OLIVIA
Chapter Thirteen
"Push, Olivia, push!"
Dr. Covington urged. "We’re almost there."
Angelina and Marietta were on
either side of her, wiping her brow and bracing her as she lifted up to push as
the doctor had instructed. In a fog of pain, Olivia was oblivious to much of
her surroundings.
Cal had immediately left when Dr.
Covington arrived, and it wasn’t long after that when her mother came in. But,
as the time came closer, he had shooed everyone out except for the two maids
and himself.
Olivia bore down with as much
strength as she could muster, which wasn’t much after nearly an hour of pushing
hard.
"Okay, okay," the
doctor muttered. "The head is out, and now I’m pulling the shoulders.
You’re about to see your baby, Olivia, my dear."
With one final pull, the baby
came forth from her, slippery and wet. Olivia fell back and took several deep,
gulping breaths. After a few seconds, it let out a healthy cry. The doctor
laughed as he held it up. "You have a son. A healthy baby son."
Olivia sat up and looked at the
red, wailing baby he held in his hands. He asked for a towel, which Marietta
held out, and he gingerly placed the infant in it. Marietta brought him over to
her and lifted him up.
"Glory be, ma’am. But he is
about the handsomest babe I’ve seen born." She smiled approvingly.
Olivia pulled the towel away from
his face and body to look him over. "A son," she whispered. Cal had
gotten his wish, she thought. But as she looked at him, she felt a strong
protectiveness come over her. This might be the son Cal wanted so badly, but he
was hers. He came from her, she bore him, and she wouldn’t let anything happen
to him.
"I’m going to clean him up
now, ma’am, and I’ll bring him right back over," Marietta said, patting
her shoulder.
Olivia nodded and lay back. As
she lay there, contemplating what this child would mean, another sharp pain
shot through her. She grabbed her stomach as she felt it grow stronger.
"Doctor, something is
happening," she panted.
Immediately, he came over to her.
When he did, his eyes widened. "Oh, my Lord, she’s having another
one."
"What?" she breathed,
sitting up. She gritted her teeth against the sudden pain that ripped through
her. She bore down as hard as she could.
"Hold on, Olivia. Don’t push
yet."
"I--can’t--help--it,"
she huffed. "I--have--to…"
Just as before, the contractions
gripped her body, and after several minutes of pushing, she felt the second
baby slide from her body. She threw herself back and gasped for air.
"Olivia, my dear, you are an
amazement. Look up and meet your daughter."
"Daughter?" she
breathed heavily. Angelina helped her sit up, and she looked down at her second
baby. "I have a son and a daughter?" she asked in bewilderment.
"So it would seem. Twins.
Little darling must have been hiding. I never suspected it for a minute."
He laughed heartily.
Angelina brought her daughter
over to her as Marietta brought her son to the other side. She looked back and
forth at the two of them. Twins! A son and a daughter. She began to laugh at
the irony of it. They looked to be perfect in every way. Marietta laid her son
in her arms while Angelina went to clean up her daughter.
"I’ll be getting Mr. Hockley
now. He’ll be pleased, no doubt," Marietta told her.
"Don’t tell Mr. Hockley
about the twins. I want to tell him myself," she instructed her.
"Yes, ma’am." She
smiled and nodded knowingly.
After the doctor finished up with
her, Angelina washed her a bit and put a fresh gown on her. She was holding
their son when Cal rushed into the room. He stopped when he saw them, and then
slowly walked over to the side of the bed.
"Is it…" He didn’t
finish the question, but only stared at the now quiet baby in her arms.
"Yes." She nodded and
grinned at him. "Cal, meet your son." He sat down on the edge of the
bed and looked at him. He smiled as he lifted the baby from her.
"My son," he said
proudly. "You did well, Olivia." He nodded with satisfaction.
"There’s something
else." She placed a hand on his arm. A questioning frown formed on his
face at her comment.
"Look." She pointed
behind him. He turned and saw Angelina come forward with another bundle.
"We have a daughter, Cal."
He whipped around to look at her
in astonishment.
"We have a son and a
daughter. Twins." She laughed at his reaction. "I know. I can hardly
believe it myself."
"Twins?" Cal asked as
he looked at her wonder. "But how… why?"
"I don’t know." She
laughed again. "But aren’t they beautiful?"
Angelina settled their daughter
in her arms and then stepped back. Quietly, she and the doctor left the room,
leaving the new family together.
"I never imagined..."
he whispered as he looked back and forth at them.
"Me, either." She shook
her head. "I guess we’d better give them names."
He smiled and nodded as he looked
back at their son. "Nathaniel Charles Hockley II," he announced
firmly. "After my father."
Olivia frowned for a moment. She
didn’t know why, but she didn’t want her son to have that name. But she didn’t
protest against it. Instead, she slightly nodded, giving her reluctant
approval.
"And as for her…" He
smiled down at the sleeping baby in her arms. "Catherine Rose."
The gasp that came from Olivia
surprised the baby and she began to squirm and mew against her. "No!"
she cried with indignation. "I won’t let you do that!"
"Let me?" he questioned
with an arched brow. Then he smiled cynically at her. "If the name bothers
you so much, you need not ever say it. But, Catherine Rose it will be."
Her lips quivered in hurt as he
reached out and tenderly stroked the baby’s cheek. "You did well, Olivia.
I’m very proud of you. I knew I had made the right choice from the first moment
I saw you."
It was as if the world had dropped
out from beneath her. Oh, God! Why was he doing this? Why? Did his cruelty know
no bounds? How could he do this to her and their child? She gripped the baby
tighter to her as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She glanced over at
him as he lifted their son up and smiled at him as if the subject were
dismissed and settled.
"I think he looks like me,
don’t you?"
A knot had formed in Olivia’s
throat, preventing her from saying anything.
"Only time will tell, I
suppose." He shrugged and handed him over to her. "I’ll have Angelina
and Marietta bring them out to our parents. They’ve been waiting to see them.
You rest, my dear." He bent over and kissed her cheek.
As he left the room, she looked
down at her babies and felt like crying. What kind of mother was she if
couldn’t even protect them from having names she didn’t want? Despair washed
over her, but she quickly hid it when the two maids came in to collect them. As
she watched them leave the room, she determined within herself that no matter
what, she would protect them. They were hers, no matter their names. Cal might
have won for now, but in the end, it would be she who would win. She would make
sure of it.