WARNING: The following story contains scenes of... actually this one is rather clean. No adult scenes in this one. If this offends you in anyway (Which it shouldn't), then DON’T READ PAST THIS WARNING! If this is exactly what you are looking for, then feel free to read ahead. As always, I accept any and all Criticism, provided it is Constructive. Just posting “This is awesome!” or “This sucks!” won’t help me make it any better. So if you have any ideas on how to make it better or your own thoughts on what is to come, feel free to comment! Hope you enjoy! Chapter 5 – The Children The car ride to the hospital was agonizing for all. Raymond was annoyed due to the fact that he just couldn't get there fast enough. Tricia was in pain from going into labor. And Colin and Kyle were both still half asleep and not really sure they they could do. But they wanted to be there for their mom in this time of pain. They felt that she would need them now. After what seemed like the longest drive ever, they finally pulled up in front of the maternity ward. Rather quickly, hospital attendants made their way outside and helped get Tricia inside while Raymond filled out the necessary paperwork. The doctors would get her hooked up before the others were allowed to go visit her. They also had to see how far along she was and see how close it was for the twins to come. Once the paperwork was filled out, the two boys and their father were led back to Tricia's room where she wasn't in as much pain due to what she was hooked up to. The doctors said that she still had a little bit of time to go, but that it was time for her to stay in the hospital. In between contractions, Tricia chuckled slightly to herself. “Colin. Kyle. Come here.” She said. The two boys followed her instructions as she placed her hands on her belly. “Feel there... Those are your new brothers... They'll be here soon, and they'll need you to be strong.” She said with a smile. The two boys smiled as well, feeling them kicking at her stomach. “I wonder what they'll look like!” Colin said, extremely excited. Kyle laughed at what Colin said “Well they won't look like us. Not color wise anyway.” He mentioned. Colin gave him a confused look before Kyle explained. “My fur color and type comes from my mom and yours comes from your dad.” He said as he looked over that the wolf laying on the bed and the fox standing beside her. Raymond had a red fox look while Tricia was a brown colored wolf. They weren't sure how the two would come out, but the fact that they would look different from Colin and Kyle was something that made the two boys happy. The contractions started up again as the doctors continued to make sure everything was going smoothly. They continued this for a few hours, talking in between contractions. But soon, the contractions go more and more powerful, with less and less time in between them. When the doctor came back in, he smiled at the group and said “It's time.” Colin and Kyle were told to stand back a little bit. Meanwhile, Raymond stood next to Tricia and took her paw in his. “Now boys.... Your mother here is going to sound like she is in a lot of pain. It is going to hurt her to get the twins out, but it's necessary. So while she make sounds of pain, don't worry. She'll be just fine.” Raymond informed them. Kyle wrapped an arm around Colin, figuring it would be hard for him to hear his mother cry out in pain. But if it meant getting his brothers out, then he knew it had to be done. “Alright. Are we all ready?” The doctor said with a smile. Everything was going well so far, but pregnancies were always so unpredictable. So he wanted to make sure everything stayed that way. Especially with two babies needing to be delivered. The doctor got everything lined up the way it needed to be. With everything in place, he asked for light pushes to come from Tricia to get the first lined up and ready to go. After a few moments, the first of the twins was in place. “Alright, now Push!” He called out. She grunted hard as she started to push the first baby out of her. It took a few tries before the head could now be seen, starting to push past her entrance. The doctor quickly took hold as she pushed the remainder of his body out. With a couple of quick pats to his back, the small pup started to cry. It was a brown wolf cub much like Tricia. “And this is your first baby boy.” the doctor said with a smile. He handed the baby off to the nurses to clean him up after the umbilical cord was cut. While they cleaned the first, they prepared to deliver the second one. Following the same procedure as last time, she got the baby into position before starting to push hard. Raymond's hand hurt so much from her squeezing it. But it wasn't the first time that he had felt that pain. He felt it before with his first wife when she delivered Kyle. After a little bit of pushing, the second cub started to show. Taking the head of the cub, the doctor helped guide it out carefully. He then pat the kit on the back. His cries filled the room as he took his own first breaths of air. It was a red fox that looked like Raymond. With the cord of the second cut, the doctor smiled, making sure they were all healthy. They got paw prints, weight, height, colors, etc. All of the information needed to put on a birth certificate. With all of that, he handed the small babies to their mother, now sleeping peacefully and wrapped up. “All we need is a name.” The doctor said, showing the two birth certificates to them. “The wolf will be Nicholas... And the fox will be Jeffrey.” She said with a smile. Raymond and her had decided on that awhile back. The three in the room smiled over the small children in Tricia's arms. The birth certificates were filled out as they made sure everything was cleaned up and taken care of, before leaving the family alone. After the parents doted over their new children, Colin and Kyle finally got impatient. Raymond chuckled before lifting Nicholas up and handing him over to Colin. He showed the wolf how to hold the baby properly before grabbing Jeffrey and handing him over to Kyle while Tricia got a bit of rest. “Wow, Colin. Our own baby brothers.” Kyle said with a smile before leaning down and kissing the small fox on the forehead. “I know. It's almost scary to be holding them like this.” Colin said with a chuckle. “You have no need to be scared, boys. We're going to need your help taking care of them for now. Once we have to go back to the school, it'll just be your mother caring for them at home. So we need to help her out as much as possible before hand.” Raymond said to the two boys. They agreed to help out as they sat down on the couch. But the tired look in their eyes worried the proud father as he quickly took the babies and placed them in their own separate cribs provided by the hospital. Meanwhile, Colin and Kyle slept, their heads rested against each other. All of the excitement had tired the young ones out, so Raymond let them sleep. Tricia did the