Chapter 2 - Delilah

My heart raced as I heard the bone-chilling cries of a baby. I threw back the covers and rushed out of my room. Where’s the crying coming from? I felt like I was in a haunted house or horror movie as I opened door after door in this endless hallway, only to find a dead end. There was only one door left. I ran as fast as my feet could carry me and threw the door open. I finally reached the crib, but it was a pool of blood as I pulled back the blanket.  

I sat up with a scream, my hands immediately reaching protectively to my abdomen. What did that dream mean? Are the babies okay? I moved my shirt higher and slowly ran my hands over my stomach, trying to feel each of them. I felt the faint kicks of babies A, B, and C. My heart was in my throat when I couldn’t feel Baby D. 

‘Don’t start to panic. The doctor already said we have high blood pressure. Just remember what they said about being patient and doing something that usually stimulates movement.’ Helia reminded me.

I nodded and tried to get out of bed, and it was time to get up anyways, as it was past seven in the morning. I rubbed my stomach again, once more checking for movement. I frowned when I still didn’t feel Baby D moving. I’ll raid the fridge. D tends to move when I eat something spicy, and there are bound to be some pickled jalapeno peppers. 

As I went to make the bed, all thoughts of munching on some pickled jalapenos died as I screamed. Blood was on my sheet, and as I reached past my belly to my pajama shorts, they had blood on them. It took less than two minutes from when I screamed to my bedroom door in the guest apartment being thrown open.

“DELILAH!?” André shouted before letting out a scream of his own.

“Delilah? Are you all right? What’s… oh shit….” Darren started to question till his eyes saw the blood.

“It’s going to be all right.” Darren went into his military control the situation mode.

He’s such a great daddy. Even facing the very real possibility that one of his babies I’m carrying is in danger, he’s keeping a calm head. André, he’s a great Papa too, but more emotion-driven. For example, while Darren made a phone call and got a bag for me, André hugged and kissed my temple before kissing my belly four times, whispering it would be all right. 

“The doctor is going to be waiting for us. André, help her change and bag the clothes and bedding in case they need to know how much blood it was.” Darren instructed.

“What’s going on?” Lando asked, yawning as he came to see what the shouting was about. 

“Oh, Goddess. Delilah, are you okay? Are the babies all right?” Lando asked as his brown eyes went wide in worry.

“It’s going to be fine, Lando. Don’t worry. Your siblings and Delilah will be fine.” Darren assured him as he walked him out.

“I… I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. Maybe this was what my nightmare meant.” I sniffled as André helped me change from my pajamas into a maternity dress.

“Hush, now Zia Delilah. It’s going to be okay. I can still hear them.” André promised and kissed my forehead. “Now, what do you mean nightmare? Walk and talk if you can. Or I’ll carry you if you can’t walk.”

“I… I can walk.” I assured him, though I did lean on him as we left my room.

“I was having a nightmare. There was a wailing baby, and every door I opened was dead. And when I finally got the crib, there wasn’t a baby, just blood.” I recapped my nightmare, shaking as I tried to hold back tears.

“Well, that’s freaky. I’ll give you that.” André nodded. “And you woke up to find the blood?”

“Well, not at first. I tried to feel for the babies and couldn’t feel baby D. I got up to eat pickled jalapenos to see if she’d start moving. She always moves when I eat something spicy. And that’s when I saw the blood.” I explained as he helped me into the back of Darren’s Subaru. 

“It’ll be okay. D might not have moved as much as the others, but I can hear all four heartbeats.” André assured me.

“We’ll get to the hospital and make sure you and the babies are all clear. It’s going to be fine, Delilah. Carrying multiples is never easy. Ask my mom.” Darren assured me with a smile as he glanced in the rearview.

I nodded and sniffled as André kept me in a one-arm hug on the drive. It didn’t take long for us to get to the Madonie hospital. And given that I’m the surrogate for the Alpha and Aleph, I was immediately taken to a room where the obstetrician quickly hooked me to all sorts of monitors and put four monitors on my belly. 

It felt like an eternity before they had anything to tell us. I don’t know who was more nervous about what she had to say, me or André and Darren. André had been holding my hand the whole time, and Darren had been holding his. Doctor Damiani sighed as she looked at the chart before looking at us.

“It would appear the bleed has stopped. Baby D is still alive but in danger. What occurred was a placental abruption.” She explained.

