Back To The Start (One Tree Hill)

Chapter 35

Julian's POV

When I entered the house in late afternoon, my mother was bustling around and cleaning up the house. She paused for a moment when she saw me and then walked up to me.

"Where is Justin?" She asked, looking around.

"He wanted to play with Jamie. I brought him to Haley," I said, pointing to the bedroom, where the door was closed. "Is Brooke sleeping?"

She nodded. "I'm worried about her, Julian," she said, looking serious. "She said it's nothing, but when I came back from shopping today, she was sitting on the couch clutching her belly. I know that she had experienced that before, that her belly became hard, but this time it took too long. She was completely exhausted afterwards and therefore wanted to go to bed early."

"You had to take her to the hospital," I said, frowning worriedly.

"Yeah, I told her that, but she didn't want to. She said it was way too early and that she would have nearly six weeks left before giving birth."

With a bad feeling, I went to the bedroom and opened the door. I had barely entered the room when I heard Brooke's soft moan coming from the bed. I hurried to her quickly and sat on the edge of the bed. Her face was distorted with pain, and beads of sweat had formed on her forehead and upper lip. My heart skipped a beat. "Why didn't you say anything? How is the interval between the contractions?" I wanted to know. When she grabbed my hand and began to moan again, panic came over me. It was completely out of the question that the babies could be born at home! I had to take her to the hospital as soon as possible! "Mom!" I shouted, while I put Brooke gently in my arms.

"What's wrong?" For a moment she just stood there until she realized what was going on. "I'll call the ambulance," she said, and ran back to call 9-1-1.

"It's too early..." Brooke panted, breathing heavily. "Another... six weeks..."

"It doesn't matter now," I said with a slightly trembling voice. "The babies are ready to be born now."

"No!"

I winced in pain as her fingernails dug into my arm. "Brooke, be reasonable!" I pleaded. "You have to go to the hospital. We can't wait any longer." As she began to sob, I also felt tears stinging in my eyes. "Everything will be fine," I mumbled hoarsely. "I promise."

"The ambulance is on the way. Can I do anything else?"

I looked at my mother and shook my head. "Not right now. Or wait, you could call Haley and let her know that Brooke is in labor and we're on our way to the hospital."

"I'll do this. Anything else?" She inquired, looking anxiously at Brooke.

"Maybe a damp washcloth." I waited for her to come back with the washcloth and then gently wiped the sweat from Brooke's forehead.

"Julian, I... I'm sorry," she stammered.

Confused, I looked at her. "What are you talking about? It's not your fault you got into labor. We can be happy that we even got this far. And when our sons are born, the doctors at the hospital will immediately take care of them." As her hand tightened around mine and she started to gasp, I knew she was in pain again. Nervously, I looked at the alarm clock. Where was the ambulance? I looked down at Brooke and saw her writhing in labor pains. I had often felt helpless in my life, but now seeing my wife suffer like that, was almost too much for me. Tears of despair ran down my cheeks, when I suddenly noticed how my mother approached me.

"Shall I take your place for a while?" She asked softly.

I shook my head. "I can't leave her now," I said in a choked voice.

"You'll see, if you hold the twins in your arms then all the pain is instantly forgotten," she said, forcing a smile.

I nodded, though I was pretty sure we wouldn't hold them right away after birth because they would be too small and fragile. They would be born six weeks early. Finally, when the paramedics and a doctor rushed into the room, I was relieved not to have the responsibility alone. When they put Brooke on a stretcher and brought her outside, I didn't leave her side. Fortunately, the drive to the hospital didn't take long, and when we arrived she was immediately taken to the operating room where they prepared her for the c-section. I couldn't believe my luck that I could actually be there when our twins would be born. I sat on a chair next to Brooke and held her hand while the doctors first removed the 'cerclage' and then performed the c-section. She got a spinal anesthetic, so that she could follow the birth of the twins with full consciousness. When a soft whimpering was heard, I bent down to Brooke and kissed her. "Congratulations," I whispered to her and smiled.

"And here's number two," the doctor said a few minutes later, holding up a tiny newborn baby, that was still covered in blood and slime.

Brooke and I were able to get a glimpse of him before they took our second son to an examination table, where he was meticulously examined, just like his brother a few minutes ago.

"Do you have decided for names for your sons?" The doctor asked curiously.

"Jude and Davis," Brooke replied softly. "And don't ask why we had decided for such unusual names. That's a little complicated to explain."

"No, it's not," I chimed in. "'Jude' is from the Beatles song 'Hey Jude' and 'Davis' was my wife's family name before we got married." I shrugged. "There is this strange tradition in Tree Hill that the first-born get their mother's maiden name," I told the doctor.

"Interesting." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "If the firstborn will be named 'Davis', then we already know which baby will carry that name." He looked at the female doctor who was just taking care of the twins. "The twins will stay in an incubator, until they are stronger," he explained. "We're going to exam them more closely, but right now they're both out of danger."

I looked at Brooke and saw tears in her eyes. "Didn't you hear what the doctor said?" I tried to cheer her up. "They are both doing well."

She nodded and reached for my hand. "Thanks, Julian," she whispered. "Without you I wouldn't have made it."

"And without you, we wouldn't have our two miracles," I replied and kissed her again.

"Mr. Baker?"

I turned to the doctor who was about to put one of the babies into an incubator.

"Do you want to come with me?" She asked. "We're taking your twins to the premature infants ward now. Your wife needs medical treatment anyway."

I looked questioningly at Brooke. "Is it okay for you if I go with them?"

She nodded, smiling. "Yes, just go. Stay with our sons. You can tell me afterwards how they are doing."

I kissed her one last time and then helped the doctor to bring the incubators with the babies to the premature infants ward.