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“
H
elp
! Doctor, Nurse!” I ran toward the window separating the two rooms and banged on the glass to gain their attention. I hurried back to Sheridan just as she struggled to stand. I grabbed her as she fell hard against the side of the tub, grasping the safety rail on the wall. I could have sworn I heard ribs crack.

“Here, let me help you.” I shoved my shoulder under her and reached around her body.

Sheridan’s face flushed beet red. Her body tensed up in muscular cramps. She cradled her belly in her arms.

“You need to breathe. Don’t hold in the pain. You’re going to bust if you do that. Breathe with me.”

Sheridan let out a huge exhale and then panted in quick, short breaths. “It hurts … too much. They’re … killing …me!”

“Let’s get you over to the bed.” One step at a time, I eased her over to the bed. Her breaths coming a little easier.

The bed had been lowered, allowing her to crawl up onto it. Her abdomen sagged under her delicate frame as though she were giving birth to an elephant instead of two infants.

Hands, feet, and a face pushed out against her sides. I could have sworn I heard the rib micro-fractures from the internal pressure. At this point, I wasn’t sure if the demon possessed dhampirs weren’t eating their way out of her belly.

Witnessing the writhing faces push through her skin, I reminded my own self to breathe.

Sheridan rocked back and forth on her hands and knees.

Dr. Meyer shot through the door with two additional nurses. “What’s developed?”

“They’re digging their way out of her!” I cried.

Ruthie Anne placed an oxygen mask over Sheridan’s mouth and we encouraged her to take deep breaths. Sheridan favored her aching side and gasped for more oxygen.

Ruthie Anne grimaced. “I’m afraid she might have punctured a lung. I need to inform Dr. Meyer.”

We helped Sheridan get into the position for the epidural pain block needed for the surgery.

“You’ll be feeling much better soon, Ms. O’Cuinn.” Ruthie Anne rubbed her shoulders and tried to give her a kind smile. I was pretty sure Ruthie Anne hadn’t seen the likes of anything like this before either.

I shook my head in confusion and rubbed my own belly out a sheer sympathy pains. “How will they be able to do this procedure with the babies moving so hard? Do they calm down?”

Sheridan gasped for breath. “It … it comes in waves. They’ll calm down in a minute … or two.”

They handed my sister a funky shaped pillow and had her lean forward. I stood in front of her face and helped her to focus on me. I peeked over her shoulder as they inserted a huge-assed needle into her spine. I winced at the sight but stayed stoic to help keep her calm.

Who was I fooling? To help keep me calm too. She was the one who was important here, not me. Within minutes, the tension in her muscles relaxed, and she was breathing easier. I relaxed finally feeling as though this situation were under control.

Suddenly she screamed out, “My legs! I can’t feel my legs!”

She grabbed onto my shoulders to steady herself as she fell sideways. The nurses helped her to lie down into the birthing position.

“It’s okay. The medicine is working. Remember, Dr. Meyer and the anesthesiologist said this would happen.” Ruthie Anne rubbed Sheridan’s shoulders and spoke in such a kind, grandmotherly tone. “Shh, now. You won’t feel anything from your chest down, okay? So just relax, everything is going all right.” Ruthie Anne tried to smile. “We’ll be holding those little … darlings soon.”

You could tell she was trying to be as polite as possible. Did any of us really know what was going to come out of Sheridan’s uterus? What if they were demon babies like in
Rosemary’s Baby
?

I watched as a tiny fist pushed up three inches or more out of her stomach. The mottled yellow and deep purple skin around the little hand started to crack and bleed as this was somehow a favorite pushing spot. I plucked a nearby towel from the counter and applied gentle counter-pressure against the protruding hand.

The alien creature retreated.

“Everything okay?” Sheridan probed. Her eyes were bleary-looking.

Ruthie Anne’s eyes were as big as mine. “I take it you didn’t feel that?”

“Feel what?”

“Okay—good. It’s almost time. They’re gonna move you into the surgery room. Hold on, Sher. They’re almost here.” I stroked her face and smiled as best I could to calm her and myself.

Unholy hell this is an emotional roller coaster. Stay strong for her. You can collapse later; right now, this is all about Sheridan.

