This Is Us - Chapter 67: Chapter 67

*THOMAS POV*
"How are you feeling baby?"
I asked Matty and he made two peace signs with his fingers, the calmest I've ever seen this man since I found out he was pregnant.
"I'm feeling high as hell,"
He giggles, poking my cheek as he had an IV inserted in his arm and an epidural in his back to prep him for the c-section.
"You're going to be okay this time right? You're not going to faint and give me a heart attack like last time?" I asked and he just bobbed his head up an down mechanically with his eyes closed.
"Mmm yeah, I feel just fine and dandy baby daddy," He says and Luca can't hold in his laughter anymore, earning a stern glare from Matty.
"Hey what are you laughing at over there? Do you want to give birth to four little kicking ninjas the size of small watermelons?" Matty asked in his drug-induced high and Luca stopped laughing.
"You and I both know that you're the only one out of the three of us who's strong enough to do this," Luca coos as he pushes Matty's sweaty mop of hair back and kisses his forehead.
"Mhm...I thought so, Y'all are a bunch of pussies," he curses as he closes his eyes and lets out a small sigh. There's a small ding of the monitors from how fast Matty's heart was suddenly racing.
We had just ten minutes left together before he would be pulled into the operating room without Luca and I.
"Guys...what if they don't make it?" Matty whispers in a voice so soft that I almost missed it over the sound of the monitors beeping. I carefully grasped his hand in mine and gave it a tight squeeze. He opened his sweet hazel brown eyes and looked directly into mine, knowing no life was to be taken for granted after our first few babies passed.
His eyes held so much pain and heartbreak that it struck me hard, hurting my own chest with just the emotions flowing through him and passing onto me.
I held the back of his hand to my lips and gently kissed it.
"They'll be just fine Matty. They have a super strong mommy that supported them this far so they have to be super strong just like you, okay? They're fine and you'll be just fine too. Just think, in less than an hour we'll get to meet the little watermelon ninjas," I commented and he giggled a little. Luca sat down on the side of his bed and gently rubbed his stomach which was smaller than usual for someone carrying four babies in their pelvis.
"You hear that little ones? You better be good and come out safely for your mommy's sake, got it? I'm especially looking at you Mika-Ji," Luca gently consults the little babies before reaching up and cupping Matty's cheeks in his hands.
"And you can't go anywhere either, got it? I don't know how death works but if you see a light you better turn your ass right back around got it? I love you so so so fucking much and we have so much left to do in this life. You're the one who taught me that, who told me to hold on when I wanted to give up. We can't do this without you honey," Luca sniffled a bit and wiped a stray tear as he looked into our husband's drugged up gaze which softened slightly as he tilted his head forward and gently pecked his lips.
"Okay cutie, but those operating room lights are pretty bright, I dunno if I can just turn away from them like that," Matty giggles and Luca very lightly smacks his shoulder for making fun of him just as Dr. Yang walks into the room. Flying in from the USA just to continue Matty's treatment and learn about Bridgeport's advancements.
"Are we ready?" She asked as the nurses surrounded our Matthias and started wheeling him away.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Matty sighs and waves goodbye to Luca and I as we stayed behind.
Luca and I stayed silent as we sat together in the hospital room, waiting for the doctors to tell us that Matty we could go into the operating room and watch the babies as they came out. Each minute seems to go by slower and slower as I watched the clock while tapping my foot until Luca rested his hand on my knee.
"They're going to be okay," He reminds me, gently rubbing my knee as I held my head in my hands from the stress of the situation.
"I hope so," I sigh and he leaned over, kissing my cheek.
"I know so," Just as he stops talking the door opens and a nurse walks in with a small droid carrying two pink bundles of sterilized suits we would wear over our clothes.
"It's almost time, please put these on," The droid asked and the two of us didn't hesitate to take the purple scrubs and place them over our clothes. Placing our hair in caps and covering our faces with masks and gloves before following the nurse down a long hallway to where our husband was waiting for us.
Once inside, we found Matty on the operating table with his eyes closed, humming something under his breath with a curtain separating us from the operation taking place. As I got closer I recognized the butterfly song he had bought up months before, when he first told me he was pregnant.
"Hey, fancy meeting you here," Luca jokes and Matty's straight face turns into a small smile as he opens his eyes and sees both of us hovering over him.
"Can one of you remember to take pictures of the little guys for later," Matty groans and Luca and I looked at each other. He volunteers with a small nod and pulls out his phone, making sure its available for when the time comes. Leave it to Matty, even when he's in a lot of pain, to remind the two of us to not be useless.
"Okay it looks like we have baby C coming first," The doctor says and we all perked our head up, hearing the sound we had all been patiently waiting 266 days for.
A loud deafening wail fills the room and my own heart stops as this was the moment on this very day, May 21st, our second daughter made her way into the world.
"Baby C is a healthy little girl!" an android announces and the nurses watching and taking notes clapped their hands together as we got our very first glimpse of her.
And my god was she just as beautiful as her sister.
"Hi Novalee," Matty whispered in a hoarse breath as our baby cries out while being taken her team of doctors dressed in the color green with armbands that read team 'C' to be examined.
"Alright, we've got baby 'B' coming next, say hello little to your little boy," The doctor continues and I chuckled as Rumi came out wailing and squirming a lot more than his sister did, kicking all over the place as doctors showed him to us with his little eyes squinted closed. He was bigger than his sister too as he was brought over the curtain and rested on Matty's chest without a problem.
"Hey troublemaker, nice to see you on the outside," Matty giggles as he kisses the top of little Roo's head and Luca follows where he goes as he's taken to station 'B' with nurses dressed in pink uniforms.
"And Baby 'A' is right behind his brother," Dr. Yang continues as she brings the next little guy over to us, handing him over to me as I cradle Nakoa's little body in my arms and crouch down to show Matty. Tears of joy were streaming down his blushed cheeks and he was unable to talk as his trembling lips kissed Koa's cheek.
"Hey there little warrior," He whispers and my vision blurred, my own face drenched with tears I didn't know I was shedding as I gave my precious baby boy a little squeeze before he was taken by team A, dressed in all yellow gowns.
But then there was a silence that filled the room and panic ensued as the doctors suddenly rushed around.
"Team D, we need you on prep stat," One of the doctors calls out and team Mika rushes into action.
"What's going on? Where's Mika-Ji?" Matty groans and I gently squeezed his shoulder. Team D suddenly walks away from the operating table to their station and I left Matty's side to find Mika.
"What happened?" I asked only to be held back by another nurse.
"Sir please stand back," He asks but he didn't have to, already stopping the moment I saw this teeny tiny little infant, unmoving in a plastic bassinet.
"Mika-Ji," I clapped my hands to my mouth and gasped as my little one struggled to breathe while the doctors surrounded him, eventually closing off my view from him. I felt a presence next to me but I didn't have to look over to know it was Luca, joining me as the panicking fear rose in my chest.
A tiny little cry floods my entire body with an unexplainable sense of relief. Their cry wasn't nearly as strong as their siblings but it was there.
And that's all that mattered.
"Guys!" Matty called out, unable to see us while we ran after Mika-Ji. I quickly walked back to my sweetheart and kissed his sweaty forehead through the mask with Luca doing the same.
"He's okay Matty, Mika's going to be okay. They made it Matty, you did it," I cried and he whimpered a little as he cried and all three of us broke down into tears of relief mixed with happiness as the babies were weighed and checked.
They were finally here and the moment Mika-Ji was welcomed into the world was the moment the three of our hearts grew by four.