Natasha's Awakening (76 page)

“That’s such a relief Eric. I had no idea Vivian was so unstable. I hate that she kind of sucked me in. She told me she was sorry for what she’d said and done. She wanted to see the nursery and god, I took her up there. What was I thinking? I can’t believe she changed so much. If you could have seen her Eric. The anger and hatred on her face was horrible. How could she do that? I’m not sure if she was trying to kill me or kill our babies and then she hit Alice and left her to die and she laughed, she actually laughed. What sort of person does something like that? How the hell did you end up going out with someone like her for fuck sakes Eric?” Natasha asked.

“I don’t know baby. I’m so sorry that I put you at risk. I never should have called off Roman. I let myself get sucked in too thinking she really was sorry but I think it was a case of me wanting to believe it was over with her. My judgement was bad and I’m so sorry sweetheart. Can you forgive me?” Eric’s eyes were full of pain.

“It’s not your fault Eric. It’s no one’s fault. How does anyone know what a person is capable of until something pushes them over the edge? She said she loved you and that you’re a hard act to follow. She didn’t want to give you up.”

Eric gave a short harsh laugh. “She didn’t love me baby. Vivian only loves one person and that’s herself. She just doesn’t like to lose and because I told her it was over, she couldn’t handle losing. Plain and simple. What I never expected was the lengths she was prepared to go to.” Eric dropped a kiss on Natasha’s palm. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you or the twins.” He shuddered, tears filling his eyes.

Natasha took his hand and rubbed it against her cheek, “We’re all fine though Eric so don’t think like that. You know Vivian said that. She wanted you to find out how it felt to lose someone important to you. That’s why she did what she did. She said you wouldn’t want me anymore after she’d hurt me.”

“I’d always want you baby. I love you.” He stood, bending over to kiss her gently on her lips. Natasha winced and Eric pulled back, “God I’m sorry sweetheart. You’re lips. I don’t know why but you’ve chewed up your lips pretty bad.”

“It was during the labour. It hurt so much, everything hurt so badly. It was so bad Eric.” Natasha’s eyes darkened.

“How do you feel now baby? Is the pain bad? The doctor fixed your dislocated arm and your leg has been set and plastered. You’re going to have a scar from where the bone came through but the doctor thinks you might be lucky and not have to worry about infection. Still, you’re on antibiotics just in case. Is the pain bad, do you need something?” Eric kissed her again.

“The pain isn’t too bad if I don’t move too much. My shoulder hurts, but nothing like it did when I dislocated it. That was my own fault. I was trying to stop myself falling all the way down the stairs and I grabbed the banister but it yanked my arm really hard stopping my fall and that’s when it happened. I got reefed around so hard that I smashed my leg and that’s when I broke it. I can still hear the sound of the bone breaking Eric, it was awful.” Natasha shuddered.

“My baby, I feel so terrible for what you’ve been through and with all that, you had to give birth. You almost had them all alone. You must have been so scared.”

“I’m just glad it’s over Eric and that our babies are healthy. I was more scared about what my fall could have done to them, not so much what had happened to me. I was terrified about giving birth alone and what if I couldn’t push them out by myself and no one came to help me?”

“I’m just glad I got there in time although when the doctor said you couldn’t go to the hospital I nearly strangled the man.”

Natasha laughed, “So I noticed. You just couldn’t seem to grasp what he was trying to tell you. Trust me if anyone had tried to move me when I could feel our baby’s head almost ready to come out of me, I would have strangled them. All I wanted to do was push. I didn’t feel the pain in my leg or shoulder, just those fucking contractions. You were funny too Eric. My big confident CEO and you completely fell apart. Mum said you would and she was right.”

Eric got an indignant look come over his face. “I didn’t fall apart at all. I helped.”

Natasha rolled her eyes at him, “You fell apart Eric. Do you remember how many times I had to ask you to have a look and see if you could see if the head was showing?” She poked him in the arm. “Face it Mr CEO, you…fell…apart!”

“Well Mrs Rothman, you were rude to me. I swear the language coming out of your mouth would have made a truckie blush.” Eric’s grin was back, that one she loved so much.

“Well let me tell you this Mr CEO, you’d be swearing too if you were trying to push a watermelon out of your arse. Would you like to bend over and I’ll see if someone can bring me one and we’ll stick it on up there and I’ll sit back and watch you push it back out without swearing. What do you think about that idea Mr Rothman?” Natasha smirked.

