Fic: Plentiful Bounty, (4/5), J2, Mpreg, Bigbang
| - Part One - | - Part Two - | - Part Three - |
Please see part one for warnings and notes.
35 weeks / 31 weeks
Jensen groaned quietly as he eased his way down onto the couch beside a sleeping Jared. It had been a huge day for everyone, with copious amount of food and laughter had by all their family. Jensen grinned to himself as he marveled at how lucky they were to have such supportive families. No one had let either of them lift a finger in the preparations for the Christmas feast and the only thing they were allowed to do alone was go to the bathroom and that was a pretty close call.
Jensen tucked himself along Jared’s side and pulled his slumbering husband against him so that his head was now resting against Jensen’s shoulder. It was a bit awkward with Jensen’s huge belly, but he managed to wiggle around enough until Jared’s bulk wasn’t pressing too heavily on the babies. Regardless, he could feel the babies shift and kick in protest at the maneuvering. Jared stirred slightly against him, his head rising slight to peer at him through sleepy lashes.
“Hey,” Jared croaked as he blinked owlishly at him, “‘what’s the time?”
“Time for you to go back to sleep, big guy. It’s been a long day and we could both do with the nap time,” Jensen sighed as he settled Jared back against his side, pulling the Christmas themed throw rug from the back of the couch over their legs. He let out a gentle sigh as he rested his head on top of Jared’s.
“Mmmm, yeah, more napping sounds good,” Jared mumbled as he shifted slightly to nuzzle his cheek into Jensen’s chest. “You’re nice and warm, make good pillow too,” Jared slurred as he started to drift back off to sleep.
“Gee thanks, I’m glad I’m good for more than just my charm and good looks,” Jensen teased quietly into Jared’s hair.
Jensen felt Jared’s answering grin against his shoulder. “Mmmm, yeah, always got those baby,” Jared agreed as he started to relax into Jensen.
“Love you,” Jensen whispered as he pressed a gentle kiss into Jared’s hair and let go of a contented sigh as he relaxed into the soft cushions.
~o0o~
Megan was a little unsteady on her feet after she and Mackenzie polished off an entire bottle of wine together. She stumbled into the lounge, almost knocking into the heavily decorated tree in the center of the room. She giggled to herself as she wrestled the humongous thing back into place, tip toeing through the presents piled artfully underneath. She quickly stifled her giggles when she saw her brother and brother-in-law, snuggled up together on the couch, their huge bellies resting against each other in the most adorable pose she had ever seen. Not able to resist, she crept back out of the room and summoned the rest of the gathered family members.
As a group they all quietly moved into the lounge room, careful not to disturb the two men, fast asleep on the couch.
“Awww, would you look at that. Aren’t they just so adorable, Sherry?” Donna cooed quietly as she looked over to her son’s Mother-in-law.
Sherry grinned, her eyes brimming slightly with tears. “I hoped for so long that they would get this chance and now here they are pregnant together. What better Christmas present could a Mother ask for,” she whispered as she gazed at the boys lovingly.
Jeff and Josh looked at each other and rolled their eyes in unison.
“Anyone would think they were puppies they way you are all oggling and cooing over them,” Jeff teased as he gently squeezed his Mother’s shoulder in reassurance that he was only teasing.
Sherry rolled her eyes at him and shushed him with a flap of her hand, “quiet you, or you’ll wake them up. They’ve had a long day and need the rest.”
“What? They didn’t do anything but go to the bathroom all day long. What’s so tiring about that,” Josh teased with a wink in Jeff’s direction.
They all startled guiltily when Jensen scowled at Josh. “Hey, you try carrying around these bowling balls all day and see how tiring going to the bathroom can be.”
Josh smiled sheepishly at his brother as their Mother swatted his shoulder in mock anger.
“Sorry, honey, you two just looked so adorable all curled up there on the couch we couldn’t resist coming in to have a peek when Megan told us.”
Megan blushed scarlet and shrugged an apology to Jensen, “sorry dude, but you guys do look pretty cute all wrapped around each other with your Christmas blanket wrapping you up like a giant present ready for the tree,” she finished with a grin as Jensen frown at her without much heat.
“Yeah well, it’s our house and we’re the pregnant ones so we get to look as adorable as we want to without recrimination from family members,” Jared piped up as he shifted to sit up out of Jensen’s embrace.
Everybody oohed and ahhed as Jared and Jensen shared a gentle kiss.
“Okay, okay, I think it’s time we left these boys alone again,” Jerry piped up, as he and Alan started to shepherd the rest of the family out of the room and back into the dining room.
“Awww, come on Dad,” Mackenzie whined as she tried to peer around her father’s shielding body.
“Night boys, we’ll make sure they leave you alone,” Alan called back over his shoulder as he finished ushering his resisting daughter out of the room.
Jensen couldn’t help but chuckle as he heard his sister whine from the other room, “Naww, Dad, you’re such a spoil sport.”
Jared shifted back into Jensen’s side. “I guess we do make a bit of a spectacle, don’t we?” Jared mused as he nestled his head back onto Jensen’s chest.
Jensen grinned down at him, taking in the red, white, and green throw rug covering their legs, which blended in with the rest of the Christmas paraphernalia strategically place around the room and the entanglement of their limbs.
“Yeah, we do make a sight to be seen, don’t we?” Jensen chuckled to himself, his hand dropping to caress his belly as his other hand rubbed soothing circles over Jared’s shoulder.
“Mmmm, I’m so comfy. Do we have to move?” Jared murmured into Jensen’s chest.
Jensen sighed and pressed a kiss into Jared’s shaggy mop. “No, it’s our couch, we can stay here as long as we want.”
“Good, now shush, I’m trying to nap here,” Jared teased as he snuggled down further into Jensen’s embrace.
“No arguments here. ‘Night Jared, I love you,” Jensen whispered as he closed his eyes to the gentle winking of the Christmas tree lights, content in the knowledge that they were both safe and warm.
“Love you too, babe,” Jared mumbled back as his eyelids drooped and he drifted back off to sleep.
~o0o~
37 weeks / 33 weeks
“Jensen, wake up,” Jared’s urgent voice filtered into the snuggling warmth cocooning Jensen in his sleep. Jensen squinted open one eye to peer at Jared from beneath the covers.
“What? It’s the middle of the night Jared, go pee and go back to sleep,” Jensen grumbled as he shifted uncomfortably, trying to get back into a comfortable position to continue sleeping for a while before he to needed to pee. Of course, mentioning and thinking of peeing, meant he now needed to pee too.
“Dammit, hurry up so I can go too,” Jensen whined as he shifted around to face a silent and still not moving Jared.
“Hey, you okay?” Jensen asked as the silence from Jared became more than a little worrying. Suddenly, the in the quiet Jensen couldn’t hear a muted dripping onto the carpet.
“Oh baby, hey, it’s okay, was bound to happen eventually with those monsters bouncing on your bladder constantly. Just let me get you cleaned up and...” Jensen soothed with a calming hand to the middle of Jared’s back. The light trembling beneath his hand had him up and out of the bed in record time.
“Hey, Jared, talk to me baby, what’s wrong?” Jensen demanded as he waddled his way around to stand in front of Jared who was sitting on the very edge of the bed, his eyes glued to the expanding puddle on the carpet between his feet.
“I think my water broke,” Jared whispered, almost too quietly for Jensen to hear him at all.
“What? What did you say?” Jensen asked as he bent with a grimace to brace Jared’s cheeks with his palms and pull his face up to meet his gaze.
“My water, I think...oh my god, Jensen, MY WATER BROKE!” Jared finished with a shout.
“Oh...OH, um okay, it’s okay, we can do this...umm...you...you sit there...I’ll...I’ll umm...get the bags,” Jensen rambled as he frantically tried to remember what it was that he needed to do now that Jared’s water had broken.
Jensen stopped in his tracks when he heard a sob come from over his shoulder. He moved himself back in front of Jared as quickly as his ungainly body will let him and looked on with utter confusion when he saw the beaming smile across Jared’s tear strewn face.
“Jare...babe, you okay?” Jensen asked tentatively as he shuffled around to ease his bulk down onto the bed beside Jared, his palm on Jared cheek bringing his husband’s gaze with him.
“Yeah,” Jared sighed happily with an extra stretch to his already beaming grin.
“O...kay, you want to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours right now?” Jensen asked with a puzzled frown, worried that Jared was going into shock or something equally worrying.
“I’m gonna see my babies,” Jared beamed at him before dropping his gaze to his huge belly, his hands stroking over it in awe.
“Awww, baby, yeah. We’re gonna meet our babies real soon,” Jensen smiled at him as he entwined his hand with one of Jared’s over his big belly and rubbed at the taut skin lovingly as he awkwardly pressed a soft kiss to Jared’s temple.
“Have you felt any contractions yet?” Jensen asked as he clumsily pushed himself off the bed. He was so thankful that they took Misha’s advice and raised the bed on blocks so that it wasn’t so hard for them to get out of this far into their pregnancies.
Jared looked over at him with concern, “no, I haven’t. Does that mean something is wrong?” Jared asked as worry bled through the strain in his voice.
“No, it’s okay, it happens sometimes. Nothing to worry about. It will just make the trip to the hospital that bit more comfortable for you,” Jensen soothed as he moved off to get Jared’s hospital bag from the cupboard and clean clothes for him to put on.
“Do we have to go straight away? I think I want a shower before I go,” Jared finished with a grimace creasing his face.
Jensen smiled and waddled back over to the bed to help him up to standing. “No, of course not. I’ll clean up in here and get everything ready for the hospital trip while you shower then,” Jensen assured as he guided a slight bewildered Jared to the ensuite bathroom.
“You be okay in here on your own?” Jensen asked as he took in Jared’s still slightly dazed expression as he glanced around the bathroom looking a little lost.
“Hmmm, oh yeah, sorry. I’m okay, just a little...yeah,” Jared answered with another beaming grin.
Jensen shook his head at his adorable husband and patted Jared’s huge belly affectionately.
