AN: Okay, this is it for sure! One more chapter after this, (70 in all), then a time jump epilogue, then we're finished! And this is a nice looooong one, too, nearly three thousand words! And if I ever do a sequel, god help us with the continuity, because I don't know where I'd start; would it be back where it should be, when the tour ended, and they're house hunting, and deciding to have a baby and all that, or after this epilogue, or what? Who the fuck even knows? Gahh. But anyway, this chapter, plus one, plus epilogue, then finis!!

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Heath was separated from MJ briefly while he got clean, and gowned up. The next time he saw her, they were both wearing caps, and she had a sterile dressing over her tummy, with just a little square exposed.

"I was afraid you wouldn't be here," MJ said, reaching for his hand. "They said they wouldn't wait for you."

"I'm here, I'm here," he reassured her. "You know how quick I can be," he quipped, squeezing her cold hand.

Before either one of them could say another word, Dr. Gettleman entered, and the atmosphere of the room, which had already felt fast and brisk, ratcheted up even more. A sheet was raised between MJ's head and her tummy, and Dr. Gettleman's voice rang out, confident and strong.

"Okay, people, these girls want to join us out here in this glorious world, so let's help them, shall we?"

There was a chorus of, "Yes doctor," from everyone in the room, and masked faces turned her way, awaiting instructions.

Heath was impressed.

"You nice and numb?" the doctor asked MJ.

MJ nodded. "Feeling kinda loopy, Dr. G," she added.

Everyone in the room laughed.

"Good, that's what we want," she responded.

Dr. Gettleman called for her instruments, and the procedure began, with Heath and MJ still holding hands.

"You really don't feel anything?" Heath asked.

MJ shook her head.

"Do you want to watch?" she asked.

"Maybe in a bit," he answered, patting her hand. "Right now I want to be with you."

"But you know how fast these go," MJ answered. "They don't like to take their time. If you wait too long, you might miss--"

"Dr. Greene?" Dr. Gettleman's voice was the strongest they'd ever heard it, urgent and full of authority. "I need her under, now, please." Dr. Greene was the anesthesiologist.

"Mr. Spencer, would you please step back," Dr. Greene asked without missing a beat. It was structured as an interrogative sentence, but it definitely wasn't a question.

Heath stepped back as Dr. Greene scooted forward on her rolling stool. "Eli," she asked the nurse, "please escort Mr. Spencer out? Thank you." Even as she finished speaking, she was putting the mask on MJ's face.

"Wait, what's happening?" MJ asked, her words blurry from whatever she'd already been given.

"MJ? There's blood in the amniotic fluid, and we need you under general anesthesia, okay?" Dr. Gettleman said. "Just listen to Dr. Greene." she patted MJ's arm.

"Mr. Spencer, you have to go now, I'm sorry," said Eli, the very kind, pediatric RN, grasping his arm with his gloved hand and leading him out.

"Just breathe normally, okay, MJ?" Dr. Greene was saying to her. "Count backwards from ten for me, please, just like we discussed, remember?"

MJ looked up into Dr. Greene's sympathetic and pretty brown eyes as she released Heath's hands and nodded. They knew that this could be a possibility. She had never been more scared. She made it to seven, and then her consciousness winked out.

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Heath saw that MJ's eyes were closed when he turned to look at her from the door. Eli still had his arm in a firm grip, and was holding the door open.

Heath swallowed and exited, sad that he hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to MJ.

The first person he saw was Tasos, who was sitting in a chair, arms crossed, eyes closed. Of course, it must be the middle of the night by now.

He heard Eli and Heath's footsteps and opened his eyes, beginning to smile and rising from his chair. "Is it over already? How are the babies? How's MJ--" his words and smile faded as he saw Heath and Eli's expression.

"Oh no, what happened?" he asked, putting a hand on Heath's arm.

Eli lowered his mask, and Heath could see that he had a nice smile to go with his kind and tired eyes.

"Thank you for being here," he said before Eli could say anything. "Thank you for being at work at this ungodly hour and taking care of us and our babies."

Eli looked at him in surprise. "You're very welcome," he replied with a little nod. "It's my job, and I love it, though sometimes it can be so challenging."

He turned to include Tasos in the rest of his remarks.

"I don't know much, but I'll tell you what I know, okay?" he said to the two men, who nodded. "Dr. Gettleman said that there was blood in the amniotic fluid when she cut into MJ's uterus. This could be caused by so many things, so I don't even want to speculate on what it could be, because there's no point. All I know for sure is that she felt MJ needed to be under general anesthesia for her to best help treat and resolve the problem and safely get the babies out."

"MJ's been put under?" Tasos repeated.

Heath just nodded.

"I have to go back in," Eli said. "The last thing I'm going to say is that I strongly, strongly advise you not to go online and start reading about MJ's symptoms and trying to diagnose what's wrong." Eli looked Heath in the eye. "Nothing good can come from you reading about what might be wrong with her or your daughters, or what could have gone wrong, or how things could go wrong in the near future. Obviously I can't stop you, but I'm just telling you that you'll feel better if you don't, and I don't think you should, all right?"

