Let Me Love You Again
Chapter 126

Lucas

By now we were in that room for at least seventeen hours, the night had come and the first lights of dawn were seen from the window while the girl, Madison, was lying on the bed, with her hands clinging to the sides while she took deep breaths. Her face was reddened and her red hair was sticking to her forehead.

The night before his grandmother, Mrs Morgan had arrived bringing clean clothes for her niece. The lady had thanked us for having helped her niece and had asked us the favor to be close to her as she could not, being tachycardic. So Devon and I had armed ourselves with courage and stood by her, helping and supporting her through labour that seemed like it would never end.

Mrs Morgan had been in the waiting room all night while Devon and I stayed at Madison’s bedside. I don’t know why I wanted so much to help her, I couldn’t help, I couldn’t leave her alone knowing that she had been abandoned by everyone

I didn’t want to be another person to leave her alone after everyone turned their backs on her, even her parents. How you could turn your back on a child, the b***d of your own b***d, I couldn’t understand.

“Okay, Madison, we’re only two inches away, and then we can start pushing,” said the gynaecologist, stroking her belly as the nurse placed the giant syringe on the cart.

She had just had an epidural, at our request, since Madison was suffering a lot, and it was worse for a twin birth like in her case.

Madison nodded and stood up, covering the girl’s legs, took off her gloves and threw them in the bucket.

“It’s not standard practice, but if you can stay during childbirth, if the patient agrees,” the doctor said, looking at us.

“Yes,” Madison replied for us with a feeble voice.

I nodded and Devon sighed as the doctor went out and left us alone. I leaned towards the girl and stroked her head, moving her red hair, drenched in sweat, from her wet forehead.

“It’ll be all right, soon you can have your children,” I said, trying to reassure her.

Madison sighed and threw her head between the pillows as tears began to flow down her face, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, it wasn’t the way I thought I was having babies,” she said, wiping her nose.

“Nothing in life goes as planned,” Devon said.

Madison looked at him, her shiny blue and green eyes “Please don’t leave me alone”

I passed my thumb over her forehead and smiled softly as she sighed and closed her eyes, breathing deeply again.

---

Another three hours went by, and it was finally time for Madison to push. Devon and I both stayed at her bedside while the doctor, bent between her open legs, gave her instructions on how and when to push.

Madison was holding my hand so tight that I was convinced that at any moment she could break it, even if she was small, she had immense strength, I could only imagine the pain she was feeling in giving birth to her two children, For that reason, I never wanted to be born a woman in another life. Not now, not ever.

Madison began to push hard, following the doctor’s instructions.

“Well keep it up, I can see the head,” said the doctor, moving her gaze for a moment from what I imagined might be a gruesome spectacle, to Madison’s face.

The girl breathed deeply and pushed again, screaming at the lungs.

“So, good, we’re almost there, one more!” said the doctor and Madison pushed again, grabbing her knees and screaming, her face completely red.

She slumped on the pillows breathless and distraught as a sharp cry burst into the room. I watched the nurse grab a little screaming bundle and wrap it in blankets before passing it to Madison.

The girl took him a little fearful and looked him in the eyes as the child leaned and closed his eyes.

His head was covered in tufts of brown hair and some b***d and placenta covering his face, his eyes were the same as Madison’s.

“Hey, baby boy,” she said, crying, then bent over and left a slight k**s on his forehead.

The nurse came over and Madison handed her the baby, then dried her face and nose.

“Okay, Madison, it’s time for the other one,” said the doctor as she fumbled between her legs, “When I tell you, push, okay?”

Madison nodded and took a deep breath.

“OK now push!” said the doctor and Madison did as she said, breathing deeply and pushing, breathing and pushing, until she gave one last push, with all the strength and a cry, and then fell between the pillows as the baby’s crying echoed into the room.

Madison sighed tiredly as the nurse approached the little child “Here the girl” said passing her to the girl.

