PART 2
Nathan stared at the documents as though they had suddenly become impossible to understand.
For the first time since I had known him, his confidence faltered.
Rain pounded against the emergency room entrance while doctors and nurses stood nearby, uncertain whether they were witnessing an ordinary family dispute or something far more serious.
One of Nathan’s attorneys quickly reviewed the paperwork. His expression changed almost immediately.
“These documents appear to be completely valid,” he admitted quietly.
Nathan slowly turned toward Lucien.
“You planned all of this.”
Lucien showed no emotion.
“I simply made sure she would always have a choice.”
Another contraction tore through my body, so intense that I gripped the edge of the gurney.
Everything around me was beginning to blur.
“Take her in immediately,” Lucien ordered.
The medical team rushed my stretcher through the emergency doors.
Nathan stepped forward.
“She’s my wife,” he protested. “I have the legal right to make her medical decisions.”
Before anyone could respond, Lucien handed a second document to the attending physician.
“The court has already granted her temporary medical protection while this matter is under review.”
Nathan’s face tightened.
“That’s impossible…”
I could barely understand what they were saying.
The contractions were coming faster and faster.
I no longer had the strength to think.
Lucien leaned down beside me.
“Don’t think about him,” he whispered. “Focus only on yourself and the babies.”
The calmness in his voice became the only thing keeping me grounded.
Minutes later, I was surrounded by surgeons, bright operating lights, and voices calling out instructions.
Someone was monitoring the twins’ heartbeats.
A nurse adjusted my oxygen mask.
Everything happened so quickly that I completely lost track of time.
Just before the operating room doors closed, I heard Lucien’s voice one last time.
“You and your babies are going to make it.”
Those were the last words I remembered before the anesthesia pulled me under.
When I finally opened my eyes, the room was silent.
But it wasn’t the heavy silence I had grown used to.
This one felt peaceful.
A nurse noticed I was awake and smiled warmly.
“Welcome back.”
My first thought wasn’t about myself.
“My babies?”
“They’re doing well,” she answered immediately.
“Both of them?”
She nodded with a smile.
“A healthy little boy and a beautiful baby girl. They’re receiving a few precautionary treatments, but they’re both doing very well.”
An overwhelming sense of relief washed over me.
Tears filled my eyes before I could stop them.
For months, Nathan had spoken about the twins as though they were part of a business arrangement… an investment.
Hearing the nurse speak, they finally became what they had always been.
My children.
The nurse gently adjusted my blanket before adding,
“Someone has been waiting outside your room since your surgery ended.”
“Nathan?”
She shook her head.
“No… Mr. Blackwood.”
A few moments later, Lucien walked into the room.
He looked exhausted.