same in her bed, so Raymond sat down next to her, sleeping in the chair with his hand holding hers. After a couple of hours, Tricia woke up with some pain in her stomach. The light tightening of her hand made Raymond wake up. “What's wrong honey?” He asked her. She looked like she was in pain, and with her clutching her stomach, he was a little bit worried. “I'm not sure... It just hurts.” She said as she pressed the button to call the doctor into the room. A couple of moments passed by before he entered the room. Tricia explained where the pain was, and what it felt like. The doctor gently rubbed along her belly before wondering. “Perhaps... Hmm...” He said to himself as he decided to check on something. “This isn't good...” He said after a little bit. “There's another child in there... You had triplets, not twins.” The doctor told them. Tricia looked over to Raymond, not having expected that at all. “But I don't understand... How is that not good?” Raymond said. Suddenly, he got his answer. Tricia clutched her stomach and cried out in pain. “The baby is trying to get out but the walls leading out have closed. It's been a few hours. We have to do an emergency C-Section right away.” He said. He quickly called more in as the boys woke up, wondering what was going on. The twins were quickly taken off to where other newborns were at, and the other three were escorted to the lobby while Tricia was taken to receive the emergency C-Section. Colin was scared now, not understanding what was going on. “Dad. What's happening to mom?” He asked him. “There was another baby inside of her. The original doctors had it wrong when the told us it was twins. But because of the length of time between when she gave birth to Nicholas and Jeffrey and now, her inner walls tightened back up, making it impossible for the baby to get out the same way. Furthermore, it could be crushing the baby, so they have to cut her open to get it out.” He said. “Cut her open?!?!?!?!” Colin exclaimed, much more worried now. “Calm down, Colin. It's called a C-Section. It's what they have to do when there are complications with giving birth. They cut open at the stomach to get to the womb where the child rests. From there, they can pull it out before closing her back up. She'll be in a lot more pain now than before, but this way they can take care of the other baby.” He explained to the wolf. Colin wasn't thrilled with hearing all of this, but figured the doctors knew what to do. Quite a bit of time passed as they all waited for the doctor to come back out. As they sat there, Colin started thinking about his mother and all the stories that she had told him about his father. She told him that he was a very courageous wolf. He always stood up for Tricia and was the love of her life. She cared for him so much that it nearly destroyed her when he was gone. She mentioned that she had contemplated taking her own life, but that it was Colin that kept her going. He wanted to be with her now. Wanted to hold her hand like she had every time he was in pain, but Raymond explained that she would be knocked out for this so she didn't have to feel the pain. Tears fell from Colin's eyes, wishing he could be there with his mother. As more time passed, the doors finally opened and the doctor came out with another child. He looked over to Raymond and called him up. The two boys followed, but the look on the doctor's face was not good. “We... managed to save the child but... Tricia... She's fading, fast.” As soon as those words were heard, Colin barreled down the hallway. The doctor was shocked to see him do that, but Colin didn't care. He couldn't leave his mother. She couldn't leave him. It just wasn't possible. As Colin ran down, the doctor explained more. “There were more complications with this last child than we had thought. Her heart is barely holding and... I have a feeling even the young one there won't make it down in time to see her before she passes. I'm so sorry.” He said. Raymond's knees buckled as he fell to the floor. He had just married her the day before. Kyle held his dad slightly, but was also crying. Colin made his way down the hall to his mothers room. Some of the doctors and hospital staff tried to stop the small wolf, but he didn't care. He had to see his mother. He had to make her better. He couldn't lose her. He just couldn't. His small body charged into the room where some of the doctors were surprised to see him there. “MOM!” He cried out as he ran over to her laying on the bed. She didn't move for a moment, but eventually coughed. She had a breathing machine hooked up to her, but she knew her time was done. With her weak paw, she moved the machine from her mouth and looked at Colin. “Colin.... My son... I-I can't continue on... I gave all I could to keep your last brother safe. Now... Now I have to go be with your father. I'm sorry Colin.” She said through weakened breaths. “No! You can't leave me, Mom. You just can't!” He said, tears falling from his eyes as he reached up and held her. She coughed a little, a bit of blood coming with it. “Colin, my boy.... You must be strong... Strong for your new father, and for your four brothers. They'll need you now more than ever. You must be strong... For me... And for your father... Now Colin... Listen to me.” She said, coughing a little bit more. Colin's tears streamed down his face, unable to come to grips with the fact that his mother was dying right before him. After he had just seen her happy at the wedding. All that they had done... How could she just leave? “Please, Colin... Listen... I don't have much time. I... I want you to name your last brother after him... After your father.... Can you do that? For me?” She said. “Yes... Yes I can... But please... Please don't leave me. I.... I don't know what I'll do...” He said, still crying heavily. She reached over and started to pet his head before giving him a small kiss. “I'll never leave you, son... I'll always be right in your heart. And nothing can ever take that away. Now please Colin... Be strong... Be strong... I... I love....... you.....” She said. Suddenly, life faded from her eyes as her arm went limp. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!” Cried out Colin, a yell that could be heard all the way down where Raymond and Kyle were. The new family that had been smiling and celebrating their union was now broken... And Raymond was now a single father of five children. Once Colin finally moved away from his mother, he was taken to his brother and dad. He hugged Colin tight, crying into him. The three continued cry in the lobby as the doctor held the final child. “She... She said she wanted him named after him... After my Dad....” Colin finally said, still holding Raymond tightly. “Then...” Raymond said, his first words for a long while. “We will honor her last wishes.” “His name... His name will be... Charlie.” -End Chapter 5- Story, Characters, and Plot © to Farkinarkle. Do not use without permission. ~FJC~