Prologue:

  Sweat dripped down the side of her face as the pain from another contraction rippled through her. They were getting closer together now. She knew it was close to the end of this journey. And while she wanted the pain to stop, she wasn’t quite ready for what was to come after. It wasn’t going to be easy, this thing she had to do. But she would do it, for the sake of her family. For their safety. “Almost there! Just a few more pushed and all your hard work will be rewarded with a beautiful, healthy baby.” The nurse offered encouragingly, blotting the sweat from the young woman’s forehead. The sunny disposition of the nurse made the woman inwardly roll her eyes. She shew she should tell them. Let them know her secret before they noticed how complicated the labor could get. But instead, she remained silent. She had barely uttered a word since walking in and giving a false name. That was the point of her coming to a smaller hospital in the middle of nowhere. No one would recognize her here. It was the best plan she could thing up when the contractions had woken her up before dawn. Now it was full on night, and the end was getting closer. Her family would be in an uproar when they found her. But this was for the best. They didn’t know her secret either. The monitors beeped rhythmically to the erratically beating of the woman’s heartbeat. Between contractions, the woman looked up at the ceiling, breathing slowly. The tiles were yellowing and a few were cracked in places. The once pristine white walls showed signs of peeling and age. The medical equipment looked perfect if not a little outdated. Same could be said about the doctor. With his snow white hair, and the amount of crinkles that lined his face, his manner was quiet but confident. She liked that about him so far. He didn’t say more than was needed, seemingly leaving the positivity to the nurses. Another contraction tore through her body and her body urged her to push. Deep breath, push, deep breath. She went on like this for several minutes. “Just a few more hard pushes and you’ll be done.” The doctor coached in a calm voice, and the young woman bore down and gave it all her strength. Suddenly, the pressure eased and she heard the most beautiful sound. Her baby cried with a healthy vigor! She breathed a sigh of relief. It was music to her ears, as sweet as a siren’s call. The doctor laid the baby on the mother’s chest and the nurse began to wipe baby down. “Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! Ten perfect little toes!” the nurse said excitedly, covering mom and baby with warmed blankets. “We will give baby a good bath and look over in a few hours, after some rest. Birthing is just as tiring for babies as it is for the mothers.” She continued to chatter while the doctor finished setting the mother to rights. Just as the woman had relaxed, snuggling her baby, a contraction hit again. The doctor who was mid exam, whipped his head up and locked eyes with her. Understanding dawning in his clear blue eyes. The nurse, who had been tucking the blanket around mother and baby, had felt the tightening of the woman’s stomach, and looked shocked at the doctor. Her smile faded instantly. The next contraction came harder and much more quickly than the young woman was anticipating, and she was barely able to hold back her scream of pain. “Thank you all for your help, nurses, but let’s give this new mother a few minutes of rest before we move her. I’ll stay here with her in case an emergency comes up, as I am sure you have other patients to check on. I promise, I don’t mind playing nursemaid for a bit, and it keeps me from taking you nurses for granted.” He winked and a few chuckles from the nurses rang out as they all started to file out, heading to the other laboring women. “I-I’ll stay” said the nurse wiping the sweat from the mother’s face again. “Just in case,” she nodded her silent oath of discretion to the doctor. When the door clicked shut after the nurses had left, she ran over and locked the door. She rushed around the room, grabbing medical supplies and bringing it closer to the bed. “Just in case,” she said. “The contractions are very close so all this should be over pretty quickly,” the doctor smiled, though the young woman noticed the lines of worry now etched in his aged face. Breathe, push, breathe, and push. Within 3 more contractions, the second, much smaller baby was pushed into the world, but no cry came. The doctor and nurse set to work. They laid the baby on the cot, and began working. Silent tears flowed unnoticed down the mother’s face. She held her first baby tighter, not understanding what was going on but knowing better than to distract the medical staff from the task at hand with questions. She listened for what felt like hours but was only a few moments, when