Special Delivery

By Donna and Abby

 It had been a quiet day at the clinic, with not much going on. The doctors normally saw patients in the morning, and then made any house calls that were needed in the afternoon. As Doc Adams put on his jacket, Sarah Jo made sure that his medical bag was stocked. "Gideon said he would bring a horse for you after he finished his lunch," she told him. "I have a feeling that you might end up staying the night at Grey's place. Is there anything else you would like packed? A change of clothes maybe?" 

"I will be fine," he said, "and thank you for worrying about me."  There was more in the words than what was said, and he seemed to want to kiss her goodbye, but the moment was awkward. 

Instead, he took her hand and squeezed it. Although Ben had not returned to her bed since Sarah Jo's impromptu marriage to Duncan, the two of them had still maintained a close relationship.  Picking up his medical bag, Doc Adams went outside to see if Gideon was there yet. Looking down the street, he saw Gideon walking towards the clinic, leading Shorty and the horse that Doc usually rode.  

It would be good to get out of the clinic.  He usually liked his trips out to the Grey place, and this was no exception, even though he reckoned that Sarah Jo was right, and he'd have to stay over.  Twins usually came early. 

The doctors were delighted that they had gotten her as far as they had! Even though technically she still had a month to go, Charity was steadily dilating even with strictly enforced bed rest.  

At the lane that led into Grey's farm, Adams bid farewell to Gideon, who continued on. As the doctor rode up to the manor house, he was a little surprised to see Katherine's buggy sitting out front, knowing she had been checking Charity in the mornings.  

Wondering what she was still doing there at this hour, Adams dismounted and tethered his horse.  He was almost sure someone would have to stable the horse before too long. 

No one answered his knock, so he let himself in and headed straight to Charity's bedroom, where he found not only his patient and the midwife, but also Sam Grey and Ceara sitting on the bed on either side of her. "Hi, Ben," Katherine chuckled. "Good timing. She is almost seven centimeters already. Sam wanted to ride for you, but I knew you would be here anyways!"  

"Good thing I did not take longer," he said thoughtfully.  "How are we?" he asked the patient cheerfully. 

"*We* are damned tired of being in this bed!" Charity growled. "It's about time you got here!"  

Doc raised an eyebrow.  Then he slowly took out his pocket watch and looked at it.  "Actually, I'm a bit early for our appointment.  Not as early as these two," he added dryly as Charity was hit with another contraction. 

She ignored him, focusing on her breathing with the same look of intense concentration that she usually had when she schooled her horses in dressage. Once it was over, she sighed softly, lying back against the pillows while Ceara wiped her sweaty brow. 

Grey looked to be the same color as his name, he was so nervous. He was better with horses, as well.  "Easy, Lass," he said by way of comfort. 

She turned her head to him and managed a smile. "It won't be too much longer, hon," she told him as Katherine moved aside to let Doc Adams do his own exam.  

"Seven and a half, after that one," he said smugly as he rested back.  "As usual, Katherine, you are doing an excellent job of it." 

Katherine grinned at him. "If her water doesn't break soon, I think we should do it for her. Once we do though, things will get rather hectic rather quickly. Would you like to see the makeshift incubators that the guys at Gadgets 'r Us made for us?"  

"Yes I would," he said evenly.  “Later there won't be much time.” 

She took him to the fireplace, where the two incubators waited. Underneath the bassinet part was an enclosed cabinet space where they could put a tray of hot water to warm the bottom of it. "Simple, but effective, don't you think?" she asked as she stroked the baby blankets that were on a stool, warming up by the fire.  

"I've never seen a modern one," said Doc. "So I will defer to you." 

"Considering there have been times that I had to put preemies in a shoebox and then placed them in a warming oven to keep their body heat up, this is quite an improvement!" she said, and Ben nodded, remembering one such occasion back in New Orleans where her doing that had saved a tiny baby's life. "Shall we get down to business now? Everything is as ready as it can be," she said as she poured some hot water into the waiting pan, then closed the warming cabinet door.  

"Just waiting for the mother to cooperate," he smiled back at Charity.  "If she did, we would not have to break her bag of waters for her." 

"I have an idea then," Katherine chuckled. She walked back to Charity's side, and waited patiently until the contraction she was having was over. "Charity, want to get up and go to the bathroom? An empty bladder will help things go a lot easier once you start pushing."  

"Sounds like a good idea to me," the laboring mother replied. "Help me up, guys!" Sam and Ceara supported her as she sat up and then rose to her slightly unsteady feet. They helped her the short distance to the bathroom and helped her sit down on the toilet and then stepped just out of the room to give her some privacy.  

It took awhile, but she managed to go.  Then, as she started to get up, another gush of fluid came out, making her gasp. Katherine and Doc were at her side instantly.  

"Here we go," said Doc.  "It's all downhill from here." 

She had a hard contraction right away, and once it was over, she was helped back up onto the bed where Katherine did a check. "Over nine!" she said with a grin. "One of them will be heading down the home stretch in just a few minutes!"  

Doc nodded and said, "Do you want to do the honors, or me?" to Katherine. 

"You catch, and I'll get them into the warming baskets," she said. "From the feel of them, I think they are both going to be almost six pounds so they may not need to stay there very long."  

He nodded again.  "Yes," he said. "Both nice sized."  Charity groaned and they asked her if she was ready to push yet. 

"Yes!" she gasped as she struggled to sit up. Sam and Ceara helped her into position, and as another contraction hit her, she grabbed her knees and bore down with all her might.  

Doc Adams was in position to "catch" the baby, but he was also helping to guide it out.  Katherine counted out the contractions, or rather the long push that went with these late contractions, and together they moved the first baby out into the world. 

"You can do it!" Ceara cheered as Charity took a deep breath and bore down again, and by the time the contraction was over, the head of the baby could be seen!  

At first, all they could see was the dark hair.  Then the head was delivered.  That hurt the most!!  Until it was time to deliver the shoulders, that is! 

But Charity just gritted her teeth against the pain, and with one final push, the first tiny little girl was born! As soon as she was free of the birth canal, she loudly voiced her displeasure at the change of climate. Doc passed her to Katherine, who after the cord was cut, quickly took the baby over to the waiting warmth of the bassinet to clean her up and to wrap her in the heated blankets.  

Sam Grey peeped over at his daughter with a smile.  He was pleased with her, but still could not help but wonder if the other was a boy. 

Returning his attention to Charity, he kissed her damp forehead and smiled at her. "She's a bonnie lass!" he said, squeezing her hand in his. Charity was about to say something, but another contraction suddenly drew all the breath from her. Twin number two was on the way!  

"Good," Doc said wryly, "I shall be home by dinner.  Come on, little one, we're waiting for you." 

Even though she was exhausted, Charity didn't let up on the strength of her pushing. It was a good thing, because this one was coming into the world feet first, a situation not uncommon with twins. But since he or she was the smaller twin, the laboring mother wasn't having too much problem. Once the feet were pushed out, Doc grasped them and very gently applied traction as Charity continued to push.  

"Bum first," Grey noted, smiling.  He already had a soft spot for this son or daughter, simply because he or she was backing into the world! 

"Another girl," Doc announced as that area appeared. Charity responded with a loud groan as she bore down once more, and a moment later, the second one was born!  

This one was dark, also, and Grey leaned over to see if they were identical. That would be something, he thought! After looking at them both, he decided that they were!  

A very tired but happy mother smiled at the babies. "Samantha and Michaela," she sighed with deep satisfaction before closing her eyes to rest.