Unconventional Love

Just over a month later, in mid-April, Ash was awoken from his late-morning nap by a pain the likes of which he’d never felt. Not even dropping his weight into the saddle of their mount and landing on his crotch last summer had hurt this bad. He felt himself curling into a ball and gasped for breath, clutching his belly as it tightened into a hard orb.

It was a couple of minutes until the pain left him and he was able to breathe fairly normally again, and he was thankful when it did. Amy had told him that he may experience pain like this from time to time as the time for their child’s arrival drew closer, that it was likely his body practicing for the big day. She’d told him that she’d experienced much the same thing as much as a month before Andy was born, and Daisy agreed that she had, too, before finally having him.

Thinking that it was just his body practicing for that upcoming big day, the young boy thought nothing of it and tried to go back to sleep. His babe was still squirming within in, although it wasn’t as much as it used to, so he knew it was still alive. Besides, he was exhausted from never sleeping quite right anymore, as well as carrying all this extra weight around, and decided he needed the sleep.

“Owww,” he groaned about forty-five minutes later, once again drawn from sleep by another searing pain in his belly.

Ash rubbed at the hardened orb, the pain that had spread from his lower back to wrap around his front taking his breath away once again. As the pain reached its worst and he had to gasp just to draw a breath, he both felt and heard a pop before his clothes and the bed beneath him started to get wet. He realized within seconds that the fluid was draining from his body, and although he didn’t quite know what that meant, he knew it couldn’t be good. It was the fluid that had surrounded his babe, which wasn’t due for another month, at least, and that scared him.

“Annnn-dyyyy!” he screamed, unable to rise from their bed. Even if he weren’t in such pain, his belly was far too cumbersome to allow him to get up without help.

“What is it, Ashes?” Andy asked frantically, running into their bedchamber.

“I-it h-hurts,” the young boy moaned, rubbing at his belly as the pain began to subside.

“Oh, my God,” his husband breathed. “I am going to get Mother. I shall be back shortly.”

Since he had no other choice, he merely nodded his head and stayed where he was as his husband darted back out of the room. The pain continued to slowly subside as he laid there, and he found that rubbing his belly helped a bit. Ash was still scared out of his mind since, as far as he was concerned, it was too early for this to be happening.

Minutes later, Amy and Daisy both followed the young man back into their bedchamber, his mother-in-law holding her medical bag. As she put it down on the sofa in their reading nook, she instructed her son to pick him up so that his mother could change the bedding while she readied herself. Andy did as told and hefted him up into his arms bridal-style, groaning with the effort from how much he’d grown with their child. He sat down on the other side of the sofa with his young bride in his arms, watching as his mother-in-law stripped their bed of its soiled linens.

Daisy worked quickly and had the bed remade in just a few minutes, putting extra towels down over the wet spot to make it more comfortable for him. The young man struggled to rise back to his feet with his young bride in his arms, but he somehow managed to do so without falling over or dropping him. He gently laid him back down in their bed, deciding to excuse himself from the room so he wouldn’t faint.

Amy slicked up her fingers with corn oil and told him that she needed to do another internal examination. As much as he despised having anyone other than his husband shove their fingers up his rear, Ash knew that she was just trying to help him and did as she instructed. Within minutes, she told him that he was already making progress and that she could feel the fine hair covering his child’s head. She asked if he still felt movement from it after pulling her fingers out, to which he nodded.

“Squeeze my hand, Ashley,” his mother said soothingly as another pain began.

He groaned softly, but did as told, as the pain worsened.

“I am going to send Chris and Andy to town for the doctor,” Amy said. “It will be good to have him already here, just in case we need his assistance.”

Ash nodded his head, in too much pain to respond verbally.

“Will you be okay with him by yourself for a few minutes, Daisy?” she asked, turning her attention to his mother.

“Of course. Have you anything in your bag that will help with his pain?” Daisy countered.

“Actually, I do,” his mother-in-law answered. “I will need to get a pot of hot water and a teacup while I am downstairs for it, though.”

“Then go. We need the doctor out here,” she told her.

Nodding, the older woman hiked her skirts up and darted out of the room as she turned her attention back to him.

“Breathe, Ashley. Just breathe,” she said soothingly. “In through your nose, out through your mouth, son. Just like that.”

The young boy tried to do as his mother told him, finding that, like rubbing his belly in the midst of a pain, it helped. Not very much, considering that the pain was horrific, but a little, just enough to make it bearable for him. He felt the child within him stretch and squirm restlessly as the latest pain subsided, but he couldn’t wait until it ended entirely.

* * *

It was several hours before any kind of results were reaped, and to say that Ash was sick of the pain would be an understatement. It had worsened to the point that he was screaming at the top of his lungs with every pain that hit him, and he’d long ago lost his voice from those screams. Chris and Andy had retreated to the barn after fetching the doctor and returning with him, the younger man unable to handle listening to those heart-wrenching cries.

