"Very ready," she said quite firmly, though her hand tightened on his arm just in case. They'd used portals many times, especially going back and forth to Liba, but this was a little different.

"Okay, then!" Michael said, just as eager as her, and probably three times as nervous, though he was trying hard not to show it. "Open, Sesame!" he declared as he pushed a thumb against the button that would trigger the portal.
Unlike stepping into a portal, which gave the sensation of passing through something magical, this felt more encompassing, more enveloping, somehow gentler than having one foot in one realm and one in another. It was certainly a much gentler landing, the two of them appearing in a designated space within the hospital for such arrivals.

"Mr. and Mrs. Donnelly!" A masculine voice greeted them upon their arrival. "We've been waiting for you! Everything is ready. We just need to get you to a delivery room," he said, as he maneuvered a wheelchair in place for Elena.

"Oh, we're not late, that's good." Not that it was possible for them to be late to the delivery of their own children, but Elena was reaching the point of nonsense already. She was certainly an entertaining woman in labor. Her threats could be especially creative. She let Michael help her into the chair, letting out a soft sigh of relief. "So close."

"It's okay, baby. We're here. It won't be long now," Michael assured her gently as he helped her into the wheelchair. She knew all this already, of course, but he felt the need to say something supportive. Inside he was a nervous wreck, but not nearly as nervous as he'd been the first time around.

"It's too late to ask for a C-sec, right?" she asked, only half-joking, as the orderly began to wheel her toward the labor ward, her hand wrapped tightly in Michael's. She would have a healer, too - that had become the standard in their family since Mataya had given birth herself. She just had to get through the actual birthing, and then all the pain would be over.

Michael chuckled a little nervously. "I think so," he told her, though he wasn't too sure. "Besides, you want to get back into a bikini, don't you?" he asked, with a hint of teasing in his voice.

"I'm old enough to get away with massive granny panties and a skimpy top now," she defended herself, though her laughter was cut off by another contraction. She let her head tip back as she breathed through it, forcing her eyes to stay open.

Michael found himself squeezing her hand, as though he were the one experiencing labor and not the other way around. "Granny panties?" he echoed with a chuckle, her sense of humor putting him a little more at ease. "God forbid!"

The orderly tried not to chuckle as he wheeled Elena into the delivery room. "Let me help you onto the bed," he told her.

"No, I'm okay with my husband," she assured the orderly, once the contraction had passed. "I need to change, anyway. Does Libby know we're here?"

"She knows you were on your way. Why don't you get yourself settled while I find her?" the orderly asked. "Press the button if you need help, okay?"

Michael nodded, confident he could get his wife from the wheelchair to the hospital bed. "We will," he assured the man.

"We got this," Elena agreed, giving Michael a grin. She trusted him to get her up more than she did a stranger, however well trained they were. They'd been through too much together for that kind of trust to be easily set aside. She eased up and out of the wheelchair with his help, toeing out of her shoes in preparation for changing out of her leggings and top and into one of his own t-shirts.

"Just take it slow," he urged her, helping her every step of the way. It wasn't too hard to get her changed and onto the bed; after all, he'd been helping her with those very same things at home for the last several months.

"I love you," she murmured as they struggled together to get her ready through increasing contractions that were growing longer and closer together each time. "God ....why can't I do this like a lioness?" she complained mildly. "They just huff around and sort of blurt them out the back end after a couple of hours."

Michael chuckled. "Because you're human, that's why," he replied, logically enough. He'd heard of shifters giving birth in their animal forms, but it was one of those things about Rhy'Din that still weirded him out a little. "And I love you, too, but can we not do this again anytime soon?" he teased as he helped her onto the bed.

"What, four years between kids not long enough for you?" she asked laughingly, barely wincing as they managed to get her onto the bed. "I'm right with you on this one - three is enough."

"It's not that," he said, frowning at the wince, but hoping he was distracting her from the pain. "It's the fact that we've got a two-for-one deal going on here." It wasn't that he didn't love the idea of having twins, but he wasn't so naive not to know it was going to be a lot of work for them both.  Thankfully, though, he wasn't the one who was going to have to push them out.

"That's the thing - twins don't even run in the family," she agreed. "Only now they will, because these two decided one of them was going to be a girl." She chuckled faintly, relaxing back against the pillows for a moment. "Here's hoping this doesn't take too long."

"I blame the water," Michael said with a smirk, as that seemed to be the popular opinion here in Rhy'Din where multiple births were concerned. "I'll second that," he said, tucking the covers around her once she was settled in. He knew those would have to come off soon, but for now, he wanted her warm and comfortable. He settled a hand upon her belly, rubbing gently. "Is there anything I can do?"

She turned her head, mischief sparkling in her eyes. "Call Juno and swap bodies with me for the next, oh, six hours?" she suggested impishly, knowing perfectly well that Michael didn't really believe that was even possible.

"Uh, I think it might be a little too late for that," he said, a puzzled expression on his face, though he assumed she wasn't serious. "You don't think it's going to take six hours, do you?" he asked further.

She shook her head, grinning at his reaction. "No, I don't," she admitted. "It feels like they're in a hurry."

