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Merry Christmas Everyone!


Epilogue



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AmariAnoai my greatest gift #myfirstborn


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"Ow!"


Amari sat up abruptly in bed.


"What is it, sweetie?" Joe asked, blearily opening his eyes.


Amari placed a hand on her rather large belly. "I think it's time."


Joe gave a glance to the clock. "It's eleven fifty-eight. It's not Christmas yet, Amari."


"I don't mean Christmas," Amari replied. "I mean time. Baby time."


Her husband gave her a look. "You're kidding. Are you sure it's not just Braxton-Hicks?"


"I'm pretty darn sure," she said, glaring at him. "It felt like the last five times, Joe. I, of all people, should know by now what labour feels like."


"Well... have your waters gone yet?" Joe queried, looking at the clock again, wondering if it would be possible to snatch an hour's sleep before the baby came.


"No, but you know the plug went yesterday, don't you?" Amari climbed out of bed, holding her stomach gingerly. "Are you gonna help me here?"


"You seem okay." That comment earned him a glare. "Sorry, sorry. Where's your bag?" he asked, tumbling out of bed.


"By the front door. Can you phone Robyn or should I do it? Never mind, I'll do it. You wake Joelle. Leave the babies, they need their sleep." Amari was out of the room by this time, clad in a robe and slippers. Five minutes later, she was back.


"Robyn says she'll come, though," Amari added. "She'll be here in ten minute—" She broke off. "Oh. Oh. Contraction." Her face relaxed after a moment. "Textbook so far, then. It's been about ten minutes, hasn't it?"


Joe looked at the clock. "Yup. Eight minutes into Christmas day." He paused. "Damnit, this is going to be a Christmas babies, isn't it, Amari?"


"I hope so," Amari agreed. "I don't want to spend the whole of Christmas day in labour. Have you woken the kids?"


"Not yet – I was getting dressed. You get dressed, and I'll do it, baby." He left the room, and headed into his oldest daughter's room. "Joelle, honey?"


"What, dad?" Joelle mumbled, waking easily.


"Christmas yet?"


"Yes, honey," her father replied. "But that's not why I'm waking you, Joelle. Mom's gone into labour. Auntie Robyn is coming over, I just wanted to warn you, okay?"


"Oh, goody!" Joelle squealed. "That's the best present ever, dad! Tell mom good luck – oh, and merry Christmas!"


"Shh, you noisy child! The others are asleep, remember?" her father scolded her gently. "Stay in bed, honey. Merry Christmas!" And with that he departed, to do the same to his first son, Joey, and second daughter, Masina.


When he got back to the room, Amari was in the midst of another contraction. Her teeth were gritted, and eyes shut. After about five seconds, she relaxed, and stood up. She was already dressed, wearing a coat, hat, boots, and gloves over her outfit.


"Hey, sweetie," she greeted her husband. "They're getting stronger. I think this might be a quick one."


"Oh, good. I don't want you to have to have the thirty-nine hour hell again," he replied, referring to her labour with Joey.


"Me either," she laughed. "Right, one of us should be downstairs to meet Robyn, so she doesn't have to ring the bell – that could wake the kids."


"Joelle, Joey, and Masina are awake already."


"Hopefully they'll be back off to sleep by now," Amari retorted. "They should be, anyhow. That crowd can sleep quite easily."


"They all tell you good luck and merry Christmas," Joe informed his wife, as they made their way – slowly – downstairs. "Joelle thinks it's the best present ever, Joey tells you not to stay in hospital too long, and Masina tells you to have girls or else."


Amari gritted her teeth as another contraction hit her. When it was over, she returned to the subject. "I am hoping for a girl, and a boy I must say. We've got two girls and one boy. It's not right." She paused, thinking over what she'd just said. "And after this one, you're having a vasectomy, Mr Anoai."


"I thought you liked lots of children," Joe protested. "That sounds painful."


"Well, birth control doesn't work too well," Amari pointed out.


"It works perfectly," Joe corrected her. "You have to use it, though, sweetie."


"Oh. Oh. Oh, my God." Amari was having another contraction. As she clutched her stomach, she gave another gasp. "My water broke. Joe, my water broke."


"Okay, we're going pretty quickly," observed Joe. "Where's Robyn?"


"She better come quickly or this baby's gonna be born under the Christmas tree," Amari said, sounding anguished. "Joe, call 911 and stay with the kids. I need to get to hospital quickly! This baby'll be here in less than an hour or I don't know labour."