The doctor was shocked to find out that his laboring patient was a male, to say the least. Amy explained everything she’d found out so far, telling him that if it turned out he was unable to have a natural delivery, the child may need to be surgically removed. The middle-aged doctor, whose name was Gaston, agreed. He told her that he didn’t want to perform such a surgery on the young boy if it was unnecessary, knowing that it would take longer to heal from, or possibly kill him if the incision were to become infected. He was still shocked over Ashley’s gender, but put that aside for the better welfare of his patient.

Between the three of them, they did everything they could to soothe and care for Ash, knowing this wasn’t easy on him. His body just wasn’t meant for child-bearing, so the whole pregnancy thus far had been challenging, and labor was proving just as much a challenge. Knowing that the babe was a month early wasn’t helping; in fact, it was worrying and scaring all of them, but none more so than the young boy. Not having his husband there because he couldn’t handle seeing him in pain made things even worse.

“Shhh, shhh, shhh,” Daisy whispered, gently brushing his hair back as he let out another silent scream of agony.

“Squeeze our hands, dear,” Amy coached, both women holding one of his hands.

“Amy, since he only trusts you, I will trade places for you so you can see if birth is imminent,” Gaston said.

Nodding, she let go of her son-in-law’s hand, trying not to cry as he grappled for her in the midst of his pain. The doctor immediately took her place and squeezed his hand reassuringly while she slicked up her hand with corn oil again. She waited until the pain had subsided as much as it would before shoving her fingers up his rear again.

“The babe’s head is lower now than it was before. Much lower,” she reported, cleaning her hand off. “I do not think it will be long before it is born.”

“Anything…to stop this…torture,” Ash gasped, his words whispered since he’d lost his voice.

“I know it hurts, dear,” the older woman said, resuming her place at his side.

“We both do,” his mother agreed. “It was no walk in the park for us, either.”

“Ashley, I need you to take a deep breath and bear down as if you are relieving yourself for me, okay?” Gaston said, now sitting on the bed at his feet.

Nodding, the young boy drew his knees up as much as he could, letting his legs fall open as he tightened his grip on the womens’ hands and drew in a deep breath.

“We need to help him sit up a bit,” Amy said, putting one hand under his upper back. “It will aid delivery.”

Nodding, Daisy put her hand under his mid-back, gently helping him sit up as he bore down with nearly all his strength. The doctor gave him encouraging words as he pushed for as long as he could manage, which was around eight seconds. He then instructed him to repeat his actions so he could help the babe out.

It didn’t seem like the young boy’s efforts were doing much, but within half an hour, he had his child crowning. Seeing that his orifice wasn’t going to stretch enough to allow birth without tearing, Gaston had him stop pushing for a moment and took a blade in hand. His mother-in-law stuck a wadded up cloth in his mouth and told him to bite it, knowing what the man was about to do was going to hurt worse than the Devil. He did as he was told, almost delirious from his pain.

Ash screamed silently once again, his eyes flying open as he felt the doctor making a cut that couldn’t be numbed. Tears welled in his chocolate-brown eyes worse than they had before, and he couldn’t stop them from streaming down his cheeks any more than he could stop his screams. The incision the doctor made, which would undoubtedly have to be stitched up later, hurt almost as bad as his labor pains had.

Once the incision was made, Gaston instructed him to push again so that he could get the babe out. He took another deep breath through his nose, biting down on the cloth still in his mouth as he bore down as hard as he could. Another eight seconds or so passed before he flopped backward onto his pillows, letting out the breath and panting for a moment after his child’s head emerged. Amy wiped his brow with a cool rag, Daisy doing the same for his arms and chest, as they tried to keep him from overheating. It was an almost pointless effort on their part, but they still tried, anyway.

“Gentle push, Ashley,” the doctor instructed, cupping the child’s head in his hand.

With a silent groan, the young boy pushed down again, not quite as hard as he had been before, and drew in a sharp breath as he felt its body rotate.

“Good, good,” he coached. “Another gentle push now.”

“Come on, Ashley. You can do it,” Daisy said softly with a hint of enthusiasm.

“Your babe is almost here, Ashley,” Amy added, grinning.

He took in another deep breath and curled up once again, feeling the child slip out to its waist with his next push. It was at that point that Gaston was able to pull the child out without hurting either one of them, and he did just that. Ash sighed in relief as he flopped back against his pillows, more exhausted than he’d ever been in his life.

“It is a son,” the doctor announced, turning the child upside-down.

It was as he smacked the child on the bottom to stimulate its breathing that the young boy felt another fluttering movement within his belly. He’d felt that movement for so many months now that he recognized it as a child squirming, and let go of his mother-in-law’s hand. Just as he reached up to pull the cloth out of his mouth, another pain hit him and he screamed silently, biting down onto it once again. None of them thought anything of it because they knew delivering the afterbirth was painful, too.

“There is…another,” he gasped out once the pain subsided.

“Another? What do you mean, another?” Amy asked.

“Another…babe!” His whispered words were cut off by another silent scream of agony.

