Chapter 882

"Ah!" A sharp scream echoed in the room. Monica was sweating profusely as she lay on the chair. Her beautiful facial features were twisted together because of the pain.

"Harder, Ms. Monica. Harder. You've done a good job. I can already see the baby's head." The midwife kept saying. Her tone was very gentle, and her encouragement was obvious. She was very experienced.

"Did you hear that, Monica? You can already see the baby's head. Try harder!" Adriaan grabbed her hand and said encouragingly.

"It hurts … Ahhhhh!" Monica screamed and grabbed his hand tighter and tighter.

"Bear with it a little longer. It's almost done." Although Adriaan continued to comfort her, he slowly pulled his hand back.

"Just … stay with me for a little longer … Eide … please …" Monica, who was aware of it, had a pleading look on her face.

"I'm sorry, baby. Sophie is also in labor. She needs me too," Adriaan said with a bitter smile. "Don't worry. I'm nearby. I'll be back soon."

Oh, damn it. Why did this happen? This was too ridiculous! Adriaan, who was rushing from one delivery room to another, complained in his heart. There was no need to talk about two shots. There were many precedents of this, but the fetus would always develop faster or slower, right? Then why were Monica and Sophie's due dates almost at the same time? Fine, the same time was fine. But why did the two of them react at the same time and were sent to the delivery room at the same time? Fine, if they were sent to the delivery room at the same time, then so be it. But why did their water break in less than ten seconds?!

Therefore, Monica and Sophie were pushed into the delivery room at the same time, and Adriaan had to run around on both sides. This was too depressing. Although coincidences were common, this was too much of a coincidence.

"Hey, honey, I'm here. Don't worry, I'm by your side." After entering the delivery room, he immediately went to Sophie's side and grabbed her hand.

"I'm in so much pain …" Sophie cried. Like Monica, she was also sweating profusely. The pain of childbirth seemed to be unbearable for her.

Of course, it only looked that way. In fact, Sophie continued to exert more force under the encouragement of the midwife. It had to be said that women were indeed more tolerant of pain than men. One had to know that the pain of childbirth was the highest on the pain scale. Although there was still a cesarean section, Adriaan only had that thought in his mind twice. Leaving a scar on the lower abdomen was a small matter, but affecting the development of the child was a big deal.

For thousands of years, children had been born this way. This was already an inevitable set of procedures. It was just like running a computer. After the program finished running, it would naturally get a result. However, if it was forced to end at the end, perhaps the result would be no different from a natural end. No one could say for sure if there were hidden flaws that had not been discovered by others.

The probability was very small, but Adriaan did not want to experiment on his own children. Besides, Monica and Sophie were not particularly old now, so he had been persuading them to give birth naturally. Of course, he had also asked them to do the best and most detailed regular checkups. Even if they were not in Los Angeles, he would ask the nanny over the phone to urge them to correct their positions to prevent problems such as the fetal position. Therefore, there was nothing to worry about.

"Take a deep breath, Sophie. Take a deep breath. It's going to be done soon." Adriaan kept comforting her. He had the experience of accompanying Kate in childbirth. Even though he had run back and forth several times, he still did not panic or become impatient.

Finally, the doctor who was squatting below shouted happily, "It's done, it's out!"

Following that, a loud and clear cry rang out. It was full of energy and should be very healthy. The nurse next to him immediately came over and took the newborn baby from the doctor. She carried it to the side and cleaned it. Looking at it from a distance, it was the same as when Lily was born. It was wrinkled and quite ugly, but in a few hours at most, it would become very cute and beautiful.

"Congratulations, Mr. Adriaan, it's a girl." The doctor who had relaxed said while cleaning up.

"Child … where's the child? Where's my child? "Sophie, who came back to her senses, shouted at this time.

"Calm down, Sophie. The child is with the nurse. It's a … very cute girl." Adriaan coaxed. Sophie turned her head and saw the baby being cleaned by the nurse. She then showed a tired smile, but then she immediately turned back, and Adriaan had already retreated to the door.

"Sorry, Sophie, Monica is not finished yet. I have to go … to see her." Adriaan chuckled, then pretended not to see her resentful look, turned around, and slipped out.

Although the two delivery rooms were not far apart, he was still a step late. Before he stepped into the door, the cry had already come out. Damn, this is bad. Adriaan lamented in his heart, but his footsteps did not stop for a moment.

"Congratulations, Mr. Adriaan, it's a girl." The doctor who stood up holding the child said with a smile.

Another girl? Adriaan's eyelids twitched involuntarily. Including Lily, this was his third daughter. But daughters were not bad either. After all, sons kissed their mothers, and daughters kissed their fathers.