Reluctantly, Heath nodded.

"I'll try," he replied, pulling off his cap and gown.

Eli gave Heath's shoulder a squeeze and walked down the hall toward the other entrance to the OR so he could re-scrub.

Heath sat down next to Tasos and sighed.

Tasos put an arm around Heath and patted his shoulder.

Heath took a breath to sigh again, and shocked himself when a sob escaped him. He put an arm across his own chest, rested the elbow of his other arm on it, and covered his face with that hand, leaning into the other man.

"Ahh, Heath, I know, I know, there's no pain like loving a woman and not being able to do anything to help her when she's in pain, is there?" Tasos said, pulling Heath even closer. "Okay, okay, let it out, let it out."

Tasos, too, swiped at his eyes as Heath leaned into his chest and really cried, shoulders shaking.

"I'm sorry," Heath said through his tears. "You must be feeling this just as much, I have no right to lean on you, I just feel so helpless--I didn't even get to tell her good bye, or that I love her—"

""She knows," Tasos assured him.

"I remember when her mother was killed," Tasos confided, nodding as he patted Heath's curly head. "I raced to the hospital, while MJ stayed at the diner with my brothers. She was only four, such a tiny little thing, all hair and eyes, you know?

"And when I got there, they told me my Fiona was in surgery, and they were trying to save her legs. Her legs! Can you imagine hearing that?" Tasos was silent for a moment. "I asked if I could see her, even though I knew I couldn't. And I could tell, from the eyes of the nurse when she spoke to me, that there was no hope."

He patted Heath's shoulder again. "It wasn't the same look as the nice young man we just talked to, you know? I know he said he doesn't know, but that nurse we just saw believes there's hope, I can tell."

Heath nodded and tried to stop crying.

"You love MJ as much as I do, though," Heath protested, his voice tremulous. "And you're just as worried about the babies. I'm sorry for just crying all over you and not returning the favor." He took a deep breath and pushed himself up off of Tasos.

"And I'm so very sorry about what happened to your wife," he added. "I don't think I ever said before, I've been remiss."

Tasos shook his head. "Please, it's okay. The doctor who worked on Fee told me after that, even though he did try his best, she was dead the moment the car struck her. And I'm glad, so glad she didn't suffer."

He looked at Heath. "Just tell me, Heath, have you been happy with my MJ? Every moment, as much happiness as you can squeeze in? You haven't wasted any minutes on frivolous fighting, silly arguments?"

Heath considered, and shook his head. "Actually, we haven't, now you mention it. From the beginning, when we were just friends, we've laughed and pretty much had a great time, every day, yeah."

Tasos smiled, and Heath could see his MJ in it, even the little dimple, and he was amazed he'd never noticed it before.

"So that's all you can do, I think."

At that moment they heard an incredible sound from in the OR:

A baby's cry.

They both turned toward the room, immediately silenced, rising from their chairs. It was a tiny, fragile sound, friable, like spun glass. As they continued to listen to it, it was joined by another, just as small and hard to hear through the OR doors.

The babies had arrived. For better or worse, they were out in the world.

Heath and Tasos embraced, both feeling a mixture of relief, elation, and anxiety for MJ.

They remained standing, hoping someone would come out and update them, and they weren't left waiting very long. Within five minutes the doors opened, and Cole, one of the neonatal intensive care nurses, emerged, pushing an incubator.

"Hello, daddy and grandpa, right?" he asked with a smile.

Heath and Tasos nodded, smiling in spite of their worry. Their eyes were drawn to the incubator, where two tiny babies were tightly swaddled into little bundles.

"Someone will be coming out to update you on your girlfriend in a minute, but I'm here to introduce you to your daughters before I take them up to the NICU, okay?" he continued.

They nodded again and approached the incubator.

"You can pick them up," Cole encouraged, so Tasos picked up one baby, and Heath picked up the other.

"Oh my god," Heath murmured.

They were tiny.

"What do they weigh?" He asked. "And are they--are they--" he swallowed.

"They're perfect," Cole assured them. "That one, born first, weighs six pounds, nine ounces, and this one weighs six pounds, two ounces. Those are amazing weights for early twins. Doctor was saying she might have calculated the dates wrong because they're so big."

"Nah, I don't think so," Tasos said with a laugh. "They're just Greek, that's all!"

Heath put the baby he was holding next to other one. They were moving around and making little noises. Their lips were perfect and cherry red, and they both had brown fuzz on their heads.

"They look like MJ," Heath said softly. "Incredible."

The doors opened again and Dr. Gettleman emerged, looking serious.

"Okay, let's get these girls up to the NICU, and you can talk to doctor," Cole suggested.

Tasos and Heath nodded, and carefully placed the babies back in the incubator before turning to the doctor.

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MJ opened her eyes, squinting, trying to turn her head away. The room was too bright.

She could see Heath sleeping in a chair next to the bed, as usual looking like he had no bones in his body. She couldn't figure out how he did this.

"Heath."

No movement.

"Heath."

He stirred and opened his eyes. He looked over at her and his eyes opened wide. He jumped out of the chair and pressed the button to call the nurse.