“Oh, dear,” Daisy gasped. “Doctor, give me the babe. I will get him cleaned and wrapped up.”

Nodding, Gaston handed the babe to what was considered his maternal grandmother so she could do as she’d said. His mother-in-law took the doctor’s place as she shoved her fingers up his rear again, trying to find out when this second babe would be born. It was already so low that if he kept pushing, its birth would be imminent. Ash nodded and took another deep breath, bearing down again as she cleaned her hand and moved aside.

“Good job, Ashley. Keep going,” the doctor instructed.

The young boy was so exhausted he wondered how his body hadn’t given out, how his heart was still beating, at this point, but did as told.

“Gentle push now,” he instructed.

Amy let him squeeze her hand as she helped him sit up again, gently soothing him enough to focus.

“Good. The head is out,” Gaston told him.

Ash sighed heavily before taking another breath to push the shoulders out.

It wasn’t long before he had the second child out up to its waist, at which point the doctor once again gently pulled it from its mother. Again he’d birthed a son, and he sighed happily as he flopped back against his pillows, relieved when he didn’t feel yet another child squirming within him this time.

The doctor turned his second son upside-down and smacked its rear, a sharp cry filling the room again seconds later. He laid him down on a towel near Ash’s feet, which were still pulled up as far as he could manage, as he tied off and cut the cord still joining the two of them. Once it was cut, he handed the child off to Daisy, who’d since put his first-born son into his arms for him to hold for the first time. Despite his exhaustion and the pain he’d gone through, he was excited and awed to experience this.

A few minutes passed as his mother cleaned up his second-born son, and he managed to deliver the afterbirth, despite holding his child. He gave the babe an exhausted, but happy smile as he counted every single one of its fingers and toes. He was so happy that, despite being born a month early, neither of his boys seemed to be in bad health and were doing just fine.

“What are you going to name them, Ashley?” his mother-in-law asked curiously.

“This one shall be named Keegan,” Ash whispered, looking at the babe in his arms. “His brother shall be named Kelly.”

“Very beautiful names,” Daisy told him, approaching with Kelly in her arms. “I am surprised that you are using more Irish-sounding names than not.”

“I think they sound pretty,” he said, smiling again as she placed his younger son in his free arm. “Hello there, Kelly. I am your mama.”

“Doctor, can you lift him up once he has held the babes for a few minutes so we can change the bed linens again?” Amy asked. “I do not wish my son or husband to faint from seeing this mess.”

“It will be my pleasure, Amy,” Gaston answered.

“Thank you so much,” his mother said. “I was not sure you would believe us when she sent Christopher and Andrew to fetch you.”

“I must admit that I questioned their mental state at first,” he told her sheepishly. “But I figure, male or female, there is a patient in need. It is my duty to see to that patient’s needs to the best of my ability.”

“Every doctor and nurse takes an oath to help, not harm,” his mother-in-law said. “Even every midwife.”

The rest of their small-talk was lost on Ash as he bonded with his babies for the next few minutes, his breathing slowly evening out as he stared at their tiny faces. Shortly thereafter, his mother took them from him again one at a time, gently laying them in the cradle near their reading nook. With the babies safe and secure next to each other, the doctor gently lifted him from the bed, mindful of the stitches he’d had to put in place to sew him back together where he’d cut him earlier.

As he held onto the man’s neck a bit weakly, the two women changed the linens on his and Andy’s bed as quickly as they could. Once they were changed, Gaston gently placed him back down, telling them to keep a sharp eye on him during the next week or so to make sure an infection didn’t set in.

It was after the man took his leave that Amy went to find her own son and husband while his mother returned his sons to his arms. Ash winced softly as they both latched onto his tender, swollen nipples at the same time, both apparently hungry. Once he was settled with them in his arms, Daisy said she was going to run down to the kitchen to rustle them up a snack since none of them had eaten dinner or supper that day.

Moments after his mother’s departure, Andy came into the room with his own mother on his heels, stopping in his tracks as he took in the sight before him. He was amazed to see his young bride was still alive and well, although exhausted, and that he held a babe in each arm. Ash smiled at him weakly, soon yawning softly as his sons continued to feed from him while he held them. His husband snapped out of his trance and slowly made his way over to the bed, gently crawling onto it so as not to disturb any of them. He was amazed to see that they were doing so well, much better than expected.

“What are they?” he asked softly, seeing that they were both wrapped up.

“Both strong, healthy boys,” Amy answered, smiling at him.

“Which one is which, though?” he asked her. “And why is Ash not answering my questions?”

“He lost his voice many hours ago from screaming, so he can only whisper for right now,” his mother told him. “The babe in his right arm is Keegan. His brother is Kelly.”

“Our beautiful twin boys,” the young man murmured, gently kissing their heads before kissing his temple. “It is obvious that you did well, my love.”

Ash smiled at him and turned his head, puckering his lips as he silently asked for a proper kiss.

All too happy to oblige, Andy did just as he asked as they settled in for their first night with their boys.

Notes