Getting to the hospital is an interesting experience, since the only calm one in the care seems to be me. Ollie is fretting, going as quickly as he can without being pulled over. Every few seconds, he is asking me if I am okay, seeming to not believe me no matter how many times I tell him I am fine.

Nico is no better. He had ridden over to the courthouse with us and sits next to me in the backseat, letting me squeeze his hand every time I have a contraction. He quietly assured me every time I grit my teeth in pain, but his eyes belie his concern.

Once we get to the hospital, Ollie drops us off at the entrance to the maternity ward before going to find a parking spot. Collected nurses greet us with a wheelchair, which I greatly sit down in. Another contraction is starting, and I want to get an epidural as soon as possible.

It doesn't take long for us to be admitted into the hospital, and for Dr. Romero to show up, a wide smile on her face.

"Milo! Didn't think I would see you so soon, but it seems the boys are ready to meet you." She pushes in an ultrasound in front of her, hooking everything up. "Let's take a look to see how everything is going."

Ollie comes rushing in then, panting. "Sorry! Sorry. There were barely any parking spots. The parking lot here is tiny." He quickly makes his way over to me, taking Nico's place in holding my hand.

"Isn't this happening too soon?" I ask, the worry starting to settle in me. "I'm only thirty-four weeks."

Dr. Romero hums, squirting the gel on my stomach and moving it around with the wand. "This is pretty good for being pregnant with twins. They will most likely need some breathing help and some sun therapy, but they have high chances of being healthy."

She is quiet for a few minutes, eyes closely watching the screen as she moves the wand around. Everything just looks blurry to me. No matter how hard I stare at the screen, I can't make out what is going on.

Eventually, she puts down the wand and turns off the machine. "Everything looks good so far. Both boys are head down and do not seem to be in any distress. But, I am going to hook you up to a monitor in order to keep an eye on the boys. Other than that, you are free to move around, and try to get labor to progress." She moves over to the sink, washing her hands before snapping on a pair of gloves. "Let's take a look to see how far along you are already."

Nico moves over to the chair near my head while Dr. Romero lifts the sheets and sticks her fingers someplace I really do not want them to be. After a couple seconds, she puts the sheet back down and snaps off the gloves, giving me another smile. "It looks like you are about four centimeters dilated, which is pretty good."

"Oh god, I hope this goes quickly," I murmur, wincing as another contraction starts. "Hurts so much."

"Do you want me to call the anesthesiologists to get you an epidural?" Dr. Romero says.

"Yes please," I grit out, teeth clenched together as I ride out the pain.

She just has a knowing look on her face and nods her head. "I'll have one of the nurses page him. Try to rest in between contractions if you can. I'll see you in an hour."

We are left alone for only a minute after that, before a nurse comes bustling in, taking all of my health measurements before setting up the monitor.

"I paged Dr. Leonard. He will be here in about an hour, since he is currently in another ward of the hospital right now."

"Okay, thank you," I say, relaxing back into the bed as my latest contraction finally ends.

"Do you need anything, Milo?" Nico asks from the chair he is sitting in. "Maya is going to head out soon, so I can ask her to pick something up if you need it."

At first, I shake my head, before remembering that we are missing something. "Yeah. Can you have her pick up our hospital bag? It has all of the boys' stuff."

"And can you ask her to feed Emmie if she runs over to our house? We probably won't be home for the next few days." Ollie sits on the edge of the bed, the warmth radiating off of him a comfort.

"Of course," Nico says, pushing himself up from the chair. "I'll go call her now." He is already dialing Maya when he leaves the room.

"Can I do anything for you, love" Ollie murmurs, brushing the hair away from my face. "Rub your back, get you some ice?"

"Help me stand up?" I ask, kissing his hand when he caresses my cheek.

He nods, wrapping his arm around my waist and slowly pulling me up. Once I am sitting up, he helps me to the ground, the generic hospital socks doing nothing to block the cold coming from the floor. Hopefully, Maya will get here soon with my stuff so that I can at least shuffle around in my slippers.

"Walk with me?" I ask.

"Of course, love."

Ollie keeps his arm around my waists and helps me to walk out of the room. The nurses don't even seem surprised to see me shuffling around, just go back to whatever they are doing on their computers while I work out my urge to move.

Another contraction comes over me, stronger than the ones before it. The pain is so much that I have to stop, holding onto the railing in the hallway in order to keep myself from falling over. Ollie rubs my back through the pain, whispering something to me, the words non-comprehensible, but the cadence soothing.

By the time the contraction ends, I am practically huffing. Ollie is taking most of my weight as I lean against him, but he doesn't make any type of complaint.

"Do you want to head back to the room?" he asks, watching me with worried eyes.

"No." I pull myself up, continuing my walking down the hall. "I want to move around as much as possible before I get the epidural."

Ollie just stays by my side the entire time, offering comforting words whenever I need him. Eventually, I head back to my room and send him off for some ice.

Dr. Romero pops in a few times throughout the rest of the afternoon, telling me that I am making progress. The boys don't seem to be in any type of distress, and the walking around has helped to speed up the dilating. By ten o'clock that night, I am finally at the point where I can push.

"Okay, Milo," Dr. Romero says from between my legs. "It's time to start pushing. Do you feel any pressures telling you when to push or would you like me to couch you through it?" she says, no judgment on her face.

