Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 206

*Shelby*

“Shelby, if you can hear my voice, I need you to squeeze my hand, okay?” a kind voice called to me in the darkness. It sounded faint and far away, but the haziness in my head began to dissipate as I focused on the sound. It felt like I was feeling my way down a dark hallway, but as the voice kept calling, I fought through the fog.

I felt a warm hand curl around mine and.give it a gentle squeeze. I opened my eyes and blinked several times until the blurriness disappeared enough for me to make out a figure hovering over me.

It was a nurse with kind eyes smiling down at me with such warmth and compassion that tears sprung up behind my own lids unbidden. “Welcome back, Shelby,” she said softly before gently wiping away my tears with her free hand.

“What’s going on?” I asked, a knot lodged in my throat causing my voice to sound husky.

“The b***d loss made you lose consciousness, but you’re back with us,” the nurse told me. All of the issues I’d had after the C-section rushed back to me, the HELL syndrome, the bleeding disorder, the impending hysterectomy.

“Are my babies okay?” I anxiously tried to see over the curtain that was hung before the babies were born, but everything was still blocked from my sight.

“They’re both doing wonderfully,” the nurse said. I felt a wave of relief wash over me, followed by a flood of emotions.

The nurse held up her phone and showed me a picture of my babies. I gasped in awe. There they were, my beautiful twins – a boy and a girl, both so small.

“They are tiny but mighty,” the nurse smiled down at me.

“Your little fighters are doing just fine, I promise. Now, listen to me. We’re going to have to put you under. Your uterus is still not contracting despite us trying a few different medications. We’re having the anesthesiologist come back in, then we’ll start the surgery.”

“I trust you all, I’m just scared,” I told her.

She gave my hand another warm squeeze and nodded in understanding. “I know, but it’ll be alright. I’ll be here with you every step of the way.”

Just then, the anesthesiologist arrived and started to prepare the sedatives. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and lek out a sigh of resignation. I watched as the doctor brought the needle containing the sedatives up to my IV bag, and I braced myself to wake up soon, another surgery under my belt.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the room. I looked up and saw that Dr. Adams was leaning over the divider, motioning to the anesthesiologist to stop. My heart raced as I tried to understand what was going on.

Dr. Adams exclaimed loudly, “Stop! I’m not sure what happened, but her b***d is beginning to clot! Her uterus is contracting, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

As the news sunk in, I felt tremendous gratitude for the team of doctors and nurses that surrounded me. After a few minutes of monitoring, Dr. Adams announced she felt comfortable closing me up and moving me to a recovery room.

An hour later, the technicians expertly monitored my vitals as I was transported, and then I was settled in the recovery room amidst a flurry of pillows, blankets, wires, and monitors.

I was moved to the bed closest to the nurses’ station, where they could watch me closely over the course of my recovery. The steady beep of my pulse filled my ears in a strangely soothing way. I closed my eyes and drifted off.

A short time later, I felt someone take my hand. I opened my eyes and saw Michael standing there with tears in his eyes.”Oh my god, shelby! You’re awake!” he said.

I smiled through the exhaustion and pain and squeezed back just as tight. He leaned his forehead against mine, and we both cried. We stayed like that for a few moments without saying anything, just enjoying the fact that we were reunited.

Michael slowly let go of my hand so he could move closer to me and hug me properly. He gently held me close for what felt like an eternity.

“How are our babies?” I asked through tears.

Michael looked at me with a beaming smile and replied,

“They’re doing incredible. The NICU staff has been amazing-they’ve given them donor milk, and their vitals are great. The NICU doctor on call today, Dr. Williams, said their lungs look so strong already.”

He paused for a moment, looking into my eyes as if reassuring himself that I was really here with him and safe now.

“We’re going to get through this together, shelby,” he said before he gently kissed me on the forehead.

“I can’t believe they’re here. Oh my goodness, Michael. They don’t have names,” I reminded him.

“Don’t worry about that right now. We have all the time in the world to name them, my love, ” he reassured me.

We both felt overwhelmed, scared, and excited as we tried to decide what names to give our two tiny humans. After a few minutes of deliberation, Michael and I agreed that I should have the final say in naming them since I had been through so much to bring them into this world.

We discussed multiple names over the next few hours, each one carrying individual significance for us as a couple. We wanted their names to represent the love we both shared for them and each other.