“Good to see you smiling so much now, I doubt you will be doing too much of that in a few hours,” Jensen winked mischievously as what he was implying dawned on Jared and a hint of panic flashed across his features.
“Oh man, I’m really not looking forward to that bit,” Jared confessed with a nervous circling of his hands over his still calm belly.
“You’ll be alright. I’ll be there with you the whole way. We’re in this together,” Jensen soothed as he maneuvered his own huge belly to the side of Jared’s and leaned in for a tender kiss.
After helping Jared strip out of his soaked sleep pants, Jensen left a still shell shocked Jared to bathe on his own while he went back into the bedroom to attend the mess on the bed and floor and gather together the last minute items they would need for Jared’s time at the hospital.
Jensen was just finishing up sopping up the fluid on the carpet when Jared stepped out of the bathroom behind him.
“Jensen! What the hell? You shouldn’t be doing that. We can get a cleaner in to deal with it,” Jared scolded as he moved forward to help Jensen up off his hands and knees.
“How the hell did you got down there in the first place is what I want to know, I haven’t been able to do that for months,” Jared mused as he leaned down to grab Jensen’s arm.
“No, you can’t lift me, you’ll hurt yourself. I’ll get myself up, it’s fine, I’m right beside the bed. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think I could get back up again without help,” Jensen said as he push away Jared’s helping and shuffled on his knees to the edge of bed and braced himself to get back to his feet.
“Be careful Jen, I don’t need you going into labor too, right now,” Jared cautioned as he watched Jensen struggle breathlessly to stand, his hands braced on his knees when he finally made it up off the floor.
“Okay, won’t do that again, check,” Jensen joked as he worked on catching his breath, waiting for the sharp ligament pain that had run down his thighs as he stood to pass before straightening up fully.
Jared eyed him nervously. “You sure you’re okay, you didn’t hurt yourself?” Jared asked as he stepped in to brace Jensen’s shoulders as he finally straightened after mostly getting his breath back.
“Yeah, I’m good, promise. Now how about we focus the attention back on the person in labor,” Jensen assured him with amusement as Jared’s face blanched slightly and the mildly panicked look moved into scared territory.
“Hey, you’ll be fine babe, trust me. Just keep focused on the fact that very soon you will be holding two babies in your arms, yeah?” Jensen coached him as he guided Jared to sit on the bed while he grabbed the rest of the things Jared would need for the hospital.
“Yeah...focus...got it,” Jared answered, sounding not at all sure of himself.
Jensen smiled affectionately as he moved off to gather the supplies, one hand bracing his aching back, while the other braced his big hanging belly.
Jensen made as quick a work as he could at getting everything together, double-checking that he had everything they had put on the list to take with them.
Pulling the wheeled luggage bag behind him, Jensen went over to Jared, and placed his hand on his shoulder with a gentle squeeze when Jared didn’t appear to notice Jensen’s reappearance beside him.
“You doing okay there, babe?” Jensen asked, a little concerned when Jared blinked slowly almost like he was coming out a trance at Jensen’s touch.
Jared looked over at him a little dazed.
“Huh? Oh, we right to go now?” Jared asked as he rubbed at his face and yawned widely.
“Yeah, if you are?” Jensen asked as he helped Jared to stand.
“Ugh, yuck, I’m all wet again,” Jared whined as he awkwardly tried to pull his damp sweat pants away from his body.
Jensen smiled fondly. “Don’t worry about it babe, no one will notice, I promise. I’ll make sure I walk behind you so no one will be able to see past my big fat ass, okay?” Jensen reassured him as he started to guide him out the door.
Jared grinned wickedly at him. “‘kay, no one will notice my wet patch when they see your belly coming,” Jared teased.
“Hey, watch it you or I’ll make sure I move out from behind you just as a hot young doctor walks by to see your wet pants buddy,” Jensen joked as he swatted Jared gently over the back of the head.
Jared blushed and rolled his eyes as they carefully made their way down the staircase. When they were a couple of steps from the bottom, Jared stopped suddenly, his free hand going to the base of his belly.
“Ooh, I ah...I think the contractions are starting,” Jared said as he turned slightly to grin over his shoulder at Jensen.
Jensen chuckled at him, “You have to be one of the few people in the world who say that with a huge grin on their face.”
Jared shrugged happily and made the rest of his way down the stairs, waiting for Jensen at the bottom with his goofy grin across his face still plastered across his face.
Jensen shook his head. “You really are a weirdo, you know that. Though, I must admit you are the easiest person in the world to support in labor at the moment,” Jensen chuckled.
Jared pouted and poked his tongue out. “It’s not my fault I’m excited about seeing my babies for the first time.”
Jensen leaned in and kissed his still pouting lips tenderly before patting him one the shoulder with a nudge towards the door.
“Come on, we’d better get a move on before the drive in gets too uncomfortable for you,” Jensen urged as he started for the door, picking up the car keys on the way.
Jared followed him out, his hand caressing the side of his big belly, the smile on his face a mile wide.
~o0o~
The ride in to the hospital was pretty uneventful with Jared only having one mildly uncomfortable contraction on the 20 minute drive.
Upon arrival, Jared was taken up to the labor ward, given a thorough exam, and hooked up to monitoring equipment while they waited for Misha’s arrival. Jared was only having quite mild contractions every 20 minutes or so, so there was no hurry. The nursing staff took pity on Jensen and after Jared was able to be unhooked from the monitors, they brought in another bed so that Jensen could lay down beside him and they could both get some sleep while they waited for Misha, who would be another couple hours as he was tied up with a complex delivery at another hospital. The staff all assured Jared that he and the babies were doing just fine and that, really, he could go home if he wanted to, but given his pregnancy was considered a high risk one with twins and that his waters had already broken he may as well stay rather than having to come back in a few hours when things were likely to start moving along. In the meantime, the nursing staff got them both comfortable, switched off as much of the lighting as they could, and left them to rest, telling them to push the call button if Jared’s contractions got more painful or he was worried about anything.
Jared smiled at Jensen dozing on the bed beside him, their hands linked between the beds. Even in sleep Jensen still had a good grip on Jared’s hand. Jared kind of envied Jensen that he was able to sleep at the moment, he was just too damn excited to sleep, even though he knew he really should as he was going to need all his energy for what was to come. Thinking of holding his babies in his arms had another grin spreading across his face. So far the labor itself had been nothing noteworthy, the worst of it was when they were doing the internal and he had a contraction. That was a bit painful, but nothing unmanageable. He could only imagine what was to come. It was just as he was imagining how painful things were going to get that his next contraction started, only 15 minutes after the last one instead of the 20 minutes he was used to. It wasn’t any worse than the last ones had been, but as he wasn’t really ready for it, he inadvertently squeezed Jensen’s hand when it took him by surprise.
“Jare, you okay?” Jensen sleep-mussed voice drifted over to him as he breathed calmly through the tight band of pressure clamping down over his whole belly.
“Hmmm, yeah, I’m okay, just took me by surprise. Sorry I woke you,” Jared apologized as the contraction tapered off and the pressure eased.
Jensen pushed himself awkwardly to sit on the edge of the bed to face Jared.
“I’m meant to be helping you through this, not sleeping through it. Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” Jensen asked with a frown.
“Because I’m fine, really. Things haven’t really changed from when we got here, except they seem to be coming a little closer together now,” Jared assured him as he patted one of Jensen’s splayed knees. Jensen’s belly was so big now, that he couldn’t sit without letting his belly rest between his thighs, or he just couldn’t catch his breath. At their last check up, Misha had told him that he would probably put Jensen on bedrest very soon to try and allow him to go as close to term as he possibly could. Misha had told them that with triplets it was very unlikely that he would go to full term, especially as there weren’t multiples in Jensen’s family history. All Jared or Jensen cared about was the babies being as safe as they possibly could be and if that meant bedrest for Jensen, then Jared would make sure he did, even with two newborns to take care of as well.
“So how far apart are they now?” Jensen asked, his hand stroking gently over Jared’s arm.
“The last one was about 15 minutes after the last,” Jared replied as he focused on the soothing rhythm of Jensen’s hand on the skin of his arm.
Jensen smiled at him comfortingly. “Still a way to go yet then. Have you been able to get any sleep?” he asked as he shuffled forward a little to get access to stroke Jared’s protruding belly.
“No, too excited to sleep. I know I should but every time I close my eyes I think of taking our babies home and...yeah, not conducive to sleep,” Jared confessed as he shuffled forward so that he could give Jensen better access to stroke his belly without having to lean over and hurt himself.
Jared sighed as the soothing rhythm of Jensen caressing his belly had him relaxing little by little back into the bed, and before he knew it, he was drifting off into sleep.
~o0o~
Jared woke with a low moan, the tight band of pain gripping his belly and wrapping around to his back waking him abruptly.
“Ugh, shit...Jen,” Jared called out as he tried to orientate himself and find the comfort of his husband’s hand.
“Shush, hey, Jare, I’m right here, you’re okay. Just breathe through it,” Jensen urged him as he stepped in front of Jared’s line of sight, his hand squeezing Jared’s as the contraction started to ease off and he got control of his breathing again.
Jensen stroked at his hair and leaned in, brushing his lips across Jared’s slightly sweaty forehead.
“You okay now, baby?” Jensen asked as he rubbed soothing circles into the side of Jared’s belly.
Jared smiled up at him.
“Yeah, I’m good, just not the nicest thing to wake up too,” Jared chuckled as he shifted so that Jensen could rest his hip on the edge of the bed.
“I know babe, but we wanted you to get as much sleep as you could,” Jensen apologized as he stroked Jared’s hair back from his forehead and smiled fondly at him.
“You’ve been out for nearly 3 hours. It’s getting light outside,” Jensen told him as he shuffled over to the curtained window and pulled back the drape a little to show the lightening sky outside.
“Hmm, well, at least I managed to sleep through some of it then,” Jared smiled as he patted the bed beside him indicating his need for Jensen to be close without explicitly asking him.
