Christmas Twins by ImoutoCommissions

Chapter 1

At this point in her pregnancy, even too much walking is bad for her, so 
when James and Lucy need to do some last minute Christmas shopping, he 
has her out on a wheelchair, pushing her through the crowded mall so 
that they can get done before the next day. Though she is dressed 
festively for the season, a nice blanket on her lap to keep her warm, 
Lucy is on the cranky side, mostly due to the toll her pregnancy is 
taking on her.

A big negative side effect is that the doctor has banished any activity
deemed too strenuous, including sexual activity. With how big of an
appetite that James has cultivated in her, having to go without out of
nowhere leaves Lucy so pent-up and grumpy from it that she can hardly
stand it.

"I can't wait until my scheduled C-section is over and done with," she
says, "and I really can't wait until the doctor gives me the all clear
to jump your bones." She says the last part rather bluntly, earning
herself a laugh from her much taller boyfriend, taking one hand off the
wheelchair handles to give her a pat on the head.

"Well, I, for one, look forward to the challenge of satisfying the
world's cutest MILF," he replies, his words making her blush. Reaching
his hand further down, he caresses her stomach and says, "It's just ten
days until I get to meet the babies."

Lucy really can't wait for that, not only because she is excited to meet
her children at last, but because pregnancy really has been hard on her.
She knew that would be the case ever since she found out that she was
pregnant, and is grateful that she is even able to carry children at
all, but even so, it will be nice to finally have this part over and
done with.

As they pass by Santa's Village, she points and says, woefully, "It's a
shame I couldn't be an elf like last year. That was such a fun job." Not
only was it a fun job, but it was also part of what helped them both
make the push to become something more than friends. It is hard to
believe just how far they have come since then.

"Of course, I wouldn't want any other elf," James says. "Do you want to
go visit Santa?"

Though she does like playing like she's younger than she is, usually 
able to pass as a child, she thinks that she is a bit too pregnant right 
now for it to be anything other than awkward, and says as much. 
"Besides," she adds, "you're the only Santa whose lap I want to sit on."

So the two of them continue on, until suddenly, Lucy doubles over in her
seat, letting out a sharp cry of pain that quickly catches her lover's
attention. He hurries around to see what has happened, and sees Lucy,
clutching her stomach and whimpering in pain, looking up at him to say,
"I think my water just broke."

James wastes no time in scooping her up, bridal style, and as her
blanket falls to the floor, he notices bloodstains in her white
leggings. He hurries towards the nearest mall exit, fumbling to get his
phone out and dial 911 with one hand, while he cradles her in his other arm.

"My pregnant girlfriend has just gone into labor!" he says to the
dispatcher. "She was scheduled for a C-section after the New Year,
because she's so small!" He knows that this can't be a good sign, but
all they can do is wait for the ambulance.

~X~

James is with her throughout the ride to the hospital, doing his best to 
comfort her through her pain, and doing his best to hide his own fear. 
But the truth is, he is terrified. Her pregnancy has had its 
complications along the way, but they have stayed up to date with her 
doctor's appointments and followed all of the doctor's orders to 
minimize the complications as much as they possibly can. They even made 
sure to schedule her c-section at a good time, not too soon, but soon 
enough to minimize the risk of her going into labor before it happened.

So what is she doing going into labor now?

When they make it to the hospital, James is not allowed to go in with
her, due to the emergency level of this situation, and is therefore left
alone in the waiting room, where he just has to worry by himself. He has
to worry about not only his best friend and the love of his life, but
his children as well, his children who are being born right this moment,
without him there.

The stress from today makes the day they found out that she was pregnant
feel relaxed by comparison, if he is being completely honest about it
all. All he can do is pace back and forth, worrying more and more about
something that he will not be able to do anything about, that he would
never have any power over, no matter how close he could be to her right
now. James just wants everything to be okay, and he has no idea what he
is going to do if-

But he can't think about that. No matter what, he can't allow himself to
think of any negatives. As long as he just waits patiently, he will be
able to see Lucy soon, and he will be able to meet his children as well.
Maybe things are not going according to plan, but he has done all that
he can do so far, and everything beyond that point is out of his hands.
He sits down to try and calm himself, but that does not last for very
long, and soon enough, he is up pacing again, so agitated by all of this
that there is no hope for him to keep still.

Hours pass, blending into each other, and he is tired, yet knows that
sleep would be impossible even if he were at home in his bed. Sitting
for very long leaves him too antsy, and his mind keeps replaying that
horrifying moment, over and over again. How could it take this long,
without them giving him a single update? But that can't be all bad,
right? If something bad had already happened, then he would know, so the
fact that he has heard nothing must mean that Lucy is still okay, that
it is just taking them a while.

Midnight soon rolls around, and he can hardly believe that it is already
Christmas, that they had left to do some Christmas Eve shopping, and
that they ended up spending the rest of the day, all the way into the
holiday, here at the hospital. He continues to watch the clock, until
suddenly, a doctor enters the room, calling his name.

