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L ady Litchfield scurried about the room, doing her best to sound bright and happy. “Good thing I was back from Vivian’s in Brighton. Talk about a bit of good luck.” She grabbed a stack of fresh cloths and plopped back on the stool beside Evelyn’s bed to dab at the sweat on her brow.

Evelyn’s breathing was sharp, hard, and as she felt another wave of the most intense pain of her life, she began screaming again.

“There you go. Scream as loudly as you want.”

“I hate this!” Evelyn sobbed desperately. “I’m never letting Ollie touch me ever again!”

“Of course you won’t.” Lady Litchfield patted Evelyn’s hand gently, both of them knowing full well that would never happen.

Getting a break from her labor pains, Evelyn stared up at the ceiling.

With neither of them working, Evelyn and Ollie had spent their first days and weeks of marriage—real marriage—in bed at all hours of the day.

Intimacy to that degree had taken a bit of getting used to for her, and sometimes she still didn’t want to be touched, but as time passed, she’d enjoyed Ollie’s touch longer and longer.

He was an incredible lover and brought out a saucy side of her she never would have thought existed.

But right now, she was a bit mad about it.

Another contraction started up and she screamed through it and clamped her eyes closed.

Men never joined women during labor, and she had always thought that was atrocious, but honestly, she was rather glad Ollie wouldn’t see this side of her.

This was definitely a time she didn’t want to be touched and Ollie would keep trying to comfort her.

Lady Litchfield, meanwhile, had gone through labor twice and understood full well how it was, and that was the kind of support she wanted.

Ollie, the dear, would have been absolutely frantic if he were in here and would have made her more anxious.

Though she knew, wherever his uncle had him contained in the house, he was frantic regardless. But she also knew he had the support he needed, too.

“How is she doing?” Lady Litchfield asked the midwife.

“Excellent, you’re perfect, Mrs. McNab. Keep pushing. I can see baby’s head. A full head of red hair like yours.”

Evelyn smiled through her tears—for a second. The contractions were now almost constant.

But before she knew it, there was a babe in her arms wailing almost as loud as she had been.

“It’s a boy,” the midwife said with pride over the baby’s cries. “Congratulations.”

“A boy,” Evelyn said with wonder as she stared down at his pudgy face.

The midwife then took the baby away to clean him off. It happened quickly, and Evelyn wished he would come back.

Lady Litchfield began cleaning off Evelyn’s face. “You did it, Evelyn. How are you feeling?”

Tired, exhausted, and in pain. “It still hurts.”

“Well, that’s to be expected.”

Another wave of pain hit Evelyn. “Ow!”

“That’s the afterbirth coming out. Don’t you fret,” the marchioness said encouragingly. “And for a few hours, you’ll still have contractions as your uterus shrinks back down.”

“I have to do that too?” Evelyn cried out. “Does it ever end?”

Lady Litchfield laughed. “Yes, it does. I promise.”

Another wave of pain hit, and Evelyn screamed. “Are you sure about that?”

But the marchioness’s smile had melted away. “Ah, let me go grab the midwife.”

Evelyn screamed as another contraction hit her and soon she heard someone running toward her. The midwife was back, and she was looking pale. “Oh my God. All right, Mrs. McNab, keep pushing.”

“Is my uterus shrinking?” she sobbed back.

“No. I think there’s another baby.”

“ What ?” she shouted out, but the word turned into a wail.

For the second time, Evelyn went through labor until, finally, the midwife held up another red-haired baby boy.

“Why are there two of them?” Evelyn was frantic. “Did something happen? Is something wrong?”

The midwife placed the second boy on her chest with her. “Nothing is wrong, Mrs. McNab. You had twins. Unexpected, yes, but it happens often enough.”

“Twins,” she whispered. But it made everything feel complete.

*

Ollie pulled out more and more hair with every scream that echoed in the house.

“You need to calm down,” Eamon said from his seat, Hambone asleep on his lap. The infuriating man was so casual, petting the cat as if it were just any other day. “Pacing and worrying won’t help your wife.”