"MJ, thank god, thank god!"

"Could you close the blinds, please? It's so bright."

Heath turned the knob and returned to her bedside.

She felt her stomach, the flaccidness, the loose skin.

"Heath, the babies?"

Heath smiled at her. "They're lovely, darling, they're fine," he assured her. He leaned in and kissed her, his scruff scratching her cheek.

Scruff?

"How long have I been out?" she asked, trying to sit up. "You practically have a beard, Heath." She began to cough from all the talking.

"Here, have some water, try not to talk so much," Heath said, holding a bottle with a straw in it.

"You've been in and out for a few days," he told her. "This is the first time you've been really awake and lucid, though, like complete sentences."

"A few days?"

Heath sat on the bed next to her and nodded, taking her hand.

"Yeah, it was really touch and go for a while."

"What's a while?"

"The babies were born six days ago," Heath began, but MJ cut him off before he could continue.

"Six days ago?" she repeated, her voice so loud she began to cough again. "I've been out cold for a week?" she continued after she got another drink.

"I told you, not out cold, you've been in and out, kind of muttering things, just not really awake."

"What the hell happened to me?"

"You had a placental abruption," Heath told her. "It was pretty severe, and Doctor G didn't find it until she went in to get the babies. She had to unwrap the cord, remember? Then she found it, and you'd lost a lot of blood, you needed a transfusion, and I think your kidneys were starting to shut down? I don't even remember all of it, but it was pretty bad." Heath tried to smile, but his mouth trembled, and MJ could tell how scared he'd been.

"So they fixed you up, and they've been giving you stuff to keep you from getting infections, and to keep your blood pressure up, and we've been waiting for you to come out of it.," he finished.

"And the babies are fine?" MJ asked again. "Can I see them?"

Heath nodded, but MJ could tell there was something else.

"What? Heath, what?"

"It's just Agathi," he began.

"The old lady from the church?" MJ asked. What could she have to do with anything?

Heath nodded. "She said it was unlucky to leave the girls without names for so long," he continued, looking uncomfortable.

MJ snorted. "She's nuttier than a fruitcake--" she stopped at the look on Heath's face. "No, Heath! Are you saying you already named them?"

"Yeah?" he said, making it sound like a question. "Your dad and I named them, just so they wouldn't be unlucky," he rushed on. "I mean, you wouldn't want them to start out their lives unlucky, would you? And they can be changed, it's dead easy, MJ, it's just mailing in some forms, honest."

MJ sighed. "I can't believe you named our children without me, Heath Michael Spencer!" She coughed some more.

"And your dad," Heath added. "Don't forget."

"Great," MJ said. "What did you and my dad name our daughters?"

"I--that is to say--we--named them after our grans!" Heath told her, eyes shining.

"Irina and Catherine?" MJ asked. "Oh. Those are wonderful names, Heath, well done." She sounded pleased.

"No, darling, the other ones!" Heath said, grinning.

"The other ones?" MJ considered. "No! Not Leonie Lucille and Kostantina Kasiani?" She stared at Heath, who nodded.

"Don't you like them?"

MJ blinked rapidly.

"My two baby daughters have names that sound like a French whore and a Greek fishing boat," she declared, her voice getting quavery.

"MJ, they do not!" Heath protested. "First of all, my gran wasn't French, she was, erm, Alsatian," he said, as if this made a difference. "And she certainly wasn't an, erm, you know--"

That sentence remained unfinished as the doctor and nurse entered at that moment. A quick neurological exam followed, and MJ was declared to be healthy. A more extensive exam would follow later, but first, MJ would get to meet and hopefully nurse her daughters.

"But am I lactating?" MJ asked Heath after they were alone. "I mean, I've been out for six days."

"They have ways of keeping your breasts stimulated and that," Heath explained. "It's actually been very interesting watching, and, erm, helping," he concluded.

MJ wanted to ask what he meant by that, but at that moment, they wheeled in the bassinet, and drove all thoughts from her brain.

Heath brought the babies to her one at a time.

"MJ, meet your daughter, Lulu," Heath said, placing the baby in her arms.

Lulu was waving her tiny, fisted arms, as her eyes seemed to regard her mother.

"Hello, Lulu," MJ crooned. She unwrapped the blanket so she could see all of her, all the way down to her tiny, perfect feet. "I'm your mother, nice to see your face at last."

"And," Heath continued, as MJ wrapped Lulu back up, "this is Kiki."

"Kiki, the pleasure is all mine," MJ murmured, taking her on the other arm. Heath helped unwrap her so MJ could see her as well.

"And see, even though they look so alike, especially now when they're newborn, you can tell them apart because Kiki here has this beautiful little freckle on her cheek, kind of under her ear, like the dot on the "i" in her name, see?" Heath pointed to the tiny dot.

And MJ, who'd been ready to cry minutes before over their hideous names, decided that no other names in the world would do for her perfect little daughters.

She looked up at Heath.

"They're perfect," she breathed.

He smiled at her. "How could they not be?" he answered. "They're exactly like their mum."

He leaned in and kissed MJ on the mouth, his arm protectively around the two babies she held.