Sebastian Alexander Nadal-Miranda and Stella Adriana Nadal-Miranda came into the world twenty-three minutes apart in the middle of the night. Lin didn't hold back any tears as he saw his babies for the first time, both wailing loudly. He was in complete awe of the moment, and knew he'd never forget it.

Lia didn't sleep a minute while her mom and dad were in the OR room. She paced outside the restricted area to know the very moment her dad came out of the room. When he told her the great news, she cheered so loudly that it sparked the attention of the others in the waiting room. Lin didn't care. He thought they should all celebrate as loudly as they wanted to.

About an hour later, Vanessa and the babies, who both were doing amazing with high APGAR scores, were back in her room. Although she was a bit sore, it was the last thing on her mind when she looked at the babies that had just entered her life. She felt an overwhelming feeling of pride when Lia finally met them. She was thankful that Lin was a photo junkie, which only seemed to intensify since the arrival of the twins.

When the discussion of the names came about Lin and Vanessa landed on Stella and Sebastian, two names they had both fallen in love with that kept popping up on their individual lists. For the middle names Adriana was easy as it was Vaness's middle name, but when Lia had suggested Alexander as a middle name, Vanessa's immediate reaction was to roll her eyes as she was adamant that her child wasn't going to be named after a slave trader or the most cliche character in his father's show. When she reasoned that without the show though, they would have never gotten to this very moment, she couldn't help but cry. Damn hormones.

She let the joy of the babies mask the physical pain she was feeling. One of the reasons she hadn't wanted a c-section was because the recovery time was so much longer. Not only had her body been opened up and her muscles cut into, but she couldn't lift anything for weeks. That would mean the work would be on Lin and Lia. Lin was ultra busy with his final weeks of the show. Lia was a teenager and had her own agenda. She knew Lia would happily help but that wasn't her job. Luckily, both sets of parents were willing to help out.

One by one family and close friends came to the hospital to meet their new family members. Though they were a bit early, they were both on the upper side of 5 pounds. Lin and Vanessa happily showed them off. Vanessa needed her rest and would stay in the hospital a couple days to recover from the surgery.

Three days later, Lin had lugged the two baby carriers to the hospital so they could get a taxi home. Vanessa was wheeled down in a wheelchair. It would almost be like being on bed rest again for the near future. She felt a bit of a gloom taking over her - she was thrilled to have her babies but felt a disappointment that it hadn't gone to plan and that her movements were yet again restricted.

Lin threatened the cab driver with his life if he went even a mile per hour over the speed limit. They slowly made their way home. Lia and Lin each took a baby and Vanessa walked slowly.

The parental reinforcements would come later, but for now it was time to be a family of five alone. Lia excitedly took her sleeping sister straight to their nursery. She gently scooped her out, taking care to support her head.

Lin, Vanessa and Sebastian joined them a few minutes later, finding the teenager gently swaying with Stella.

Lin gently set his son in his crib and Vanessa gently told Lia it was time to put them down. It would soon be time to wake them up for a feeding. When the nurses had told them they needed to be fed every two hours Vanessa immediately felt exhausted. Would she ever sleep?

They all looked at the sleeping infants for a few minutes before gently closing the door. Lia decided to take a nap in her room and Lin encouraged his fiancé to do the same.

After being away from home several days, Vanessa felt the urge to put things away and get settled again. Lin was persistent that she needed to lay down. She needed her rest. He tucked her into bed and sat on the edge. Lin gently tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"How you feeling?" He asked softly.

"Drained," she replied honestly.

Lin nodded in understanding. She'd been a trooper this whole pregnancy and stayed strong when the delivery didn't go according to plan.

"You should get some rest," he said. "I'll feed the babies in an hour."

He kissed her forehead and left her to nap. Lin busied himself starting a load of laundry and putting dishes away. As he walked softly down the hallway he heard sniffling coming from his bedroom. He stopped by the door and listened for a minute. Vanessa was crying.

Lin softly pushed the door open and approached the bed. Vanessa laid on her side, facing away from him.

"V?" He called gently. She stopped crying and wiped at her eyes. Lin sat on the edge and gently rubbed at her arm. Her face was pink from crying.

"What's the matter sweetheart?"

"I...I don't know," she told him, hiding her face. She was embarrassed that she was losing it. She was confused as to why she was losing it. They had two beautiful healthy babies and she should be grateful.

"Are you still tired?" He probed.

"I'm exhausted," she told him. "And it still hurts."

Lin looked at his watch. It was almost time for her pain meds. "Well let's take those meds a little early and we'll ask the doctor about upping the dose. How about a bath?"

She shook her head. "I can't get water on my incision."

