Out in the living room, Lia had managed to make things go well enough that they were now kissing softly. Their tongues had just connected when her parents' bedroom door flew open. Shit.

They pulled away reluctantly. Moments later her dad appeared, looking flustered.

"Dad?" She asked. "Everything okay?"

"Your mom's going into labor," he reported. "I need to get her to the hospital."

Lia sat up straighter in excitement. "Really?!"
She stood as her mother began hobbling down the hall. She'd changed into new sweatpants and looked pained but calm.

"Mom!" She ran to her, giving her a hug. "It's really happening?!"

Vanessa nodded. It was definitely happening. Her cervix was making that very clear.

"Do you want to come?" Lin asked as he grabbed a couple more things they needed.

Lia looked at Ayden, then back at her mom.

"You should go," Ayden told her. "We can do this some other time."

"And by this you mean..." said Lin.

"Lin!" Vanessa warned him sharply. He got out his phone and called for a cab. Ayden said a quick goodbye to Lia and congratulated the family.

After Lin had hung up, he turned to his daughter. "He didn't touch you did he?"

"What?" Lia asked. "No!"

"Lin, I'm gonna need some help," Vanessa was trying to stay patient, but Lin's mind seemed to be everywhere. He was instantly by her side, helping her walk.

"Lia, will you carry her overnight bag please?" Lin asked. She grabbed it and soon they were in the lobby after taking the elevator. Lin looked out for the cab as Lia oddly tried to make small talk with her own mother.

Vanessa didn't want to freak her daughter out so she just breathed and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, Lin excitedly informed them that the taxi had arrived. They all hopped in the back seat and Lin told him to head to the hospital.

Once they'd arrived a nurse got Vanessa a wheelchair while Lin checked them in. He looked at his daughter and could tell she was nervous. They had debated whether she should be here or not. Childbirth was no joke. Vanessa decided to leave it up to Lia. If it got too intense she could leave.

Soon, they were being taken up to a room. Vanessa knew it would be a while but Lin and Lia both seemed on edge, like it was going to happen at any moment. She was feeling the need to comfort them instead of the other way around.

"You guys can chill out, you know," she finally told them as Lin paced the small room. "This will take a few hours at the very least."

"How long were you in labor with me?" Lia asked. She had been glued to her phone since arriving.

"Fourteen hours," Vanessa told her. Lia gaped.

"Isn't that illegal or something?" She asked.

"Should be," Vanessa told her, rubbing her belly. "Hopefully these guys come a little faster."

One of the nurses walked back in with a clipboard to take Vanessa's vitals again. The babies were already being monitored and doing just fine. It was just a waiting game.

"You're at three centimeters dilated," she reported after checking.

"Will an epidural be coming soon?" She asked.

The nurse nodded. "The anesthesiologist will be in shortly. Are you comfortable for now?"

Not really, she thought. As comfortable as she could be as two babies decided to come out of her.

"As good as I can be, I guess." She gave a forced smile, at the same time seething as another contraction hit her.

"And the plan is still for Vanessa to have a vaginal delivery, right?" Lin asked as he walked over, noticing V in pain. She immediately grabbed for his hand and tried to remember some of the breathing techniques she had learned in birthing classes.

"The official call for that is above my pay grade, but by the looks of it, I think that's still an option," The nurse replied. Although nothing could ever go exactly as planned, Vanessa was the definition of a type A personality. She had been adamant to her doctor that if she could avoid it, she didn't want to have a cesarean. Her OB had been upfront with her that considering her age and the fact that she was having multiples, the likelihood was a toss-up.

The nurse excused herself out of the room, leaving the family of three by themselves.

Vanessa let out a huge sigh as she leaned back into the hospital bed. She forgot how much labor mirrored running a 10K in two minutes intervals. She couldn't deny that having Lin by her side, pushing the sweaty strands of hair out of her face, made it that much more bearable.

"You're amazing," She said breathlessly looking up at her fiance.

