THIRTY-SIX
The Evil Twin
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Arthur – Day One of Fatherhood
OFFICIAL BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
Issued by Valcourt Palace
Date: December 24th, 2018
The Duke and Duchess of Wellingbourne are delighted to announce the safe arrival of Princess Florence Gwendolyn Evi Cecily (6 lbs 4 oz), born at 3:25 p.m., and Prince James Edward Ruben Winston (6 lbs 2 oz), born at 3:26 p.m.. Both babies and their mum are doing well and are expected to be released from Valcourt Memorial Hospital in time for Christmas dinner.
***
"HOW ARE YOU FEELING? I mean really, not the stock answer you're giving everyone else."
I lean down and give Tessa a long kiss on the forehead so she can't see the tears in my eyes. I know you're thinking, ‘But Arthur, crying isn’t manly. You're supposed to be this tough, manly man who does mixed martial arts every morning and always has a quick comeback.’
But even though I'm hiding my tears from her, I'm not ashamed to admit my entire world has been rocked in those few minutes between everything being seemingly fine and all those alarms going off. And well...I can't even bring myself to think about it now that it's over.
Our firstborn, baby Florence (or Flora for short), is lying skin-to-skin on Tessa’s upper chest, whilst I hold our son, James, both of whom have perfectly rounded heads covered in wisps of blond hair.
"Told you I’d get my twilight sleep birth,” she says with a faint grin.
I laugh, a little shocked at her ability to make a joke at a time like this.
“I'm fine, Arthur. Really. If I had to guess, I'd say you're more shaken up than I am."
"Ridiculous. I'm absolutely calm as a cucumber."
"No, you're not. First of all, the saying is ‘cool as a cucumber’, and the fact that you're mixing your metaphors tells me you're upset. Second, your lips were glued to my forehead for a very long time, which can only mean you don't want me to know how emotional you are at the moment."
Leaning back, I smile down at her, hoping I look confident but knowing that isn’t very realistic. Her face is all blurry, which must mean my eyes have filled with damn tears again. "Do you remember a long time ago you accused me of wanting to put you into a padded room and keep you locked away from the world..."
"You want to do that now, don't you?"
"I'm just wondering if you're open to negotiation here."
“We’re fine, Arthur. I promise.”
"Yes, but just in case, let's agree to never do this again. Never, never, never."
"I can't promise I won't change my mind, but at this exact moment the idea of never being pregnant or going through labour again sounds pretty freaking good."
I chuckle, then give her a kiss on the lips, overwhelmed by gratitude that she's still here to make me laugh. Resting my forehead to hers, I swallow hard, trying to rein in these damn emotions already.
“Poor baby, you’ve been positively traumatized." Tessa reaches up and touches my cheek with the back of her fingers, causing warmth to spread through me.
"No, I haven't. I just won’t be letting you out of my sight for the next several years or until I can convince myself you'll be okay, whichever comes first. I hope you won't mind us using the bathroom in front of each other from now on." I give her a half-grin to let her know I'm only half-joking.
"Let’s leave a little mystery, shall we?”
“After what happened earlier, I’d say the mystery is...” I stop myself before I ruin the moment. “Never going to end, of course.”
Flora stirs and draws our attention away from each other. Tessa tilts her chin to look down at her. “She’s absolutely perfect, isn’t she?” Glancing at James, she says, “Both of them, I mean. They’re both perfectly perfect in every way.”
