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“You do realize that you not only told thousands of people we’re having a boy, but you also let it out that we’re having twins,” Alex informed Slater as she walked to keep up with him, her breath short.
“Oops. Like they wouldn’t all find out soon enough anyway.” He grinned at her and held her hand tightly as they walked within the circle of bodyguards Ben seemed to produce out of nowhere.
“Slater.” Alex tugged on his hand and gritted her teeth through another contraction. “I realize we’re in a hurry to get to the hospital, but I can’t run. You need to slow down.”
“Sorry, baby.” He slowed his steps and wished at that moment he could throw her over his shoulder and sprint to get her and their babies to safety.
Alex stopped suddenly. “Oh!”
“What is it?” Slater asked, worry all over his face.
“Mona sounds so good!” Alex turned her ear to the sound of Mona’s voice. “I’m disappointed I can’t see her performance.”
“The show’s being recorded,” Ben stated. “I’ll get you a copy as soon as possible.”
“What’s the plan, Ben?” Slater asked as he continued to pull Alex along.
“Limo is waiting right outside. Marcus and Elliot will drive you there.” He looked at Alex. “I knew you wouldn’t want an ambulance, so I’ve arranged for a police escort to get you to the hospital as quickly as possible.”
“You’re good, Ben,” Alex breathed while she tried once again to keep up with the long strides of the men surrounding her.
“Just doing my job, Alex.” Ben walked with them to the limo, waited as Slater helped Alex in, then updated Slater on the plan. “Once the concert is over, I’ll get everyone to the hospital. Marcus and Elliot have been briefed on where to go. You’ll use a private entrance. Dr. Green is on her way, and she’ll have someone meet you there to get Alex up to a room as quickly as possible.”
“Paparazzi?” Slater asked.
“You should be able to avoid them once you’re there with the private entrance. There’s nothing I can do about them following you since it’s public knowledge now that Alex is in labor. You know how quick they are.”
“Yeah, I do.” Slater nodded and slipped into the car. “I’m just hoping we’re quicker.” While Ben closed the car door behind him, Slater turned to Alex. “You ok?”
“Yes. A little scared, but yes.”
Slater looked her over as the street lights flickered into the car while the limo picked up speed. He smiled, years of their memories swirled through his head. He wanted to remember how she looked in this moment forever. “You look really pretty, Allie.”
“I’m sorry, Slater.”
“It’s all behind us.” He waved her apology away. “Clearly you had a damn good reason to be so emotional tonight. How long have you been feeling contractions?”
“Now that I know what they are, I’ve been feeling them since about three o’clock this morning.” She took a deep breath and got back to the topic she wanted to speak about. “I’m saying sorry in advance.”
“What for?”
“For the things I’m probably going to yell at you, and the rotten things I’ll probably be thinking about you during this process. I’m sorry, honey. I don’t mean any of it, and I- oh!” She stopped mid-sentence, closed her eyes, and breathed deep.
“Hold on to me, Allie.” Slater slid one arm around her and took her hand in his while Alex squeezed tightly and leaned into him as she rode out the contraction. “You ok?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, feeling breathless. “You’re going to have to stop asking me that question though.”
“Can’t help it, honey. I hate seeing you in pain.”
“Names,” Alex gasped and clenched her teeth when her back spasmed.
“What?” Slater asked as he rubbed her lower back.
“Names. We haven’t agreed on names yet. It’s probably time we decide.”
“I made a suggestion the other night and you shot it down,” Slater said playfully. His eyes widened with the death grip she suddenly had on him.
Alex let out a breathless laugh. She knew he was trying to get her mind off her pain. “We’re not naming them Yogi and Boo-Boo.”
Slater kissed her forehead and tightened his arm around her when she leaned close again. “You still dead set against my other suggestions?”
“Yes.” She nodded quickly and inhaled deeply. “Cheech and Chong, Bert and Ernie, Tom and Jerry. They all suck. Not happening.”
“And your suggestions were much better?” he asked sarcastically.
“Neiman and Marcus were clever, so were Gucci and Prada.”
“Beemer and Bentley, not so much.”