Eric burst out laughing. “You must be feeling better baby, you’re back to your usual sassy self I see.”

“I’d feel better if I had my babies Eric. Where are they? I haven’t had a chance to see them properly yet. I want to hold my babies.” Natasha’s eyes filled with tears.

“Hey baby, don’t cry. Let me go and see what the hold up is.” Eric stood up to leave the room, but suddenly two midwives walked in, each carrying a baby. Both were bundled up in blankets so all Natasha could see were they faces.

“Mrs Rothman, how are you feeling? We have two little ones here who are eager for a meal. Your babies need feeding.” One of the midwives said and Natasha saw that her name was Brenda.

“We’ll help you get your babies attached. Had you intended breast feeding?” Brenda asked and Natasha nodded. The midwife turned to Eric. “I’m going to need you to move out of the way for a moment please Mr Rothman while we help your wife get your son and daughter properly attached.” She gave Eric a stern look and Natasha had trouble containing her grin when Eric leapt up and stepped out of the way.

“Do you need help to sit up more Mrs Rothman?” Brenda asked but Natasha shook her head and winced as she braced herself to get into a better position.

“Baby, let me help you.” Eric rushed forward and he wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her sit up. Once she was sitting with the bed raised and pillows behind her the midwives helped her undo her nightgown exposing her breasts and with pillows positioned to help support Erica and Nathaniel, Brenda and the other midwife Lisa showed Natasha the best way to lay her babies out so she could feed them both at the same time.

After a bit of rearranging and with the midwives helping, finally Nathaniel and Erica were attached and feeding. It was an amazing moment for Natasha and tears filled her eyes as she looked down on their little heads, Nathaniel’s blondish hair and Erica’s auburn locks. She had more hair than her brother and although a tiny bit smaller, she was 5 pounds and Nathaniel 5.5 pounds, she was feeding just as strongly as her brother.

Natasha looked over at her husband and her heart melted when she saw him watching with tears in his eyes. He was such a soft touch underneath that tough exterior her Mr CEO. He pulled out his mobile phone and took a couple of photos, despite Natasha’s protests about how bad she must look.

“You look beautiful baby. Watching you feeding our children is the most beautiful and amazing thing to see. They’re just perfect aren’t they?” Eric’s voice was filled with awe and she couldn’t have loved him anymore than she did right now.

“Isn’t it amazing Eric? As soon as they’re born, the love for them is overwhelming. I’m just so relieved that they’re healthy, that Vivian didn’t hurt them when she pushed me down the stairs. I’d happily break both arms and legs if that meant it kept them safe.”

“I know baby. I never want to feel the way I did when I walked through our door and saw you lying there so broken and trying to give birth all alone. You are so strong my sweetheart, stronger than me. You must have been in so much pain and so frightened, but look what you did. You brought our son and daughter into the world, largely by yourself. No bed, no hospital, no pain killers and all that with a broken leg and dislocated arm. You are amazing.” Eric’s voice broke and Natasha looked up at him, all her love for him shining in her eyes.

“You are such a sap Eric.” She joked and he gave her that slow sexy grin of his, even though tears still tracked their way down his face.

“Yeah baby? Well don’t you go telling anyone that now, will you?”

“As if I would Eric. You might be a sap, but you’re my sap and I’m not sharing that part of you with anyone.” She smiled at him and he gave her an answering grin.

They both turned when they heard a knock at the door and Eric walked over to see who it was. Natasha’s Mother stood there, flowers in one hand and balloons floating in the other, one happily announcing ‘It’s a boy,’ the other ‘It’s a girl.’

With a grin he stepped back and Kathryn bustled in, with her usual bull at a gate pace. “Baby girl, just look at you.” She said. “How could you do this to me darling? You went and had my Grand babies without me being there.”

Natasha groaned. “Well, I didn’t exactly have a choice Mum.” She said dryly.

Kathryn bent to kiss her daughter. “I know baby girl. God, when Eric called me and told me what happened, my heart dropped. You are such a strong girl to have brought these two into the world under such awful circumstances. Now, let me see my Grand children. Who is who?”

