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He then heard Terry clear his throat loudly to let Carter know that they were close to the door and that he should be ready.
For the first time in his life, Carter was nervous. He was finding it hard to swallow and was fighting to control his breathing. He closed off his emotions when the door swung open and Zahara stood in the doorway, surrounded by the lights coming from the lanterns.
Her hair was in a curly mass around her face and shoulders. She had brushed it out before she came down, and she had slippers on her feet.
She stood there in the doorway, taking everything in, including him on his knees, and tears began to pour down her cheeks. Terry tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to him. He indicated for her to proceed and smiled at her encouragingly.
Zahara came into the room, making her way to Carter. Then she stopped in front of him, her hands clasped on her belly.
He handed her the flowers, and she took them with a teary smile, bringing them to her nose and breathing in deeply. When she lowered it back down, Carter took her left hand in his.
Carter was going to try and joke about his two proposal attempts, but instead simply said, “Zahara, I love you with all of my heart, and I’m glad you didn’t give up on me or our love, which you knew was meant to be.” His lips quirked up, and so did hers. She nodded as if saying, Damn right I did.
He continued, “You have enriched my life more than I can say, and I hope to always do that for you too. Will you marry me and do me the honor of being my wife?”
She stared down at him, her gaze searching his, and what she saw must have convinced her to agree because she smiled through her watery tears and nodded.
“Yes, I will marry you again. I love you so much.” Her fingers shook as he placed her second engagement ring on her hand. This would later turn into a gift for giving birth to the girls. It was a matching eternity ring, this time with rubies. He rose and leaned down, giving his wife a kiss that soon consumed them both. They moaned as they got lost in each other’s touch. He pulled back because he was ready to burst and wanted to be inside her, but he had also decided that day that he would have to wait until she delivered the girls. He didn’t want anything to harm either of them.
She looked at him quizzically. “I have something else for you,” Carter murmured. “Terry, you can bring it in,” he added loudly.
Terry walked in with the cake for Zahara, and her eyes lit up. She had been put on a special diet so that she wouldn’t develop gestational diabetes and had not been happy about it. But tonight was a celebration, and Carter had Terry make her favourite flavour and icing.
They each took a slice and fed each other the cake like they had done at the wedding, except this time, it was out of happiness and love, not betrayal or anger.
She giggled, and he raised his eyebrows as he consumed the cake.
“You have some crumbs on your chin.” She reached out and flicked them away, but then her face suddenly changed, and her hand began to shake.
She looked at him in stunned surprise. “I don’t feel well. I think—”
He threw the plate with the cake aside and caught her just in time before she could hit the floor.
Chapter 16
He stood there stunned as chaos whirled around him. He vaguely remembered Terry yelling at him and then calling the ambulance for Zahara. The paramedics had shoved him out of the way, and he had almost knocked one out to get back to her. But Zahara had woken up and had told him in a shaky voice to calm down and let them look at her.
They had ridden in the ambulance, him holding on to her cold hand while she softly smiled at him and talked to him to let him know everything was going to be okay. From what the paramedics had told him, her blood pressure had spiked, and she needed to go to the hospital. He had called Dr. Peterson, who was now on his way. They would prep a room for Zahara at the hospital, as it was time to deliver the babies.
Carter remembered calling his mom to let her know what was happening before hanging up and getting into the ambulance.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital, everything went sideways. She fainted again, and they rushed her to emergency, where Dr. Peterson was already waiting in his scrubs.
“We are going to run some tests while we get her ready for surgery to figure out what we are dealing with,” he explained. “Nurse, help Mr. Brooks get in his scrubs and then take him to the operating room.” Carter was about to protest when Zahara’s hand reached out and touched his. “I will be okay, just go and change so that you are in time to meet your daughters.” She smiled.
He nodded, and the nurse led him into the room that was ready for Zahara after she gave birth. After changing into scrubs, they escorted him down to where the doctor and his team were waiting.
“We cut her out of her clothes and ran some tests. We are waiting for the results, but her blood pressure is high, and I feel that she has preeclampsia, so we are going to administer the epidural to numb her. Are you ready to meet your girls?” Dr. Peterson asked, distracted as he checked her vitals and then looked at something on his iPad.
He pursed his lips, and Carter began to worry about what the doctor was seeing.
Nurses entered carrying neonatal units for the preemie babies, and then the doctor went into the next room and spoke to someone else that was in there waiting. He returned shortly after and took charge of the room.
“Are we ready? Please start the drip. Carter, your wife does have preeclampsia, and we are now going to take the twins out.”
“Carter,” Zahara whispered behind the top of the sheet covering her. He walked over to hold her hand as they put dye on her belly. He stared into her eyes as the doctor began to work to get the twins out safely.
He heard, “Nurse, here is the first twin.” He glanced over to see his child covered in blood, her body squirming as the nurse hurried over to grab her and wrap her in a towel before going over to a team of doctors, who began to look her over. He held his breath and then let it out when he heard her cry. He looked down to see Zahara smiling with tears running down her cheeks, and he felt emotional too. His first child had just been delivered.