The little girl had tufts of red hair on her head and her eyes wide open as she cried desperately in her mother’s arms, her grey eyes already flushed with tears.

“You’re beautiful,” Madison said to the child, before handing it over to the nurse.

Madison cried, but it didn’t sound as joyful as it did sad, before she closed her eyes and fainted completely.

“Well, gentlemen, you can leave while we finish our work,” the doctor told us.

I let Madison’s hand fall flat on the bed, and I walked away, and then I came out, and I took off the cap and gown they made me wear, just like Devon did.

I let Madison’s hand fall flat on the bed, and I walked away, and then I came out, and I took off the cap and gown they made me wear, just like Devon did.

Together we went to the waiting room where we found Mrs Morgan, sitting on the stick in her hand, the hair, now white, was short and on the nose wore a frame of glasses, the eyes were the same colour as those of her niece. As soon as she saw us he tried to get up.

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” I said, helping her sit down.

“How’s it going?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“They were born, a boy and a girl, I think the doctor will come and talk to you soon,” I said.

“I think you can go to her now,” Devon added to the other side of the lady.

The old woman nodded and got up slowly and then headed towards the ward before stopping and looking at us “Are you not coming?” she asked.

His question caught me off guard because we thought they didn’t need us anymore

I looked at Devon and he sighed, “Let’s go get something at the coffee shop and come back,” he finally said to the lady who smiled cheerfully and, with her gait, went to the rooms.

“Do you really want to stay?” I asked Devon once.

He shrugged as if nothing had happened, “We did thirty because we didn’t do thirty-one,” he said calmly.

Together we got up and went to the elevators to go to the cafeteria “I didn’t think to spend a night in the delivery room” he said thoughtfully and I laughed.

“At least it confirms my idea of never wanting to be born a woman,” I said.

---

After an hour we returned to Madison’s room, finding her with the little cribs next to her while her night was sitting on the bed and had surrounded her shoulders with an arm while the girl shook her head inconsolably.

I walked in with the cup of tea in my hand for Grandma and immediately worried about seeing her like that.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked and approached immediately.

“What are you doing here?!” Devon heard and I turned to him.

Devon’s gaze was pointed at someone, he followed his gaze and I found her there, the social worker, Mrs Green sitting at the table with papers in her hand while filling out things that did not reassure me at all.

“I should ask you this question, Mr Miller and Mr Lee,” said the woman, taking off her eyeglasses and staring at us in grime.

“They helped me and they stayed with me all the time, I don’t think I would have made it without them” reached us in the delicate voice of Madison.

Devon turned to her and gave her a sweet smile before approaching and putting his hand over her hair, messing with it.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Well, much better, it’s strange not to have them inside,” she said.

“So? What are you doing here?” I asked the social worker.

“My social worker couldn’t come so they sent Mrs Green,” Madison said.

“Do you have a social worker?” Devon asked.

Madison nodded, “I’ve had it since I went to the first ultrasound, I need it for the adoption process,” she said with a sigh.

I froze and looked at her, “You want to leave the kids?” I asked, surprised.

Madison looked me in the eye for a second, and then her blue and green eyes filled with tears as she looked away at the children sleeping blissfully.

“I can’t,” she said in a feeble voice.

“It’s okay, honey, nobody’s judging you,” said her grandmother, stroking her back.

“I’m only sixteen, what future do you think I can give to two children like them? How do you think they can grow up with me? How can I impose my choices on them? I can’t, they deserve a different life, inside a family that can give them what I could never,” Madison looked up, her face rifled with tears.

“No one is judging you, Madison, it’s the noblest choice you can make,” said Mrs Green, “If you’ll excuse us, Mr Miller and Mr Lee, I need to speak privately with the girl.”

“No! They can stay!” Madison immediately said, “How do you know them?” Madison suddenly asked with a frown.

“Not in the best way,” Devon said as he sat down and stretched his legs and then looked at the social worker frostily.

