Four

The past couple months have been some of the most particularly difficult ones I've faced since coming here. Not long after I received the news that I was having quadruplets, a thief broke into our house during the very late evening. Everyone else had head off to bed, but I was just about to go out to get the mail that we had forgotten about. Then, all of sudden, the alarm went off. Even after covering my ears, I still felt as if they were going to rupture.  The thief then came into sight. She seemed to be in shock, for she only stared at me and the alarm. She did run out the door a couple seconds later though.

It was after she left that all the others came rushing down the stairs. Ada and Eloril tried to follow her, but as they began to search outside they discovered there was no lead to show which way the thief had gone to. We resorted to alerting the police. Eloril dealt with making the report while the rest of us went back to bed.

That night was the most excitement I've had since then though. Except for when I shower, use the bathroom, or talk a short walk around the house outside, I never leave my bed. I could do more when my pregnancy wasn't that far along, but as my four babies grew, moving became much more of a challenge. It's too hard for me to even sit at my desk to write so I have to write my stories using my laptop on the bed.

There was a couple times when I thought it was alright to push myself just a little. I quickly stopped, for when I did try to push myself I could almost feel my babies slipping away from me. While I can come to accept the deaths of my older children because they lived long lives, I'll never forgive myself if I lose these children because of a selfish desire to walk about due to boredom. So now I spend my entire days writing, watching movies, and sleeping. Perhaps what is worst of all is that I can't even pick Isilmar up. I can cuddle and have him play with me while he's on the bed, but ada, Eloril, and Sidhion have to do everything else to care for him.

It's very frustrating to watch the three of them take care of all the responsibilities while I can only lay there.

I guess the one thing I don't mind so much not doing is cooking. It's nice having a break from it. Eloril has become the household chef in my place. While it's actually ada who is the better cook, he continues to insist that he hates the human cooking equipment. That's what he says anyway. I think he's too embarrassed and doesn't want to admit that he has no idea how to use it and thus have to ask for help.

Eloril does a perfectly job fine despite not having the knack for making food that ada and I do. He did get a decent amount of practice the last time he was here.

It was the last couple months of my pregnancy that were the worst. The physical pain that was constantly there slowly whittled me down, but it was the pain in my heart that was the worst. The unfortunate news is that Ettelendil, Erondir, and Fiendir all reached their last days of life in quick succession. I suppose that's the sad reality of having had them and Minai born so close together- they would die close together as well. I wasn't even able to go to their funerals because of my condition. All that I was able to do was sit outside for bit staring at Fiendir's sculpting shed and the telescope Ettelendil used so often. Then I went inside to watch the work-out videos Erondir used to use.

The doctors told me, and knew by myself from experience with my other multiples, that my quadruplets would come early. However, the day they chose to come on seemed too interesting and perfectly timed to be true. Not only was it both Ortherion and Isilmar's birthday, but it was Love Day as well. Instead of focusing on romantic love on Love Day like most other humans do, I've changed it so our family celebrates familial love and bonds instead. So it really was so amazing that on the day when we celebrate being a family, four new members to our family were added.

Ada took me to the hospital around mid-afternoon. The doctors were surprised that my pregnancy had lasted for as long as it did. What can I say? If I made the choice that my babies were going to stay inside me until they were truly ready to live, then that's what they were going to do. My labor lasted a couple hours, and then it was time to push. I gave birth first to two sons, Elrelas and Henduil. That's when things became a bit more difficult. The other two babies refused to come out.

The doctors determined quickly that I needed a c-section, and so they rushed my bed into another room where they could surgically remove my children. I was so incredibly terrified. I knew this was the only way for my children to be born safely, but I never hated as place as intensely as I hated that room. Thankfully, ada was able to stay with me the whole time. I never would have made it through that experience sanely without him. I was just a sobbing mess of emotion and pain.

Two more baby boys were removed from me- Silmalad and Alyan. I have given my multiples names that related in the past, but I didn't dare do the same this time around. It's going to be hard enough keeping straight four boys to begin with, so giving them similar sounding names would only be asking for trouble. Elrelas, Henduil, Silmalad, Alyan, and I had to stay in the hospital for three more days after their birth. I needed to recover from the intense labor, and the boys needed a bit more care in the hands of the doctors. The doctors were amazed at how quickly my babies became strong, and released us home with wide eyes.

When I finally had my new sons all together in my room, I still couldn't believe it. Right in front of me was the physical and visible proof, but it remained so difficult to accept that I had given birth to four babies.

Surprisingly, the first night home was not as complicated and stressful as I assumed it would be. For the most part, only one son needed one thing at one time. Still, there was a lot to do and I was exhausted. Ada and Eloril offered great help, and with that extra care, I was even able to get some sleep.

The nights became tougher after that as Elrelas, Henduil, Silmalad, and Alyan developed different schedules. I was so busy with them that I barely noticed the passing of one day from the next. I almost completely forgot about Sidhion's birthday. I did what I could to put the best party I could muster together for him. Once again, Sidhion was understanding and didn't fault me for not making his birthday the biggest celebration of the century. He stayed most of the day to play with his youngest brothers, and left in the early afternoon for his new place.

Having no free time, I gave my training dummy to Ortherion. He's been interested in martial arts ever since he had his birthday. I gave him as much advice as possible, but since I wasn't actually able to train him, Ortherion knew he required more to succeed. He came up with a genius solution. He found a teacher through the internet. He places a laptop nearby when he practices, and his instructor can watch him through a video chat program thus giving him the teaching he needs. Ortherion quickly reached the second belt level.

My four babies became four toddlers in the blink of an eye. We had two small celebrations- one for Elrelas and Henduil, and one for Silmalad and Alyan. Elrelas has white hair, and my eyes and ears. I was surprised to see that he inherited the white hair. Dewaine told me that it would be a rare thing for his albinism to be passed down to our children. It would mean that I would also have to be carrying the trait, and if I did, the rate for giving that trait to our children was next to nothing. Considering how rare quadruplets are themselves, the fact that this other unlikely thing also occurred isn't all that surprising. Henduil also inherited an albinistic trait- the bright blue eyes. He also has my ears, but his hair is black. I wonder if black was what Dewaine's hair color was supposed to be.

Then there was the younger two. Both Silmalad and Alyan have my hair and eyes, but Alyan is the only one of the four who did not inherit my ears. Now that I can see the differences between my sons, it looks like my body actually released four separate eggs since none of my boys are identical.

I hope this isn't a sign that my body is wearing down. Apparently, the rate of giving birth to multiples increases as human women get older because what's on the inside begins to age and loosen. I really pray something like that is not happening to me. I began to fear it after having Sirith and Tirith, and then Renduil and Rion. Now Elrelas, Henduil, Silmalad, and Alyan's birth might be confirming it. I guess the only way I'll know for sure is to see how everything proceeds from here on out. The birth of my four sons bumps me much closer to the halfway point of this task, but I'm still not even halfway done. Will my body manage to hold out to the end......