*....Behold a child is born, a king is born and the government shall be on his shoulders….*
****
    
    “ Good morning, Wifey. ” Joseph laid a peck on his sleeping wife's forehead.  “ Hey. ” She squirmed a bit, not opening his eyes. 
Staring at how big she was, he felt pain wondering how painful it is for her.  “ You okay? ” 
“ Um. ” Though she nodded, he wasn't convinced. He knew his wife enough to know that much. 
Yet, he didn't force her and simply went back to the mirror where he combed his hair and adjusted his tie while watching Mira's movement from the mirror.
     Minutes passed by without any sound from her, but just when he finished buttoning his sleeve's button. He heard her. 
This time, it was a painful cry, more gruesome than what he's heard before. 
      “ Mira, are you okay? ” He ran to the bed and helped her to a sitting position. “ I don't know. ” Her face was pale as a sheet.  “ I'd love to use the toilet. ” Her voice was hoarse, helping her to a standing position, he led her to the bathroom.
He took a step back when she entered to give her some privacy.
   Mira hadn't taken three steps forward when she felt a pool of water pour down from beneath her.  She stood there in shock, wondering what was wrong, it soon dawned on her what was going on.  “ Jose. ” She called out in a shaky voice and a panicked Joseph ran towards her.  “ Mira? ” His mouth was agape watching her.  “ My water just broke. ” Joseph stood there in shock as realization dawned on him. “ Call the ambulance. ” Her reminder brought him back to his senses. 
“ Yes. ” He ran back to the room, got his phone from the cell phone stand and dialed the number. 
  ***
The journey to the hospital took less than ten minutes, but to Joseph. He felt it lasted forever. 
Watching his wife moan continuously in pain broke his heart.
Why does it always have to be like this?
But then he recalled a verse in the Bible which says, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. ”
He sighed. The pain was inevitable.
   “ Jose. ” He heard her pain filled voice calling out to him. 
“ Hey, I'm here. ” He held onto her hands, reassuring her. 
“ Um. ” She tightened her hold on him and he sighed.
   Mira was transferred to a gurney the moment they arrived at the hospital and instantly wheeled into the emergency room.
   Joseph stayed at the reception, pacing back and forth not knowing what to do.  He kept reminding himself of the verse that says, “ God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and might and of the fear of God. ” 
Just then, his phone rang. It was Nanny.
“ Are you okay, Jose? ” Nanny's concerned voice rang on the other end.  “ Mira is in labor. ” those four words were enough for Nanny to know what's up.
“ Oh wow. I'll be there in twenty minutes. Don't worry, Mira would be fine. ” She said as the call rang up. 
Despite her reassurance he wasn't convinced. Before he could control himself, he called Aiden Evans his mentor.  “ Wassup, Little guy? ” The latter joked at the other end.
“ My wife is in labor and I feel so panicked right now. ” Joseph squeezed his eyes shut to control himself from breaking down. “ Oh wow. ” Aiden said in understanding. He could understand exactly how the younger man was feeling as he had been there himself. 
   “ Is that your mentee, Babe? ” He heard Melissa's voice from the other end. “ Yes, His wife is in labor. ”
“ Oh wow. ” Melissa got the phone from him. “ Don't worry, Joseph. We'll be there soon, Kay? In the meantime. Hang on. ”
“ Alright, thanks. ” For some reason, he felt more comforted by her words. Perhaps because she had been through it once and knows exactly how it feels.
“ Remember, don't be too panicked, Kay? You wouldn't want the little ones to look at you weirdly when they are born, Kay? First impression matters, remember? ” Joseph ended up chuckling at his words.  “ Yeah. Thanks. ”
“ You are welcome. We'll be there soon, Kay? ”
“ Thanks. ”
The emergency door opened just as he hung up, he walked briskly towards him. “ How is it going, Doc? ”
“ Not so good. ” Joseph's heart sank hearing him. What does that mean? “ She's losing a lot of blood. ”
“ What does that mean, Doc? ”
“ She'll need about two ounces of blood. ”
“ Then give it to her already. ” Joseph almost lost his cool hearing him.
“ Her blood type is not available in our tank. ”
“ Oh, use mine then. ” He said simply.
“ You are… ” The doctor stared at him in Surprise. “ Yeah. ” he nodded.
Soon, he was led to an adjacent room where his blood was taken. 
Due to the amount of blood that was taken from him, Joseph felt very weak afterwards. Nevertheless, he got up after taking some glucose.
He didn't feel comfortable lying still in bed when his wife was fighting for her life and that of her babies. 
  He went back to the reception just in time to see Nanny walking in. “ Baby. ” She ran towards him and embraced him tightly. He almost broke down in her arms, but he controlled himself.
   “ How is she? ” He felt seen under Nanny's gaze. “ Still fighting. ” He sighed, feeling almost defeated.
It pained him to know he couldn't do anything to help her! He could only wait and pray!
That reminds him, he could pray.
“ Have you prayed, Joseph? ” Nanny's voice was like the confirmation he needed. “ he said, feeling ashamed.
“ It's okay. You can do that now. ” She urged him with a smile and so he did. 
“ Lord, Mira is yours. Strengthen her father. Help her to feel your glorious presence wrapping around her like a blanket. She needs you, Lord! Help her. ”
In the emergency room, Mira who had become so weak that she felt she couldn't go on any longer suddenly received strength.
  And the strength helped her push amidst it all.
   Despite the intense pain she felt, she still did. 
Not because she was fearless, but she could feel the presence of her savior next to her. 
She could feel him so close than anything in the world and the moment felt very beautiful.
  This was perhaps the reason why she'd made Joseph promise her that he won't be present during her labor.
Though it was very hard for him to do that, he gave into her understanding of her reasons.
“ I'm with you, Daughter. We are in this together. ” She heard her savior say to her and at that moment, she made the final push and soon, wailing sounds were heard in the room.
  
    “ Congratulations, Mrs Winfrey. It's a boy and a girl and they are identical. ” She laughed while the babies cried, hearing the Nurse's words.
  “ Thank you, father. ” She shed tears of joy receiving her twin babies. 
At that moment, all the pain she had felt, paled in comparison to the joy she was feeling at the moment.
Indeed, pain pales in comparison to joy.
And Joy swallows all pain.
Now she understood the joy of motherhood and it felt too good to be true. 
“ I'm a mother. ” She could hear her mom's voice from the letter when she was born. 
Indeed, the joy of motherhood is one that every woman should experience as it's just too beautiful to be true.
….
A/N : Wow! This chapter is emotion packed! What do you think, guys?