"Well, that's a heartening comment to enter on," a familiar voice said from the door, and Libby came into view, scrubbed up and ready to go. "Spread 'em, Mrs Donnelly, let's see if you're right."

"I hope so!" he replied, with a chuckle. "They're not as much fun as Ploppo, but I think she'll be pleased." Admittedly, the puppy didn't belong to them anyway, but the twins were theirs to keep.

"They'll grow on her," Elena predicted. "She's old enough to be able to help out with them, too. Kinda glad we decided to wait more than two years before popping out more."

"Yeah, but what we need to decide now is what to name them," he pointed out, as they hadn't really made a final decision before the pair had decided it was time to be born.

"I thought it was Leo and Kara?" she asked innocently, smiling back at him. A knock on the door announced the arrival of the orderly, putting the conversation on hold for the few short minutes it took to get the Donnellys downstairs and into a private room, where they could finally, blessedly, relax.

Michael kept his thoughts to himself until they were alone again and Elena was once again settled. He claimed a chair for himself near her bed, close enough for her to admire the little bundles in his arms. "What do you think?" he asked, addressing his question to the newborns. "Are you a Leo and a Kara?"

Leo opened his eyes, wriggling a little in his blanket for a moment before peering around with newborn eyes. Who knew what he actually saw or what he thought of it, but he closed his eyes pretty fast afterward. Elena chuckled. "Well, at least one of them responded."

"Not really a yes or a no though, is it?" he said with a grin, not really expecting either newborn to answer. "What do you think?" he asked, turning his attention back to Elena. Once they signed the birth certificates, there would be no changing their minds.

"I like them," she said. "Not just saying that. There's a reason they were on the list to begin with. Little love and little lion' I think that's perfect for a terrifying twosome who will be completely under the thumb of a big sister with way too many creative ideas."

Michael chuckled again. "We should probably give that big sister a call and let her know her new brother and sister have arrived," he suggested. He couldn't argue with Elena's reasoning. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the names they'd chosen for the twins. "Pick one," he told her, needing at least one hand free to make the phone call.

She chuckled, shifting to reach over and take the twin from his right arm so he could fish around for his phone and make the call with his dominant hand. "It's early enough that Tony could bring her in to meet them before she has to go to bed," she pointed out, hugging Kara affectionately in her arms as the sleepier twin stretched.

Michael arched a brow at his wife's suggestion. "Are you sure you're up to that' It won't hurt to have her wait one more day," he pointed out. She had said she was tired, after all.

"But she'll sleep better with hugs from Mom and Dad," Elena pointed out. "Last thing we need is for all of us to be sleep-deprived when we get home tomorrow."

"That's true," he replied, given her reasoning. "You realize Sofia is going to want to come along," he said, though Tony might be able to convince his own daughter to wait a day or two before inundating them with visitors.

"Pretty sure Tony can convince her only one person under ten is allowed in at a time," Elena said, confident in her brother's ability to keep his own daughter at home. "Or Anya will have something up her sleeve. They should store up goodwill for when Anya pops in a few months."

"It's about time they had another," Michael said, not for the first time. Why should they have all the fun" Nonna De Luca was in her glory. That said, he scrolled through his contacts with his thumb and hit the call icon next to Tony's name, all one-handed.

The voice that answered, though, was not Tony. "Daddy' Daddy, is it you? Un'ca Tony said it's you, an' there's babies, an' is it you?"

"Yes, sweetheart, it's me!" Michael replied, looking to Elena. "It's Mica," he whispered to his wife, though that much was probably obvious. "Are you being good?"

Over the sound of his wife laughing at the knowledge their daughter had managed to answer Tony's phone, Mica very happily replied. "I am bein' very good, an' we made cookies, an' Auntie Anya says we can have sketti tonight!"

"Oh, that's exciting!" he said, pausing a moment to touch the icon that would put her on speaker. "Say hi to Mama! She can hear you, too, now," he told her. "They made cookies and they're having pus-ketti for dinner," he whispered for Elena's sake.

"'lo, Mumma! Did you has the babies" Can they hear me" Hello babies!"

Elena laughed again at the excited voice booming from the phone. "Well, hello," she answered, sharing a bright grin with Michael. "Yes, and yes, and they're sleeping right now."

"Would you like to come see them tonight?" he asked, despite the fact that he hadn't asked Tony yet. He had a feeling Elena's big brother might just jump at the chance to be the first to see the newest members of the family anyway.

There was an audible gasp of delight from the other end of the phone. "Oooh, can I really' An' see you, an' Mumma, an' have cuddles?"

"For a little bit, but Mummy and the babies have to stay overnight at the hospital so we can make sure they're all better, okay?" he told his daughter, hoping she'd be okay with that, given the fact she could come visit for a while.

"But I can still come and see?" Mica asked hopefully.

Elena grinned over at Michael; their little girl was never going to admit that what she really wanted was to see her parents, rather than just the new babies.

"Why don't you let me talk to Uncle Tony and I'll ask him if it's okay," Michael suggested, though he doubted his brother-in-law would say no.