Lin chuckled, "Well, that's the understatement of the century compared to you," He leaned down to kiss her forehead, "Need anything? Water? Ice chips?"

She shook her head, but was reminded of the fifteen year old that was huddled up in the hospital chair, "Lia, did you eat anything?"

"No,"

Vanessa looked at the clock hanging off the wall, "It's already 9:30. Why didn't you eat during the movie?"

Lia opened her mouth to answer, but then stopped herself. She wasn't going to admit that you can't really eat wings while you're kissing to her laboring mother, especially as she felt her dad's eyes on her, "We.... I just forgot."

It was a moment of levity for Vanessa, watching her bashful teen try to finesse her way around talking about her date. She got lucky with her, and it was a needed reminder that all of the pain would be over soon enough and she would be holding two equally as amazing kiddos. "I doubt the cafeteria is open. Lin, give Lia cash for the vending machine."

"Maybe she won't forget to eat during the movie next time,"

"Lin!" She was also going to have the pleasure of raising these two babies from start to finish with the knucklehead she was in love with, "I don't think the hospital is gonna give us two newborns to take home if they think we're starving the live one,"

"Saved by the twins," He grumbled under his breath as he pulled a ten dollar bill from his wallet.

Lia gave him a teasing smile as she happily accepted the money, "You want anything?"

"No thanks," Lin replied, "Just don't get lost,"

Lia gave a thumbs up before leaving the room.

"That girl is something else," He quipped as he stroked V's hair.

"You think letting her stay is going to traumatize her?" Vanessa asked.

"I thought that was the plan?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes, "Lin, be serious,"

"I'm kidding...kinda," Lin said with a smirk and a kiss to V's temple, "Nah. I think she'll be fine. She's as brave as her mom,"

"Can you believe this time tomorrow we'll be parents to three?"

The words still made both of their hearts skip a beat.

"How are you feeling?" Lin asked, wanting to get a radar on how she actually was. He could tell she was in discomfort, but also knew her well enough to know the answer she'd give him would be much different once Lia came back in the room.

"Like my entire body has been ran over by a car thrice over," Vanessa admitted, "I've been keeping my eye on the clock, waiting for the exact second the anesthesiologist comes in with the epidural,"

"Want me to go bribe someone with Hamilton tickets to get them to come in?"

Vanessa began to laugh, only for that to get interrupted by another contraction. She tightened the grasp around Lin's hand, as he whispered positive affirmations to her. When it finally ended, she closed her eyes and let out another deep breath.

"Keep...talking," Vanessa insisted, "It helps distract,"

"Last time I looked at my phone, our families were going back and forth in a group chat as to who is going to be the first one to find out," He recounted the ridiculous family drama that he knew would garner a smile from Vanessa. If talking was what V needed, talking was what he'd do. If she had told him to start doing cartwheels to help, he probably would have ended up with a broken leg at his attempts. He would do anything for her.

"You're joking,"

"What both of our parents seem to not get is they are in a group chat. They're going to find out at the exact same time," The couple had discussed previously that they wanted to keep their hospital visitors to their tiny family. Even if Lia had chosen not to come, Lin and Vanessa had wanted births to be something just for them.

"Oh boy," Vanessa laughed and shook her head, "We also have to remind Lia not to post anything,"

"Not to post what?" Lia said as she walked back into the hospital room, with two cups of coffee and a bag of 'Famous Amos' chocolate chip cookies.

"You were going for the dinner of champions, weren't you?" Lin joked.

"It was either cookies or doritos, and coffee and doritos sounded disgusting. And here you go," She handed him a coffee cup. "I figured you'd want the coffee at some point."

"Thanks Lia," He said with a smile, shaking his hand when she tried to give him back the change. She pocketed the money and sat back down. "What don't you want me to post?"

"Anything about us being here or when the babies come," Vanessa replied, "And only talk about it with Hunter or Ayden until dad posts something. We don't want people knowing we're here,"

Lia nodded her head as she dunked one of her cookies into her coffee, a combination that wasn't half-bad.