"Right," he said. "How about I rub your back a little?"

Vanessa nodded. Lin got her meds and a glass of water. After she'd swallowed them he laid behind her and began to rub large circles on her back. He hummed gently and heard her breathing begin to slow.

Lin could hear one of the babies crying. He gently kissed Vanessa's hair and extracted himself to go to the nursery.

He pushed the door open and found Stella squirming, all swaddled up. Lin calmly walked over and picked up his tiny daughter. Her face was scrunched up in anger, her fists tight.

Lin took a quick sniff and didn't smell anything foul so he figured she might be hungry. He took her to the kitchen so she wouldn't wake her brother. Like a pro, he held Stella with one arm to his chest as he found the formula with the other.

It took a bit longer than it should have but he finally got the formula warmed. He sat on the couch and propped her up in the crook of his arm and she immediately began to feed.

"There you go, Miss Stella," he cooed at her. "You're a hungry girl, huh?"

The infant ate hungrily for five minutes, then Lin heard her brother begin to cry. What was he supposed to do now? Stella needed to finish her bottle but she couldn't let poor Sebastian cry.

He stood with his daughter and walked back to the nursery. He decided to put Stella back in her crib for the moment while he picked up Sebastian. Stella immediately began wailing in protest. Lin knew he needed help.

He walked to the next door and knocked. Lia had been asleep but he asked if she could help for a minute. Lia nodded and followed him. He had her sit in the rocker and handed Stella and the bottle to her. Lin focused on changing his son's diaper and then went to fix him a bottle as well. He reminded Lia to burp her sister when she was done feeding.

Twenty minutes later, both babies were burped and back asleep again. Lin sat on the couch and looked at the ceiling.

Lin knew they had their work cut out for them.

—-

A couple hours later Luis and Luz arrived to spend more time with the twins and to help out their son and his family. Each of them took a turn bottle feeding a twin. Vanessa stayed in comfy clothes and sipped on tea.

"Have you changed any diapers yet, Lia?" Luz asked her granddaughter.

"Blech," she made a disgusted face. "I draw the line there. No diapers for me thanks."

"Oh, I didn't mention there would be a quota?" Lin teased his daughter. "Ten diapers a week or no allowance."

Lia stuck her tongue out at her dad and he laughed.

"Are you taking a few days off the show?" Luis asked.

Lin nodded. "I'll go back Thursday," he said. "So I'm sure Vanessa would like some extra help. Then about two more weeks and I'll be done."

"How are you feeling about it?" Luz asked as Sebastian ate.

Lin shrugged. "I feel like I'm leaving the show in a pretty good place. Javier is more than ready to take over. Plus I'm really ready to cut my hair."

They talked some more about upcoming plans, including heading to Wales. The twins would need to get passports and they needed to find a place with two cribs. A seven hour plane ride could be difficult with two newborns, and they only had a little over two months to get everything done.

Stella began to cry after she finished her bottle. Apparently she was still hungry.

"I'll fix some more milk," Vanessa said, moving to get up.

"No, no, sit down," Lin said immediately, standing up. His fiancé had done quite enough work. He felt like he needed to do as much as he could now that the babies were born.

Luis held Stella up to his shoulder and patted at her back to burp her. She continued to cry. Already they were starting to see Stella could be pretty demanding.

He passed the baby girl to her mother and Vanessa tried to calm her down. Finally, Lin returned with another bottle and she began to feed hungrily. As she looked down at her daughter, Vanessa felt some tears escape and she wasn't sure why.

Lin was perched on the arm of the chair and noticed her crying. He asked quietly if she was okay but she didn't respond.

"Why don't you go lay down?" He suggested softly. Both of them had only gotten an hour or so of sleep at a time throughout the nights. He was exhausted and he hadn't had surgery.

Vanessa nodded, avoiding eye contact with everyone as Lin took Stella. She excused herself and headed to her bedroom.

"What's wrong with mom?" Lia asked her dad.

"I think she's a little overwhelmed," he reasoned. "Plus she's recovering some surgery."

"It's common in new moms," Luz, the psychologist, commented as she patted Sebastian's bottom. "She might have some postpartum depression."

"But shouldn't she be happy?" Lia asked.

"It's all the hormones," Luz explained. "And just a lot of work and change. It doesn't mean she isn't thrilled to have the babies. She's a great mom."

Lia nodded in agreement, concerned about her mom. She rarely cried. After a few more minutes catching up with her grandparents she told her dad she was going to check on her mom.

Lia made her way back to her parents' bedroom, finding her mom already tucked under the covers, the curtains drawn. She heard her mother quietly crying as she curled up next to her and closed her eyes, wishing her pain away.