“Push!”
She did, her face turning red, Camilla’s hand on hers.
“Push!”
The process repeated, and this time the top of a head, this one red, began to crown. Even in the heat of the moment, it struck me as odd that there’d be a blonde baby and a redheaded one. Granted, it wasn’t the most unusual situation in the world, but you didn’t see it all the time. I allowed myself a little chuckle at the idea that she’d found a redheaded man who ended up being the father of her child. Maybe he was even an Irishman?
“Push!”
Sadie did, her face turning red as a tomato. This baby came out with much less fuss, sliding out as though covered in cooking oil.
“It’s a boy!” I announced. “And one with a head of hair that would do Ireland proud!”
The look on Sadie’s face was strange. Her eyes flashed, almost as if she was panicking.
Odd.
That only lasted a moment, however. The birth was over, the babies had ten fingers and ten toes, and were screaming their heads off in just the right way to let you know they were happy and healthy. I stepped over to the nurses who were in the process of giving the babies a quick clean and their Apgar tests.
“Both tens,” the nurse said with a smile. “These two are ready for some skin-to-skin time.”
“Let me take a look at them.”
I stepped in, giving the babies a once-over. Sure enough, they appeared just as one would hope for, both already calming down in their swaddles.
They were beautiful. I’d seen plenty of babies in my time, but there was something about these twins that gave me pause.
The little girl was fair and blonde, with gorgeous green eyes. The boy was red-haired, his shimmering blues no doubt his mother’s.
I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
“Doctor?” asked one of the nurses. “Is everything alright?”
I shook my head, cleared my throat, and came back to the moment.
“Yes, yes, everything is just fine.”
The nurse holding the boy handed him over, and together with the nurse carrying the girl, we headed over to Sadie. Her eyes were locked onto the babies, her face bright with the glow of motherhood.
“Here you are, Sadie,” I said, handing her the boy, his little hands reaching out for her. “Your son.”
She took him, tears in her eyes.
This was, by far, my favorite part of the job.
The pain from childbirth was gone, nothing remaining but glowing joy in the eyes of the mother. She reached out her arms and I handed the baby over, a quiet coo sounding from his little mouth as Sadie took him. She placed him against her chest, and he wasted no time nuzzling his still-damp head against her.
“He’s real,” she said, quiet wonder in her voice. “I can’t believe it.”
“They’re both real,” I said. “Both real and healthy and yours.”
The more I watched Sadie and the baby boy, the more I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I’d delivered many children in my day, and while they never failed to be precious to the last, there was something about this child, this woman, that I couldn’t pull my eyes away from.
What was it?
“Doctor?”
The voice of one of the nurses brought me back to the moment. I turned to see her standing behind me, the baby girl in her arms.