The Rise of the White Lotus

Meanwhile...

After ending the call, another heavy sigh escaped her lips. She then returned the phone to the delicate-looking Nico Zhuang while mouthing thank you. 

"Humph!" On the side, sitting with his arms crossed, Edward Lu humped through his nose as he clicked his tongue in annoyance.  "It's only proper that he'd get his bum here as soon as possible!"

"Grandpa Lu," Turning to the old grandpa that she reprimanded after hearing his exaggerated phone call to deliver the news to Ethan Lu, Lillian Yang mildly shook her head sideways. "Ethan's safe arrival is also important." She explained once again for the stubborn old man to understand. 

He couldn't retort back, Edward Lu could only humph his displeasure as he couldn't win against Lillian Yang. After all, she was the only person that was calmly rational in this situation as all the men in Lexi's heart were panicking including Frederick Yang. 

*****

"Urgh...!" Pale, helpless under this tormenting contraction, Lexi didn't know what position she should go into in order to lessen the pain. She had read many articles and books about pregnancy up to the labor stage. She even went to yoga classes that were meant for pregnancy to make the baby go out easily. 

Little did she know, she'd still experience this torment and it didn't seem as though the classes helped as the pain was too much for a person to handle. 

"Oh god...!" Resting her forehead on the mattress while her feet stood wide apart from each other, another growl slipped from her mouth. 

"Baby, it's okay it's okay. You'll be fine." Patting her back, Frederick Yang tried to comfort his daughter. 

Surprisingly enough, for the expecting grandfather of three, Frederick Yang could not bear to see his little princess experiencing such torment. Makes sense, because Lillian Yang gave birth via cesarean section because she was unable to give birth in a natural way. Moreover, there were a lot of conflicts with Lillian Yang's condition back in the day that her labor seemed to be in a completely different way than Lexi's. 

"Urgh...! Ethan...! It hurts!" On the verge of crying, Lexi wanted to cry because the pain was just growing stronger and her contractions grew frequently. However, the pain was so much that even crying seemed to be impossible to do and Lexi could only growl. 

Lexi remained in that position as constant howling escaped her mouth. She could feel someone rubbing her back and could hear her mother's concerned voice. Alas, Lexi's mind was already in a distraught state, that she could not get the gist of whatever her mother was saying. 

She was unable to notice the ins and outs of the nurses that were constantly checking on her every so often as the contractions had already clouded her senses. 

It's just pure pain— torture to be exact. If only it's not part of delivering her children, Lexi would not wish to experience this. The only thing that was keeping her to be able to persevere the pain was her children. For them, she'd endure everything. 

"Love, I'm here baby." Lexi didn't know when Ethan Lu arrived but hearing his voice, it soothed the part of her heart that was low key worried about him. 

Squatting down a little, Ethan Lu leaned the side of his head to the mattress to see Lexi's sweating side profile. He didn't mind the uncomfortable position as Lexi had been in this position from the moment he arrived. 

He then stroked the back of her head as his gaze worriedly softened. She was sweating buckets as the side of her lips was paler than usual. Just a glance, Ethan Lu could not even imagine what kind of pain Lexi was going through right now. 

If only he could get all the pain away from her, he would have already done it. However, that was impossible, right?

If not only for the fact that he read too many books on what to expect about this whole pregnancy journey, he would have already fainted first after seeing Lexi in this state. All his panicking, excitement about meeting the babies, and all of the expectations were set aside for a moment as he knew he should stand as her strong support. 

Fortunately, after Lillian Yang called him earlier, Ethan Lu managed to clear his mind despite the fact that his rope of patience ran thinner and thinner. Therefore, he recalled all of the tips and things he should do when Lexi reached this critical stage of her pregnancy. 

Sliding his hands as his fingers wrapped around her tight fist that was holding the sheet of the hospital bed, Ethan Lu rubbed her back as he placed kisses all over her. 

He could only do this much. Thus, he made sure that his love would reach Lexi and his kids that he'd be meeting at anytime. 

****

16 hours later...

"Love, one more push! You can do it!" Holding onto her hand while wiping her sweating forehead, Lexi's 16-hour long labor finally ended and now, she had been pushing their firstborn out. 

"Push!" After hearing the doctor's signal, Lexi's grip on Ethan Lu's hand tightened as she grit her teeth. She followed the vague instructions given and pushed the baby out.

"Uwaah! Uwaah!" After two more pushes, Lexi and Ethan Lu finally heard a child's cry that resonated across the delivery room. 

In an instant, even before Ethan Lu hurriedly turned his head to the bloody baby's direction, his heart melted. When he first saw the child covered with slime liquids and blood, the corners of his eyes naturally sweat as the side of his lips curled upward. 

"Love, you did it! It's so cute!" An overwhelming feeling struck him as he altered his head from the baby and then to Lexi's panting front. Kissing her on her forehead, Ethan Lu restrained himself from crying from extreme joy as he was utterly proud of Lexi. 

"One more! One more!" Declaring to do it again, the doctor shouted as she could see the second baby's head coming out. 

"No more— ahh!" Upon hearing the doctor, Lexi at the last minute wanted to run away as she was relieved that the pain slightly subsided. However, just as she was requesting for a time out, she made a strong push which made the crying baby add another back-up singer to the family. 

"Uwaah! Uwaah!" The whole delivery room has two crying babies that were like music to Ethan Lu and Lexi's ears.