Blood Doll (The Vampire Agape Series Book #3) (The Vampire Agape Series #3) (14 page)

She in turn kisses my hand. “And I love you, husband. My vampire. And father of my children.”

Chapter Twenty

It’s only a few days until Avery’s pregnancy hits the three month mark. She’s already been pregnant two weeks longer than Chansey. She’s disappointed we don’t have babies yet but no one knows the expected gestation for agápe-vampire babies so it’s a waiting game. However, we’ve figured out the standard for misery. And the bar is high.

It isn’t easy for her–it’s actually terrible–but she doesn’t complain. I try everything I can think of to make her more comfortable but there’s little I can do.

The ultrasound she had three days ago predicts each baby is around seven pounds so she has two full term infants pressing her internal organs in multiple directions. There’s only one cure for what ails her and I have no control over it. I feel helpless.

“Want me to rub your feet, baby doll?”

“No, baby. They’re too swollen. It feels like pins and needles poking when you touch them.” That means anything including a massage is out of the question. “But I’d love for you to read to me. Your voice is soothing.”

She loves hearing me read. She always chooses a classic because she says I become so lost in the words that my speech takes on a different voice–one from a different era. I hear some of the vocalization she refers to and I agree. I sound the way I did when I was a human living in the seventeen hundreds. “Of course I will. I’d stand on my head if it made you feel better.”

Our reading time ritual began before I knew Avery was my agápe but it’s something we continued to do because we enjoy the peaceful time together. We once snuck behind closed doors to do it and the vast majority of those stolen moments were spent with her lying next to me as I read from her favorite classic books.

I already know which one she wants me to read from without asking.
The Scarlet Letter
. “Which chapter would you like to hear?”

She knows it well and loves it dearly because we were once so similar to Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne in how we hid our love from the others out of shame, fear, and ridicule. “Chapter six. I want to hear about Pearl and what a beauty she is.” Pearl–the beautiful child that came at the highest price costing Hester Prynne everything she had. And in turn, she became her mother’s only treasure.

Avery turns onto her side and wedges a pillow beneath her swollen pregnant abdomen for support so we can assume the position we always use for reading time. I scoot close to her back until our bodies are molded into one and open the original unrestored first edition I purchased for her as a wedding gift.

I begin reading Nathaniel Hawthorne’s words about Pearl–a lovely and immortal flower without a single physical defect. I couldn’t guess how many times I had repeated these lines about how the child is perfect and worthy of being brought forth in Eden.

I speak softly, much like I would if telling a child her bedtime story. I feel Avery’s body relax and she falls asleep within a matter of minutes. I’m glad because the exhaustion she’s experiencing from insomnia isn’t good for her and restful sleep doesn’t find her near enough these days.

I place the book on the bed and drape my arm over her waist to place my hand on her swollen abdomen. There’s a lot of vigorous activity happening between these two tonight. I have no idea how she’s sleeping with the karate showdown happening inside her right now. Hopefully they’re trying to fight their way out.

I eventually fall asleep next to Avery but I wake when I hear moaning and heavy breathing. “Ohhh.” I lift my head to peek over her shoulder because I can’t tell if she’s groaning in her sleep or is awake and in pain. She rolls toward me when she feels the bed shift. “I’m hurting–but in a good kind of way. I think I’m going into labor.”

I shoot up from where I’m lying. “Is this the first pain?”

“No. They were irregular when they started but now they’re every four or five minutes.”

How long has this been going on if they’re that often? “When did they start?”

She rubs her belly. “A couple of hours ago.”

Shit. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Because you’re exhausted too. You were sleeping like the dead so I thought you needed your rest.”

She’s being considerate but I wish she had woken me. “I can’t believe you’ve been lying here having contractions for two hours while I slept.”

“Don’t be mad. I’m gonna need you to be well-rested so you can help me later. Consider it a conspiracy to weasel work out of you.”

“I’m not mad, baby doll.” I rub her hip. “Where are you hurting?”

She shows me using her hands. “It starts in my back and radiates around to my lower abdomen.”

I know pain is part of the normal laboring process but I want to take it away from her. “Can I do anything to make it better?”

“I don’t think so. I just want to get up and walk to see if that feels better.”

I slide from the bed and help her to her feet. “Should I take you to the hospital?”

Avery leans over and uses the dresser for support. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to be seen by the staff any more than necessary. I sure don’t want to be sent home so let me make sure the pains aren’t gonna stop. If I’m still having them in an hour then we’ll give Dr. Knight a call and see what she wants us to do.”

An hour passes and the contractions are coming every three to four minutes and progressively getting stronger. “You’re breathing louder and moaning more often. I think it’s time to call Dr. Knight.”

“I won’t argue with you. I’m hurting pretty bad so I think this is it. If it’s not, I better be worrying.”

I phone Dr. Knight and she’s easily convinced by my description that Avery is most likely going into labor. “Okay. She’s gonna meet us at the hospital.” Avery is leaning over the bed rubbing her lower back. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just trying to relieve the pressure. It feels like they’re gonna drop out any moment.” Oh shit. I hope we didn’t wait around too long.

I scoop her from the floor and carry her toward the car. “You’re being ridiculous. I can walk.”

“Maybe you can but it’s not fast enough to suit me.”

“It’s time.” I say those two simple words as I cross the living room with Avery in my arms and the room becomes chaotic.

“What’s happening?” Lairah asks.

I don’t have time to stand around answering their questions so I continue walking as I call out over my shoulder, “Contractions every three to four minutes so we’re meeting Dr. Knight at the hospital.”

Shit. Her suitcase. I forgot to grab it. “Lairah. Can you get the bag Avery packed for the hospital? It’s in the chair next to our bed.”

