A Biker’s Love

Chapter 18

Rachel's POV

I walked into the living room, my hand resting lightly on my lower back as all eyes turned to me. I took a sit on the chair and I noticed Brent trying to hold back his laughter, I glanced at Hayden whose low chuckles turned into coughs when he noticed my eyes on him. I turned to Javier who averted my gaze, acting all serious and interested in the runway show playing on the big screen.

"Okay what's up?" I asked but no one gave me an answer and everyone decided played dumb. Time to switch s**t up.

"What the f**k is so funny to y'all this hot afternoon?!" I yelled and everyone's head turned to me with shock written all over their faces. Drew let out loud belly laughs beside me and I gave him a heated glare and his laughter immediately turn into yawns and coughs.

"Jeez Rachel!" Brent exclaimed and I rolled my eyes.

"That doesn't answer my question." I stated as a matter of fact and he scratched the back of his head.

"Uhm babe... They were laughing as you walked into the room as you were waddling and it looked funny to them apparently but not to me." Drew said and closed his eyes smiling with his lips puckered.

I pushed his mouth away and his eyes opened instantly "oh please… you think I'm ugly and you made that known a few days ago when you told me to slow down on my eating so I don't get any more fats." I rolled my eyes and he winced as Hayden snickered and whispered "oh shit."

"Uhm… you know I didn't mean you were fat. I just wanted you to eat slowly and not rush up your food." He tried to explain but figured out he was making s**t worse.

"Oh… you think I'm a ravenous eater?" I asked and he groaned.

"Noo! I uhm mea-" He tried to further explain but Javier cut him off.

"Shut up, dude. Before you make things worse." He chuckled and Drew scoffed but kept quiet. I looked round the room at the four boys I've come to love and tolerate who held special spaces in my heart. Ever since we returned from New Zealand, I'd been living in the Callaghan residence as Drew claimed he needed to keep an eye on me so I didn’t run off again. And besides, my dad worked round the clock and someone needed to keep an eye on me throughout the day. I would've stayed alone at my dad's house had I insisted on returning home and I didn't want that so I agreed to staying at Drew's house.

Drew and I discussed marriage plans and he was elated when I told him I never wanted a wedding and with being pregnant I was even more opposed to the idea. He cajoled me though and made us take marital vows in court stating he didn't want kids out of wedlock like his father. So on a not so sunny Saturday in my sixth month of pregnancy we drove down to the court in town and got married and also got a signed paper as proof of our marriage. Drew got us rings and wedding bands claiming he wanted to do things right. Such a gentleman even with his bad boy biker aura.

I was in my final semester and my due date could be any time now. Drew had been attending birthing classes with me and although he had been freaked out by all the baby details, he still maintained a calm and collected act for me. They taught him water birth and home birthing and I laughed so hard at his expression and his firm opposition to the idea stating and I quote;

"You are never going through that s**t, Rach. Once you go into labour I'm going to throw you on my f*****g bike if need be and race you down to the hospital."

Also my hormones had been messing things up a whole lot. I cry and yell for no particular reason but sometimes I took advantage of it and used it to pass my message across to my boys. They were at my every beck and call and they tip-toed around me not wanting to piss off the one carrying the next generation of Callaghan's as they call it. I had also been feeling really insecure lately about all the changes in my body due to my pregnancy. I loved my babies and I cherished these pregnant times but I couldn’t wait to push them the f**k out so my body could return to its normal state. I also couldn’t wait to see them but I had an inkling on what they looked like from my dreams. Sounded quite superstitious but that was how I felt. My due date was in less than a week though—I could finally hold my babies in my hands.

"I need to pee." I said suddenly and all eyes turned to me.

"You need help." Drew asked, immediately popping up at my side.

"No… I could go myself." I pouted and his brows pulled together.

"Then why'd you announce you wanted to pee?" He asked confused.

"Just because I can. Now move you're in my way." I said and got up weirdly from the chair waddling out of the room. I went up the stairs to our bedroom and straight into the restroom. I pulled my gown up and stare at my bloated tummy in the mirror as that was the only way I could see my V-area. My stomach was really big which wasn’t a surprise as I seemed to be carrying twins. I’d been having sharp back pains but Dr. Safiya dismissed my concerns attributing it to the fact that I was nearing my due date.