Alex let out a small snort of laughter. “That was Mona’s suggestion.”
Slater ran his knuckles over her cheek and down to her jaw. He smiled at her in the darkness of the car. “Come here, Allie.” He pressed his lips softly to hers, Alex’s mouth opened under him in invitation. Their tongues met, the kiss lingered as they took comfort from each other. They both knew how drastically their lives would change.
“This is it, you know.” Alex cupped her hand against his cheek and squeezed her eyes shut on a stab of pain. “It’s no longer just you and me. We’re going to be a family, very soon.”
He couldn’t find his voice at the thought of that. His eyes filled with tears. “You have my promise that our family is going to be completely different than the ones you and I grew up with.” Alex sniffled at his words. “There will be so much love in our house, Allie. No crazy strict religion, or stuffy rules. It will be love, laughter, and silliness, always.”
She leaned her head against his chest, loving him so much. “I can’t wait to see what our future holds, Slater. But, I want to get these two out of me so bad!”
“I know you do.” He rolled down the privacy window. “Marcus, Elliot, how much longer?”
“Not much longer, Slater,” Marcus said into the rearview mirror. “How you doing there, Alexandra?”
“I’m ok,” Alex breathed. She squeezed her eyes shut as she grabbed Slater’s hand once more.
Slater rolled the window back up and rubbed Alex’s back as another contraction hit her. “Jacob,” he said softly, while she breathed slowly and looked up at him with a smile. “Jacob Heart.”
“I like that.” Alex nodded. “It’s a good name. Zachary.” Her grin grew wide at the approval in his eyes. “Zachary Heart.”
“Jake and Zach,” he said proudly. “Those are my boys. Middle name?”
“Slater,” Alex breathed.
“Yeah baby, I’m here for you.”
“No.” She shook her head to make him understand. “That’s their middle name. Slater. Both of them.”
His eyes filled once more. His chin trembled slightly as he said them out loud. “Jacob Slater Heart. Zachary Slater Heart. Really, Allie?”
“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about it all along. I think they both need your name. It’s good.”
“I love it.” He brushed her hair off her shoulder, leaned in, and kissed her. “My wife’s pretty fucking cool, you know that?”
Alex let out a yelp of pain. “Except when she’s throwing dishes at your head.”
Slater tightened his arm around her. “Are you ok? Sorry,” he said when he saw her irritation. He put both arms around her when she didn’t respond. “Allie?”
“Oh, it hurts,” Alex breathed, tears stung her eyes. “It’s really starting to hurt.”
Fear spiked within him. He did everything he could to remain calm and not freak out for her, but wondered how he was supposed to do that when all he wanted to do was take away her pain. “Ok, baby.” Slater looked out the window as the limo slowed down at a side entrance to the hospital. He saw a door open and two nurses rush to them as they came to a stop. “We’re here.” Knowing how much she hated to feel helpless, he informed her of what he saw. “They have a wheelchair waiting for you. I know you’re not going to want it.”
“I’m not going to argue,” Alex gasped. The contractions were coming fast and hard, her stomach tightened and she felt the pain deep in her thighs. “Oh! Oh, my God!”
“Shit,” Slater whispered as he exited the limo quickly. He made eye contact with the nurses and rolled his eyes when they both stopped and stared at him, awe-struck. “Now’s not the time,” he said sternly and gestured toward Alex. “She’s in a lot of pain. Help her!”
“Ye-yes sir,” they both stammered together. One of the nurses slid into the limo to help Alex out and into the chair.
He followed closely behind her into a secluded elevator and onto the maternity ward, fully aware of the gasps and stares he and Alex got upon their arrival. He finally released his breath when they reached their room and Dr. Green anxiously awaited them. Slater stood helplessly by while the nurses helped Alex change into a hospital gown and paced while they settled her in the bed. He hovered closely behind Kim as she washed up at the sink, then shadowed her on the walk back to the bed.
“Let’s see how you’re doing, Alex. Legs in stirrups,” she instructed. With the nurse’s assistance, she helped Alex get in position. As she checked Alex’s dilation, she closed her eyes and prayed for patience when she felt Slater close behind her. “Slater,” she said calmly. “Would you please take a step back and let me do my job?”
