"Seven centimeters," Dr. Freeland announced. "We're getting closer!"

"I wish we could get there faster," Amara groaned

Her contractions were coming faster and longer now, lasting for a minute each, and with only two minutes in between. It was 11:30 now, so she had been enduring this for a couple of hours at this point. She was just glad her mom was finally there to help her through it.

"I know, honey, but trust me, it won't be long now," Dr. Freeland said. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Amara laid back and looked at her mom, who was sitting in the chair next to her.

"Is there a way to make this stop?" Amara asked.

"You could have had the epidural," Mom said. She reached over and grabbed her daughter's hand. "But I don't blame you. I didn't have one either."

At the moment, another contraction came along, and, thankfully, so did Gabby. Amara squeezed both her mom's and Gabby's hands as she tried to suffer through it. She could feel Gabby cringe, but she didn't say anything. 

Once it had finished, Amara flopped back again. A few minutes before, Gabby had helped her put her dark curls into a messy bun, but sweat was still dripping down her back, and mixing with the few tears she was embarrassed to shed.

"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be," Amara said. 

Gabby tried to give her a hug, but it was hard, given that she was in the hospital bed. Ethan awkwardly stood by, along with Ken who had come to be supportive--mainly of Gabby, but Amara didn't mind.

She turned to her best friend. "Can't you do this for me?" The pain medication seemed to be getting to her.

Gabby smiled. "I know I said I'd do anything for you, but frankly, this is not something I can--or really want to do."

"Okay," Amara said. "But don't ever ask me to be a surrogate."

Mom laughed. "I know it's hard now, but I promise, it'll all be worth it when it's over."

"I sure hope so," Amara sighed. "Oh, here comes another one."

After another half an hour or so, the contractions were almost constant. At least, they felt like it. Dr. Freeland came in again to check on how far she was dilated.

"I hope it's not much longer," Amara moaned. "I know this process is supposed to be beautiful, but I honestly don't know if I can take much more."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that part," Dr. Freeland said. She smiled. You're about to become a mom."

"What?" Amara lifted her head off of the pillow.

"Ten centimeters dilated. It's time to start pushing."

---

"Come on, Amara, push!" Dr. Freeland ordered. "Five more seconds!"

Gabby was counting her through the contractions, but it didn't things any faster or more bearable for Amara. She let out a breath as she finished pushing for the moment.

"I thought the last couple of contractions were the hardest part," she groaned. "This is worse than I had imagined. I think I'm glad Ethan didn't want to be in here."

"Yeah, he'd probably throw up," Gabby commented.

"Hang in there, honey," Mom said, holding her hand. "You're almost through it."

"Time to push again," Dr. Freeland said.

Amara did so, trying to ignore the pain. She had never felt something this bad before. Gabby, on the other hand, was trying to keep her own cries of pain silent, as Amara clutched her hand. She knew this was nothing on what Amara was doing, but her hand was going numb.

As Amara stopped pushing for the contraction, Gabby said, "I think I'm going to watch from the other end."

"Are you sure?" Amara asked.

"Amara, I love you, but I can't hold your hand anymore," Gabby admitted. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Amara sighed.

It was time to start pushing again, but this one was different. Something felt weird down there. Just as she was about to ask, Dr. Freeland spoke.

"The first baby's crowning."

"What?" Amara asked, barely able to focus.

"I can see the head!" Gabby exclaimed.

"That's what crowning means," Mom said to Amara.

"Oh good. That means this is almost done," Amara said.

"Not if you don't keep pushing," Dr. Freeland said.

Amara took a big breath and pushed as hard as she could. She was exhausted at this point, but tried to keep her momentum going. And then it happened.

"It's a girl!" Dr. Freeland announced.

Amara let out a sigh as she leaned back against the pillows. Excitement and emotion rushed through her as Dr. Freeland held up the little, wiggling being and leaned her against Amara's chest.

"Oh, my gosh!" Amara nearly burst into tears at the sight of the very new baby against her skin. She was wiggling a lot, but relaxed at feeling her mother's skin. Her eyes weren't even open yet. Amara couldn't believe it. Her very own baby girl. Her daughter.

"How do you feel, Amara?" Gabby asked

"I can't believe she's actually here," Amara said through happy tears. "She's so tiny."

"We'll have to weigh her, but I'd say she's roughly four, maybe five pounds," Dr. Freeland said, smiling.

"She's so precious,"  Mom said. Her eyes brimmed with tears as well. As they should. This was her first ever grandchild.

"I hate to break up this moment, but the other baby will be along any minute now," Dr. Freeland said.

A nurse came in and scooped the new baby girl up with the promise that she would bring her back, once all any tests were done, and she was cleaned up. Amara hated to see them take her. She was almost worried they wouldn't bring her back.

"Okay, Amara," Dr. Freeland re-assumed her position. "It's time to start pushing again."

She wasn't, but knew she had to. She sat up again and started pushing. She was hoping it would hurt less this time. It didn't.

"Come on Amara," Gabby said, cheering her on. She was bouncing up and down excitedly. "You've already done it once, you can do it again."

Ten minutes of pushing later, she did. A feeling of relief surged through her, and she was finally in no more pain. She sighed in relief and suddenly felt very, very tired. 

"It's a boy," Dr. Freeland announced.

She put the baby boy on Amara's chest, just like she had with the other one. He was around the same size as his sister. He was a lot less wiggly than she was, but he seemed a little louder. The baby girl hadn't really cried that much, but he was consistently letting out little wails. It was adorable.

"Well, Miss Gray, you just gave birth to two babies in less than twenty minutes," Dr. Freeland said, beaming. "How do you feel?"

"Exhausted," Amara admitted. "But amazing." She looked down at her son. "I didn't even realize I could feel this way."

Not too long after, Amara was moved to another room, and able to hold both of her babies at the same time. She couldn't take her eyes off of either of them. She prayed a silent prayer, thanking the Lord that they were both healthy.

"They're so perfect," Gabby whispered. They were all afraid of speaking too loudly.

"They sure are," Mom said.

"The girl looks like she's seen some things," Ethan pointed out.

Amara laughed. Her baby girl did, in fact, look pretty traumatized. The boy was sleeping, quietly.

"She has hair," Amara said, noticing the little wisp of golden fuzz on the baby's head. She looked at her son's head, which had a little fuzz of dark hair on top. "His is a little more noticeable."

"Have you picked out names yet?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah," Amara smiled. 

"Let's start with the girl," Mom suggested.

Amara looked down with pride. "Abigail Jeanette." 

Mom sucked in a breath and Gabby looked at her in surprise. Amara looked up at her and smiled.

"I figured we can call her Abby for short," she said. "After you. But she'll still have her own name."

Gabby leaned down and hugged Amara's neck. She didn't expect her to hug back, since Amara had both arms occupied, but she didn't care. It needed to be done.

"Where did you get the name Jeanette?" Ethan asked.

Amara looked up at her mom, who was tearing up again. "After my sister," she said.

"You have a sister?" Gabby asked. Ethan looked just as confused.

"I'll explain later," Amara said.

"What about the baby boy?" Gabby said.

Amara handed let her hold Abigail before answering, "Joel. Joel Ethan Peter."

Ethan looked at her in almost shock. "You gave him his middle name--after me?"

"Yeah," Amara said quietly. "I always hear of people naming their son after the father." She looked up at him. "But you've been by my side for much longer than the real father."

As she let Ethan hold Joel, Gabby handed Abigail to Mom. Amara watched in amazement, not because she was surprised, but because she could barely wrap her mind around the events that had just happened. 

She was a mom now.