I tried to sit on the toilet bowl but just then I felt warm liquid trickling down my legs and a sharp pain in my back making me scream out. I took in deep breaths like I was told to but the s**t hurt real bad.

"Rachel!" I heard Drew's voice and pounding footsteps on the stairs. I’d have laughed if I wasn’t in so much pain. There was no way he’d have heard my scream from the living room which only meant he had followed me and stood close by in case of an emergency, like this one.

"Where are you?!" Drew asked as he burst into our room.

"In here. I'm not decent!" I shouted back and winced as the pain hit me hard.

"The f**k, guys! She said she isn't decent!" Drew shouted and I knew the boys tried to come in with him. I'd have chuckled if not for the pain of the goddamn contractions.

"What happened, love? Are you alright?" Drew asked.

"I think my water just broke." I said and his face turned white as a sheet and he stood still his eyes glued to my face but blank.

"Drew! My water f*****g broke! The baby's coming!" I yelled and he jolted back to reality.

"Oh s**t… f**k. Okay calm down and breath. Just breath, okay bre-" He said panicked.

"Shut the f**k up and get me to the hospital!"

"Okay! okay." He said and was immediately at my side. He swept me off my feet in one swoop and rushed out of the restroom.

"Uhm... Rachel's in labour. Grab the baby s**t and meet us at the hospital." Drew ordered his brothers and ran down the stairs gently with me in a bridal carrying position out to his car. Geneva ran out of the kitchen and when she took one look at us she said nothing and just grabbed the keys to his car following us out. Drew laid me down gently in the back seat as he and Geneva got in front. The drive to the clinic was awfully slow and the contractions were coming faster.

"Could you go any faster!" I yelled and Drew increased speed of which I didn't even know the car could go this fast.

"Calm down, honey. You'll be fine." Geneva tried to reassure me and I smiled faintly in thanks.

"Hey! My wife's in labour!" I heard Drew yelling and few seconds later I was rolled into the clinic on a stretcher heading straight for the OR with Drew at my side and Geneva following closely behind. I already told them I wanted them both there. I wanted Drew there but he would definitely freak out at the sight so I asked Geneva to be there with him.

"Deep breaths, baby. You'll be fine. Few hours and its all over." Drew said and I smiled faintly in thanks squeezing his hand. We finally got to the room and I was hooked up to various machines. A nurse came in to check how many centimetres I had dilated and she informed me that just a few more hours and they'd begin the delivery process. This s**t was so freaking painful. The contractions were crazy and they came faster with each passing hour. I took in slow deep breaths exhaling through my mouth.

Dr. Safiya came in a while later with two other doctors later in their coats, gloves and nose masks all set for delivery. She came to my side and rubbed my hair.

"How are you feeling?" She asked with a comforting smile.

I tried to smile back but I knew I was doing a very bad job at that because it came out as a grimace "Its so painful."

"Yeah I know honey, but it'll all soon be over. Just a couple of pushes and we'll be done. We'll begin the delivery now and I need you to take in deep breaths and exhale with a hard push when I tell you to, Okay?" She ordered and I nodded in understanding. Drew resumed his position at my right side with Geneva on the left and he smiled at me, planting a kiss on my forehead.

"You'll be fine, love. In a few hours we'll be holding our babies in our arms." He said and I spotted the flecks of unshed tears in his eyes.

"Okay, honey. On three... Push,” Dr Safiya said and I did as she ordered taking in deep breaths and pushing hard.

"That was good dear but harder this time. Push!”

I repeated the same process over and over again and in no time a shrill cry filled the air and they announced that it was a boy—my boy. I pushed again and again to give my little girl life, to bring her into the world but then I felt myself losing consciousness. I could feel my eyes closing slowly and I felt as if I was slipping away; drifting into oblivion.

"Uhm Rachel… Rachel! Dr. Safiya I think something's wrong with Rachel." I heard Drew's panicked voice in my subconscious.

"Baby… stay awake, love. You need to open your eyes. Rachel, please do not sleep on me!" Drew shouted and tapped my cheeks lightly. I felt a tear drop on my face and more followed the first.