“Isn’t there a different way to check that?” he grumbled, watching the procedure with furrowed brows. He knew it was all clinical, but he didn’t like anyone to touch his wife that way.
“Again,” Dr. Green answered. “This is the only way to check it, nothing new has been created since the last time you asked me that.”
Alex rolled her eyes as he crowded Kim. “Slater,” she breathed. “Will you please remove your face from that part of my body?”
Slater’s head popped up over her leg as he sent her a playful wink and made the two nurses giggle when he commented, “You weren’t saying that two nights ago.”
Alex shook her head at her husband, then gasped as she felt the next contraction. “Now isn’t the time.”
“Well, Alex.” Kim scooted the stool back and sent Slater a look of mild impatience when she bumped into him. She understood his level of protection for his wife and babies, and she was familiar with nervous fathers, but the man had a way of getting into her professional space and not letting her do her job. “Looks like you’ve been busy since this morning. You’re at five centimeters.”
“Please tell me it’s not too late for an epidural,” Alex whispered, then cried out in pain as a new contraction seized her body.
“No, it’s not too late.” Dr. Green nodded to the nurses as they shuffled about the room and picked up the phone to summon the anesthesiologist.
Slater held Alex through her contractions. The two of them anxiously awaited anesthesia. His heart raced with worry at the amount of pain she was in. Her cries and moans intensified with every contraction. He took deep breaths and stayed deathly still right along with her when the epidural was finally administered. His eyes widened in shock at the size of the needle that went into his wife’s back. He knew her condition had to be painful if she couldn’t feel the entrance of the needle at the height of a particularly intense contraction. He was able to breathe once more right along with her when the medication took effect shortly after it was given.
“Better now?” he asked. He held a cold wet cloth on her forehead and kissed her when she answered him with a nod. He watched Dr. Green as she walked to a machine set up in the corner of the room that printed out a chart of Alex’s contractions as they happened. “How’s she doing?”
“She’s a trooper.” Kim smiled at him as she glanced at the print-out. “Looks like she’s progressing just fine.”
“It’s a little early,” Slater stated, finally able to think clearly now that Alex’s pain was subdued. “We thought she had at least five more weeks of her pregnancy.”
“Thank God I didn’t,” Alex sighed. She took the cloth from him and ran it over her face and along the back of her neck. “I might have killed you all tonight.”
“Technically she does have five weeks left, but it’s not abnormal at all for twins to come early.”
“More than a month early?” Slater questioned. “Are they going to be ok?”
“They’ll be just fine,” Kim assured him. “Maybe a little small, but that will work in Alex’s favor when it comes time to push.”
“Did you know she was in labor this morning at her appointment?”
“No,” Kim answered. “She was dilated two centimeters and I knew her back was hurting. I was prepared for the possibility, but she wasn’t in active labor at the time.”
“Why wasn’t I told any of this?” he asked sternly, while he looked between the two women.
“How worried about me are you right now?” Alex studied him as he considered the question.
“I’m terrified,” he admitted.
“Multiply that by a million,” Alex muttered. “That’s how you would have been all day if I had told you. I didn’t want you to worry and you didn’t.”
“But Allie-” he protested.
“But Slater,” she interrupted. “We’re here now, we can’t focus on what I didn’t tell you, let’s focus on little babies.” She smiled at him. Her mood was a dramatic shift from earlier in the evening and she wondered why she didn’t request a constant epidural two weeks ago. “Can I have some water?” Alex asked.
Dr. Green shook her head in disapproval. “Ice chips and popsicles only until after delivery. Your chances of vomiting during labor are pretty high, it’s best if you have an empty stomach.”
“I’ll get you some ice chips,” the nurse offered.
“Slater.” Alex pointed toward her bag on the chair next to the bed. “Will you hand me that?”
He set the bag on the foot of the bed and opened it. “What do you need in here?”