“I’m never touching her again,” Ollie said. He couldn’t handle that she was suffering so much. All because of him and his stupid—

“Oh, please,” Eamon said with an exasperated sigh. “We both know that as soon as she’s better, you’ll resume, uh, normal activities. But perhaps, be a bit careful about it?”

“Yeah,” Ollie replied, not knowing what else to say. He felt absolutely crazed. “Yeah, of course. Never again. I’m never letting her go through this again.”

A moment later, Lady Litchfield came into the parlor. Ollie immediately rushed over to her. “Is she all right? Is Evelyn all right? Is the baby here?”

The marchioness, who looked utterly exhausted, nodded. “Everyone is just fine. Congratulations.”

Ollie looked toward the door and clenched his jaw but couldn’t move his feet.

“You can go see her,” Lady Litchfield said.

But when he still didn’t move, Eamon stood up from his chair while Hambone hopped off, yawned wide, and made a big stretch. Eamon gave Ollie a little nudge. “Off you go, Papa.”

Without even a thought, Ollie sprinted upstairs, only tripping over himself three times, and burst into the bedroom.

Evelyn lay there, half-asleep, sweaty, exhausted. But she looked angelic, perfect, and so beautiful.

A tiny, little bundle lay on her chest. Ollie carefully approached as it hit him, finally hit him, that he was a father.

This was everything he had ever wanted in life.

“Evelyn,” was all he could say, and he felt himself choke up. As there were no words to describe this moment, he leaned down and kissed her. And then, he kissed the wee red head sleeping on her chest. The baby had round cheeks, a tiny, little mouth, and it was the most amazing sight.

“It’s a boy,” Evelyn whispered, half-asleep. “And, actually—”

From somewhere behind him, there was a cry.

Ollie stilled. “How did he do that?”

Evelyn, now more alert, furrowed her brow. “How did who do what?”

“Mr. McNab,” the midwife said from behind him. Ollie turned around to find the midwife holding another baby.

“Where did that one come from?” Ollie’s eyes darted around. Was there another woman in here?

The midwife laughed. “It’s twins, Mr. McNab. Twin boys.”

Ollie stumbled backward and slapped a hand to his forehead. “No.”

“Yes.”

He let out a long, low whistle. “Evelyn, we have twins. Two boys. They have red hair like you.”

Evelyn chuckled. “Yes, I know.”

“We only had two boy names on our list that we agreed to. And we couldn’t narrow it down to one.”

“All of that, to end up needing to use both.” She chuckled again.

“Theodore and Simon.” Ollie paused. “Which one’s which?”

Evelyn turned her head to the midwife. “How do we tell the difference between them?”

The midwife smiled. “Why don’t you rest, Evelyn. I’ll get the babies settled in and then I have some tips I can give you.”

“All right,” Evelyn said as she handed the other baby to the midwife. The midwife then went off to the side of the room to tend to the babies and give the couple a moment together.

Ollie sat on the stool beside his beautiful wife and took her hand in his. He was in awe. Of her, of his life. Nothing could make this moment, their life together, more perfect.

“I love you,” Ollie said, kissing the back of her hand.

“I love you, too, Ollie.” Evelyn paused. “It will be quite the adventure having twins, won’t it?”

“It will, but I can’t wait.”

“You thought when I start my new job in a few months at the Bethnal Green Museum, it would just be you and one baby. Now, you’ll be outnumbered.”

“Extra fun,” he reassured her, though in truth, it was a bit of a frightening thought.

“You’ll be a good papa,” Evelyn said, her voice emotional. “That, I know.”

“And you’ll be a wonderful mama, too,” he whispered. She looked so tired. “Go to sleep, my love.”

“Stay with me until I do?”

“I will.” Ollie held her hand and, still sitting on the stool, laid his head next to hers until she fell asleep. Too full of life and happiness to sleep alongside her, he watched her sleep instead. Yes, an entire lifetime of joy and love awaited his family.