"Drew… I tried… My babies…” Were the last words I whispered before all I could see was white and not black.

Drew's POV

I couldn’t help the smile that crept up on my face as I watched my angels sleep. They really were angels and I didn’t know what good I did to deserve these gifts from heaven. Beautiful didn’t even begin to describe them. They were twins but with different phenotypic makeup. Darren Xavier Callaghan looked a whole lot like me with his nose, his black hair and his sleeping pattern. Yeah, sleeping pattern sounded weird but I swear he slept the same way I did even though he was just a couple months old. Doris Rachel Callaghan looked more like her mother. They had the same green eyes, and she had a patch of hair on her head that gave us a hint of redhead. She was going to be a redhead like her mother. She had Rachel's small nose and a pouty little mouth. She was all round a beauty to behold and she reminded me so much of Rachel and my heart lurched every time I look at her.

Rachel…

I remember so well the day of the delivery. How could I forget a day that caused me so much pain, greater than any I've experienced. Worse than when I lost my mother or when I found out about all the evil my father committed. This was way worse than all of that. It felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest. I thought I wasn't going to survive it. I thought I was never going to recover from the split of my heart. I had wondered how I was going to take care of our kids. How they were going to grow up without a mother. How they would have been deprived of a mother's nurturing; Rachel's especially.

I remember shouting at Dr Safiya as I noticed Rachel's eye closing. I noticed the life was slowly slipping away from her eyes and I saw how hard it was for her to stay conscious. I was scared as her eyes closed and I remember frantically begging her to stay awake. I remember telling her to keep her eyes open. I told her not to sleep on me but she didn't listen. I saw her green eyes roll back and they closed. I screamed out like a woman would do but I wasn't the least bit embarrassed. This was Rachel; my wife who had just lost consciousness right before my eyes as she tried to give life to our children.

Soon after I was moved aside as the doctors took my position at Rachel's side and started conversing in a fast paced manner which made no sense to me.

"Whats going on?" I had asked but no one paid me any mind.

"What the hell is going on with my wife?!" I yelled and then a nurse appeared at my side.

"Mr Callaghan. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room. You are not calm now so you need to exit the room and let the doctors do their job." She said in a calm voice and tried to hold my arm. I yanked my arm out of her grasp and moved it far from her grip. I didn't understand how she could be f*****g calm when Rachel was dying. Hell she could be dead and I wouldn't know.

"You can't ask me to leave the f*****g room when I know my wife's in this state. I need to know what's wrong with her and my kid!" I yelled at the nurse and she flinched, moving back. She turned and whispered to a male nurse and I heard something along the lines about calling security. Really!

"Baby boy… You need to calm down honey. Shouting wouldn't help Rachel. You need to be strong for your babies. Lets go out and get some air. I bet they'll let us in on whatever is going on." Geneva rubbed my arm lightly and it helped soothe my raging anger. I looked into her eyes and I saw pity in them. She probably saw into my soul through my eyes and could see how broken I was. I nodded without uttering a word and turned exiting the room. I went to the waiting room to find the guys waiting—all of them. Brent, Javier, Hayden, Wolfe, Dawg, Bear and even Rachel's father. I looked at their faces to see the anticipated looks as they waited for an answer from me. An answer that I couldn't give them. An answer I didn't have and in that moment I had broken down. I bawled my my eyes out as my legs crumbled from under me making me drop to the floor. The guys rushed to my side, helping me up and moving me to the chair. I knew they were shocked as no one had ever seen me cry. Nothing has ever hurt or cut deep enough to make me shed tears but for that day.

My sobs slowed down into hiccups and the once flowing stream of tears dried out and the only evidence were my red swollen eyes. I narrated the whole incident to the guys; what happened in the operating room till the moment they sent us out. Curses were flying from all their mouths when I was done. I looked up to see Rachel's dad sitting still and silent in the corner and I went to sit beside him. We sat side by side, no one making a move to break the silence. I cleared my throat after a few minutes.

"Uhm… I guess you heard my story?" I asked him and he replied with a nod but his head remained bowed.

"Uhm… you alright sheriff?" I asked further. He rose his head then and I spotted the tears brimming in his eyes.

