Mirror Image (50 page)

"I can't do this anymore, " she said miserably to Charles, between
pains, and then she threw up, and cried more. He wanted to take her in
his arms, and run away from there. He was sorry he had ever made love to
her, and then suddenly, as they both cried, she made a terrible face and
pushed again, and this time there was a small wailing sound, and out of
the huge ball that had been her belly for the past several months came
the tiniest of babies. She was small and sweet and pink, and a perfectly
formed little girl as the doctor held her up and they both looked at her
in astonishment. "Oh she's so beautiful, " Olivia said as Bertie held
her.

"Now, that wasn't so bad, " the doctor said, and Olivia made a terrible
face, and then looked at Charles with a smile, but the smile turned
instantly to pain, as he watched her in horror.

"What's happening? " he asked, suddenly frightened, she was convulsed
with pains again and she had already had the baby.

"That happens sometimes, " the doctor explained, "it's the afterbirth,
sometimes it can be even more painful, " he said in an undervoice as
Olivia started screaming again, and Bertie watched her.

"Not again .. . please .. ." Olivia begged, "no more .

.." She looked at Charles again as though she were being swept away from
him on merciless tides, and all he could think of was no more children,
this was awful.

"I don't think, " Bertie started to say knowingly, but the doctor cut
her off.

"In a minute, she'll deliver the placenta, " but she suddenly began
bleeding very heavily instead, and she was racked with pain, and without
anyone telling her to, she began pushing as Charles held her.

"Doctor, is this normal? " Charles asked in a strangled voice, as
suddenly a small head appeared where the first one had been, this one
even a little larger, and a small face was suddenly looking at all of
them and waiting, as Charles looked down again between her legs in
complete amazement. "Victoria, " he said, she was lying on the bed, with
her eyes closed, clutching at him, and gasping for air, as he smiled at
her. "Come on, sweetheart, push, we're having another baby.

" He was laughing and crying at the same time and so was Bertie.

"what? Oh my God .. ." she said, and then understood and pushed harder,
and a second baby girl came out, and a moment after her, a single
placenta. They were identical, just as she and Victoria were.

Olivia stared at the baby in disbelief and then at Charles, and then
started to laugh. It was just after ten o'clock in the morning.

"I don't believe this. Not again." They were all laughing suddenly, and
even Olivia didn't feel so bad. The bleeding had almost stopped and she
was holding both babies in her arms, as Bertie draped her in clean
sheets and towels. She was more than a little shocked that Charles had
been there, but in fact she had found him a greater help than the
doctor.

"I love you so much, " Charles whispered to her, as he bent over her,
and then with both their babies in his arms, he took them to see Geoff,
who couldn't believe them either. They were so perfect and so beautiful,
and there were two of them. And in their bedroom the doctor was
explaining why he had thought he had heard a single heartbeat.

He stitched Olivia up a little bit, and Bertie bathe her body and her
face in cool scented water. And when the doctor left, and they were
alone again, she looked at Olivia and smiled at her.

"What have you done, you foolish girl? " she said, and Olivia knew
exactly what she meant. She was surprised she had gotten away with it
for so long. It was almost a year now.

"She made me do it." Bertie nodded and laughed. What, this too? "

"Well, not exactly, " she laughed, happy, even after so much pain.

It seemed such a small thing now.

'there is she? " Bertie whispered softly.

"In Europe." But before she could say anything else, Charles came into
the room with Geoff, who wanted to see her.

"They're so cute, Aunt .. . Victoria .. ." He had almost slipped and
looked at her in panic, but she was smiling when she kissed him.

"They look just like you when you were little, your dad said, " Olivia
said gently. Geoff looked embarrassed then, and left the room to go and
tell their neighbors. And finally, Charles was alone with her again,
Bertie had taken the babies to the next room to bathe them.

"I'm sorry I put you through all that, " he said, looking proud, but
guilty.

"I'd do it all again, " she said honestly, "it wasn't so bad." He looked
at her in utter amazement.

"How can you say that? " he said, kissing her, remembering just how bad
it had been, better than she did.

"It was worth it, " she said softly, kissing him, and thinking of the
two little girls that had been born, just like her and her sister.

"I'm not sure I'll survive all their tricks, " Charles said warmly as he
sat beside her on the bed, thinking about how confusing it had been to
be around her and her sister. "Your father said he could never tell you
two apart."

"I'll teach you, " she said and kissed him. And a few minutes later,
Bertie came in with both their babies, and as she settled them into
their mother's arms, she couldn't help wondering what Olivia was going
to do when Victoria returned from Europe.

In Chalons-sur-Marne that night, Victoria had been sleeping peacefully,
when she felt Edouard stab her with what felt like a hot knife, over and
over again until she screamed, and then as she began to wake from the
ugly dream she realized that it was Olivia that they were stabbing and
she was screaming. She kept screaming over and over again, and never
stopped, until Victoria put her hands over her ears, but then she felt
the pains herself again, and she was writhing on their bed, confused,
and wet and in agony, crying for her sister, as Edouard woke her.