Faster than I was ready for it, Dr. Meyer and the surgical staff had moved Sheridan into an operating room. They dressed me in a hair net and shoe booties so I could keep her company since all the uber-scary surgical stuff was going on behind the curtain.

They had Sheridan’s arms strapped down with IVs to the arm boards and she could barely move from being so weak.

She scrunched up her face as though trying to remove a fly from her cheek. “My face is itchy, Chey, can you scratch my nose?”

“Miss O’Cuinn that is a side effect from the pain blocker medicine. I promise the itchies will go away soon.” The chief operating nurse hung two IV bags and plugged them into her line.

She sighed in relief as I scratched the phantom itches.

Sheridan took a deep breath. And then another. And then another. She tried to sit up. “I … I c-can’t breathe. Hard … t-to breathe.”

The anesthesiologist called out. “Dr. Meyer, her pressure is dropping. I need to load her to maintain enough system blood pressure.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. We didn’t need any more complications.

They adjusted various things about her and turned up her oxygen. She resumed breathing easier once again.

Sheridan’s eyes laser focused on me. I could feel and smell her fear. She was genuinely frightened for her life, and I was too.

She tightened her grip on my hand as I looked into her blue eyes. “I love you, Sher. I know I’m not always the best sister in the world, but I’ve always loved you, and I promise I’ll be here for you and the babies.”

Dr. Meyer called out. “All right, Miss O’Cuinn—you’re going to feel some tugging and pulling, but you won’t feel any pain, okay? Are you good? We’re ready to bring them into the world if you are.”

She smiled a nervous half-grin as a single tear escaped. “I’m so scared, Chey. I don’t think I can do this.”

“You are the strongest woman I know. You will do this and I will be right here beside you. Pinkie swear!” I kissed her hand and another tear slowly descended down her cheek.

A glorious sweet, gentle cry rang out in the room. It was the most joyous sound I’d ever heard. I imagined it to be the sigh of an angel.

Sheridan’s eyes cascaded over with tears. She opened and closed her hands, “I want to hold them. Please, let me see.”

“We’re getting
her
cleaned up. I’m bringing your little girl right over!” Ruthie Anne handed the infant daughter to Sheridan, but she was too weak to hold her. I held the delicate bundle so she could gaze into her daughter’s beautiful dark blue eyes. She had a full head of raven black hair. Her features were an enchanted melding of Sheridan and Khaldon. They might not have planned this, but they sure did make adorable babies.

“What’s her name?” I asked.

“Teagan Aisling—after Mom.”

I lost my words as my breath hitched in my chest. Another cry rang out in the room.

This one had a real set of pipes.

The piercing wail startled Teagan in my arms as she also cried once again. Sheridan stroked Teagan’s little cheek, and she calmed down immediately. Teagan mouthed her fingers.

“She must be hungry. Are you planning to breastfeed them?” I asked.

Sheridan nodded as best she could. Her eyes had glazed over. I wondered if she could see Teagan at all.

I dared a peek over the separation sheet, only to see Sheridan’s insides in a bloody mess everywhere. Dr. Meyer’s hand had disappeared deep inside her. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought she wasn’t going to live through this. I swallowed hard.

Thank goodness Vhalencia had brought Khaldon and me enough blood to consume on the plane. Otherwise with all of Sheridan’s blood everywhere, I wasn’t so sure if I could squelch the rapid desire to feed off my sister.

“This big guy sure has a healthy set of lungs on him.” The nurse came over to show Sheridan her new son. Compared to Teagan, he was monstrous. He must have been over ten pounds. Teagan was such a delicate little flower, his antithesis.

“Do you have a name for your son?” the nurse questioned Sheridan.

“Khai Kiernan.” She barely muttered through whispered lips.

I smiled realizing she used Khaldon’s middle and our father’s first names. They would be honored to learn she had named her son after them.

“Sher, you feeling okay?” I stroked her hair, and it looked as though she were falling asleep.

Smiling down at Teagan, I noticed something wasn’t quite right. She was turning a little blue. Trying to remain calm, I looked for Ruthie Anne.

“I’ll be right back, Sheridan.” I stood up and took the baby over to the nurse. I whispered, “Something’s wrong; Teagan’s not pink anymore.”

The staff immediately whisked Teagan away from me and left for the baby unit in the next room. I grasped the counter to hold myself up. Dread filled my heart as I felt my knees give way from under me.