"Okay! I'll bring cookies!" There was a thump as Mica put the phone down on the table a little too heavily, and then yelled for her uncle. "Unca Tony! Daddy wants you!"

He rose from the chair in search of towels and diapers and other such baby things. Thankfully, Libby had thought of everything.

"Start as we mean to go on," she agreed, carefully shifting her position so they could lay out the various things they would need to give the twins a quick once over clean and cover them up properly.

There was no point in swapping babies, since they each had one already, though Michael thought Leo might be the more challenging of the pair, considering his anatomy. It really came down to which was the wigglier of the two though, and for the moment, that seemed to be Kara.

"Oh, you're going to be a handful, aren't you?" Elena informed their newest daughter, though thankfully neither twin was protesting too loudly at the indignity of being stripped and washed gently.

"They're going to want to eat sooner or later, but Libby left bottles, too," he said, though Libby had already told them both that. "Are you okay?" he asked, once he was almost finished bathing and diapering Leo.

"Who, me?" Elena threw him a smile, wrestling Kara's flailing feet into a onesie and ignoring the threatening scream in the process. "I feel good. Tired, but not in pain, not aching. Magic is never going to cease to amaze me. What about you?"

"I'm okay. Just concerned about you," he confessed, as he wrapped the wriggling baby into a blanket before he could protest. Despite calling Rhy'Din home for many years now, he didn't think he'd ever get entirely used to magic either.

"I'm good," she promised him, carefully lifting the mewling Kara up onto her shoulder. Within seconds, the baby girl had calmed down, proving that her objection had been purely about being put down. Wriggling to the edge of the bed, Elena leaned over to kiss Michael's cheek. "I love you, Mischa, you know?"

Michael smiled at the show of affection from his wife. He had fought long and hard for her love, and now that he had it, he had no intentions of ever letting her go. "Love you, too, El," he murmured back, returning her kiss with one of his own, but this time finding her lips.

She smiled into his kiss, knowing she had made him work for her, though without truly knowing he was fighting that battle for much of that time. She had every intention of making sure he knew he was loved for the rest of his life. "So when can we expect your little Greek hanger-on to pop in and give these two something inappropriate to play with?" she asked teasingly.

He chuckled at her reference to his muse - literally. "I'd like to think she'd give us a little privacy before popping in unannounced," he said, though he could never be too sure where Calliope was concerned.

"She seems to wait until I'm asleep to pop in," Elena pointed out with a chuckle, stroking one hand over Kara's hot little head as the newborn bumped her forehead into her mother's throat.

"Maybe she's jealous," Michael remarked, though he doubted that. If Calliope had wanted to make him one of her lovers, she would have said so a long time ago. "I, uh ....finished the book," he told her, sounding just a little bit shy about it. The book was one he'd been working on for years and one he had promised his muse he would write.

Her eyes lit up. "Oh, that's wonderful! When did you finish up?" She knew this particular book had been a labor of love for several years, since Michela had been born, and had not asked to read any of it because of that. She hoped Calliope appreciated the effort.

"A few nights ago. I'm just doing a final edit," he said, though he had yet to let Calliope read it. It was really up to her whether it was finished to her liking or not.

"Perfect timing, as always," his wife assured him fondly. "She'd better appreciate all the work you put into it. I'm really eager to read this thing!"

"Better let her read it first," he murmured. As much as he trusted his wife's judgment, he couldn't afford to piss his muse off, or he might find himself without any inspiration at all.

Elena chuckled softly. "I'm not going to steal her thunder on this one," she promised him. "Besides, she's been involved all the way from the start. She should be the first one to read it now it's done."

"I just hope she likes it," he said, sounding just a little bit worried, but he was his own worst enemy when it came to criticism. If she didn't like it, that meant years worth of work wasted.

"She let you write it," Elena pointed out. "She wouldn't have done that if she didn't believe you could do her life justice." She reached out, drawing her fingers tenderly against his cheek. "You worry too much."

"Let me?" Michael echoed with a chuckle. "More like forced me," he corrected, though that wasn't entirely true. She had given him a choice, after all. "Think she'll be jealous we didn't name one of the girls after her?" he asked, only partly joking, even as he turned his cheek into her touch.

"We didn't pick second names yet," was her impish answer, complete with cheeky wink. "She can't complain until their names are absolutely set in stone, and even then, I'll wallop her with that stuffed minotaur if she does."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Michael chuckled. He didn't doubt his wife would do just that. If anyone wasn't afraid of his muse, it was his wife. "What do you say we get these two settled and eat something before Mica gets here?" he suggested.

She chuckled with him. There was a reason Calliope avoided interacting with Elena, after all. His suggestion, however, brightened her eyes once again. "That is a genius idea."

"Well, I do have an above average IQ," he said with a grin and a shrug. Above average, but not quite genius level, though he had been something of a prodigy where writing was concerned.

"You're the brains in this outfit," she agreed, stretching to pull the double bassinet over to where they were sitting. It was only marginally bigger than the usual bassinets, but apparently twins were clingy. Who knew?

"Stop. Let me do it," he told her, moving over to help with the bassinet, one arm still cradling little Leo. She might be magically healed, but that didn't erase the fact that she'd just given birth.