“Let’s say we and Mrs Green don’t have a great relationship, when we found you yesterday we had just finished a meeting with her”

“Meeting for what?” he asked.

“Mrs Green refused our request again, simply,” I said, sitting in bed and offering her a cup of tea.

“Are you trying to adopt?” Madison asked, her eyes shining.

I nodded and sighed as my gaze shifted to Devon who lowered his eyes and looked at his feet.

“Why can’t they?” Madison asked Mrs Green this time.

“These aren’t matters you should be interested in, honey. Shall we continue? There are two other families who came into the application this morning that could be candidates for adoption,” said Mrs Green and I rolled my eyes, so I was on my back and could not see me.

“How long will it be before they too can have their own baby and no longer want mine? Then why two families? I said I don’t want to share them!” Madison hysterically said, and I could see the fear in her eyes.

One of the children was frightened and began to cry in despair. Devon got up and picked him up and then gently passed him to the girl, explaining how she should keep him and showing her how to breastfeed him.

Madison followed his instructions and began nursing him.

“You’re good,” she said, looking up at him.

“We have friends with small children and very often we happen to babysit, we have seen May and Jess breastfeeding thousands of times,” I said smiling at the memory of the children of my best friends.

Madison smiled back at me.

“I know that separating them is not one of your options but none of the couples who applied accepted the proposal of two children, you have to start considering the idea,” Mrs Green said politely.

“Separating two brothers on the whims of a couple?” I said.

“Mr Lee, please, these are not your issues,” said the social worker.

“The first couple I picked for adoption” Madison began to say, cradling the little boy “They wanted me to separate them, when we found out they were twins, they told me they wanted to keep the adoption going, but they would only take one, and when I chose to keep them together, they refused and we closed the paperwork. The second couple wasn’t negative about the twins, but yesterday my social worker told me that they filed the paperwork because they found out they were pregnant, so they don’t need the adoption anymore,” she said looking at her baby “I just want them to find two parents who love them and protect them, both of them and at the same time, it’s not much to ask,” she said, her eyes shining.

“I know, honey, but you have to understand that twins are a greater responsibility, and many of the couples in the running have work needs that they wouldn’t fulfill.”

“Then they should not think about children in general. Having a nice bank account doesn’t mean being able to raise a son Mrs Green,” Devon said looking at her icy.

“Watch your tone, Mr Miller.”

“Is that why you can’t adopt? The economic basis?” Madison suddenly asked.

Devon shrugged his shoulders.

“The gentlemen aren’t fit for many things,” said the social worker.

“Tell me one,” Madison said.

“They are not married, they do not live together, two to name a few,” said the social worker.

“Why aren’t you married? Don’t you love each other?” Madison suddenly asked.

“We never really thought about marriage, we love each other, but we never actually thought about getting married, why didn’t we ever think about it, Devon?” I suddenly asked, frowning.

“I don’t know, love, it’s just another confirmation that we’re made for each other,” Devon replied winking at me and I laughed before looking back at Madison.

The girl looked at me first and then Devon and then looked at both of her children, “Get married now,” she said as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

I looked up and Devon started coughing “What?”

“Marry so you can adopt, adopt my children,” the girl repeated confidently.

“Madison is not how it works, we have to make checks.”

“You already made them and I made them too, they want to adopt, you would take them both, right?”

“We will never allow ourselves to separate two brothers”

“Then adopt them,” the girl begged.

“Madison, there are other families you can see…” the social worker began to say.

“I don’t want any more families, I want them!” Madison snapped and made me jump and burst into tears.

Madison looked at her panicked as the crying filled the room prompting even the baby to cry. Devon got up and picked the girl up, beginning to lull her gently as Mrs Morgan helped Madison calm the boy.

“Do you want to take it?” Devon asked Madison but she shook her head.

“Will you please adopt my children?” she suddenly asked and Devon and I looked at each other.