"Am I alright? You tell me Drew, should I be alright? I can't lose her too. I only just got her back." He said with so much pain in his eyes and I'd have smirked if that was another day.

"Yeah Mr Davies—for the first time we agree on something—We can't lose her." I sighed and we fell back into silence. We remained in the same position for a few more hours staring at nothing in particular. My eyes roamed around taking in the white walls, white tiles, white chairs and all things white in this clinic.

‘They're trying to blind me with all the white' I had thought to myself.

The door to the waiting room opened and out walked Dr Safiya. I stood up so fast and in seconds I was standing in front of her. The guys, Geneva and Rachel's dad followed suit and we all gathered around her.

"Dr Safiya, please tell me she's alright?" I pleaded mentally crossing my fingers dreading the worst.

"Mr Callaghan I'm…” She began.

***************

I’m jolted back to reality by the whining cry of Doris. I guess she needed a nappy change and a bottle. I got up from the chair and went to her crib. I lifted her out and chuckled at her weird facial expression. I took her to the changing table and grabbed diaper and wipes from the drawer. I unbuttoned her onesie and my nose scrunched up as the smell of her poop diffused through the room.

"Eww Dee. That's one hell of a poop." I cooed at her making her giggle. I cleaned her up and dressed her in another yellow onesie before putting her back in her crib to change her brother who was already awake and sitting quietly in his crib. Darren didn’t seem to cry as much as Doris which was quite surprising. He only cried for his bottle and when he wanted to sleep. Doris cried for literally everything. She cried for a change, a bottle, a bath, when she needs to sleep, she cried for attention. She cried for everything and she seemed to be a daddy's girl.

"Hey cutie." I heard someone say and I looked back to see Rachel walk into the room, her eyes glued to Doris's crib with so much love shining in her eyes. She picked her up and blew raspberries on her tummy making her giggle and kick her legs. I finished changing up Darren and I disposed of the soiled diapers. Darren didn't poop so he didn’t need a change of clothing. I buttoned up his onesie and carried him up with his head resting on my shoulder.

"Hey love." I walked over to Rachel's side and she smiled at me.

"I'll feed Darren while you can feed Doris." She said to me and we switched kids before walking out of the nursery headed for the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle from the warming rack and set to feeding Doris as she suckled hungrily on the teat of the bottle. She finished it up and took another bottle. She drank the second halfway and fell asleep with the teat still in her mouth. I waited a few seconds to confirm if she really was asleep before taking the bottle away. The last time I tried to take the bottle from her thinking she was asleep, she woke up with a cry and it took two long hours to calm her down and put her back to sleep. I set her down in the spare crib in the living room just as Rachel walked over and placed Darren beside her. They soon rolled up to each other as they slept making Rachel chuckle. I looked to my side at Rachel studying her face, and the look of unadulterated happiness on her face is not one that can be missed. I watched as she stared at our beauties fondly and with so much love in her eyes. We all thought she wasn't going to make it that day as Dr Safiya told us she had complications and had to undergo surgery to deliver Doris. She told us how Rachel had lost a lot of blood and went into a coma. They stabilized her but it was a 50/50 chance of survival as they were not sure if she was going to make. They placed her under observation for days with no results. She wasn't improving nor was she deteriorating. It was like she was alive but only existing with the life drained from her. I sat by her bed side with our kids in their cribs in the corner. I spoke to her everyday begging her to wake up for our kids. I promised not to name them till she woke up. She woke up after a week and I can never forget how shocked and happy I was.

"Babe what are you thinking of?" I heard a voice cut through my thoughts and I looked down to meet Rachel's eyes on mine.

"Nothing really... That day came to mind." I said and she smiled fondly.

"Yeah. I don’t think I can never forget the experience." She sighed and a question popped up in my mind that I'd been wanting to ask.

"I've been meaning to ask love. Were you able to hear my voice and all I said when you were in a coma?"

"Yeah. I heard all of it. Not really all, but most of it. You told me you weren't going to name our babies till I woke up and I remember all the sweet things you said to me with the tears you shed. All of that made me fight harder… I thought of our babies,” She said and I could swear an invincible being was cutting onions beside me causing the water to well up in my eyes.

"…And most of all I thought of how hard it was to get A biker's love and I couldn't afford to lose that."

THE END.