“Actually, I think Misha wants to check how things are going before you get comfy. Just hang tight for a minute and I’ll go get someone,” Jensen told him as he waddled his way out of the room, as Jared held up the call button, but was too late for Jensen to see.
“Fine, walk around unnecessarily then, see if I care,” Jared pouted as he shifted, trying to get comfortable on the narrow bed. His hips ached from being in the same position for hours, and now that he was awake, he was aware of how much his back was hurting. When pouting at the door didn’t produce his husband or doctor, Jared grabbed the controls for the bed and raised the head of it so that he was mostly upright, which still made his hips ache, but his back wasn’t so painful this way.
“Hey Jared, how are you feeling?” Misha greeted him as he stepped through the doorway. Jensen following behind him soon after.
“I’m okay, I guess, hips and back are sore, but I suppose that’s kind of to be expected,” Jared muse, still pouting a little from being left in the room alone.
Jensen came to stand beside the head of his bed, his hand instantly threading through Jared’s hair as he looked at him with concern.
“Are you sure that’s all, baby? You look down,” Jensen asked as he continued to comb his fingers through Jared hair.
Jared couldn’t help but smile happily at the pleasant sensations Jensen’s fingers were sending through his scalp.
“Yeah...it’s just...you left me,” Jared mumbled under his breath with a slight blush, knowing that it was a ridiculous thing to be upset over, but not able to help it for some reason.
Jensen’s brow creased with guilt.
“I’m sorry babe, I just wanted to get Misha to check you over and make sure you’re doing okay. You should have told me you didn’t want me to go,” Jensen said with a frown.
Jared blushed again and smiled at Jensen shyly.
“I tried but you were gone before I could tell you,” Jared replied with a sigh.
Jensen leaned in awkwardly, his protruding belly making it hard for him to reach Jared, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before straightening with a grimace.
“I’m sorry. I promise I’ll check with you before I go anywhere from now on,” Jensen smiled at him, his hands bracing his back and belly.
“Okay Jared, how but we get you checked out and then you can get up and walk around a bit to see if that will speed things up a little, and Jensen can sit in that recliner for a while and put his feet up before I banish him to bed rest,” Misha urged as he frowned at Jensen.
“Oh..uh sure. Is something wrong with Jensen?” Jared asked as he looked between his doctor and husband with concern.
“No, he just needs to take it ease and make sure he stays off his feet as much as possible this late into his pregnancy. Don’t worry, I’m keeping an eye on both of you,” he assured as he patted Jared’s thigh.
“Alright, now I’m just going to have a quick look at how you are progressing and then I’ll leave you to it. I’ll just put the bed down a little and get you to relax, okay?” Misha asked as he lowered the bed halfway and started to put gloves over his hands.
Jared swallowed heavily and looked over to Jensen quickly before he nodded.
“Okay, but you’ll stop if a contraction comes right? That kind of hurts,” Jared confessed as he gripped Jensen’s hand in his own.
Misha smiled, “I’ll be as quick as I can and I promise to stop if you tell me a contraction’s coming,” Misha promised as he gently eased Jared’s thighs apart and helped him to get into the right position.
“Ready?” Misha asked as he paused between Jared’s splayed thighs.
Jared nodded, not really trusting his voice not to betray his nervousness. He had no idea why, all of a sudden, the prospect Misha performing an exam was so daunting.
“Hey, Jared. Look at me baby, you’ll be alright. Just close your eyes and think of holding those gorgeous little babies real soon,” Jensen encouraged him as he squeezed Jared’s hand gently.
Jared smiled at him and followed his instructions. Just as he felt Misha’s fingers starting to breech him, his next contraction pulled hard on his belly.
“Shit..stop...ahhh...contraction,” Jared cried as the contraction pulled tighter than any of his previous ones, the pain making him squirm as he tried to catch his breath and manage the pain all at once.
“Hey, hey, breathe baby, just breathe. You’re okay, I promise. You can do this. Concentrate on my breaths, Jare,” Jensen coached as he pulled Jared’s clenching hand up to rest against his chest as he slowed his breathing down to mimic what he wanted Jared to do.
Slow but surely, Jared gain control over his breathing again, and the contraction started to ease off as he looked over to Jensen for reassurance.
Jensen smiled softly at him.
“See, there you go. You’re doing great,” he said as he leaned in and kiss Jared’s sweaty forehead.
“Jared, I’m going to do the exam now, while the contractions are in a lull,” Misha told him as he bent back to the task.
“‘Kay,” Jared agreed as he shut his eyes to the uncomfortable sensations of the exam. He sighed gratefully when he felt Jensen’s hand stroking through his sweat damp hair, reassuring him that Jensen was with him through this.
After another uncomfortable minute, Misha stood up and smiled gently at both of them.
“Well, things are moving, just pretty slowly I’m afraid. You’re only about 2cm at the moment, Jared. Normally, we would send you home for a while to let you labor at home until you’re over the 3cm mark, but as this is your first, and a multiple birth, I going to suggest you stay here and make use of the unending hot water,” Misha said as he finished disposing of his gloves and washed his hands. “Sorry, I couldn’t give you better news, but maybe after a couple of hours of being up and around thing will get moving along. The main thing is to try and relax, okay? The more tension you are the longer this will take,” Misha advised him as he clapped him good naturedly on the shoulder.
Jared couldn’t help the tears that suddenly filled his eyes. He wanted this to be over. He wanted to see his babies and go home.
He looked over at Jensen doing his best not to cry as his husband looked back at him with sympathy.
“I’m here with you, babe. We’ll get you up and in the shower, and before you know it, those little ones will be here with us, okay?” Jensen encouraged him as he thumbed away the couple of stray tears that escaped down Jared’s cheeks.
“MMmmmm...’kay. Just want it to be over,” Jared replied as he looked down at his swollen belly and rubbed his hands over the large curve.
“I know it will all be worth it. Two beautiful little babies to take home with us. We can manage waiting a little longer for that, right?” Jensen said as he nudged Jared’s arm playfully, trying to get him to smile.
Jared chuckled self-consciously. “Yeah, I guess. I’m being a bit of a drama queen aren’t I?” he mused as he pushed himself up to sitting and slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed.
Jensen smiled as he awkwardly maneuvered his belly out of Jared’s way and stretch out a hand to help him up.
“Maybe a little, but if you aren’t allowed to be a little dramatic when you’re giving birth, then when can you be?” Jensen assured him with a pat to his arm as, between them, they got Jared up on his feet.
Jared smiled at him and planted a sloppy kiss on Jensen’s temple.
“I knew there was a reason I loved you,” Jared teased as he braced his aching belly and waddled over to the shower room in the far corner of the room.
“Alright gentlemen, I’ll leave you too it. Call the nurses if the contractions start to get too intense and you want some pain relief, Jared. Remember, you don’t have to tough it out. It’s better for you to get pain relief and be able to relax than not use it and not progress because you are too tense,” Misha cautioned as he watched them arrange the shower room so that Jared could sit under the shower with the handheld sprayer and Jensen sit close by and still be there for support.
“Thanks Misha, for everything,” Jared said as he started to strip out of the hospital gown so he could get under the warm spray.
“Take care of him, Jensen...and of yourself and I’ll check on you both in a couple hours,” Misha said with a smile, shutting the door quietly behind him.
Jared finished undressing and settled himself awkwardly into the plastic chair, using the hand rails to stop himself from falling as he lowered himself into the chair. Over on the other side of the room, Jensen dug through the hospital bag and pulled out Jared’s ipod and dock, setting it up on the bedside table, and cuing it up to play the playlist he had prepared for just this occasion. The soothing tones of Enya echoed through the room. Jared sighed as a sense of peace washed over him and he relaxed into the chair, the warm water running over his huge belly. Jensen waddled back over to the other chair, his hand bracing his enormous belly as he carefully lowered himself into the hardback plastic chair with a hiss of discomfort.
Jared’s eyes were on him in an instant.
“You okay?”
Jensen rubbed soothingly at his roiling belly, the babies within, clearly visible in their almost violent movements beneath the tightly stretched skin.
“Yeah, I’m good, just soccer practice time it seems,” Jensen replied with a wry grin as one of the babies feet pushed out, causing his belly to misshapen grotesquely.
Jared hummed sympathetically, his focus shifting inward as the next contraction pulled deep in his belly, the pain radiating out to concentrate more in his back than anywhere else.
“Ugh, these damn contractions are getting painful,” Jared whined as his breath caught high in his throat as the pain in his back and belly intensified when the contraction started to peak.
“It’s okay, just breathe. It will help, I promise,” Jensen coached as he mimicked the slow steady breaths they had been practicing in anticipation of this day.
“‘Kay,” Jared panted as the contraction finally started to wane.
Jensen leaned forward awkwardly and squeezed Jared’s shoulder in support.
“You alright now?” Jensen asked as he kneaded the tense muscles of Jared’s shoulder as Jared worked to get his breathing back to normal.
“Hmmm...yeah. Just my back really hurts,” Jared nodded with a sigh. He pulled the shower hose over his shoulder to run down his back as he sat up as straight as he could.
Jensen frowned sympathetically as he pushed himself up off the chair with difficulty.
“What are you doing? You’re supposed to be resting, Jen,” Jared scolded with a wince as he braced his back with his free hand.
Jensen smiled as him as he carefully pushed his chair across the bathroom floor to position it behind Jared’s.
“Lean forward onto the bar so I can reach behind you,” Jensen urged as he gingerly lowered himself back into his own chair and took the shower head from Jared to aim it at the small of Jared’s back. His fingers kneaded into the tight muscles.
Jared’s contented sigh signaled that Jensen had found the right spot. For the next few hours, Jensen alternated the hot water and massage to help soothe Jared through the slowly intensifying contractions.
They had reached ten minutes apart when Jared’s breath started to hitch and he squirmed in the seat, the muscles in his back spasming and pulling tighter under Jensen’s tired fingers.
“Mmmmmm...ugghhhh...hurts...Jen,” Jared moaned, reaching behind to clutch at Jensen’s arm.
