She turned towards me with an apologetic look on her face when the call dropped on its own. “I’ll have him come over the moment I get through to him, okay? Just head on inside and try to relax.”
Emma then gave me a comforting pat on the arm before nodding at the doctor who wheeled me into the delivery room.
Professor Zidd had mentioned that my body was fit enough to have a natural birth. Since babies born through natural births turned out healthier, I agreed to it without any hesitation when the doctor asked for my decision.
Having lost a child before, the excruciating pain felt a lot more tolerable, and I was able to hang in there for a few hours.
However, with neither Anthony nor John around, I eventually found myself unable to muster any more strength.
“Hang in there, Ms. Stanhope! Don’t give up! Your first child is about to come out!” the doctor called out to me, his words hitting me like a dose of adrenaline.
I bit down on my lip and tightened my grip on the bedsheets as I continued to push with all of my might.
Pain tore through my body, and my pelvis felt like it was being shattered, but I kept on pushing anyway.
After what seemed like an eternity, I was finally able to hear the sounds of a baby crying in the delivery room.
“It’s a boy! He may be a little skinny, but he’s definitely in good health! Here, have a look!” I was panting heavily when I heard the nurse’s voice in my ear and turned towards her.
They say premature babies tend to look skinny and ugly, but that isn’t the case with mine! He even has Anthony’s nose!
Even the nurse couldn’t help herself from giving a compliment. “It’s been forever since I’ve seen such an adorable baby boy!”
I pursed my lips and smiled in response. The joy I felt was so overwhelming that it made the pain I suffered earlier seem trivial in comparison.
“Get the baby to the incubator! We need her to stay focused! There’s still another one!”
The nurse carried the baby out of the room upon hearing the doctor’s instructions, and I prepared myself for a second push.
After about half an hour, the sounds of a baby’s cries filled the room once again.
“Congratulations, Ms. Stanhope! It’s a girl! You’ve got yourself a boy and a girl!”
I was able to get a clear look at my newborn daughter’s face right before passing out from exhaustion. She looks…a little chubbier than her brother…
It was already the next morning by the time I woke up.
The window was open, and the room was a little chilly even with the warm rays of the morning sun pouring in.
Upon fully regaining my consciousness, I saw Emma sitting right next to my bed while Emery stood in a corner of the room.
“Letty! You’re finally awake!” the two of them called out to me simultaneously when they saw me open my eyes.
I kept quiet and simply stared weakly at Emma in response.
She lowered her gaze and said hesitantly, “I… I haven’t been able to get a hold of Anthony…”
For some reason, I felt empty inside when I heard that.
“Here, have some warm water, Ms. Stanhope,” the nurse said as she brought me a glass of water.
I had been asleep after giving birth yesterday, so I hadn’t eaten anything at all.
After gulping down half a glass of water, I scanned the room I was in and saw no sign of my babies. “Where are my babies?”
“We had the servants bring them to the nursery as we didn’t want them disturbing you,” Emma replied.
“Bring them to me, please…” I was missing them as I had only seen them once so far. I guess this is what they call a maternal bond… You can’t see it or touch it, but you can feel it right in your heart…
“Go on, bring them in here,” Emma instructed the nurse.
The nurse left the room and returned shortly after with another nurse, each of them carrying a baby in their arms.
Emery helped me into a sitting position before handing me one of the babies.
They were still crying when they first came into the room but stopped the moment Emery and I were holding them and simply stared at us curiously with their arms outstretched. Wait… I remembered his nose being a little taller than this…
“Hey, Letty! Seeing as Summer is older than Xavier, how about betrothing this daughter of yours to him instead?” Emery said jokingly while cradling the other baby in her arms.
However, I wasn’t in the mood for jokes at all. I placed the baby down on the bed and opened up the blanket around him to get a closer look at his face. This is strange… He doesn’t resemble Anthony and me at all…
An overwhelming feeling of shock filled my heart as I pulled my hands back and stared at Emery with a pale look on my face. “This isn’t my son!”
“What are you saying? This is your child, Letty! The doctors and nurses have been watching over them the whole time!” Emma said as she came over and picked up the baby.
Without giving it much thought, I climbed out of bed and snatched the baby over from Emery.
Upon seeing her familiar chubby face, I nearly collapsed when the sudden realization hit me like a truck.
I remember my daughter being a little chubby, whereas my son looked skinny and had a tall nose… The one in Emma’s arms is clearly someone else’s baby!
“Hey! You can’t get off the bed just yet, Letty! Get back in bed right now!” Emma shouted as she came running towards me. “That’s right, Sienna! Maybe you just remembered it wrongly?” Emery too tried to talk me out of it.
No, there’s no way I’d be mistaken! I remember how they look very clearly!
At that moment, a commotion was heard from the living room. “I saw it! The person who took my baby came in here! Give me back my baby or I’ll call the police! None of you are going to get away with this!”
I didn’t have time to think and simply ran downstairs in just my thin nightgown.
I was able to get a clear idea as to what happened as I made my way down the stairs. A family had broken into the house after having their newborn son stolen from the hospital last night, and the kidnapper was last seen in the back garden of the Stanhope residence.
Emma and Emery came down with the babies as well, and the family got even more agitated when they saw them. “Where’s our baby? Give him back!”
I turned around and took the baby over from Emma before asking the woman in front of the crowd, “How can you prove that this child is yours?”
Noticing something off about my behavior, Emery stepped forward and gave me a gentle nudge with her elbow. “Are you okay?”
I frowned and shook my head at her, motioning for her to shut up.
“My son has a birthmark on his right ankle! There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize it!” The woman seemed soft and weak, but her tone was incredibly aggressive.
I lifted the blanket around the baby’s leg and there really was a birthmark on his right ankle.
“What? How could this be?” “This is impossible…” Emery and Emma both expressed their surprise at the same time when they leaned in and saw the birthmark.
I took a deep breath and handed her the baby with trembling hands. “Here, you can have your child back.”
The bodyguards let her through upon hearing that, and she ran straight towards me with tears in her eyes. “Yes! I knew it! There’s no way I’d ever forget about this birthmark!” she cried out while showing his ankle to everyone around her.
I had nothing else to say, but I was certain I knew how my son looked like.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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