Dark Magick

Once she was set up and ready for the delivery, Dr. Shepard checked the laboring bassist one last time. Thankfully, he’d made it to ten centimeters even by that point, which was a relief to both him and Andy, along with Jinxx. His lover and friend moved into position to hold his legs up for him while he pushed, the obstetrician sitting on a stool between his raised, spread legs. A nurse was readying two warming tables behind the doctor for when the girls were finally born for their post-birth assessment.

After being given the green-light to do so, Ash took as deep a breath as he could manage, curled up, and pressed his chin to his chest as he pushed as hard as he could. They already knew that Legacy was going to be born first. They could tell by the twins’ positions that she’d dropped lower than Magick and her head was engaged, ready for her birth.

With a scream of agony, he let out the breath he’d been holding when he reached a count of ten, dropping back on the bed as if dead. Andy kept encouraging him to keep pushing, whispering words of encouragement in his ear. He kept telling him that they were on the verge of meeting their beautiful daughters, that he couldn’t give up now when they were so close to the end.

Taking another deep breath, the bassist repeated the process over and over again. After an hour of pushing with little results, he was exhausted, in pain, and crankier than anyone’d ever seen him. He was bawling like a baby, on top of it, given that the epidural hadn’t worked since it was given to him and he’d felt every last ounce of pain during his labor. Still, he kept pushing until Dr. Shepard finally announced that she could see Legacy crowning at last, that she had a head full of hair as black as his. Tears streamed down his face, both from the pain, and the knowledge that he was soon to be a mommy.

“Gimme a gentle push, Ash,” the obstetrician said. “We don’t want you tearing as her head emerges.”

Doing as told, he curled up and pushed again, not quite as hard as he had been.

“You’re doing great, sweetheart,” Andy whispered in his ear as the multi-instrumentalist kept counting for him.

“And her head’s out,” she announced. “Stop pushing for a minute so I can check for a cord.”

Even though his opening felt like it was on fire, far worse than it’d ever felt while making love with his lover, he did as told.

“All right,” Dr. Shepard said, smiling. “Gimme another gentle push, Ash.”

The bassist took another deep breath, which replaced the panting he’d been doing, and pushed once again. He gasped as he felt his daughter rotate for one of her shoulders to emerge, which was undoubtedly the most painful part thus far. Still, his lover and best friend helped support him when he curled up, continuing to whisper encouragements in his ear.

“She’s out to her waist now,” the obstetrician announced happily.

It took only another two pushes after that for Legacy Aurora Biersack to finally make her grand entrance. Just as they’d suspected she’d do, considering who her parents were, she made said grand entrance kicking and screaming, her first breaths and cries music to Ash’s ears. He smiled as he flopped back, exhausted from eighteen hours of hard labor, watching as Dr. Shepard clamped her cord after cleaning out her airways. It was then that she called the new daddy down to cut her cord before she was handed off to the waiting nurse.

“Ready to meet Magick now?” she asked, smiling at him.

With an exhausted nod, the bassist prepared himself to start pushing all over again.

“C’mon, Ashie,” his lover murmured in his ear, gently kissing his temple. “You did it once; you can do it again, sweetheart.”

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the backs of his thighs and pulled them closer to his chest as he bore down, trying to get his daughter out as quick as he could.

“You’re doing great, Ash,” Jinxx said when he stopped pushing.

“You really are, Ash,” the obstetrician said. “I’m surprised it took only an hour to deliver Legacy.”

“Really?” Andy asked, momentarily distracted.

“Mmm hmm,” she answered, nodding as she watched for signs of Magick’s imminent birth. “Most first-time mothers take around an hour and a-half to deliver, especially with twins. And I mean the first twin, not both of them.”

Gasping as he laid back, Ash struggled to catch his breath for a moment before resuming his efforts at delivering his second daughter. Thankfully, since he was already stretched out from Legacy’s birth, it was easier for her twin to slip into his birth canal. He still panted like an overheated dog when her head emerged a few minutes later, considering that his opening was burning like it was on fire.

“Another gentle push, Ash,” Dr. Shepard said, gently cupping the infant’s head.

“C’mon, Ashie; you’re almost there,” his lover said, now even more excited than he had been before.

“I’m…trying!” he ground out, wanting to hurry up and get this over with.

“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t go too fast, Ash,” Jinxx said soothingly, gently rubbing his arm. “Yeah, I get that you’re tired; I don’t blame you. I also don’t blame you for being eager to meet your second little girl. But don’t make yourself go too fast; you might hurt yourself, her, or both of you by doing that.”

“He’s right, Ash,” the obstetrician agreed, nodding. “Just a few gentle pushes to get her shoulders out, okay?”

Nodding, the exhausted bassist curled up and pushed again, crying out as her shoulders emerged from his opening. By this time, Legacy’d stopped squalling from where she lay on the warming table, her length and weight already measured. Thankfully for all involved, it didn’t take much longer for the bassist to deliver her twin, making his total time of hard labor around eighteen and a-half hours. He had to force himself to stay awake after Magick was finally born to deliver their placentas, to even hear his younger daughter’s first cries, but it was worth it, when it was all said a done.

“And here’s baby A,” the nurse said, handing him little Legacy so she could tend to her sister.

“My little Legacy,” Ash whispered, his voice now shot from all the screaming he’d done.

“She’s so beautiful, Ashie,” his lover whispered, gently kissing his temple. “She looks just like you.”

“Oh!” he gasped softly when her little eyes fluttered open.

“Would ya look at that?” Jinxx chuckled softly. “She’s got your eyes, Andy. Hell, even your skin tone, from the looks of it.”

“She’s the perfect balance of both of us,” the frontman agreed with a grin.

“I love you so much, Legacy Aurora,” the bassist whispered, gently kissing her forehead.

“And here’s baby B,” the nurse said a short time later, placing Magick in his free arm.

“I love you just as much, Magick Sera,” he whispered, kissing her forehead, as well.

Not long afterward, the new mother and his babies were moved into a recovery room to get some rest. Dr. Shepard told them that Legacy and Magick would eventually be taken to the newborn nursery for a bit of observation, just to make sure nothing was wrong with them, which would give them plenty of peace and quiet. They’d need all the rest they could get before they were released to go home, where the noise would be never-ending.

Andy sat by his sweetheart’s bedside, Magick resting in his arms while her twin was fed. The bassist winced uncomfortably when she first latched onto his swollen, tender nipple, but it wasn’t long before he didn’t even notice it anymore. When she’d drained his right breast dry and was finished, he gently propped her on his shoulder to burp her.

Once she’d been burped, Ash traded babies and got Magick latched onto his uncomfortably full left breast and let her begin to nurse. Surprisingly, he was in the middle of nursing his younger daughter when a nurse walked in to help him get started. Smiling sleepily, he told her that it was just innate, that he hadn’t really had to do much to figure it out, and neither had the twins. She gave him a warm smile before making sure they didn’t need anything else and leaving, which gave them time to bond with their babies. However, by this point, the poor bassist was fighting sleep like he’d never done before.

His lover waited patiently until after he’d burped their younger daughter to take her, getting her comfortably settled in his free arm. After getting her settled so that she was comfortable and sleeping peacefully, he watched all three of his angels sleep like rocks. Andy felt sorry still that he’d put his sweetheart through all of that, especially nearly nineteen hours of painful labor, but now they had something precious from it. Legacy and Magick would forever be the only ones besides each other to hold the keys to their hearts.

Notes