“Breathe, Jared, nice and slow,” Jensen instructed as he continued to rub soothing circles into the taut muscles of Jared’s lower back.”
“Breath, Jare, nice and slow,” Jensen instructed as he rubbed soothing circles into Jared’s lower back. “I’ve got you, that’s it,” Jensen encouraged him as Jared got his breathing under control and relaxed slightly even as the contraction continued.
“How much longer?” Jared whined as he leaned into Jensen’s kneading hands.
“I don’t know, babe. It will take as long as it needs to, to get those babies here safe and sound,” Jensen encouraged as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Jared’s shoulder.
Jared cast a pitiful look at him, the strain of labor draining his face of most of its color.
“I’m sorry it’s taking so long. Do you want me to get them to call Misha so you can get some pain relief? You don’t have to tough this out you know?” Jensen urged him.
“I…I don’t…I don’t know what to do,” Jared replied, his voice breaking as his face crumbled.
“Oh babe, it’s okay, I’ll get Misha. You don’t need to suffer like this,” Jensen told him as he pulled himself out of the chair.
“Stay in the shower, I’ll be right back,” Jensen ordered as he waddled out of the room, already focused on finding someone to help his ailing husband.
Within minutes, Jensen was back with a midwife and Misha in tow.
Jared was in the midst of a contraction when they entered the room so all three of them hovered around him, offering what moral and physical support they could as he panted and moaned through the pain.
Once the contraction waned, Misha reached around, shutting off the water, and crouched down in front of Jared so he was at eye level. Jensen silently draped Jared’s terrycloth robe around him and hugged him in support.
“Now Jared, it looks like you’re struggling a bit. Do you think you can hop up on the bed and let me have a look to see how things are going?” Misha asked as he squeezed Jared’s hand in support.
“Hmmm, ‘kay…hurts,” Jared moaned as he leaned into Jensen.
“I know. We can do something about that if you haven’t progressed too far, okay?” Misha promised as he pushed himself up and offered Jared a hand up.
Jared looked to Jensen for reassurance. Jensen’s answering smile and nod had him reaching out for Misha’s hand and pulling himself up with a sharp hiss of pain.
“You alright?” Jensen asked as he stepped in behind him, his huge belly preventing him from embracing Jared fully.
“Yeah, just sore,” Jared sighed as he made his way over to the bed.
Once they got him situated after another painful contraction, Misha quickly examined him and declared him to be only 4 cm dilated.
“Jared I think you need to consider having an epidural. You really aren’t progressing as quickly as I would have hoped and I think that is because the pain is making you tense up and not let your body do what it needs to,” Misha explained.
Jared squeezed at Jensen’s hand and look to him for guidance.
“What should I do? I don’t know what to do,” Jared cried as tears started to slip down his pale cheeks.
“Oh Jare, it’ll be okay. I’m here with you the whole way,” Jensen promised as he wiped at Jared’s tears.
“Take the epidural. I don’t want to see you hurting anymore,” Jensen pleaded as he stroked a loving hand over Jared’s distended belly.
“He’s right, you don’t need to suffer through this. It will be the best thing for your babies too,” Misha urged as he smiled reassuringly.
“It won’t hurt them?” Jared asked as he stroked his hard belly nervously.
“No, definitely not,” Misha promised.
“Okay, do it,” Jared agreed as his face scrunched up in pain with the next contraction.
Within moments, the midwife had a trolley wheeled over to the bed and everything Misha needed was laid out.
“Alright Jared, when this one passes, I need you to sit up and curl up over your belly as far as you possibly can, okay?” Misha instructed as he checked the equipment and readied himself for the procedure.
Jared’s only answer was a pained whimper as he clutched onto Jensen’s hand, Jensen’s supporting squeezing in return helping him to ride out the contraction.
When it finally started to ease, Misha and the midwife helped Jared to sit up. Jensen moved round in front of him, helping him lean as far forward as he possibly could over his big belly.
“Okay, Jared, I’m just swabbing the area and then you will feel a pinch. How are you doing so far?” Misha advised as he painted Jared’s exposed back with Iodine and readied the local anesthetic.
Jared hummed nervously, nodding his head fractionally to indicate he was okay as he squeezed down hard on Jensen’s supporting hands.
“You’ll have some relief soon, just hang in there a little longer and we’ll have those little ones in your arms before you know it,” the midwife reassured him as Misha gently inserted the local and disposed of the used needle.
“Alright Jared, you need to stay completely still for the insertion of the catheter. Are you ready?” Misha asked, his eyes meeting Jensen’s for confirmation that Jared was still okay.
“Mmmmm, just do it,” Jared’s snapped as he curled in tighter still over his belly, squeezing Jensen’s hands to the point of pain.
“Here we go then,” Misha agreed as he carefully inserted the catheter into Jared’s spine.
“Let’s get you laying down now and we’ll get you comfortable in no time,” Misha urged as he helped guide Jared back onto the bed once the procedure was complete.
“Soon you won’t be able to feel anything below your chest so you need to be careful, okay? No trying to leap out of bed,” Misha joked as he covered Jared with the sheet and raised the head of the bed.
“Now, time to make Jensen get off his feet and into that other bed while we let your body do its job in peace,” Misha scolded.
Jensen smiled sheepishly and awkwardly maneuvered himself onto the other bed. The midwife pushed Jensen’s bed next to Jared’s, while the nurse fitted Jared with monitoring belts and sensors.
“Alright you two, I need you both to get some rest and I’ll be back to check on you all in a couple of hours. Hopefully by then, these babies will have gotten the hint that it’s time to come meet their Daddies in person,” Misha said with a smile.
Jensen squeezed Jared’s hand as the monitors signaled that Jared was having quite a strong contraction.
“Okay?” Jensen asked as his eye flickering from the rising numbers on the monitor to Jared’s pale but calm face.
“Yeah, I’m good now,” Jared replied with a wan smile.
“Rest, you are going to need it,” Misha urged as he and the nurses turned down the lights in the room and made for the door.
“Thanks Misha,” Jensen called out as the door to the room shut behind them.
Jensen looked over to Jared, his lips pulling into a soft smile as he took in the sight of Jared stroking the side of his huge belly with gentle caresses.
“Soon, babe, and they will be all yours to cuddle and scold for causing you so much pain,” Jensen reassured him as he awkwardly shuffled his way onto his side so he could watch Jared more comfortably.
“Hmmm, can’t wait to meet them. Do you think they’ll be okay?” Jared asked his face pinching with concern as his eyes drooped with exhaustion.
Jensen laced his fingers over Jared’s and helped him to rub soothing circles into the taut flesh.
“They’ll be fine, just like you will. Get some rest, Jare, you’ve still got some hard work ahead of you,” Jensen urged as he fought to keep his own tired eyes open.
“’kay,” Jared replied with a jaw cracking yawn.
“Sleep,” Jensen urged as his own eyes slid shut as the weariness of the day dragged them both down into sleep.
~o0o~
Jensen snapped to awareness as he heard Jared let out a low, guttural moan.
“What is it, what’s wrong?” Jensen asked as he fumbled to wipe the sleep from his eyes and push himself up the bed.
“He’s okay, it’s time for us to meet these little ones,” Misha’s soothing voice assured him.
“What? Oh really?” Jensen asked, sleep instantly banished at the prospect of meeting their babies.
“Ugggghhhhh, let me push,” Jared cried as he curled in over his rock hard belly.
“Not yet, Jared, just pant for me. I don’t want you to tear,” Misha instructed.
“Jare?” Jensen called to him, his hand grabbing onto Jared’s clammy hand for support.
“Gotta push…uuuugggggGGGGHHHHHH,” Jared cried as he gave into his body’s natural urges.
“No pushing yet Jared, just breathe,” Misha urged as he leaned in, supporting the thinly stretch skin of his perineum.
“Can’t…neeeeedd to puuuuuussssssshhh,” Jared replied with a sob as he continued to push through the long contraction.
“With me Jared, breathe with me,” Jensen urged as he huffed and panted to help Jared get his breathing under control and stop pushing.
“Caannnn’t…aarrrgggghhhhhh,” Jared moaned as he squeezed Jensen’s hand.
“Jared stop, you’re tearing,” Misha demanded as he did what he could to minimize the damage with a quick cut with scissors.
Within moments, a warbling cry rent through the silence of the room as their little girl slipped from Jared in a rush.
“Here she is. Plays hard to get but is all about the attention in the end,” Misha teased as he held her up for her beaming father’s to see.
Jensen bit at his lip as he fought to hold in the tears of joy that threatened to flow as Misha placed their screaming little girl into Jared’s eager arms.
The ache of sorrow still lurked in the shadows of his heart as the memories of holding their silent little girl in his arms the last time superimposed over the joyous image of Jared holding their wailing child in his.
Jensen startled a little as he felt Misha’s hand squeeze his shoulder gently in support.
“It’s okay to miss her today. I’m sure she would have loved to have met her sister in person,” Misha whispered to Jensen.
Jensen nodded, not able to voice his appreciation for Misha’s understanding lest he lose his battle with his emotion and ruin this moment.
“Jen, she’s here. I can’t believe she’s here,” Jared told him with an enormous grin, all the pain of the last hours forgotten in the moment of joy.
“How about you let the nurse take her for a few minutes because you’ve still got some work to do before you’re done and we need to check her out to make sure she is as perfect as she looks…and sounds,” Misha mused as he moved back to the end of Jared’s blood splattered bed while their little girl continue to wail her distress.
Jared looked ready to argue until his face creased with pain once more as the contractions started to intensify again.
“Uuuggghhh, take her,” Jared moaned as he fought to manage the pain of his building contraction.
The nurse quickly whisked her way and started to perform all her newborn tests. Jensen was torn between keeping a close eye on their precious little girl and helping Jared birth their son.
As it was, Jensen had plenty of time to do both as, unlike their daughter who was impatient to arrive once the pushing was engaged, their son was content to bide his time and exhaust his father.
It was after another 45 minutes of strenuous pushing that their little boy finally slipped into the world with a couple of petulant cries before promptly falling off to sleep.