a small, weak cry came from her second baby. Her heart rose in jubilation! They laid the swaddled newborn on the mother’s chest, next to their womb-mate. Matching red peach fuzz dusted the soft skin of their heads, almost the same shade as her own. More tears fell as she looked at the beautiful faces of the lives she had brought into the world. The nurse started cleaning up as the doctor resumed the exam, making sure the mother was healthy after such a long birth. The young woman stared at the babies, filled with wonder and fulfillment. Ignoring that small voice in her head, nagging her that this couldn’t last. She knew her time with them was finite. She would have to make a decision, eventually. Even now, that doctor and nurse were almost through with their parts in this. She could feel their eyes on her as they finished hiding the evidence of her second labor. She knew what they were going to say. “Does anyone else know,” the doctor asked calmly. The woman shook her head no.“I never told anyone of my suspicions, and I refused ultrasounds. I-I told them I wanted to be surprised.” She said “And no one argued with you? Even for the health of the baby, well in this case, babies?” The nurse chimed in, questioningly. “Well they tried, but I was adamant, and my last two pregnancies were normal with no complications so they acquiesced to my wishes. I’ve not told a soul. I was hoping to be wrong. ”She brushed a tear away and looked at the sweet faces of her babies. “You can’t keep them both. You know that right?” The doctor’s voice, while quiet, held a finality that the woman didn’t want to acknowledge. “They wouldn’t be safe if they are kept together. And you would be hunted down if anyone caught wind of them. Plus, there is going to be a hard time keeping them apart. Twins have a knack for finding the other. “Listen, I know this is hard. And I would never be able to understand, but there is a woman here at the hospital. She lost her baby during birth. You could let her take one of the babies. Raise it as her own. On one would really notice. Two women came in pregnant, and two women left with a baby each. It’s not perfect, but you would have the peace knowing that your child is out there being loved by someone.” The doctor gently urged her. “How am I supposed to choose?” she cried, cause the babies to stir in her arms. They made cute little mewling sounds, and her heart melted all over again. “We will give you a few minutes of privacy while you decide. I hate to rush you, I honestly do; but if we are going to try and save you and both babies, I can only afford you a few minutes.” The doctor laid his hand on her should for a moment, offering silent support, and walked out to give her some privacy. The nurse added some extra pillows and blankets around the mother to help support her and the babies, and said, “I’ll be right outside the door if you need anything.” And then she too, walked out of the room. Only then did the woman truly five in to her grief. Her sobs waking the babies, so she nursed them. This would be the only time she would be able to do this for them both. She cried the whole time. After they finished, she held them tightly to her and kissed their soft heads. She took a deep breath and took in their newborn scent. How could she do this? She couldn’t! Her heart was breaking at the thought. She couldn’t wrap her head around the thought of not being able to watch her baby grow up. To not kiss their little scraped and bruises, or break up silly fights between the two. She couldn’t imagine living a life where she wouldn’t be able to hug them when they were scared, or listen to them ramble on about their day. A life where she couldn't sing silly songs with them of tuck them into bed every night. Life wasn’t fair. She knew it and yet her heart still rebelled at the situation she found herself in. The nurse and doctor came back in, looking solemn. "I spoke to the other woman. She has agreed to the plan and promises to never utter a word to anyone. Do you agree to this as well?” The doctor’s eyes held so much sympathy that the woman’s tears started again. She nodded as she handed the swaddled baby to the nurse. The bundle began to cry instantly, as if sensing their world was being ripped away by the gentlest of hands. The woman held her remaining baby closer, crying all the harder as her heart shattered with the closing of the door. As she sniggled the whimpering baby closer, she vowed she would put an end to this. She would make it where no other mother would have to feel this heartbreak. She would do everything in her power to change the laws recently created. Because of these laws, she had just committed a crime by allowing them to survive. They were separated, but alive. Because twins were illegal.

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