They spent the next hour catching up. Kathryn helped Natasha burp the babies and she even offered to change them for her since Natasha couldn’t get up without help due to the heavy plaster hanging off her leg.

Once Nathaniel and Erica were settled back in their cribs to sleep, bundled up tightly in their blankets the way Kathryn showed her to wrap them, Natasha told her Mother all about what had happened with Vivian. As she described every horrific moment, Natasha heard Eric’s harshly drawn breath and when she looked over at him, his hands were fisted by his sides, anger burning in his intense blue eyes.

“That bitch will pay for what she did to you baby. I can’t use my phone in here. If you’re ok for now, I’ll go outside. I need to give Roman and the police a call. Will you be alright?” He asked.

“She’s fine Eric, she has me with her. You go do what you have to do to get that evil woman.” Kathryn waved at him dismissively. “I’ll look after Natasha while you’re gone.”

With one look between his wife and his Mother in Law, Eric left the room. Once he was gone, Natasha’s Mother turned to her. “So, tell me, how was Eric when he found you in the middle of delivering your babies? Did he keep it together or fall apart?”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “God, you should have seen him Mum. Eric’s always so together, controlled, you know what he’s like, but dammit when I was in labour, I had to yell at him all the time to do anything. He was bloody hopeless.” She laughed as she remembered her normally so dependable husband being reduced to a dithering mess.

About twenty minutes later Eric walked back into the room pausing when Natasha and Kathryn burst out laughing when they saw him. His expression darkened. “Ok what’s so damned funny?” He demanded to know and the two ladies were reduced to another bout of laughter. His eyes moved between the two of them as he stood, arms folded, waiting for them to tell him what was going on.

“Oh it’s alright baby.” Natasha cooed at him. “I was just telling Mum how my big CEO husband was reduced to a dithering, nervous mess when I was in labour.”

“I can tell you now, I don’t dither Natasha and I wasn’t nervous at all.” Eric defended himself and she rolled her eyes at him. “Oh of course you weren’t.” She joked. “I only had to ask you, how many times was it, to look and see if you could see one of our babies crowning?”

Eric growled. “Well, I hope you two are having fun at my expense, but in my defence baby, I had kind of figured you’d deliver our son and daughter in a hospital and maybe drugs for the pain, not what I walked in on in our home. I think I handled myself very well under the circumstances.”

“Ah ha.” Natasha’s tone was dry but her eyes glinted with amusement. Eric walked over to her, bending his head to kiss her, sliding his tongue into her mouth briefly before releasing her again. Despite all she’d been through and even with her damaged lip, just one sexy kiss from him and she felt her heart flutter behind her breast.

Eric’s eyebrow rose and Natasha wanted to hit him when she saw the smug look on his face. He knew exactly how much that one simple kiss had affected her and suddenly she felt like the tables had been turned and the joke was now on her.

Kathryn stood up. “I should get going baby girl and let you get some rest. One thing you’ll find being a new Mother Natasha is you need to rest while your babies rest otherwise you’re going to be exhausted.”

“I will Mum. Thank you for the flowers and for helping me with Nathaniel and Erica.” She kissed her Mother when Kathryn bent down to give her a gentle hug, mindful of her daughter’s sore shoulder. She gave Eric a hug and then with a final wave, she was gone.

“I’m going to head off too baby. I need to check on Alice and I need to meet up with Roman. I’ll be back later ok? I love you baby.” He dropped a kiss on her lips, stopped by the cribs to gaze down at his son and daughter and before he walked out the door, he blew her a kiss and was gone.

                                                                 …………………………………………………

A week later and Eric helped Natasha into their home. He carried Nathaniel and Erica so Natasha could hobble her way in on the crutches she’d been given to get around on while her leg was in plaster. When she stepped in and her eyes fell on the staircase before her, she felt her heart skip a beat when she remembered just what she’d been through and all that had happened to her and Alice just one week ago.

She stood for a moment, leaning on her crutches and a shiver went through her body. Eric must have noticed and interpreted what was wrong because he came up alongside of her and dropped his free hand over her shoulders. “It’s over baby. They got Vivian, she can’t hurt you now. She’s locked up until her court case and she’s also having a psychiatric assessment done. Hopefully her lawyer doesn’t try and get her off on an insanity plea because it was premeditated as far as I’m concerned. She made a conscious decision to come here to try and harm you and she attacked poor Alice.”