Next part
Please see part one for warnings and notes.
35 weeks / 31 weeks
Jensen groaned quietly as he eased his way down onto the couch beside a sleeping Jared. It had been a huge day for everyone, with copious amount of food and laughter had by all their family. Jensen grinned to himself as he marveled at how lucky they were to have such supportive families. No one had let either of them lift a finger in the preparations for the Christmas feast and the only thing they were allowed to do alone was go to the bathroom and that was a pretty close call.
Jensen tucked himself along Jared’s side and pulled his slumbering husband against him so that his head was now resting against Jensen’s shoulder. It was a bit awkward with Jensen’s huge belly, but he managed to wiggle around enough until Jared’s bulk wasn’t pressing too heavily on the babies. Regardless, he could feel the babies shift and kick in protest at the maneuvering. Jared stirred slightly against him, his head rising slight to peer at him through sleepy lashes.
“Hey,” Jared croaked as he blinked owlishly at him, “‘what’s the time?”
“Time for you to go back to sleep, big guy. It’s been a long day and we could both do with the nap time,” Jensen sighed as he settled Jared back against his side, pulling the Christmas themed throw rug from the back of the couch over their legs. He let out a gentle sigh as he rested his head on top of Jared’s.
“Mmmm, yeah, more napping sounds good,” Jared mumbled as he shifted slightly to nuzzle his cheek into Jensen’s chest. “You’re nice and warm, make good pillow too,” Jared slurred as he started to drift back off to sleep.
“Gee thanks, I’m glad I’m good for more than just my charm and good looks,” Jensen teased quietly into Jared’s hair.
Jensen felt Jared’s answering grin against his shoulder. “Mmmm, yeah, always got those baby,” Jared agreed as he started to relax into Jensen.
“Love you,” Jensen whispered as he pressed a gentle kiss into Jared’s hair and let go of a contented sigh as he relaxed into the soft cushions.
~o0o~
Megan was a little unsteady on her feet after she and Mackenzie polished off an entire bottle of wine together. She stumbled into the lounge, almost knocking into the heavily decorated tree in the center of the room. She giggled to herself as she wrestled the humongous thing back into place, tip toeing through the presents piled artfully underneath. She quickly stifled her giggles when she saw her brother and brother-in-law, snuggled up together on the couch, their huge bellies resting against each other in the most adorable pose she had ever seen. Not able to resist, she crept back out of the room and summoned the rest of the gathered family members.
As a group they all quietly moved into the lounge room, careful not to disturb the two men, fast asleep on the couch.
“Awww, would you look at that. Aren’t they just so adorable, Sherry?” Donna cooed quietly as she looked over to her son’s Mother-in-law.
Sherry grinned, her eyes brimming slightly with tears. “I hoped for so long that they would get this chance and now here they are pregnant together. What better Christmas present could a Mother ask for,” she whispered as she gazed at the boys lovingly.
Jeff and Josh looked at each other and rolled their eyes in unison.
“Anyone would think they were puppies they way you are all oggling and cooing over them,” Jeff teased as he gently squeezed his Mother’s shoulder in reassurance that he was only teasing.
Sherry rolled her eyes at him and shushed him with a flap of her hand, “quiet you, or you’ll wake them up. They’ve had a long day and need the rest.”
“What? They didn’t do anything but go to the bathroom all day long. What’s so tiring about that,” Josh teased with a wink in Jeff’s direction.
They all startled guiltily when Jensen scowled at Josh. “Hey, you try carrying around these bowling balls all day and see how tiring going to the bathroom can be.”
Josh smiled sheepishly at his brother as their Mother swatted his shoulder in mock anger.
“Sorry, honey, you two just looked so adorable all curled up there on the couch we couldn’t resist coming in to have a peek when Megan told us.”
Megan blushed scarlet and shrugged an apology to Jensen, “sorry dude, but you guys do look pretty cute all wrapped around each other with your Christmas blanket wrapping you up like a giant present ready for the tree,” she finished with a grin as Jensen frown at her without much heat.
“Yeah well, it’s our house and we’re the pregnant ones so we get to look as adorable as we want to without recrimination from family members,” Jared piped up as he shifted to sit up out of Jensen’s embrace.
Everybody oohed and ahhed as Jared and Jensen shared a gentle kiss.
“Okay, okay, I think it’s time we left these boys alone again,” Jerry piped up, as he and Alan started to shepherd the rest of the family out of the room and back into the dining room.
“Awww, come on Dad,” Mackenzie whined as she tried to peer around her father’s shielding body.
“Night boys, we’ll make sure they leave you alone,” Alan called back over his shoulder as he finished ushering his resisting daughter out of the room.
Jensen couldn’t help but chuckle as he heard his sister whine from the other room, “Naww, Dad, you’re such a spoil sport.”
Jared shifted back into Jensen’s side. “I guess we do make a bit of a spectacle, don’t we?” Jared mused as he nestled his head back onto Jensen’s chest.
Jensen grinned down at him, taking in the red, white, and green throw rug covering their legs, which blended in with the rest of the Christmas paraphernalia strategically place around the room and the entanglement of their limbs.
“Yeah, we do make a sight to be seen, don’t we?” Jensen chuckled to himself, his hand dropping to caress his belly as his other hand rubbed soothing circles over Jared’s shoulder.
“Mmmm, I’m so comfy. Do we have to move?” Jared murmured into Jensen’s chest.
Jensen sighed and pressed a kiss into Jared’s shaggy mop. “No, it’s our couch, we can stay here as long as we want.”
“Good, now shush, I’m trying to nap here,” Jared teased as he snuggled down further into Jensen’s embrace.
“No arguments here. ‘Night Jared, I love you,” Jensen whispered as he closed his eyes to the gentle winking of the Christmas tree lights, content in the knowledge that they were both safe and warm.
“Love you too, babe,” Jared mumbled back as his eyelids drooped and he drifted back off to sleep.
~o0o~
37 weeks / 33 weeks
“Jensen, wake up,” Jared’s urgent voice filtered into the snuggling warmth cocooning Jensen in his sleep. Jensen squinted open one eye to peer at Jared from beneath the covers.
“What? It’s the middle of the night Jared, go pee and go back to sleep,” Jensen grumbled as he shifted uncomfortably, trying to get back into a comfortable position to continue sleeping for a while before he to needed to pee. Of course, mentioning and thinking of peeing, meant he now needed to pee too.
“Dammit, hurry up so I can go too,” Jensen whined as he shifted around to face a silent and still not moving Jared.
“Hey, you okay?” Jensen asked as the silence from Jared became more than a little worrying. Suddenly, the in the quiet Jensen couldn’t hear a muted dripping onto the carpet.
“Oh baby, hey, it’s okay, was bound to happen eventually with those monsters bouncing on your bladder constantly. Just let me get you cleaned up and...” Jensen soothed with a calming hand to the middle of Jared’s back. The light trembling beneath his hand had him up and out of the bed in record time.
“Hey, Jared, talk to me baby, what’s wrong?” Jensen demanded as he waddled his way around to stand in front of Jared who was sitting on the very edge of the bed, his eyes glued to the expanding puddle on the carpet between his feet.
“I think my water broke,” Jared whispered, almost too quietly for Jensen to hear him at all.
“What? What did you say?” Jensen asked as he bent with a grimace to brace Jared’s cheeks with his palms and pull his face up to meet his gaze.
“My water, I think...oh my god, Jensen, MY WATER BROKE!” Jared finished with a shout.
“Oh...OH, um okay, it’s okay, we can do this...umm...you...you sit there...I’ll...I’ll umm...get the bags,” Jensen rambled as he frantically tried to remember what it was that he needed to do now that Jared’s water had broken.
Jensen stopped in his tracks when he heard a sob come from over his shoulder. He moved himself back in front of Jared as quickly as his ungainly body will let him and looked on with utter confusion when he saw the beaming smile across Jared’s tear strewn face.
“Jare...babe, you okay?” Jensen asked tentatively as he shuffled around to ease his bulk down onto the bed beside Jared, his palm on Jared cheek bringing his husband’s gaze with him.
“Yeah,” Jared sighed happily with an extra stretch to his already beaming grin.
“O...kay, you want to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours right now?” Jensen asked with a puzzled frown, worried that Jared was going into shock or something equally worrying.
“I’m gonna see my babies,” Jared beamed at him before dropping his gaze to his huge belly, his hands stroking over it in awe.
“Awww, baby, yeah. We’re gonna meet our babies real soon,” Jensen smiled at him as he entwined his hand with one of Jared’s over his big belly and rubbed at the taut skin lovingly as he awkwardly pressed a soft kiss to Jared’s temple.
“Have you felt any contractions yet?” Jensen asked as he clumsily pushed himself off the bed. He was so thankful that they took Misha’s advice and raised the bed on blocks so that it wasn’t so hard for them to get out of this far into their pregnancies.
Jared looked over at him with concern, “no, I haven’t. Does that mean something is wrong?” Jared asked as worry bled through the strain in his voice.
“No, it’s okay, it happens sometimes. Nothing to worry about. It will just make the trip to the hospital that bit more comfortable for you,” Jensen soothed as he moved off to get Jared’s hospital bag from the cupboard and clean clothes for him to put on.
“Do we have to go straight away? I think I want a shower before I go,” Jared finished with a grimace creasing his face.
Jensen smiled and waddled back over to the bed to help him up to standing. “No, of course not. I’ll clean up in here and get everything ready for the hospital trip while you shower then,” Jensen assured as he guided a slight bewildered Jared to the ensuite bathroom.
“You be okay in here on your own?” Jensen asked as he took in Jared’s still slightly dazed expression as he glanced around the bathroom looking a little lost.
“Hmmm, oh yeah, sorry. I’m okay, just a little...yeah,” Jared answered with another beaming grin.
Jensen shook his head at his adorable husband and patted Jared’s huge belly affectionately.