“Sure thing,” she says.

I stop to catch a breath before starting the ignition after Lairah places Avery’s bag in the backseat of our new sports utility vehicle. “Do we need someone to ride with us just in case?”

She wrinkles her brow the way she does when she’s confused. “In case of what?”

“I don’t know. In case a baby starts coming out.” She glares at me like I’m nuts. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s been known to happen. And there’s two in there. The second one could shove the first one out.”

She has a worried look on her face–almost one of panic–so she rolls her window down and calls out, “Will someone ride with us? Just in case.”

I lean over and add, “One of the girls.”

Even if something happens on the way, I’m not letting one of these guys see what only belongs to me. “I won’t have to kill Lairah or Gia if they see you naked.”

Lairah volunteers and climbs into the backseat. “You know it’s only like a fifteen minute drive to the hospital, right?” She’s nonchalant as if nothing could happen in that amount of time.

I put the vehicle into drive and pull away from the house. “Avery’s feeling pressure.”

I see her gaping reflection when I look up into the rearview mirror. “Whoa. You didn’t say that part when you asked for volunteers.”

I pull onto the road before she has time to consider getting out of the car. “That was for a reason.”

“Asshole.” She scoots to the middle of the backseat and leans forward. She peers over and sees Avery holding her abdomen. “Step on it, buffoon. No way your wife is hatching in this car on the way to the hospital if I’m in here.”

I take Lairah’s advice for the first time in my existence and drive much faster than I should. I breathe a sigh of relief when I pull up at the admissions entrance and see a staff member waiting with a wheelchair. “You must be Mrs. Alexander. Dr. Knight called ahead and instructed us to be waiting for you at the entrance.”

Avery’s put to bed and fetal monitors are applied to record the heartbeats of our babies. A labor and delivery nurse begins a health questionnaire and Dr. Knight enters just as she is finishing up. The good doc makes her usual opening joke–to put Avery at ease about what’s going to happen next–but then she gets down to the real reason we’re here when she puts on an exam glove. She lowers the head of Avery’s bed and then her hand disappears under the covers between her legs. I might be a little weirded out about it if I hadn’t already seen her do it in the office. “You’ve definitely changed from the last time I checked you. How much were you dilated last time I checked you?”

“Two to three centimeters and seventy-five percent effaced.”

She smiles as she nods. “I’d call you five and ninety so you’re definitely in labor. Number one is still head down so I’m comfortable with proceeding with a vaginal delivery if you’re still on board with that.”

We had already made the decision to attempt a vaginal birth since it is safer than a major abdominal surgery. It was worth a shot. If she had to go to surgery at some point, she would be no worse off unless she delivered number one naturally and then had to go to the OR to get the second. “That’s still the plan.”

“Perfect,” Dr. Knight says. “We’ll have the operating room ready in the event we need it. I’m satisfied to let nature continue its course since you’re changing your cervix. I know you had thought of doing this without an epidural but I really prefer you have one placed. If the first baby delivers and I need to give the second one some help on getting out quicker, you won’t appreciate the pain associated with the things I’ll need to do.”

“I will happily take something for this pain.” That was a different tune than the one she had been singing about wanting to give birth naturally without pain meds.

“Okay,” the nurse says. “I just need to do a few things and then I’ll let anesthesia know we’re ready to get started.”

She waits until the nurse is gone and then looks in my direction. “Are you disappointed in me for getting an epidural?”

I couldn’t possibly be let down by her decision. “I never wanted you to have these babies without something for pain. You came up with that on your own.”

“I have to have something. The pain is so much worse than I expected and now I’m worried about Dr. Knight needing to reach inside to help the second baby. I think that’ll be really painful without the epidural.”

Ugh! I didn’t need that visual in my head. “Get the epidural so you can rest and be ready when it’s time for the babies to come.”

“You’re right. I’ll need my strength when it’s time for the delivery.”

The next half hour is spent starting an IV and giving her fluids. I’m allowed to stay while the epidural is placed but I take a seat in the chair across the room where I don’t take so much as a peek at what they are doing to my wife.

The placement is quick and easy and Avery is dozing before it’s fully effective. Her body doesn’t require the full dose to kick in for her to fall asleep because she’s so exhausted. The pregnancy had taken its toll on her body and I would never forget how she tolerated it with a smile on her face.

The nurse doesn’t wait long before she’s back and ready to examine Avery. I had hoped she would be able to get a little sleep. “Wow. I think you were made for birthing babies. You’re already complete and number one’s head is pretty low.”

I’m terrified. “That means it’s time to deliver?”

“It means it’s time to push,” she laughs. “Pushing and delivering are two different things.” I think I entertain her because I know so little about this process. “The pushing part can be over with quickly or it can take a while depending on how numb she is from the epidural.”

Avery wiggles her feet. “I’m not all that numb. I feel my legs and I’m able to move them but I’m not hurting.”

“That’s the perfect epidural when you have muscle control but you’re not in pain. It’s a good sign that you’ll be able to push well.”

Avery’s body must be perfect for birthing because it doesn’t take long for her to have the first baby ready for delivery. Dr. Knight enters the room and a frenzy of blue scrubs rush in behind her. “Don’t be alarmed. We always have the neonatal intensive care unit present for twin deliveries.”

Avery smiles at me and I hold her hand while Dr. Knight is gowning up for delivery. “I can’t believe we are about to meet our babies.”

“And find out what they are.” Huge tears form in her eyes and I lean forward to press my face into her hair as she whispers, “Am I a terrible mother for praying they aren’t both girls?”

I had never had the guts to say it aloud but I had prayed the same prayer. “No,” I keep my voice low. “You are a wonderful mother looking out for the well-being of our children.”