Surprisingly Perfect

Introducing...

My son let out a little yawn as I patted his back. I pulled the hospital's blue striped hat farther over his forehead, covering up each one of his little blond hairs. I was so surprised at how our twins turned out. One looked just like me, and the other one looked just like Jace.

"You gave me a scare, little man," I said, "but you came just at the right time."

I brought his little body to my lips and kissed the top of his head. Baby number two, even though he was breech, was born safely inside of the ambulance, right as we turned into the hospital parking lot.

On the other side of the room, Jace held his phone in one hand, Oliver cradled up against his chest, out cold. He'd been holding both the boys since we got to the hospital, but not at the same time.

"Hey, do you want me to take him too?" I asked Jace.

"Nah," he said. "I think I'm good with just Oliver." 

For now, everything was calm. Both my boys were here, safe and sound. It was nice to have some peace and quiet after everything I'd been through this morning.

Then there was a knock on the door.

All of a sudden, this big group burst into the room. First was Mom and Poppy. Behind them was Chase and Cler, each holding a bouquet of balloons that was bigger than them. Mom was squealing and fawning over Oliver, then the baby in my arms. 

"I'm so glad you're okay. We were all so worried!" she said. "I can't believe this happened to you. My poor little Chrys had to deliver her kids in a car!"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Somehow." I looked over at Jace. "Hey, I really want to hold them both for a minute."

"Aww. But he's doing so good right now," Jace said.

"I know. It'll be quick," I said.  

He got up and set Oliver down in my free arm. He was wailing because the group disrupted his nap. He sure did have some pair of lungs. I rocked and patted him while his brother looked on with a blank stare.

Everyone gathered around the bed, all whipping out their phones to take a million pictures.

"So anyway," I said above the crying, still rocking Oliver. "This one here is Oliver Jacob Everston."

"Oh, after your father," Mom said, her face scrunching up as she held back tears.

"And this little guy here," I said, slightly raising the quiet one. "Is Blaze Oscar Everston."

"Huh?" Jace said. Everyone looked on, surprised. "I thought you—"

"I owe you one, after helping me in the car."

"Oh, I...cool. Thanks," he said, totally taken aback. "I mean, I just did the catching. You did all the work, though."

"Well, I can't disagree with you there," I said.

Everyone had a laugh. Chase put his arm around his brother. I saw him mouth the words "I'm proud of you." Jace was grinning, so proud of his two little boys. I was happy to see Jace and Chase have a moment of unity.

Everyone else started reaching for the boys. I handed Oliver off to Chase and Blaze off to Mom. Cler took embarrassing selfies with me in the meantime. I kept trying to cover up my face.

"My BFF just had her babies!" she said while taking a video. "And stop shying away! You look great!"

"Yeah right, but thanks," I said.

"Come on Mom, I want my turn!" Poppy said from the other side of the room, reaching out to grab Blaze.

"Here, you can take Oliver," Chase said. Poppy squealed when he handed him to her. 

The door flew open and we all jumped. In walked a frantic Dr. Andrews, her hair not even pulled back into its usual bun, and her lab coat unbuttoned.

"Oh goodness, Chrys! I got here as fast as I could. How are you?"

"Hanging in there," I said. "I'm doing just fine."

Even though the nurses already checked all my vitals, Dr. Andrews looked over me anyway. Then, after a lot of protest from everyone else, she took the boys one at a time and examined them.

"Healthy babies and healthy Momma. Everything looks good. Do you want to get some rest, honey?" she asked.

"Yes. That would be great."

"Okay. I'll send for some nurses to bring the boys down to the nursery. Take it easy. I'll be back in a bit."

It wasn't long before she left, and then nurses showed up to take the boys. I really didn't want to be away from them, but every inch of me was exhausted. Everything happened so fast—I needed a mental break just to process it all.

Jace said goodbye to each of the boys before the nurses wheeled them away. Everyone else agreed to get lunch downstairs to give me a little break. Jace gave me a goodbye hug and went with them.

As soon as everyone left and I closed my eyes, my phone buzzed. I reached for it and saw a text from Julia.

Heard about the news! Congrats former bump-buddy. We're on our way to visit the girls. Be at your room when we're done.

I replied with a simple "thanks" and closed my eyes again. Sleep felt so good. But right as I was dosing into a nap, there was another knock on the door. The clock on the wall showed that it had only been fifteen minutes since Julia texted me. She couldn't be here this quickly, could she?

The door opened and dressed in a massive fur coat, Katherine walked in. Tim was right behind her.

"Hello, Chrys," Katherine said. She pulled a card out of her purse. "For you."

"Oh wow, thank you, Mrs. Hetcher!" I ripped the card right open. I had a feeling they'd turn around now that the boys were here. I looked at the writing on the front. "'Double the babies, double the fun, but your adventure has just begun!' Aww. How cute!"

I opened it up. Instead of a Target gift card or cash (what I was really hoping for) it was a folded piece of paper. I opened it up. Royalston Family Car Services. It was full of numbers, with the total at the bottom being three hundred and fifty.

"Umm, what is this?" I asked.

"It's the bill dear," Katherine said. "To clean my car, that you destroyed."

I gave them a blank stare. Were they serious? What was I even supposed to say?

"I want this bill paid and my car cleaned by next week. Just because you had a little 'accident' in the car doesn't mean you get out of paying for it to be cleaned up," Katherine said.

She stuck her nose up in the air, then turned around and walked out of the room with Tim, who whispered, "Congratulations!" Katherine pulled him away by the ear and then purposely slammed the door shut.