I learned the surgical team had given Sheridan more relaxant to complete the final procedure, and I prayed Teagan would recover.

This is all normal.

I nervously sang Bob Marley’s “Every Little Thing’s Gonna Be Alright” between my teeth to calm my nerves. Who was I kidding when every human in the room stunk with worry and death? I had to trust them. I had to believe the Mother Goddess wouldn’t abandon us right now. I had to believe Sheridan and Teagan would make it through. It was hard to trust when all other signs pointed in the opposite direction.

None of us had ever been around babies much, other than Dakota. Another shot of pain punched me in the gut with memories of holding Dakota when Mom came home from the hospital.

Another cry rang out and Khai filled the delivery room with healthy wails again. Swaddling him tight in a warm blanket, another nurse handed him to me.

I sat over by Sheridan once again. “Mommy, would you like to meet this young man you call Khai?”

Her eyes were completely out of focus, but she turned her head toward me and lifted a finger to touch his nose.

Her hand fell across her face with a thud.

Alarms blared out.

“She’s crashing,” the anesthesiologist called out.

“What’s happening?” My voice demanded an answer and Khai cried out.

Sheridan’s face fell completely slack, and her head drooped to one shoulder. Her mouth hung open as spittle ran out the corner.

Dr. Meyer stated, “She’s losing a lot of blood. We need to stabilize her.” He paused a moment and looked down at his shoe booties. “There’s a chance, Cheyenne, we might lose her. She’s frail and the twins may have taxed her more than she could handle.”

“No! Get in there and fix her, dammit,” I demanded. “Fix both of them!”

Dr. Meyer inhaled a deep breath and nodded. He immediately left me in a whirlwind of scrubs and medical terminology while machines screamed out more alarms informing the staff and scaring the hell out of me.

My body shook while holding Khai, and I watched as the doctors and nurses surrounded Teagan and Sheridan. Their faces stressed and creased with worry.

I can’t lose both my sisters!

Ruthie Anne walked me to the adjacent room with the window next to the nursery. She sat me down and brought me a cup of water.

“Take a couple minutes now, deary. I know this isn’t easy. Hang in there; you’ve got a healthy young man to parade right now.” She handed me a crisp, fresh towel to wipe my face.

How can I possibly show off Khai knowing we could lose Sheridan and Teagan any minute?

I patted my eyes and tried to paint a proud auntie smile on my face before walking in to see my father, Khaldon, and Torchy.

Gaining some composure, I held Khai up to the window for everyone to see.

Baby Khai was simply radiant. His eyes were bright and wide awake. He marveled at everything and actively reached out and grabbed hold of my fingers.

Strong, handsome with a full set of raven black locks, like Teagan’s. He looked like a miniature Egyptian god. An exact replica of his father, Khaldon.

Khaldon’s eyes were affixed, possibly looking at the most amazing creature in the world. It occurred to me that I didn’t know if Khaldon had ever sired any other children.

My father beamed with pride at seeing the young chap, and I could tell he was finally relieved to have a boy in the family. “Too much estrogen in this house for me,” he always used to say when we were younger. “I’m going fishing.”

It was hard to decipher what Torchy was thinking through the glass. He stood back a bit, allowing Khaldon and Daddy to have the best views. I wondered if he thought this kind of responsibility might be too much for him, but his energy expressed a radiant warmth of love.

Ruthie Anne emerged from the baby care center and asked to take Khai so she could footprint him. She then ushered me out of the room and to an area where Dr. Meyer would meet the family.

Over two hours later, Dr. Meyer joined us in the private waiting room and suggested we sit down. His face was weary, tired, and I sensed a terrible dread exuding from his pores.

I sat beside Khaldon and he reached for my hand. I held his fingers tight, fearing the coming words.

My father took a seat in a standalone chair next to us while Torchy stood stoic behind Dr. Meyer. The energy in the room kinked the knots in my stomach even tighter, as I desperately needed to know they were all right.

Dr. Meyer sat on a bench couch across from us. He swallowed hard and then looked me in the eyes. “We’ve had some complications.” We all stood. Dr. Meyers held up his palms and asked us to sit again. “However, Sheridan is finally stable. She’s lost a lot of blood. We’re going to have to find an alternate way to help feed the baby.”