"Eh .. . petite .. . .. . It's a nightmare .

.. ce n'est qu'un cauchemar, ma che'the." But it was so real she
couldn't stop dreaming, and as she clung to him, gasping for air, she
realized their bed was wet and the pains were real. She could hardly
catch her breath, as she felt a huge pain bearing down on her, pressure
that seemed to press right through her.

"I don't know what's happening .. ." she whispered in the dark, as he
turned on the light, still confused himself, and then he saw her.

She was lying in a pool of water and blood, and she was holding her
belly as he watched her.

"(Wa vient maintenant? .. . Is it coming now? " When he was half asleep,
he often spoke to her in French, but now she could understand it. She
nodded, looking terrified, and he got out of bed quickly and grabbed his
trousers. "I'll get the doctor."

"No .. . don't .. .

don't leave me, " she begged, she was in too much pain and far too
frightened. Unlike Olivia, Victoria was deathly afraid of childbirth,
and all she wanted now was Edouard beside her.

"I have to get him, Olivia .. . I have no idea how to deliver a baby.

I've only seen horses."

"Please don't go, " she cried, and then gasped horribly as she felt
another pain and clutched her belly. "It's coming now .. . I know it is
.. . Edouard, don't go .. ." She was in total panic, and her eyes were
wild as he watched her.

"Please darling, let me go and get someone to help you .. .

Chouinard, " their best surgeon at the field hospital, "will come back
with me, and I'll bring one of the nurses."

"I don't want them, " she gasped, clutching at him again. Her fingers
were like claws as she grabbed him. "I want you .. ." And then as she
caught her breath for a moment between pains, "I was dreaming that
Olivia was having the baby." He smiled this time at the convenient
transference of her dream.

"This is one thing she can't do for you, my love. Nor can I, " he said
gently. "I wish I could take all the pain from you, " he said, as he
knelt beside her and held her. She was obviously in agony, but he knew
it could go on for hours, and he was determined to get someone to help
her. He tried to put his shirt on then, but she wouldn't let him.

"It's coming now, Edouard .. . I can feel it .. . it's coming .

.." She felt terrible pressure and pain, and he was frightened when he
saw the blood all around her, but in a moment she screamed, and
unluckily, there was no one in the house with them all night. The others
were all on duty. And he couldn't use his field telephone to call the
doctor.

"I'll be back soon, " he tried telling her again, but she wouldn't let
him go. She was frantic and too frightened for him to leave her.

All he could do was sit there with her and hold her. And at that exact
moment, in New York, Olivia began having pains again, only mild ones
this time, she said something to Charles and he pretended to look faint,
and said please, not triplets. But when Bertie came into the room, she
said having pains afterwards was normal. Olivia lay her head back
against the pillows then, and slept for a little while. But when she
slept, she dreamt only of her sister.

"Edouard, please .. ." It was another pitiful scream, and she sat up
suddenly and moved to the edge of the bed. He had no idea what she was
doing. "I have to push, " she said, panting as she clung to him. She
didn't know what to do, or where to go, but she was driven by a force
she couldn't stop now.

"Hold on to me, " he said, and she clung to his hands, as she pushed
against the force she felt, sitting there, and then fell back against
the bed. She didn't know what to do to get it out of her, but still she
could feel it coming. He got the idea then to push against her legs, and
told her to lie back and push against him. And when she tried it,
although she made terrible sounds, she felt better. She did it again,
and then fell back against the bed again, and the next time she pushed
he could see a little tuft of blonde hair appearing.

"Oh my God, " he said, utterly amazed by what he saw. "Oh my God ...
Victoria, it's coming .. . keep pushing." She did it again and again and
again, and he kept holding her legs and letting her brace herself
against him, and in a matter of minutes, there was a little face between
her legs, squalling mightily at his mother. "Victoria! " he said, almost
shouting at her as they both laughed and cried and she pushed, and two
pushes later, their son squirmed out of Victoria's soul and lay on the
bed crying. Edouard picked him up as carefully as he could, and held him
up so he could see his mother.

"Oh .. . look at him .. ." Victoria cried, unable to believe what had
happened to them, and so quickly. He was so perfect, and he looked just
like his father. "He's so beautiful .. . oh I love you, " she said and
kissed Edouard. There were tears rolling down his cheeks.

They had truly been blessed. In this place of anguish and death, they
had been visited by an angel.

"He is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, " he said to her in
French, crying with unabashed tears of joy, "except for his mother.

Victoria, more than you'll ever know." He lay the baby gently
on her chest then, and went to get towels and water to clean them.

It was the most extraordinary thing he'd ever seen. And the little boy
had been born in less than an hour from the moment his mother had woken.

"What do we name him? " he asked, after he had ministered to both of
them. He was proving to be an excellent amateur doctor, and midwife.

"You did that very well, " she smiled, and then she looked somewhat
embarrassed. "I'm sorry I got so scared .. . I was so surprised and it
went so fast, " and quick as it had been, it had been very painful.