“Good to see you smiling so much now, I doubt you will be doing too much of that in a few hours,” Jensen winked mischievously as what he was implying dawned on Jared and a hint of panic flashed across his features.
“Oh man, I’m really not looking forward to that bit,” Jared confessed with a nervous circling of his hands over his still calm belly.
“You’ll be alright. I’ll be there with you the whole way. We’re in this together,” Jensen soothed as he maneuvered his own huge belly to the side of Jared’s and leaned in for a tender kiss.
After helping Jared strip out of his soaked sleep pants, Jensen left a still shell shocked Jared to bathe on his own while he went back into the bedroom to attend the mess on the bed and floor and gather together the last minute items they would need for Jared’s time at the hospital.
Jensen was just finishing up sopping up the fluid on the carpet when Jared stepped out of the bathroom behind him.
“Jensen! What the hell? You shouldn’t be doing that. We can get a cleaner in to deal with it,” Jared scolded as he moved forward to help Jensen up off his hands and knees.
“How the hell did you got down there in the first place is what I want to know, I haven’t been able to do that for months,” Jared mused as he leaned down to grab Jensen’s arm.
“No, you can’t lift me, you’ll hurt yourself. I’ll get myself up, it’s fine, I’m right beside the bed. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think I could get back up again without help,” Jensen said as he push away Jared’s helping and shuffled on his knees to the edge of bed and braced himself to get back to his feet.
“Be careful Jen, I don’t need you going into labor too, right now,” Jared cautioned as he watched Jensen struggle breathlessly to stand, his hands braced on his knees when he finally made it up off the floor.
“Okay, won’t do that again, check,” Jensen joked as he worked on catching his breath, waiting for the sharp ligament pain that had run down his thighs as he stood to pass before straightening up fully.
Jared eyed him nervously. “You sure you’re okay, you didn’t hurt yourself?” Jared asked as he stepped in to brace Jensen’s shoulders as he finally straightened after mostly getting his breath back.
“Yeah, I’m good, promise. Now how about we focus the attention back on the person in labor,” Jensen assured him with amusement as Jared’s face blanched slightly and the mildly panicked look moved into scared territory.
“Hey, you’ll be fine babe, trust me. Just keep focused on the fact that very soon you will be holding two babies in your arms, yeah?” Jensen coached him as he guided Jared to sit on the bed while he grabbed the rest of the things Jared would need for the hospital.
“Yeah...focus...got it,” Jared answered, sounding not at all sure of himself.
Jensen smiled affectionately as he moved off to gather the supplies, one hand bracing his aching back, while the other braced his big hanging belly.
Jensen made as quick a work as he could at getting everything together, double-checking that he had everything they had put on the list to take with them.
Pulling the wheeled luggage bag behind him, Jensen went over to Jared, and placed his hand on his shoulder with a gentle squeeze when Jared didn’t appear to notice Jensen’s reappearance beside him.
“You doing okay there, babe?” Jensen asked, a little concerned when Jared blinked slowly almost like he was coming out a trance at Jensen’s touch.
Jared looked over at him a little dazed.
“Huh? Oh, we right to go now?” Jared asked as he rubbed at his face and yawned widely.
“Yeah, if you are?” Jensen asked as he helped Jared to stand.
“Ugh, yuck, I’m all wet again,” Jared whined as he awkwardly tried to pull his damp sweat pants away from his body.
Jensen smiled fondly. “Don’t worry about it babe, no one will notice, I promise. I’ll make sure I walk behind you so no one will be able to see past my big fat ass, okay?” Jensen reassured him as he started to guide him out the door.
Jared grinned wickedly at him. “‘kay, no one will notice my wet patch when they see your belly coming,” Jared teased.
“Hey, watch it you or I’ll make sure I move out from behind you just as a hot young doctor walks by to see your wet pants buddy,” Jensen joked as he swatted Jared gently over the back of the head.
Jared blushed and rolled his eyes as they carefully made their way down the staircase. When they were a couple of steps from the bottom, Jared stopped suddenly, his free hand going to the base of his belly.
“Ooh, I ah...I think the contractions are starting,” Jared said as he turned slightly to grin over his shoulder at Jensen.
Jensen chuckled at him, “You have to be one of the few people in the world who say that with a huge grin on their face.”
Jared shrugged happily and made the rest of his way down the stairs, waiting for Jensen at the bottom with his goofy grin across his face still plastered across his face.
Jensen shook his head. “You really are a weirdo, you know that. Though, I must admit you are the easiest person in the world to support in labor at the moment,” Jensen chuckled.
Jared pouted and poked his tongue out. “It’s not my fault I’m excited about seeing my babies for the first time.”
Jensen leaned in and kissed his still pouting lips tenderly before patting him one the shoulder with a nudge towards the door.
“Come on, we’d better get a move on before the drive in gets too uncomfortable for you,” Jensen urged as he started for the door, picking up the car keys on the way.
Jared followed him out, his hand caressing the side of his big belly, the smile on his face a mile wide.
~o0o~
The ride in to the hospital was pretty uneventful with Jared only having one mildly uncomfortable contraction on the 20 minute drive.
Upon arrival, Jared was taken up to the labor ward, given a thorough exam, and hooked up to monitoring equipment while they waited for Misha’s arrival. Jared was only having quite mild contractions every 20 minutes or so, so there was no hurry. The nursing staff took pity on Jensen and after Jared was able to be unhooked from the monitors, they brought in another bed so that Jensen could lay down beside him and they could both get some sleep while they waited for Misha, who would be another couple hours as he was tied up with a complex delivery at another hospital. The staff all assured Jared that he and the babies were doing just fine and that, really, he could go home if he wanted to, but given his pregnancy was considered a high risk one with twins and that his waters had already broken he may as well stay rather than having to come back in a few hours when things were likely to start moving along. In the meantime, the nursing staff got them both comfortable, switched off as much of the lighting as they could, and left them to rest, telling them to push the call button if Jared’s contractions got more painful or he was worried about anything.
Jared smiled at Jensen dozing on the bed beside him, their hands linked between the beds. Even in sleep Jensen still had a good grip on Jared’s hand. Jared kind of envied Jensen that he was able to sleep at the moment, he was just too damn excited to sleep, even though he knew he really should as he was going to need all his energy for what was to come. Thinking of holding his babies in his arms had another grin spreading across his face. So far the labor itself had been nothing noteworthy, the worst of it was when they were doing the internal and he had a contraction. That was a bit painful, but nothing unmanageable. He could only imagine what was to come. It was just as he was imagining how painful things were going to get that his next contraction started, only 15 minutes after the last one instead of the 20 minutes he was used to. It wasn’t any worse than the last ones had been, but as he wasn’t really ready for it, he inadvertently squeezed Jensen’s hand when it took him by surprise.
“Jare, you okay?” Jensen sleep-mussed voice drifted over to him as he breathed calmly through the tight band of pressure clamping down over his whole belly.
“Hmmm, yeah, I’m okay, just took me by surprise. Sorry I woke you,” Jared apologized as the contraction tapered off and the pressure eased.
Jensen pushed himself awkwardly to sit on the edge of the bed to face Jared.
“I’m meant to be helping you through this, not sleeping through it. Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” Jensen asked with a frown.
“Because I’m fine, really. Things haven’t really changed from when we got here, except they seem to be coming a little closer together now,” Jared assured him as he patted one of Jensen’s splayed knees. Jensen’s belly was so big now, that he couldn’t sit without letting his belly rest between his thighs, or he just couldn’t catch his breath. At their last check up, Misha had told him that he would probably put Jensen on bedrest very soon to try and allow him to go as close to term as he possibly could. Misha had told them that with triplets it was very unlikely that he would go to full term, especially as there weren’t multiples in Jensen’s family history. All Jared or Jensen cared about was the babies being as safe as they possibly could be and if that meant bedrest for Jensen, then Jared would make sure he did, even with two newborns to take care of as well.
“So how far apart are they now?” Jensen asked, his hand stroking gently over Jared’s arm.
“The last one was about 15 minutes after the last,” Jared replied as he focused on the soothing rhythm of Jensen’s hand on the skin of his arm.
Jensen smiled at him comfortingly. “Still a way to go yet then. Have you been able to get any sleep?” he asked as he shuffled forward a little to get access to stroke Jared’s protruding belly.
“No, too excited to sleep. I know I should but every time I close my eyes I think of taking our babies home and...yeah, not conducive to sleep,” Jared confessed as he shuffled forward so that he could give Jensen better access to stroke his belly without having to lean over and hurt himself.
Jared sighed as the soothing rhythm of Jensen caressing his belly had him relaxing little by little back into the bed, and before he knew it, he was drifting off into sleep.
~o0o~
Jared woke with a low moan, the tight band of pain gripping his belly and wrapping around to his back waking him abruptly.
“Ugh, shit...Jen,” Jared called out as he tried to orientate himself and find the comfort of his husband’s hand.
“Shush, hey, Jare, I’m right here, you’re okay. Just breathe through it,” Jensen urged him as he stepped in front of Jared’s line of sight, his hand squeezing Jared’s as the contraction started to ease off and he got control of his breathing again.
Jensen stroked at his hair and leaned in, brushing his lips across Jared’s slightly sweaty forehead.
“You okay now, baby?” Jensen asked as he rubbed soothing circles into the side of Jared’s belly.
Jared smiled up at him.
“Yeah, I’m good, just not the nicest thing to wake up too,” Jared chuckled as he shifted so that Jensen could rest his hip on the edge of the bed.
“I know babe, but we wanted you to get as much sleep as you could,” Jensen apologized as he stroked Jared’s hair back from his forehead and smiled fondly at him.
“You’ve been out for nearly 3 hours. It’s getting light outside,” Jensen told him as he shuffled over to the curtained window and pulled back the drape a little to show the lightening sky outside.
“Hmm, well, at least I managed to sleep through some of it then,” Jared smiled as he patted the bed beside him indicating his need for Jensen to be close without explicitly asking him.
“Actually, I think Misha wants to check how things are going before you get comfy. Just hang tight for a minute and I’ll go get someone,” Jensen told him as he waddled his way out of the room, as Jared held up the call button, but was too late for Jensen to see.