"I can feel the pressure," I say.

She just nods. "Good, good." Her hands move the sheet from my body completely, and one of the nurses comes to help me hold my leg back, while Ollie holds the other. "Now, with your next contraction, I want you to push for however long your body tells you too, but don't feel the need to go as hard as you can. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We don't want you to tire out before the hardest parts."

Nodding, I feel the pressure building up again, and I grab onto Ollie's hand. He doesn't even grimace as I squeeze his hand, pushing until the urge passes. We continue like this forever, Ollie wiping away any sweat that gathers on my forehead while murmuring encouragement.

"It-It changed," I gasp after the latest contraction. "It feels different."

Dr. Romero smiles at me. "Baby A is crowning. Now, with this next contraction, I need you to push for as long as I tell you. Ready?"

"Yeah," I say through gritted teeth. There is no gap between contractions now, my body eager to get these babies out.

"Alright, now push."

Doing as she says, I fight back the urge to cry. There is no pain, but the pressure is intense.

"Good, Milo," she says, hands working quickly. "Baby's head is out. Just one more push to get the shoulders and he will be here."

This is enough encouragement to have me pushing harder than before, working through the pressure of the next contraction. And then the pressure is gone.

"Here he is," Dr. Romero says, holding the baby up. She is quick to set him on my chest, clearing out his mouth and vigorously rubbing his back until he starts to cry. "Good baby."

I don't get long to look at him before another contraction comes upon me. One of the nurses is quick to pick him up when she sees me struggling, holding him up for me to give him a kiss before whisking him away to take his measurements.

"This one should be easier than the first baby," Dr. Romero says. "Just push when you feel the need."

She is completely right. It doesn't take me nearly as many pushes to get my other baby boy out. Unlike his brother, he immediately starts to cry.

The rest of the birth is mostly unnoticed, only pushing when Dr. Romero tells me too in order to get the placenta out. It takes about a half an hour for her to stitch up the smaller tear I had gotten and clean everything else up.

Ollie helps to wipe me up, while she goes to see the boys, talking to the nurses. My nerves are on edge, and I just want to see them already, worried that something might be wrong. They are six weeks early, which is better than we hoped for, but not what we originally planned.

Eventually, both of the nurses come over, each of them holding a baby. Very carefully, they are settled into my arms. Ollie sits down on the bed next to me, allowing me to lean against him.

Dr. Romero comes over then, finishing jotting some things down on a clipboard before giving us a wide smile. "They are both doing very well. Baby B has some jaundice that we will want to address, but besides that, they are perfectly fine." She points to the little boy on the left, fast asleep against my chest. "Baby A is five pounds six ounces, and 17.8 inches." She points to the baby on my right, who is wide awake and gumming at me. "Baby B is five pounds one ounce, and 17.3 inches."

"They're both healthy?" I ask again, despite the fact she just said they would.

She just gives an understanding nod. "They are both doing great. Now, I would recommend nursing them and then letting all of you rest. But, we can always give them a bottle in the nursery while you sleep. It is completely up to you."

"I'll try nursing them," I say.

"Okay, let's get you situated."

Together, she and Ollie help me to sit up. Setting the boys on my lap, Ollie unties the back of my gown and lets the top fall away.

With Dr. Romero's help, we are able to get both boys latched, despite the fact that they are both sleepy. But, as soon as they are latched, they both start to suckle, which is the weirdest sensation.

Dr. Romero watches them with a critical eye, adjusting their latches. It takes a little bit, but a pinching in my chest finally comes, and the boys' dry suckles turn into tiny gulps.

"Ah, there we go." She smiles. "I'll leave you guys alone. Just hit that button on the bed to get the nurses when they are done, and they will take them to the nursery. Baby B will get his light therapy for a couple hours."

Nodding, I can't take my eyes off of my babies, too enraptured by them. She must leave, though, because Ollie relaxes next to me.

"God, Milo, they're perfect," he whispers, fingers brushing over both of their faces.

"They are. I can't believe we made such perfect babies."

We are both silent after that, both watching our babies. They are both starting to drift off, the suckles slowing down. But every time I move, they start nursing again, clearly not wanting to be unlatched.

"Do you still want to go with the names we chose?"

"Yeah," I whisper. "They seem fitting."

"Which one looks like Ezra and which one looks like Ellery?"

Humming, I look in between them, taking a minute to finally decide. "Baby A looks like an Ezra Amari Katz and Baby B looks like an Ellery Maxwell Katz."

Ollie smiles. "I agree."

Finally tearing my eyes away from the babies, I look up at Ollie, a sleepy smile on my face. "I love you."

His answering grin has my heart fluttering. "I love you too. Thank you for everything, love."

Shaking my head, I lean back against him. "No, no, no. No thanking. If anything, I should be thanking you. You gave me the family I didn't think I would ever get to have. You've given me everything I've ever wanted."

Ollie lays down next to me then, giving a small laugh when the boys scrunch up their faces at being picked up and one placed on each of our chests to be burped.

"I never thought I would get to be with you, love. And now we have children together. So, yes, thank you."

Instead of arguing, I just smile, patting Ellery's back and reveling in the warmth of the family I never thought I would get to have.