Rita went into labor in the wee hours of the morning, and like everything else she did, she raced through it fast and hard.
Their twins came into the world healthy and loud, their daughter first, followed by their son.
All of Hayat rejoiced in welcoming the new Princess and Prince, particularly eager to celebrate as a conclusion to their short and sedate mourning of the death of their old king. They went all out with parades and festivities to commemorate the birth, as well as their new, already much beloved, King and Queen.
They were especially excited about the Queen.
Their babies were like mirror images of them, their son taking after Rita, bearing her big round brown eyes and button nose, while their daughter’s eyes were almond-shaped and amber, and her nose long and straight.
Their son they had named Martin Hatem Kabir Al Hayat, because Martin was as close to naming a child after a car as he would allow Rita to go, and their daughter, Benazir Summar Al Hayat because Jag had been moved when he’d learned that Rita’s middle name, Benazir, was the same as his mother’s first.
And three more years of joyous reigning and happy marriage after that, with two rambunctious royal preschoolers—a boy who loved to go fast and a girl with a mind for strategy—Rita told Jag she that was pregnant for the second time, this time completely without hesitation or fear, and they celebrated the news with their whole family.