"Less than an hour?" Joe repeated. "The hospital's twenty minutes away! Robyn might be ten more minutes."


"Well... you can deliver this one," Amari suggested. "I mean, you've been there for five births, right? You know how to do this."


"No I don't!" Joe said, quickly. "I'm not delivering our baby, Amari."


"You might not have a choice," Amari began, but broke off when another contraction hit her. "Ahhh."


"Breathe."


"What, you think I'll forget?" Amari quipped. She squealed as she saw lights through the window. "Thank God. Robyn's here!"


Joe grabbed the bag, and raced out of the door, pushing his wife in front of him. "Robyn, where the hell were you?"


"I was eight and a half minutes!" Robyn retorted. "The kids asleep?"


"Nope," Joe replied. "You know where we'll be, don't call us, we'll call as soon as anything happens, don't bother bringing the kids before that, try and reassure the kids—"


"Joe!" Amari was in the car, and getting impatient. "We'd better get going!"


"Good luck, man," Robyn said, smiling. "Merry Christmas!" She entered the house, and the Anoais drove off.


"You okay, Mari?" Joe asked, a few minutes into the journey. Amari was in the middle of a contraction, more painful than before.


"Fine," she murmured. "It's a great Christmas gift, isn't it?"


"A baby," Joe whispered. "Yeah. It's a gift to our family."


"That's awesome." Amari said.


"It's getting faster, Joe," she said, urgently.


"Okay. Does it hurt too badly?" he asked, gently.


"No. I can cope with the pain – God knows, I never had an epidural," she replied.


"We'll be there in five more minutes," Joe said, rubbing her shoulder with his free arm. "Thank God this thing's automatic," he added to himself, smiling.


"Good, 'cause that's about when this baby's gonna be born," Amari said. "I need to push."


"You're kidding. Too soon," Joe mumbled, steering himself around a patch of ice.


"Tell that to the baby," Amari snapped, rubbing her belly. "Please, baby, stay in there for a little while longer."


"Yeah, you can be our favourite kids if you guys stay there until we get into the delivery room," added Joe.


"Ahh!" Amari moaned.


"Contraction?"


"Uh huh." She continued breathing heavily for almost a minute longer. "They're longer, harder – I can feel the baby pushing, Joe."


"Right, we're – there," he replied, turning the car into the hospital parking lot. He jumped out and helped Amari out. "Can you walk?"


"Uh huh. Just."


"You know, this is the quickest you've ever been,"Joe remarked.


"You think I don't know that?"


"Sorry. Okay, here we are, Mari."


The two hurried over to reception.


"Amari Anoai." Amari gave another gasp.


"Labour, I assume?" a young nurse asked. As opposed to the thirty-something Anoai, she looked barely twenty-five.


"Yeah..." Amari whispered, too exhausted to make a sarcastic comment.


Two hours later, a sweat-drenched but joyful Amari was handed a bundle and Joe was handed another bundle. "Merry Christmas, it's a girl! It's a boy!" she was told. Then the Anoais were left alone.


"A baby girl...a baby boy" Amari murmured softly, stroking the baby's downy hair with the tip of a finger. "They're perfect, Joe."


"They sure are," he replied. "A perfect Christmas present for the kids, too," he added, smiling. "Why did we bother getting them anything else, Mari?"


"'Cause we didn't know that these little ones would be visiting so soon," Amari countered. "They weren't due for seven more days. I never imagined they'd be born on Christmas day itself."


"I thought about it, when you told me the due date, but I didn't expect it to happen. Just think, it's not even four a.m., and you've created a life already – and it's a holiday!" Joe quipped.


"Yup, that's me, a workaholic," Amari agreed. The babies yawned. "So I see we don't like that topic of conversation, then."


"Does they have a proper name yet?" Joe queried.


"No... what were our ideas?"


"Jamuri for a boy and for a girl...Milania." Joe said.


"Okay Jamuri Ross and Milania Amara Anaoi." Amari said.


Joe smiled at his wife and kids. "Merry Christmas, Amari."


"Merry Christmas, Joe." Joe handed their daughter over to him so she could hold their son. "Here you go, Milania. Go to daddy."


"I'm a daddy again," Joe said, softly, gazing at his newest daughter. "Merry Christmas, little Mila."


"Merry Christmas, Jamuri." Amari said gazing at her newest son.


Merry Christmas.

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