“Right on the top is a change of clothes for you and toiletries I knew you would need. You need to take a shower.” She accepted her ice chips from the nurse, shook a few into her mouth, and closed her eyes as the frozen water melted on her tongue. She opened her eyes to find Slater staring at her, waiting for her to continue. “You stink.”
“I was on stage, Allie,” he defended himself, laughter in his voice.
“And now you’re not. You still stink.”
He subtly lifted an arm to take a whiff and blinked quickly at his odor. “And you’re just now noticing?”
“I was a little distracted in the limo. Now I can’t feel a thing from the waist down, so I’m in a much better mood.”
“I can’t believe you thought to bring a change of clothes for me.”
“I had to be prepared, and it looks like I needed to be.”
“Alex, I’ll be in to check on you soon,” Dr. Green said, while she made a note on her chart. “In the meantime, try to get some rest. You’re going to need your energy.”
“Listen to Dr. Green,” Slater advised. He scooped his clothes up into his arms and gave Alex a quick kiss. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
Alex rested against the pillows and glanced at her contraction monitor. Her eyebrows raised when the ticker spiked on the chart. She rested a hand against her tight stomach, marveling at the fact that this craziness was happening to her body and she couldn’t feel a damn thing. “Fine by me,” she stated.
The room was quiet, a fact she knew she should cherish because soon quiet, solitary moments would be a thing of the past, but it was too quiet, and she wasn’t tired. How the hell was she supposed to relax or sleep when they were faced with such a monumental occasion? She stretched out a leg and her foot hit the suitcase on the edge of the bed. She reached for it, barely grasped the edge, and pulled it close to rummage through her belongings, and unearthed a hairbrush and her cosmetics. She ran the brush through her hair and twisted her locks into a loose braid. Reaching for the remote to the television, she clicked the set to life and surfed until she landed on E! News, then propped a mirror on the top of the suitcase while she touched up her makeup.
Twenty minutes later, Slater emerged from the bathroom freshly washed, his hair damp from the shower. He closed the door behind him and stood where he was as he looked at Alex as she applied eyeliner and mascara, then quickly dusted powder over her face. “What are you doing, baby?” he asked with a smile. “You’re supposed to be resting.”
“Who can rest at a time like this?” she asked with a grin. “Plus, I wanted to look good.”
“You always look good.” He walked to the bed, zipped up the suitcase, and set it on the floor.
“This is the most important performance of my life. I need to make sure I’m presentable. And...” She pointed at the television. “They mentioned us on their news recap. I think my labor is going to be announced.”
“How shocking,” he muttered. “They can’t even give us privacy for this.”
“Why are we still so interesting?” Alex wondered. “I think I’m going to go into hiding with the boys for a long, long time after this.”
“Sounds good to me,” he agreed. He sat on the bed at her side as they listened to their latest update on the news program.
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“Breaking news! She’s been hiding for months it seems, but tonight Alexandra Heart was spotted at Heart & Soul’s concert in Chicago. It’s being reported, about halfway through the show, that Slater Heart ran off the stage because Alexandra went into labor. Just moments after he left, he returned with Mona Davis and handed the show off to her. We’ve received footage of the show from a fan, let’s watch.”
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“How the fuck did they get this so quickly? The show’s not even over yet. I fucking hate it when people sneak cameras in,” he grumbled with distaste at the grainy picture and hollow sound, while Alex concentrated to make out the images and voices. After the concert clip, the anchors weighed in on the subject with their thoughts and conclusions.
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“Is it just me?” One host turned to the other. “Or did Slater Heart say, sons? Not one, but two. Could they be having twins?”
“That’s what it sounded like,” the other host answered with a grin. “We haven’t heard much about Alexandra’s pregnancy except assurance through her manager that she was doing fine. We haven’t seen her in months, and I think now we know why. Sources have reported that it definitely looked like she could be having twins.”
“Stay tuned for updates. We’ll report as we learn more. Congratulations to Slater and Alexandra.”
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“I love how people think they can comment on a pregnant woman’s size and get away with it because she’s pregnant. Or how if a woman is too thin it’s ok to say she’s anorexic like they all did when I lost a bunch of weight. Making those comments is just as mean as telling an overweight woman she’s fat,” Alex said with a slight pout.
