Maisie 'Baby' Bronze

36. Babies

"Lucy Bronze" I answer, a nervous twitch in my leg as I jig around by the receptionist's desk as she slowly types the name into the computer. 

"Habitación 276" She says eventually, myself quickly thanking her and picking up my bag again, turning round to read the signs. 

"Look, this way, rooms 270-80 on the left" Grandma says from behind me. I nod, and head in that direction immediately. "Wait, Maisie!" 

"Yeah" I say, turning around impatiently. 

"We'll wait here, give us a call when you're ready" Grandma says, the rest of the cohort smiling along with her. I smile back gratefully and then turn back around rushing off to find the room. 

I find it quite quickly and pause for a second outside, regaining my composure. I take a deep breath and send Keira a message, "I'm outside" 

I stand, jigging from leg to leg, checking my phone every five seconds until I look up and see the door opening. "Maise" Kei smiles at me, not fully opening the door. 

It hits me then, as I see the huge smile on Keira's face, that not only am I living the dream I've dreamt of since forever, to meet my siblings, but also Keira's. She finally has her children, and although she has me, I know it's not quite the same, and I'm ok with that. Mum's also living her dream too, I'm sure when she was my age, or maybe in her case younger than me, she would of envisioned herself having multiple children. So, as I take my final deep breath as she moves out the way, allowing me in, I pull Keira back out the room and pull her into a hug, taking her by surprise. 

"I needed to do that" I whisper.

"Thank you Maise" She whispers back, "I'm so unbelievably happy right now, and I'm so grateful of you, that you're so amazing with all of this"

"Don't make me cry Kei" 

"I'm going to get myself started again" She giggles, sighing and not letting go yet.

"Are you gonna come meet your siblings or what" I hear mum shout from inside the room. 

"Come on then" Keira takes my hand, and leads me through the door. 

As I enter, my eyes go straight to mum's, her sitting exactly opposite the door. I look into her arms and see no babies, making me frown and widen my eyes. She laughs as she sees my reaction, as I quickly scan the room, my eyes finally falling on the two little cots sat to the left of the bed. All I can see is the side of the cots as I stand still like a statue at the end of the bed, my eyes locked on the cot. 

"Gowan then" Mum whispers. 

I snap back into reality and turn my head to hers, controlling the smile that wants to break out on my face. I walk towards the cot. I knew this would be a moment I would replay over and over again in my head, the moment I met my twins for the first ever time, so I took it all in, collecting my thoughts. 

I see a little hat first as I walk towards the cots, and then a little face and then two faces. At this point, the smile on my face has been unmasked, and now I look just like Keira did when she first opened the door. They're even tinier then I thought they would be, their tiny hands curled up and their little faces pouting as they sleep. I can't help but admire their peacefulness, their tiny bodies sleeping soundly. I go to reach out but stop myself unsure of whether I was actually allowed to touch them.

"You've got two baby brother's Maise" I hear mum sniffle out, clearly trying to stop herself from crying. "Archie and Oliver" 

"Hey little guys" I whisper, leaning over the cots. "Can I touch them?" 

"Yeah" Keira nods, her voice also shaky. 

"I love you two so much already" I whisper as I gently kiss each baby on the forehead, stroking their hands. I look up at the names on the cot, not actually knowing which baby was which. There's a tiny little card placed in each cot with the boys' full name, weight and time of birth on.