“Fine, walk around unnecessarily then, see if I care,” Jared pouted as he shifted, trying to get comfortable on the narrow bed. His hips ached from being in the same position for hours, and now that he was awake, he was aware of how much his back was hurting. When pouting at the door didn’t produce his husband or doctor, Jared grabbed the controls for the bed and raised the head of it so that he was mostly upright, which still made his hips ache, but his back wasn’t so painful this way.
“Hey Jared, how are you feeling?” Misha greeted him as he stepped through the doorway. Jensen following behind him soon after.
“I’m okay, I guess, hips and back are sore, but I suppose that’s kind of to be expected,” Jared muse, still pouting a little from being left in the room alone.
Jensen came to stand beside the head of his bed, his hand instantly threading through Jared’s hair as he looked at him with concern.
“Are you sure that’s all, baby? You look down,” Jensen asked as he continued to comb his fingers through Jared hair.
Jared couldn’t help but smile happily at the pleasant sensations Jensen’s fingers were sending through his scalp.
“Yeah...it’s just...you left me,” Jared mumbled under his breath with a slight blush, knowing that it was a ridiculous thing to be upset over, but not able to help it for some reason.
Jensen’s brow creased with guilt.
“I’m sorry babe, I just wanted to get Misha to check you over and make sure you’re doing okay. You should have told me you didn’t want me to go,” Jensen said with a frown.
Jared blushed again and smiled at Jensen shyly.
“I tried but you were gone before I could tell you,” Jared replied with a sigh.
Jensen leaned in awkwardly, his protruding belly making it hard for him to reach Jared, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before straightening with a grimace.
“I’m sorry. I promise I’ll check with you before I go anywhere from now on,” Jensen smiled at him, his hands bracing his back and belly.
“Okay Jared, how but we get you checked out and then you can get up and walk around a bit to see if that will speed things up a little, and Jensen can sit in that recliner for a while and put his feet up before I banish him to bed rest,” Misha urged as he frowned at Jensen.
“Oh..uh sure. Is something wrong with Jensen?” Jared asked as he looked between his doctor and husband with concern.
“No, he just needs to take it ease and make sure he stays off his feet as much as possible this late into his pregnancy. Don’t worry, I’m keeping an eye on both of you,” he assured as he patted Jared’s thigh.
“Alright, now I’m just going to have a quick look at how you are progressing and then I’ll leave you to it. I’ll just put the bed down a little and get you to relax, okay?” Misha asked as he lowered the bed halfway and started to put gloves over his hands.
Jared swallowed heavily and looked over to Jensen quickly before he nodded.
“Okay, but you’ll stop if a contraction comes right? That kind of hurts,” Jared confessed as he gripped Jensen’s hand in his own.
Misha smiled, “I’ll be as quick as I can and I promise to stop if you tell me a contraction’s coming,” Misha promised as he gently eased Jared’s thighs apart and helped him to get into the right position.
“Ready?” Misha asked as he paused between Jared’s splayed thighs.
Jared nodded, not really trusting his voice not to betray his nervousness. He had no idea why, all of a sudden, the prospect Misha performing an exam was so daunting.
“Hey, Jared. Look at me baby, you’ll be alright. Just close your eyes and think of holding those gorgeous little babies real soon,” Jensen encouraged him as he squeezed Jared’s hand gently.
Jared smiled at him and followed his instructions. Just as he felt Misha’s fingers starting to breech him, his next contraction pulled hard on his belly.
“Shit..stop...ahhh...contraction,” Jared cried as the contraction pulled tighter than any of his previous ones, the pain making him squirm as he tried to catch his breath and manage the pain all at once.
“Hey, hey, breathe baby, just breathe. You’re okay, I promise. You can do this. Concentrate on my breaths, Jare,” Jensen coached as he pulled Jared’s clenching hand up to rest against his chest as he slowed his breathing down to mimic what he wanted Jared to do.
Slow but surely, Jared gain control over his breathing again, and the contraction started to ease off as he looked over to Jensen for reassurance.
Jensen smiled softly at him.
“See, there you go. You’re doing great,” he said as he leaned in and kiss Jared’s sweaty forehead.
“Jared, I’m going to do the exam now, while the contractions are in a lull,” Misha told him as he bent back to the task.
“‘Kay,” Jared agreed as he shut his eyes to the uncomfortable sensations of the exam. He sighed gratefully when he felt Jensen’s hand stroking through his sweat damp hair, reassuring him that Jensen was with him through this.
After another uncomfortable minute, Misha stood up and smiled gently at both of them.
“Well, things are moving, just pretty slowly I’m afraid. You’re only about 2cm at the moment, Jared. Normally, we would send you home for a while to let you labor at home until you’re over the 3cm mark, but as this is your first, and a multiple birth, I going to suggest you stay here and make use of the unending hot water,” Misha said as he finished disposing of his gloves and washed his hands. “Sorry, I couldn’t give you better news, but maybe after a couple of hours of being up and around thing will get moving along. The main thing is to try and relax, okay? The more tension you are the longer this will take,” Misha advised him as he clapped him good naturedly on the shoulder.
Jared couldn’t help the tears that suddenly filled his eyes. He wanted this to be over. He wanted to see his babies and go home.
He looked over at Jensen doing his best not to cry as his husband looked back at him with sympathy.
“I’m here with you, babe. We’ll get you up and in the shower, and before you know it, those little ones will be here with us, okay?” Jensen encouraged him as he thumbed away the couple of stray tears that escaped down Jared’s cheeks.
“MMmmmm...’kay. Just want it to be over,” Jared replied as he looked down at his swollen belly and rubbed his hands over the large curve.
“I know it will all be worth it. Two beautiful little babies to take home with us. We can manage waiting a little longer for that, right?” Jensen said as he nudged Jared’s arm playfully, trying to get him to smile.
Jared chuckled self-consciously. “Yeah, I guess. I’m being a bit of a drama queen aren’t I?” he mused as he pushed himself up to sitting and slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed.
Jensen smiled as he awkwardly maneuvered his belly out of Jared’s way and stretch out a hand to help him up.
“Maybe a little, but if you aren’t allowed to be a little dramatic when you’re giving birth, then when can you be?” Jensen assured him with a pat to his arm as, between them, they got Jared up on his feet.
Jared smiled at him and planted a sloppy kiss on Jensen’s temple.
“I knew there was a reason I loved you,” Jared teased as he braced his aching belly and waddled over to the shower room in the far corner of the room.
“Alright gentlemen, I’ll leave you too it. Call the nurses if the contractions start to get too intense and you want some pain relief, Jared. Remember, you don’t have to tough it out. It’s better for you to get pain relief and be able to relax than not use it and not progress because you are too tense,” Misha cautioned as he watched them arrange the shower room so that Jared could sit under the shower with the handheld sprayer and Jensen sit close by and still be there for support.
“Thanks Misha, for everything,” Jared said as he started to strip out of the hospital gown so he could get under the warm spray.
“Take care of him, Jensen...and of yourself and I’ll check on you both in a couple hours,” Misha said with a smile, shutting the door quietly behind him.
Jared finished undressing and settled himself awkwardly into the plastic chair, using the hand rails to stop himself from falling as he lowered himself into the chair. Over on the other side of the room, Jensen dug through the hospital bag and pulled out Jared’s ipod and dock, setting it up on the bedside table, and cuing it up to play the playlist he had prepared for just this occasion. The soothing tones of Enya echoed through the room. Jared sighed as a sense of peace washed over him and he relaxed into the chair, the warm water running over his huge belly. Jensen waddled back over to the other chair, his hand bracing his enormous belly as he carefully lowered himself into the hardback plastic chair with a hiss of discomfort.
Jared’s eyes were on him in an instant.
“You okay?”
Jensen rubbed soothingly at his roiling belly, the babies within, clearly visible in their almost violent movements beneath the tightly stretched skin.
“Yeah, I’m good, just soccer practice time it seems,” Jensen replied with a wry grin as one of the babies feet pushed out, causing his belly to misshapen grotesquely.
Jared hummed sympathetically, his focus shifting inward as the next contraction pulled deep in his belly, the pain radiating out to concentrate more in his back than anywhere else.
“Ugh, these damn contractions are getting painful,” Jared whined as his breath caught high in his throat as the pain in his back and belly intensified when the contraction started to peak.
“It’s okay, just breathe. It will help, I promise,” Jensen coached as he mimicked the slow steady breaths they had been practicing in anticipation of this day.
“‘Kay,” Jared panted as the contraction finally started to wane.
Jensen leaned forward awkwardly and squeezed Jared’s shoulder in support.
“You alright now?” Jensen asked as he kneaded the tense muscles of Jared’s shoulder as Jared worked to get his breathing back to normal.
“Hmmm...yeah. Just my back really hurts,” Jared nodded with a sigh. He pulled the shower hose over his shoulder to run down his back as he sat up as straight as he could.
Jensen frowned sympathetically as he pushed himself up off the chair with difficulty.
“What are you doing? You’re supposed to be resting, Jen,” Jared scolded with a wince as he braced his back with his free hand.
Jensen smiled as him as he carefully pushed his chair across the bathroom floor to position it behind Jared’s.
“Lean forward onto the bar so I can reach behind you,” Jensen urged as he gingerly lowered himself back into his own chair and took the shower head from Jared to aim it at the small of Jared’s back. His fingers kneaded into the tight muscles.
Jared’s contented sigh signaled that Jensen had found the right spot. For the next few hours, Jensen alternated the hot water and massage to help soothe Jared through the slowly intensifying contractions.
They had reached ten minutes apart when Jared’s breath started to hitch and he squirmed in the seat, the muscles in his back spasming and pulling tighter under Jensen’s tired fingers.
“Mmmmmm...ugghhhh...hurts...Jen,” Jared moaned, reaching behind to clutch at Jensen’s arm.
“Breathe, Jared, nice and slow,” Jensen instructed as he continued to rub soothing circles into the taut muscles of Jared’s lower back.”