“Which is why you shouldn’t watch this shit in the first place,” Slater decided. He took the remote out of her hand and turned the TV off.
“I just wanted to see if they were going to show Mona. I wanted to hear her.”
“I thought you were there to hear me,” he teased.
Alex settled against the pillows with a smile. “How did you come up with that, her replacing you?”
“Filling in, not replacing,” Slater clarified. “I’m irreplaceable. I had to think of something quick and there she was. I know she’s got an amazing voice and she knows our stuff. It’s like it was meant to be with her right there. If she’s working the crowd like I think she can, we’ll probably be able to avoid refunds.”
“One more time she’s live on stage and I miss it,” Alex said sadly.
Slater reached out and squeezed her knee, a fact Alex noticed as she watched but couldn’t feel. “I’ll have to see from what we got on camera and what Chris thinks. Maybe she’s a future opening act.”
“I’m sure she’ll jump at that chance, but let’s not talk about another tour right now,” Alex begged.
“Not for a while,” he assured her. He walked over to the monitor and watched the graph on the screen as her body contracted. “You can’t feel this at all?”
“I can feel my muscles moving and my stomach tightening, but no pain. Not yet anyway.”
Slater sat on Dr. Green’s stool and scooted close to the side of the bed. “You ready for this?”
Alex took his hand in hers, linked their fingers together, and smiled nervously. “Nope. You?”
“Hell no!” Slater let out a laugh, relieved they were both on the same page. “But you know we’ll figure it out.”
“That seems to be your answer to everything. So...” She shifted in the bed as much as her numb legs would allow. “We bring them home and then what, we stare at them and hold them all the time?”
“Yup.” He placed his free hand over her contracting belly. “And we never let them go. Allie,” he spoke softly. “I love them so much already.”
“So do I,” she whispered. Tears stung her eyes once more.
“Nothing.” He shook his head with conviction. “Nothing will make me stop loving them, ever.”
“Remember you said that when this one...” She patted the right side of her stomach. “Wants to shave his head and join the circus. Or when this one...” She patted her left side. “Knocks up some random groupie he meets backstage.”
Slater chuckled softly and ran his hand gently over their sons. “You think they’ll be rock stars?”
“I think so. They were moving like crazy to the beat of the music right before my water broke. It’s in their blood, that’s for sure.” She smiled at him and searched his eyes. “No one is here yet,” Alex said, her voice quiet. “I hadn’t told Mona yes or no about being here in the room with us. I thought I had more time to decide.”
“Can I make a confession?”
“Yes,” she answered.
Slater lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug. “I never wanted anyone in the room with us in the first place.”
“Really? Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because you were considering it. You seemed happy about it and I wanted you to be happy.”
“I wish you would have said something.”
“Well, I didn’t. If they get here and you suddenly decide you want them all in the room, I’ll be ok with it but they’re not so maybe there’s a reason for that.” He lifted her hand and placed a soft kiss on her palm. “Just like you said, Allie. This is it. This is the last time it’s just the two of us. We’re going to be a family very soon. I’m sorry if that makes me sound selfish, but I don’t want to share that precise moment with anyone but you. Just us.”
Her eyes filled with tears. She nodded her head and whispered, “Ok, just us.”
He held onto her hand, the two of them spoke quietly. The room was cozy, the lighting soft and soothing. The only noise in the room was their voices along with the beeping of the monitor of Jacob and Zachary’s heartbeats. Alex and Slater were both grateful for the alone time. Slater apologized for not letting her go home, but he was happy to be with her for the occasion. The subject, so important and sensitive at one time, seemed minor to Alex now, as she accepted his apology with assurance that it would be ok. She offered up another mea culpa for her behavior earlier in the evening. Slater now laughed with her as they both recapped the events of the day. Smiling with love and happiness, he made sure she had more ice chips as needed and encouraged her to nap when her eyes became heavy with fatigue.