"And the same rule that applies to you, applies for the twins. No photos of their faces online,"

"You got it," Lia answered. That rule was one of the ones that Lia agreed with her parents on, especially involving her soon to be younger siblings. She hated most of the photos that were out there of her, and wanted to keep them away from it.

Like a gift from above, a quick knock at the door brought in Vanessa's life saver, a man in green scrubs there to administer the epidural. Although Lia had squirmed a bit when she saw the needle inserted into her mom's back, Vanessa was in pure heaven when the numbness started to take over. Around midnight, however, the doctor gave her news that she hadn't been looking forward to.

"But I don't want a c-section,"

"Based on when your labor started and how slow your progress has been, I have to strongly recommend against vaginal delivery."

Between exhaustion from labor and it being near the middle of the night, Vanessa was feeling overwhelmed, "What if we wait a while and see if she progresses any further?" Lin asked, still at his fiance's side.
"We could, but right now, Vanessa and the babies aren't in any distress. Waiting could change that,"

With her fingers intertwined with Lin's hand, Vanessa rubbed at her temple, as she stressed at the turn of events. They agreed to move forward with the c-section, and the doctor told them it would be scheduled for an hour from then. When she left the room, Vanessa looked at Lin, tears glossed over in her eyes. "This isn't what I wanted,"

"I know," Lin said, his voice filled with compassion.

"And I trust the science behind it and I agree with the doctor that it's better to have a plan in place rather than wait for the danger zone, but,"

"But it still isn't what you wanted," Lin reaffirmed her feelings.

Vanessa nodded, wiping away a few stray tears that fell down her cheeks. She was thankful Lia had conked out in what looked like a very uncomfortable hospital chair around 11:30. She made them continuously promise that they'd wake her if anything happened, but she wanted some time to process her feelings with Lin before that.

"Hey," Lin's voice got her out of her thoughts as he lifted up her chin towards him, "We're going to be good. It's a bit of a surprise, but what hasn't come as a surprise this entire year?"

Vanessa tightened her grasp around his hand, not out of pain but out of comfort.

"Besides," Lin continued, "They are just trying to be like their dad and make a grand entrance out of everything,"

Vanessa laughed as Lin kissed her cheek, "I hope they're like you in a million ways,"

"Well, I want them to be like you in a million ways so looks like we're gonna have some competition on our hands,"

"I think the two of you are incredibly corny in a million ways," Lia said with a yawn as her eyes fluttered open, "What time is it?"

"A little past midnight. Mom's going to have a c-section around 1:30." Lin answered.

Lia fumbled out of the chair, still a bit groggy from her quick nap, "Is everything okay? I thought you didn't want that?" She asked with an edge to her voice.

"Everything's fine," Vanessa assured her, taking her hand, "The doctor is just being extra cautious,"

Lia's eyes shifted between her parents, as if she was trying to see if either one's face was going to tell a different story than what her mom was saying. They both gave her reassuring looks.

"We promise everything is fine," Lin emphasized, "You won't be able to go into the OR, but you'll be the absolute first person to know."

"I better be," Lia said with a smile.

"We'll even let you choose the twins' names," Lin said sarcastically, garnering two different reactions from the mother and daughter.

"Seriously?" Lia's eyes widened. She knew how manic her mom had been about the names of the babies. She had overheard her parents going back and forth on them just the day before, still not having anything set.

"Yeah, I like that idea," The response from Vanessa surprised the pair.

"I was only kidding, V," Lin said, not sure if she was joking or the drugs were getting to her.

"You said it yourself, everything's been a surprise." She looked over at Lia, "You can choose the middle names,"

Lia squealed in delight, and took her phone out to begin sourcing the internet for baby name lists. Vanessa looked at Lin with a smile and shrug of her shoulder. In a few short hours, the family of three would change to a family of five and so much about their lives would change. For now, she wanted to savor every moment left, with an assured feeling that everything would be okay.