Introduction

POV Back Story

Cara was born in mid September. The only daughter and youngest child of the Magdalen family, she was well loved by her parents, Mike and Angela, and two older brothers, D.W. (David Wayne, named for both of their grandfather's.) and M.J. (Michael John, who was named after his father and also his mother's grandfather.) Her family doted on her from birth. Cara was their miracle baby.

Her parents had not planned to have anymore children, content with their rambunctious twin boys. Her mother had just gone back to work after the boys started kindergarten. Angela was so excited to take the job at the Bank of America in their small home town. It was just the something new She needed in her life. Angela loved her husband and the boys with all her heart. But her pregnancy had been high risk. Angela had had to quit working and go on bed rest by the 4th month of her pregnancy. She had a difficult time carrying the twins to term. But it had all been worth it when she was finally able to hold her babies in her arms. Angela couldn't imagine leaving her sweet baby boys with strangers or at daycare. So she and Mike agreed that she should stay at home with their precious bundles until they were old enough to go to school. After all, Mike made more than enough money to support the young family.

Angela had been working for six months. The young family had just settled into their new routines when Angela started having migraines and nausea. It got to the point that she was unable to keep food down or tolerate even the faintest light. So she went to see the doctor. It was at that appointment that she was floored to learn that she was actually pregnant!

Because it wasn't a planned pregnancy and she had been experiencing the migraines, Dr. Smith decided to run more blood work and to do an ultrasound. You can only imagine the shock Angela and Mike experienced when the doctor informed them that she was in fact pregnant with twins! Again!! They would go on to find out at the second ultrasound that it was twin girls! The couple decided that yet again Angela would stay home during the pregnancy. They decided that this would be best as a precaution against any possible gestational problems.

The months flew by. Angela busied herself planning the nursery and Mike spent every minute away from work caring for the twins and making Angela's ideas a reality. By eight and a half months the nursery was ready. The baby girls were developing properly and the boys were anxiously awaiting their arrival. Life was wonderful. The happy couple spent most evenings lovingly watching their sons play and dreaming of the day that their baby girls would come home from the hospital. Making their family finally complete. It felt surreal to them, that they were the proud parents of not one but two sets of twins. Two handsome boys and two sweet baby girls. They didn't know how they had been so blessed, but they couldn't be any happier.

One evening in September as they were preparing for bed Angela's water broke.

The couple hurried and called Mrs. Davies, a kind elderly widow woman, that lived on their block. They didn't have family nearby to call. Because of this the young family had adopted her as an honorary grandmotherly figure. Mrs. Davies regularly baby sat the boys on date nights or for doctors appointments and was more than happy to come sit with them. They reminded her of her own children. She had raised seven sons. Angela had met her on her morning walks as she pushed her infant boys in the double stroller. The older woman had been watering her flowers that were at the base of her mailbox post. She had been drawn to the young mother and her precious cargo. Having a special place in her heart for little boys. One look into their angelic eyes and Mrs. Davies was absolutely smitten from then on.

As soon as the elderly woman arrived at their home the young couple drove immediately to the hospital.

Upon arrival they were instantly checked in. Angela had a scheduled cesarean section to be done at 38 weeks gestation, an added precaution made by Dr. Smith, just in case. However, her water had broken almost a week early so delivery couldn't be delayed. But her doctor assured her all was well and that this often happened with twin pregnancy.

Angela was whisked away, into the operating room and prepared for surgery. Mike was hurried into a changing room and given scrubs to wear. When he had put the scrubs on over his clothes the nurse gave him protective coverings for his shoes, a hair covering, and a mask. The nurse giggled to herself as she watched him nervously struggle to put it all on. As soon as he was ready the nurse hooked her arm in his with a chuckle and a wink. She said, "Come on Mike! Let's go meet your baby girls!"

But as soon as they went to enter the operating room they were stunned to be greeted with the scene of horror before them. Dr. Smith shouted at the nurse to remove Mike at once! She spun on her heels and shoved the father back through the doors. Mike had been too shocked to say or do anything. He stood there dumbfounded, staring blankly at the now closed door to the operating room. The terrible things he had witnessed playing on loop in his noncomprehending brain. The doctor covered in blood, staff running here and there. Things being knocked over or dropped as nurses slipped in the crimson puddle surrounding the operating table. His wife with her head laid over to the side, eyes rolled back. The twin incubators across from all that. One incubator being rolled out in a rush with a quiet baby girl. Her skin sickeningly pale. The other being moved through another door with focused nurses heading to the nursery. That baby girl was crying her lungs out. The stunned father stood there unmoving, unblinking, horrible images replaying over and over. And the screams of the one infant echoing in his ears. After what seemed like an eternity he felt dizzy. He didn't even try to catch himself as he fainted and fell back onto the shelves full of supplies. As he landed on the floor the last thing he could remember before the nothingness consumed him was the cries of his baby girl echoing all around.

Mike awoke to the sound of monitors beeping. He knew from the sound that he was asleep in a hospital room before his eyes were ever open. He was struck with confusion though when his eyes opened and he realized that he was the one lying in the hospital bed hooked to the beeping monitor. He had assumed that he was sleeping in the chair next to his wife's bedside. However, his wife wasn't anywhere to be seen. Panic started to rise within him. Heart racing, unable to slow his rapid breathing. His eyes darted all around. He was desperately trying to make sense of his surroundings. Just then the door to the room opened and in walked Dr. Smith. As soon as Mike looked into the doctor's eyes everything came flooding back to him. The horrendous memories hit like a ton of bricks. He sat straight up and demanded to know what happened to his family. He couldn't make sense of the chaos. How had a routine cesarean section at the end of an uneventful pregnancy turned into that much Hell!!

The older gentleman stood there looking compassionately at the young father and husband before him on the bed. He glanced at the rapidly beeping monitor taking quick note of Mike's vitals before pulling off his glasses. "Mike", he had said, "I understand you want answers. And I'm going to give them to you. But I'm gonna need you to calm down and pull "It" together first. You are going to need to be strong now." He then went on to explain that shortly after entering the operating room Angela had suddenly hemoraged before he had even had a chance to cut fully into her womb. The one baby's placenta had partially torn away from the lining of the uterus. Because of this the baby was starved for oxygen and bleeding out. Where the placenta tore away from the uterin walls abscessed and resulted in an extreme loss of blood for his wife. Dr. Smith went on to explain that the best way to save Angela's life was to perform an emergency historectomy. This would mean they would not be having anymore children. He went on to explain that baby girl A was in the nursery and doing just fine. There he had paused and looked down at the floor. The doctor drew in a deep breath before continuing to explain that baby girl B couldn't be saved. Mike sat with tears rolling down his face staring straight ahead broken hearted as the doctor turned and left the room.

Sometime later the young couple left the the hospital and returned home. It was a bittersweet homecoming. They were elated to bring Cara home. But broken hearted to have done so without her sister Tara. They were home a week when they had to go collect Tara's ashes. The funeral home had placed the ashes in a little pink urn for them.

The family went on with life. They couldn't linger in the sorrow of their loss. Not with the needs of their twin boys and their sweet baby girl. They had no choice but to move forward. They were proud of their sons and Cara brought them such joy and happiness as she grew. Actually, she brought joy to all who knew her. She had such a pleasant nature. She rarely cried and everywhere they took her people ooo'd and awed over her beauty. She was blessed with vibrant red curls and the brightest emerald eyes. Flawless porcelain skin and the sweetest, most angelic voice. She was naturally energetic and outgoing. She was brave. She loved any challenge, either physical or mental. Cara excelled at both academics and sports as she got older. She was the pride of her family.