Chapter 3

“It’s time,” I announced.

“What’s happening?” Em asked.

“Nora’s having a baby,” I told her.

“I’m having a baby? Now? Are you sure?” Nora said.

“Very, still planning on the hospital?” I asked.

“Yes! I don’t care how good the midwives are, I’m not giving birth at home like some 18th century reenactor.”

“I was born at home, and I turned out fine,” I told her.

That just got a snort from both of them. “Where’s Val?” Em asked.

“She’s bringing the van around. I’ve known this was happening for about an hour.”

“How come I can’t feel anything yet?”

“I’m blocking any pain you might be experiencing. At this point it would just feel like gas anyway. Except in about three minutes your water is going to break,” I told her.

“Well help me get to the bathroom, then!” she hollered.

“We taking the elevator down?” Em asked as we emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later. Nora was changed, as I had assisted in cleanup and conjuring fresh clothes.

I looked at Nora, “Want me to carry you?”

“No! Just grab my bags.”

“Already have them in the vehicle. There’s no rush, you won’t have the baby for two more hours,” I said calmly.

I carefully supported her as we stepped into the elevator, and rode down to the ground level. Val had the back of the van open, and a special chair ready for her. She sat down, and I lifted the chair into place, and locked it down. I hopped in next to her, holding her hand, and Em joined Val up front.

It was only 15 minutes to Zurich University Hospital. Her doctor was already there, and they were waiting for us. I helped her out of the van, and into a wheelchair. They whisked us away while Val parked, and Em filled out paperwork. The room was clean, and bright, and there was a nice view out the windows.

I helped her into a birthing gown, and the nurse and I helped settle her into the bed. My power disinfected the room again, eliminating all contagion. The nurse came in and checked her, agreed with my time table, and stepped back out. The doctor was all smiles, and immediately called the nurse back in when I let the contractions start to be felt.

They gave me the call button, and instructions on when to call them back. Then they took my lunch order, as it was getting close to noon. Nora wasn’t interested in eating, but I ordered for Em and Val. We finished lunch just in time for the contractions to speed up, and with a touch of help, my daughter was born easily at 12:21pm, January 2nd, 2021.

A little later, I was holding the tiny precious girl, her mom asked, “Are you ok with the name?”

“Sofia Rose Jansen-Barkley is perfectly alright with me,” I told her.

“It was my mother’s name,” Em said.

“She’s so tiny, can I hold her?” Val asked.

I glanced at Nora who nodded, and handled the bundle to her. My phone rang, but I put it on silent. The congratulations could go to voicemail. Val looked up at me, “I’m thinking I might have been hasty deciding I could replicate just fine on my own,” she said.

“Never too late to change your mind sweetheart. Just remember, it’s Em’s turn next.”

She nodded, and passed the baby back to Nora. “I’m not going to enjoy midnight feedings,” Nora said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll twin you so you can always have a good night’s rest. If that’s still not enough, I’ll do it myself,” I told her.

“Or I can, right?” Em asked.

“I’d like to help too,” Val added.

“Hope you are hungry little Sofie, you’ve got people who love you and are all capable of feeding you.”

The nurse came in to check on Nora, “Oh my, that’s a lot of flowers!” she said, surprised to find the room filled with roses.

“Nothing but the best for my Nora,” I told her.

“Wonderful to see the father so ready to help. We’ve got your discharge ready, but it’ll be about 30 minutes. If I could see the father in the hallway for a moment?” she asked.

I turned to Val, who just shrugged, “Sure, I’ll be there in a moment.” I told her, and she popped back out the door.

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but a few people have gathered outside. I’m sure it’s fine, I’m not sensing hostility, just the opposite,” I reported, giving Nora a soft kiss on the forehead.

I stepped thru the door into the hallway outside the nurses station to applause. “Herr Barkley, we are so happy to congratulate you on your new daughter.”

“Thank you,” I said as the strange man shook my hand vigorously. “We also wanted to show you this,” he said, as two assistants held up a large plaque, while a third pulled the cloth covering it away.

“This will be mounted at the entrance of the hospital on Monday, but we thought you might like to see it first,” he said.

I read it carefully, “Before he was the hero of Switzerland Adam Barkley Jr generously donated 15 million francs worth of protective gear to the hospitals of Switzerland, protecting staff and patients at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The University Hospital of Zürich offers this small award in recognition of the millions of lives saved, and the generous spirit shown.”

I chuckled at the ‘small award’ as the two assistants struggled to hold it up. “Where at the entrance will you put this?” I asked.

“It’s going to replace that ugly painting just to the right as you come in,” he said confidently.

“Thank you very much, I just did what I could, for the most that I could, at the time,” I said, as they all lined up wanting to shake my hand. Val just smirked at me as I went thru the line of congratulations and thank yous.

I stepped back into the room, just in time to help Nora redress, while Em held the baby, and Val guarded the door. By the time we got home it was almost 7pm. Nora was exhausted, so I sent her to bed, placing Sofia in her crib at the foot of the bed. Sofia had her own bedroom, but there was no rush, the master bedroom had plenty of room.

Nora woke in the morning to find herself twinned during the night, her body fully recovered from the pregnancy, and tits bursting with food for a hungry little girl. The two Nora’s arranged to move the crib into Sofie’s bedroom, and add a twin bed. Seeing the benefits, Em agreed to be twinned as well, and as the last hold out, everyone in the brotherhood was now twinned.

They both wanted to travel now that they could, so copies got added to all the little love nests that Val and I previously had to ourselves. Mars, Proxima Station, and SE5, all had bigger beds installed in expectation of this day. I faithfully stored a copy of Sofie every morning, and every night. She even had her own pearl implanted so I could always find her.