Eventually, we were on the same page and ready to write down our selections for Dr. Williams to submit with all their paperwork on the NICU ward. I couldn’t help but already feel an incredible connection between me and our two bundles of joy.

As I looked at Michael’s strong handwriting with our name selections, my heart swelled with excitement that these would be the same names that were soon going to be shouted out by proud parents during soccer games, dance recitals, and family functions.

“Do you feel up for visitors, Shelby?” Michael asked quietly.

It’s okav if vou’d rather rest, so don’t feel pressured.”

I paused to assess how I felt. I was sore all over, and I was exhausted. But I knew that the visitors he was hinting at were my best friends, so I said, “I’m okay to have a couple for about an hour or so. I can’t go to the NICU until my numbness wears off anyway.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Michael kissed my lips softly and left the room. A few minutes later, he entered again. Lin and Aubrey followed closely behind him.

The sight of them made me tear up. My two closest friends practically sprinted to the bedside to give me a big hug.

I thanked them individually for being there, and they responded with their own expressions of gratitude for me surviving this ordeal.

“I can’t believe you both dropped what you were doing to be here. Aubrey, who’s covering your classroom?”

“Don’t you worry about that, Shelbs. I would quit my job if you needed me, you know that,” Aubrey said, then she stood up and grabbed my ice water. She leaned over and offered me a drink. I took it, then realized how parched I was from my time in surgery.

Everyone told me how thankful they were that I was alive. We laughed, we cried, we hugged. They showered me with love and support and said how excited they were to meet my babies.

Lin picked up two tiny onesies she had brought with her and asked, “So, did we decide on names yet?”

Michael and I smiled at each other, and I said, “Thomas and Amelia, I think I’ve had the names picked since I was eleven, though we had to agree upon them.

They oohed and ahhed at the names, expressing their admiration for the choices Michael and I had made for our babies. I siniled as I watched my friends take pictures with Thomas and Amelia’s onesies. Warmth filled me knowing that no matter what happened in life, my children would always have an extraordinary support system behind them just like I did.

The hour felt like 10 minutes, and before I knew it, my visitors were standing up to leave. I hugged them and expressed how much I loved them, and soon it was only Michael and me in the recovery room.

“Do vou want me to hit the call light so the nurses can check and see if you’re ready to go meet Thomas and Amelia?» Michael questioned me with concern etched on his face.

“My body isn’t numb anymore, and I’m exhausted. If I don’t meet them now, though, I’ll never be able to sleep,” I expressed, my eyes lighting up with excitement.

Michael, understanding my eagerness, reached for the call light and quickly pressed it. Two nurses rushed into the room to help me change my hospital gown and transfer me onto a wheelchair.

They allowed my husband to wheel me down the hall to the

NICU. As we approached the big doors, a nurse reached around us to enter a code that swung them open. Michael wheeled me through, and we were greeted by the sound of beeping machines and the sight of tiny, fragile babies hooked up to tubes and wires. My heart ached at the thought of my own little ones having to endure such a difficult start to their lives.

But then, I saw them. Our precious Thomas and Amelia, lying side by side in their incubators. They were so small but so perfect.

Their tiny fingers and toes, their button noses, and their soft, fuzzy hair. I couldn’t believe they were finally here.

As we approached, the nurses greeted us with warm smiles, explaining the various machines and monitors the babies were hooked up to. I nodded along, trying to take everything in, but my gaze remained fixed on my children.

“Can we hold them?” Michael asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Yes, they’ve done exceptionally well. The skin- to-skin will be great for them, as well as Shelby’s milk production,” Nurse Agnes said.

They unbuttoned my gown, exposing the top of my chest, then she and another nurse removed Thomas from his incubator and placed his bare skin against mine. He was warm to the touch and so fragile that I barely felt his weight against my skin.

Tears of joy streamed down my face as I looked into my son’s eyes for the very first time. They quickly readied Amelia, and placed her against my skin as well, cuddled in close against her brother.

I held my children close, feeling their breaths and their little hearts beating against my chest. The world around me, and the pain from my surgery, seemed to fade away as I became lost in the warmth and happiness of holding my babies while my loving husband stared at us with awe and adoration.

I had never felt happier than I did in that moment. Every minute of pain and strife that led me here was worth it.