything though. Her breath was shallow."
"I can't, I can't..." she panted, closing her eyes and resting her head on her knee. Peter looked nervously at Reed, who raised his eyebrows seriously.
"Come on sweetie. You're almost there," he whispered, rubbing her back which gave a nod from Reed.
"One more push and we'll get one of the twins out of you," he said kindly. Cindy lifted her head wearily. Susan and Reed nodded kindly at her. Taking a deep breath, Cindy squeezed Peter's hand and pushed.
"There we go!" Reed said. "Keep pushing, keep pushing..."
Cindy cried out again and again, doing her best to stay conscious. The pain was so intense that she could feel herself almost slipping her away until suddenly...
"Someone else in the room was wailing, the sound mixing with Cindy's exclamations.
"And we have a baby!" Reed announced with a grin. Cindy simply fell back into the pillows, gasping for air. Peter froze, his eyes widening at the sound of one of his children's cries. Reed handed the baby to Susan, who hurried to the other side of the room to clean the newborn. Peter couldn't move as he watched his, no, their baby being carried away. Reed smiled at him and Cindy.
"Congratulations, it's a boy," Reed said. Peter and Cindy smiled at what Reed just said. For a moment, there was peace in the room. Until Cindy felt another contraction in herself and let out a scream.
"Okay Cindy, we got one more baby to go, so you need to push out as hard as you can now, okay?" Peter asked.
"Ok," Cindy whimpered out.
And so, the process repeated as Cindy was starting to push out the other child. Like earlier, Cindy was screaming and holding onto Peter's hand very tight to the point it turned blue. She was trying her best to stay conscious, but unlike earlier, it was easier. And then after moments of pushing and screaming, the second child was born.
"And we have the second baby!" Reed announced with a grin. Like earlier, Cindy simply fell back into the pillows again, gasping for air. Susan then cut the cord and carried the other twin to the other side of the room for cleaning. "Congratulations, it's a girl," Reed said with a smile. Susan then proceeded to give the twins to Peter and Cindy. Peter was holding the girl while Cindy was holding the boy.
Both Peter and Cindy's legs went weak. They cradled their little kids in their arms, leaving them with an intense wave of protective emotions to feel. Peter had to sit down on the chair beside the bed because he was so worried that his legs would break from all the shaking. Reed and Susan were saying something to the two, but they didn't listen. They couldn't take their eyes off their kids. The twins turned their heads and opened their eyes slowly, looking at their parents. At that moment, Peter and Cindy thought that they were under a type of spell after seeing their kids' faces.
"Hi..." Peter muttered as he tentatively stroked his daughter's tiny, soft cheek with his finger. The door closed and Peter realized that he and Cindy were alone in the room with their children. He looked up her, joy filling him. Cindy was beaming as well as she was gazing at both her newborn son and Peter with their newborn daughter. Tears fell down her cheeks and she did nothing to stop them. Peter then moved closer to Cindy so she could get a better look at her daughter while Peter can get a better look at his son.
"Hello little girl," Cindy whispered with a thick voice and tears of joy. She felt Peter sit on the side of the bed, holding their son in his hands. He kissed her head. Cindy leaned back into him; she could see so much of her husband in their daughter already, and the same can be said about their son as well. "She's so beautiful Peter. She looks a lot like you, Peter."
Peter laughed lightly. He, as well, has some tears in his eyes, a sensation he hasn't felt for a long time. He didn't mind though, even when one just ran down his face.
"I was going to say the same thing to our son too," he said while pressing his cheek against Cindy's. "Hey there little guy," he whispered to the son. Cindy looked into his eyes. They grinned at each other with their noses touching and then they kissed softly. Peter tucked a lock of Cindy's hair behind her ear, unable to keep the grin off his face. The twins wriggled and let out small yawns. Peter and Cindy beamed down at them.
"Hi there, you two," they cooed in unison. Cindy held the boy up and kissed his tiny nose.
"I've waited so long to see you two," she whispered with lit up eyes. The baby boy made another sound and stared up at his parents with eyes of wonder. Meanwhile, the baby girl proceeded to touch Peter on the nose, causing Cindy to giggle. "It seems like our daughter got you."
Peter chuckled. "Seems so. A bit sticky too. Might want to keep them off the walls. Otherwise we would be getting heart attacks on our hands."
"Yeah. Anyway, you want to name the two?"
"Nah, I think you deserve that part."
Cindy said as she smiled at Peter and thought of some names for a few minutes. After a while, she got her answer. "I want to name the boy Andrew and the girl Alice."
Peter nodded in response, still smiling. He rested his head against Cindy's, and they watched their children together. Andrew Parker and Alice Parker, Peter thought fondly. He was so excited to be a dad and watch Cindy be a mom to the twins they were holding. Both adults knew that this was a turning point for their lives; everything would change at this moment.
Cindy remembered the day she told Peter that they were going to be parents. She glanced at Peter again and felt her heart melt again. She known that he would love their children no matter what, but in his eyes, she saw a more intense emotion than she had expected. She saw almost exactly what she felt, like she never wanted to let go of her children. Not for the first time, she acknowledged what a wonderful father Peter would be. Looking back down at her son and daughter, she felt as though her entire soul had come alive.
And to this day, Peter and Cindy gained a second family.