“Breath, Jare, nice and slow,” Jensen instructed as he rubbed soothing circles into Jared’s lower back. “I’ve got you, that’s it,” Jensen encouraged him as Jared got his breathing under control and relaxed slightly even as the contraction continued.
“How much longer?” Jared whined as he leaned into Jensen’s kneading hands.
“I don’t know, babe. It will take as long as it needs to, to get those babies here safe and sound,” Jensen encouraged as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Jared’s shoulder.
Jared cast a pitiful look at him, the strain of labor draining his face of most of its color.
“I’m sorry it’s taking so long. Do you want me to get them to call Misha so you can get some pain relief? You don’t have to tough this out you know?” Jensen urged him.
“I…I don’t…I don’t know what to do,” Jared replied, his voice breaking as his face crumbled.
“Oh babe, it’s okay, I’ll get Misha. You don’t need to suffer like this,” Jensen told him as he pulled himself out of the chair.
“Stay in the shower, I’ll be right back,” Jensen ordered as he waddled out of the room, already focused on finding someone to help his ailing husband.
Within minutes, Jensen was back with a midwife and Misha in tow.
Jared was in the midst of a contraction when they entered the room so all three of them hovered around him, offering what moral and physical support they could as he panted and moaned through the pain.
Once the contraction waned, Misha reached around, shutting off the water, and crouched down in front of Jared so he was at eye level. Jensen silently draped Jared’s terrycloth robe around him and hugged him in support.
“Now Jared, it looks like you’re struggling a bit. Do you think you can hop up on the bed and let me have a look to see how things are going?” Misha asked as he squeezed Jared’s hand in support.
“Hmmm, ‘kay…hurts,” Jared moaned as he leaned into Jensen.
“I know. We can do something about that if you haven’t progressed too far, okay?” Misha promised as he pushed himself up and offered Jared a hand up.
Jared looked to Jensen for reassurance. Jensen’s answering smile and nod had him reaching out for Misha’s hand and pulling himself up with a sharp hiss of pain.
“You alright?” Jensen asked as he stepped in behind him, his huge belly preventing him from embracing Jared fully.
“Yeah, just sore,” Jared sighed as he made his way over to the bed.
Once they got him situated after another painful contraction, Misha quickly examined him and declared him to be only 4 cm dilated.
“Jared I think you need to consider having an epidural. You really aren’t progressing as quickly as I would have hoped and I think that is because the pain is making you tense up and not let your body do what it needs to,” Misha explained.
Jared squeezed at Jensen’s hand and look to him for guidance.
“What should I do? I don’t know what to do,” Jared cried as tears started to slip down his pale cheeks.
“Oh Jare, it’ll be okay. I’m here with you the whole way,” Jensen promised as he wiped at Jared’s tears.
“Take the epidural. I don’t want to see you hurting anymore,” Jensen pleaded as he stroked a loving hand over Jared’s distended belly.
“He’s right, you don’t need to suffer through this. It will be the best thing for your babies too,” Misha urged as he smiled reassuringly.
“It won’t hurt them?” Jared asked as he stroked his hard belly nervously.
“No, definitely not,” Misha promised.
“Okay, do it,” Jared agreed as his face scrunched up in pain with the next contraction.
Within moments, the midwife had a trolley wheeled over to the bed and everything Misha needed was laid out.
“Alright Jared, when this one passes, I need you to sit up and curl up over your belly as far as you possibly can, okay?” Misha instructed as he checked the equipment and readied himself for the procedure.
Jared’s only answer was a pained whimper as he clutched onto Jensen’s hand, Jensen’s supporting squeezing in return helping him to ride out the contraction.
When it finally started to ease, Misha and the midwife helped Jared to sit up. Jensen moved round in front of him, helping him lean as far forward as he possibly could over his big belly.
“Okay, Jared, I’m just swabbing the area and then you will feel a pinch. How are you doing so far?” Misha advised as he painted Jared’s exposed back with Iodine and readied the local anesthetic.
Jared hummed nervously, nodding his head fractionally to indicate he was okay as he squeezed down hard on Jensen’s supporting hands.
“You’ll have some relief soon, just hang in there a little longer and we’ll have those little ones in your arms before you know it,” the midwife reassured him as Misha gently inserted the local and disposed of the used needle.
“Alright Jared, you need to stay completely still for the insertion of the catheter. Are you ready?” Misha asked, his eyes meeting Jensen’s for confirmation that Jared was still okay.
“Mmmmm, just do it,” Jared’s snapped as he curled in tighter still over his belly, squeezing Jensen’s hands to the point of pain.
“Here we go then,” Misha agreed as he carefully inserted the catheter into Jared’s spine.
“Let’s get you laying down now and we’ll get you comfortable in no time,” Misha urged as he helped guide Jared back onto the bed once the procedure was complete.
“Soon you won’t be able to feel anything below your chest so you need to be careful, okay? No trying to leap out of bed,” Misha joked as he covered Jared with the sheet and raised the head of the bed.
“Now, time to make Jensen get off his feet and into that other bed while we let your body do its job in peace,” Misha scolded.
Jensen smiled sheepishly and awkwardly maneuvered himself onto the other bed. The midwife pushed Jensen’s bed next to Jared’s, while the nurse fitted Jared with monitoring belts and sensors.
“Alright you two, I need you both to get some rest and I’ll be back to check on you all in a couple of hours. Hopefully by then, these babies will have gotten the hint that it’s time to come meet their Daddies in person,” Misha said with a smile.
Jensen squeezed Jared’s hand as the monitors signaled that Jared was having quite a strong contraction.
“Okay?” Jensen asked as his eye flickering from the rising numbers on the monitor to Jared’s pale but calm face.
“Yeah, I’m good now,” Jared replied with a wan smile.
“Rest, you are going to need it,” Misha urged as he and the nurses turned down the lights in the room and made for the door.
“Thanks Misha,” Jensen called out as the door to the room shut behind them.
Jensen looked over to Jared, his lips pulling into a soft smile as he took in the sight of Jared stroking the side of his huge belly with gentle caresses.
“Soon, babe, and they will be all yours to cuddle and scold for causing you so much pain,” Jensen reassured him as he awkwardly shuffled his way onto his side so he could watch Jared more comfortably.
“Hmmm, can’t wait to meet them. Do you think they’ll be okay?” Jared asked his face pinching with concern as his eyes drooped with exhaustion.
Jensen laced his fingers over Jared’s and helped him to rub soothing circles into the taut flesh.
“They’ll be fine, just like you will. Get some rest, Jare, you’ve still got some hard work ahead of you,” Jensen urged as he fought to keep his own tired eyes open.
“’kay,” Jared replied with a jaw cracking yawn.
“Sleep,” Jensen urged as his own eyes slid shut as the weariness of the day dragged them both down into sleep.
~o0o~
Jensen snapped to awareness as he heard Jared let out a low, guttural moan.
“What is it, what’s wrong?” Jensen asked as he fumbled to wipe the sleep from his eyes and push himself up the bed.
“He’s okay, it’s time for us to meet these little ones,” Misha’s soothing voice assured him.
“What? Oh really?” Jensen asked, sleep instantly banished at the prospect of meeting their babies.
“Ugggghhhhh, let me push,” Jared cried as he curled in over his rock hard belly.
“Not yet, Jared, just pant for me. I don’t want you to tear,” Misha instructed.
“Jare?” Jensen called to him, his hand grabbing onto Jared’s clammy hand for support.
“Gotta push…uuuugggggGGGGHHHHHH,” Jared cried as he gave into his body’s natural urges.
“No pushing yet Jared, just breathe,” Misha urged as he leaned in, supporting the thinly stretch skin of his perineum.
“Can’t…neeeeedd to puuuuuussssssshhh,” Jared replied with a sob as he continued to push through the long contraction.
“With me Jared, breathe with me,” Jensen urged as he huffed and panted to help Jared get his breathing under control and stop pushing.
“Caannnn’t…aarrrgggghhhhhh,” Jared moaned as he squeezed Jensen’s hand.
“Jared stop, you’re tearing,” Misha demanded as he did what he could to minimize the damage with a quick cut with scissors.
Within moments, a warbling cry rent through the silence of the room as their little girl slipped from Jared in a rush.
“Here she is. Plays hard to get but is all about the attention in the end,” Misha teased as he held her up for her beaming father’s to see.
Jensen bit at his lip as he fought to hold in the tears of joy that threatened to flow as Misha placed their screaming little girl into Jared’s eager arms.
The ache of sorrow still lurked in the shadows of his heart as the memories of holding their silent little girl in his arms the last time superimposed over the joyous image of Jared holding their wailing child in his.
Jensen startled a little as he felt Misha’s hand squeeze his shoulder gently in support.
“It’s okay to miss her today. I’m sure she would have loved to have met her sister in person,” Misha whispered to Jensen.
Jensen nodded, not able to voice his appreciation for Misha’s understanding lest he lose his battle with his emotion and ruin this moment.
“Jen, she’s here. I can’t believe she’s here,” Jared told him with an enormous grin, all the pain of the last hours forgotten in the moment of joy.
“How about you let the nurse take her for a few minutes because you’ve still got some work to do before you’re done and we need to check her out to make sure she is as perfect as she looks…and sounds,” Misha mused as he moved back to the end of Jared’s blood splattered bed while their little girl continue to wail her distress.
Jared looked ready to argue until his face creased with pain once more as the contractions started to intensify again.
“Uuuggghhh, take her,” Jared moaned as he fought to manage the pain of his building contraction.
The nurse quickly whisked her way and started to perform all her newborn tests. Jensen was torn between keeping a close eye on their precious little girl and helping Jared birth their son.
As it was, Jensen had plenty of time to do both as, unlike their daughter who was impatient to arrive once the pushing was engaged, their son was content to bide his time and exhaust his father.
It was after another 45 minutes of strenuous pushing that their little boy finally slipped into the world with a couple of petulant cries before promptly falling off to sleep.
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