While she slept, he switched to a more comfortable chair on the opposite side of the hospital bed. He brushed her hair back from her forehead and kissed her softly before he turned the television on and tuned into E! once again. He watched her True Hollywood Story as they ran a repeat with new footage added, including their story, still fanning their hype. With a glance at his watch, he noted that the concert would wrap up shortly and knew their group of family would be headed their way as soon as possible. He turned off the TV when Dr. Green came back into the room, satisfied to see Alex asleep. She spoke quietly with Slater and showed him how the monitor read as it printed out the chart of her contractions. She decided not to wake Alex to check her progression yet and instructed Slater on how to call her with the touch of a button if anything was wrong. Dr. Green left them quietly behind to get the rest and solitude she knew they would both need.
Slater sat down again. The sound of his sons’ heartbeats lulled him into a light sleep. Unaware of how much time had gone by, his head rested on the back of the chair. His legs were stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankle when he felt Alex’s hand grab tightly onto his. He blinked quickly awake and looked at her with concern. A fine sheen of sweat beaded on her forehead, her teeth chattered as she tried to speak. He was at her side immediately. “Hey, Allie,” he said softly and dabbed at her forehead with the washcloth. “What’s wrong?”
“I-I’m... co-cold...” she stuttered. “S-so... co-cold.”
He walked quickly to a drawer in the wall across from the bed where the nurses had pointed out heated blankets for her in case she needed them. He grabbed two of them, placed one on her upper body, and one on her lower body and tucked them around her in comfort. “Here you go.” He spoke quietly to her. “Better?”
“Yes.” She nodded as her teeth chattered. “No.” She shook her head suddenly and pushed the blankets away. “I don’t know. Now I’m hot.” Her hands gripped the edge of the blankets, fear was in her eyes as her body suddenly started to shake, her muscles convulsed uncontrollably. “Slater,” she gasped and tried to sit up, frustrated that her numb lower body hindered her movements.
“What can I do, baby?” He held onto her hand tightly, and felt helpless and scared as he watched the tremors rip through her entire being with a vengeance. “Allie, answer me!” he cried as she continued to shake. He slammed his hand down on the button Kim had shown him to call her to the room.
“I’m going to throw up!” Alex gagged. All modesty flew out the window as Slater picked up the appropriate tray for her and held back her hair as she emptied her stomach into the dish.
“Allie, are you ok?”
“I don’t know,” she gasped. “There’s so much pressure, I’m... so... cold...” she stammered.
“Hi!” Dr. Green breezed into the room and walked efficiently to the sink to scrub up. “I see Alex is wide awake now.”
“What’s going on? Do something!” Slater demanded. Fear spiked deeply in his gut, cold sweat trickled down his back. “What the fuck is going on?” He was terrified. So worried something was horribly wrong and beyond frustrated that he couldn’t do anything about it.
“It’s ok,” Dr. Green stated. She nodded to the nurses to assist Alex once more as her body wretched with dry heaves, her teeth clicked together as her jaw shuddered violently.
“This can’t be ok!” Slater yelled. His eyes were wild with fear. He ran his hands through his hair as he stood back and watched the nurses position Alex’s legs in the stirrups while Kim did her examination. “What the fuck is happening?” he yelled once more.
Calmly, Kim informed him of the happenings. “This is very normal.”
“No, it’s not,” he insisted. “I’ve never seen her do this before. Allie.” He looked over Kim’s head while she checked her, convinced he was going to lose his wife during childbirth with how pale she looked and how her body kept jerking with spasms. “Goddammit, Kim,” he threatened. “If something happens to her..."
“She’s fine, Slater,” Kim stated. She kept her cool, even with him at her side as he insisted on getting the answers he wanted. “This is normal. It’s a combination of medication and adrenaline. It’s her body’s way of getting ready to bring your sons into the world.”
He instantly became still with that news. “Now?”
“Yes, now.” She turned to look at Alex. “Alex?” she questioned, to get her attention. “Alex, I need you to look at me. Focus,” she instructed.
“Pressure,” Alex whispered as tears streamed down her face. “There’s so much pressure.”
“I’m not surprised. You’re at ten centimeters, it’s time to start pushing.”