"You're the father of two healthy little girls," he informs him, leaving
James beaming, before growing worried again.

"But what about Lucy?" he asks.

"She's weak, but she's stable. She's currently being moved to a room in
the maternity ward, and then you'll be able to see your family."

His family, not just his girlfriend. James will be able to see his family.

Chapter 2

James can't keep his heart from pounding wildly as he is escorted to go 
see Lucy at last. He feels like it takes a million years to get to her 
room, even though it really does not take very long at all. Finally, he 
is ushered past the door, where he sees her and feels like he could melt 
from his relief. Lucy is sitting in the bed, propped up and holding a 
baby girl, bottle feeding her while humming a lullaby.

Approaching her, he looks over to see a second baby in the bassinet, and 
another bottle sitting on the nightstand. Lucy looks up at him and 
smiles as she asks, "Since you're here, can you feed Mei, while I finish 
up with Naomi?" Though they had decided on the names together, there is 
still something so real about hearing her say them for the first time 
when actually referring to the infants in the room.

James calms his shaking hands before he leans over to pick up Mei, 
noticing that both of his daughters have inherited the same amethyst 
hair that their mother has. Holding her close, he says, "Well, our twins 
are as cute as their mother, that's for sure." Once he has the bottle 
situated, he asks, "So, is there a reason you're not breast feeding like 
you'd planned? Did something happen?"

"Nothing like that, they just have their daddy's appetite, and drained 
these tiny titties in under a minute," she replies with a defeated 
sigh. "I'm going to give them as much of my milk as I can, but I'm 
going to have to supplement with formula if we don't want them starving 
before we're supposed to switch to baby food."

For a while, there is silence in the room, with only the sound of their 
two babies suckling at the bottles to fill the air. In the waiting room, 
there had been so much that he thought he should say to her, but now 
that they are reunited, he finds himself speechless, and that just being 
with her is enough. But he can tell that there is something on her mind, 
something that she needs to say, and so he also remains silent for her 
sake, so that she will have room to say it once she is ready. Finally, 
after several moments of silence, Lucy finally looks over to him as she 
speaks up.

"I had to have an emergency hysterectomy," she says, her voice soft and 
grave. "It was the only thing that the doctors could do for me, and it 
was necessary, to save my life. I'm not going to be able give them any 
brothers or sisters, and we're not going to be able to have anymore 
children. It was just...it was the only way, so..."

Moving closer, James replies, "That's alright, I don't care. Just as 
long as I have my three most important girls, safe and sound, then I 
don't care about anything else. That's all that matters to me."

Her expression softens considerably at his words, and she looks at him 
lovingly. "I'm just happy to have what we have now. I never thought I 
could have children to begin with, so even having one would have 
been...but we were lucky enough to have twins! I'm happy we could have 
this, and I know it's going to be more than enough. We're going to have 
such a happy family together, James."

Seeing her this joyful, with their two newborns, he knows that right now 
is the right moment. He had planned to do this before they were born, as 
her Christmas present, but even though it will still be a Christmas 
present, the babies are here early, and present for it. Now that he is 
in the moment, though, he realizes how much better that is, and once the 
babies are well fed and fast asleep, he lays them down. Then he reaches 
in his pocket to pull out the small box, containing her present.

Lucy's eyes widen as soon as she sees it, already having a good idea of 
what is inside.

"You've been my best friend for so long," he starts out, going to join 
her beside her bed. "And all that time, I've loved you so much. This 
past year together has been like a dream, and has only confirmed that 
you are the love of my life, the only woman that I could ever want to 
share my life with. And now that you're the mother of my children, it 
only makes me want to spend that life with you that much more. So, 
Lucy..."

James pops the box open, to reveal a small, white gold band topped with 
an amethyst that perfectly matches her hair, accented with small 
diamonds. "Will you be my little wife?"

Lucy can't help her excitement upon looking at the ring, bouncing around 
so much that she nearly pulls out her IV, while doing her best to not 
squeal too loudly and wake the babies that they just got to sleep. She 
throws her arms around James, around her fiance, to pull him into a 
tight hug, so overjoyed that she can't contain herself. With her lips 
close to his ear, she murmurs, "Of course I will!"

She spends a moment hugging him like this, before pulling back and 
holding out her hand for him. As he pulls out the ring to put it on her, 
he sighs and says, "I got the smallest ring they had to offer, and it 
still looks like it's going to be too big for your tiny fingers."

"That's alright," Lucy says, giggling as she takes it off her ring 
finger and moves it down. "I'll just have to wear it here on my thumb 
until we can go and get it resized!"

She pulls him into another embrace, and James wraps his arms around her 
tiny shoulders, holding her close. Today has been a long and scary day, 
but it has also been filled with more joy than he has ever known. Though 
he thought last Christmas was the best one he'd ever have, this year is 
definitely going to top it.