“And that means? Talk to me like I didn’t pay a lick of attention to any medical words my Zio or cousin have ever said.” André insisted.

“It… it means the placenta detaches from the wall of the uterus. It means baby D may not get enough oxygen.” I explained.

“What?” I asked as everyone looked at me. 

“I did a lot of research about pregnancy before becoming a surrogate. And I did pay attention to things Al… Beta Petridis said.” I explained, quickly correcting the amount of familiarity I used with speaking about Alexander. 

I haven’t seen or spoken to him in over two years. Not since the night that snake Lia announced her pregnancy and that they were officially a couple. I know it was childish of me to cut him out of my life. I regret it, but that time away from him strengthened me. I became more independent and outspoken. That led me to offer to be André and Darren’s surrogate. 

“So, what do we do?” Darren asked, looking back at Doctor Damiani.

“As the bleeding seems to have stopped and we have confirmed that baby D is not actively in danger, Signorina Delilah can return home.” She explained.

“But I want her on bed rest, and I’ll be prescribing medication to help the heirs’ lungs mature and to protect their brains if something was to force our hand to an earlier delivery than planned.” She outlined, handing Darren a prescription.

“Is there nothing that can be done to, I don’t know, fix the placenta?” André asked.

“No, Alpha. I’m afraid not. At least not that anyone here could.” She shook her head.

I knew the look in André’s eyes and started to shake my head. He’s thinking about having Alexander return to Madonie. I’d prefer him to ask Damon, but he can’t issue orders to Damon as he’s not Madonie’s Beta. I haven’t seen Alexander in years, and being pregnant is NOT what I want to be for that reunion. 

“Don’t even think about it, André Marcus D’Amore.” I waved a finger at him.

“Zia Delilah. I love you. You know I would never want to cause you discomfort.” André held his hand over his heart.

“But?” I narrowed my eyes.

“But I love my babies more than I care about your discomfort.” He shrugged as he dug out his phone.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll have to be on bed rest. Baby D will be fine.” I tried to convince him.

“I’m not changing my babies or your safety. Your sisters love me, but if anything happens to you, it won’t matter that my papa is mated to Crista. I’ll be as good as dead.” André shook his head as he stepped just out of my reach with his phone to his ear.

“You need to come home immediately,” André greeted.

I strained, wanting to hear what Alexander was saying. Goddess, I’m pathetic. I don’t want him here. I don’t want him as my doctor. I’m not prepared to face him after all this time. I don’t want to meet him while carrying André and Darren’s heirs. Yet despite how much I don’t want him around, I’m straining to hear his voice.

“Our surrogate has experienced a placental abruption. General medicine can’t do anything beyond telling her to rest and take some medicine to ensure the babies are developed enough if we need to have an earlier delivery is needed.” André explained.

“Exactly. Now get your ass on a plane. We’ll see you in roughly twelve hours. Bye, cousin. Send my love to Zio Damon and Zoe.” André ended the call and pocketed his phone.

“I don’t like you right now.” I pouted.

“I know, but you still love me. And you love your future nieces and nephews and want what’s best for them.” He smiled and gently placed his hand on my belly.

“Delilah, we know you don’t want to see Alexander. What happened was years ago, and I believe you are mature enough to put your issues aside for the sake of the babies.” Darren sighed.

‘It’ll be okay, Delilah. I’ll be with you. Together we can handle facing your old crush.’ Helia promised.

“Okay…” I sighed, giving in. “It’s the best option to ensure baby D is safe and that I can carry all four babies till the thirty-week mark when we have the planned c-section.”

“Thank you, Zia Delilah.” André grinned and kissed both my cheeks. “I promise Alexander will be on his best behavior.”

“Don’t promise something like that.” I sighed. “You can’t make him not say or do something that will upset me.”

“I’m his Alpha. I can command him to do a headstand while pedaling a unicycle with his hands.” André scoffed.

I laughed softly and shook my head. André has always had a way with words and painting pictures. Now I’ll have this image of Alexander doing a headstand on a unicycle with the blood rushing to his face and blue eyes focused as he tries to control his breathing to maintain his balance stuck in my head. 

I don’t know if the image will be enough to get me through the uncomfortable reunion and having to face how I abandoned him when he probably needed friends the most. At least I’d have half the day or possibly longer to think about what I will say and how to react when I see him again.