"What a cute little guy." Looking at the little one in the doctor's arms, Adriaan said with admiration, although the wrinkles on her face made her look like a little old man, which was not cute at all.

"Eide …" Monica's weak voice sounded at this time, and Adriaan hurried to her side. "I'm here, dear. Okay, it's okay. The little guy came out smoothly and is very healthy. Everything is over."

Monica didn't say anything. She just looked at him with an aggrieved expression, just like a child. She didn't have that kind of mature and charming demeanor. Adriaan smiled and reached out to hold her in his arms to comfort her. With the smooth delivery on both sides, Monica and Sophie once again returned to the double ward that they had been in before. Adriaan finally did not have to run back and forth between the two sides.

However, the two women, who were talking and laughing before the delivery, both remained silent. Their eyes occasionally met, but they would quickly look away. Although it was because of the exhaustion of giving birth before, the current atmosphere was a little strange. Adriaan had to force himself to make jokes between the two women, trying to find a way to adjust their relationship.

Fortunately, after all, Monica and Sophie had lived together for so long, and it was common for them to have a threesome with Adriaan. When he was not around because he had to shoot a movie in New Zealand, the two of them also supported each other, so they quickly recovered.

After resting for a long time, Adriaan helped them to the special nursery room and looked at his children through the glass. After careful cleaning by the nurse, although even the little ones were still wrinkled, they were much more beautiful than when they were born. They lay there quietly with their eyes closed. Occasionally, they moved a few times, and the outlines of Sophie and Monica could be vaguely seen.

"They are so cute." Sophie looked at the children inside and murmured.

"Yes, they are our children." Monica also nodded, and her eyes also fell on the children.

At this moment, Adriaan, who was in the middle, coughed and said, "So, have you thought about the children's names?"

"Have you thought about it?" The two women looked at him at the same time, their faces full of disbelief. In the past six months, he had basically spent most of his time in New Zealand, and he only gave a general idea of the name, and there was no time to discuss it.

"Of course." Adriaan nodded. "Monica's daughter is called Deva, and Sophie's daughter is called Juliet."

After saying that, he raised his chin and looked at them with a smile, expecting their approval, but he did not expect to get a lot of complaints.

"Deva? What the hell is that name? Don't you have a better name? "

"Although Juliet is a French name, don't you think it is too ordinary?"

How could this be? Adriaan was instantly stunned, but Monica and Sophie did not care at all.

"I think Aivla or Veronica are both good."

"I think Zoe's French style is stronger."

That was really strange. Why didn't they like it? Adriaan could not figure it out. After all, Kate had accepted the name Lily very quickly. Although he was a little confused, he did not intend to compromise. As for the possible objections and protests from Monica and Sophie, it did not matter. It was very easy to settle, so the newly born children still used these two names.

In the next few days, Adriaan revolved around the two mothers and the two babies. Even if he had to go back to Los Angeles to settle some matters, he would return to Orange County before nightfall. Moreover, he displayed a dutiful father image very well. Whenever the little ones cried in the middle of the night without caring about other people's feelings, he would be the first to rush over and carry them to their mother with a sleepy look on his face with the nanny.

"Actually, you can totally get the nanny to do it," Monica said when Adriaan yawned continuously during the day.

"It's okay. I have experience." Adriaan did not care at all. "Also, I have to spend more time with the children so that they will remember me, right?"

However, he was also very strict with Monica and Sophie. For example, he stipulated that certain things could not be done within a week, and certain things could not be done within two weeks. No matter how much they protested, they could not change his mind.

"This is for your own good. Think about it, these two little ones are two huge lumps of meat … Hmm, so big … Anyway, they have been growing in your bodies for ten months, relying on the nutrients provided by you to grow. After separating, you will definitely suffer some damage. Therefore, appropriate recuperation is necessary," Adriaan said.

In his previous world, it was a postpartum confinement. Of course, it did not need to be that long. In ancient times, the Chinese would let pregnant women recuperate in the house for at least a month because of the sanitary conditions and other reasons. Naturally, there was no need for that now. However, this did not mean that pregnant women who had just given birth could eat, drink, and even swim without any qualms without recuperation.

Just as he said to them, no matter what, giving birth was a rather energy-consuming matter. It was just like having a hemorrhage that required blood transfusion and rest. The essence that was lost had to be replenished. It seemed that eating, drinking, exercising, and swimming would be fine, but who knew if it would cause an unmentionable disease that would flare up in a few years? Although postpartum confinement was an antique, it was also an accumulated experience of the ancients.

Because he had served Kate before, Adriaan had a considerable understanding of this. Naturally, he knew how to convince Monica and Sophie. They were indeed convinced, but it was mainly because it was not a long time. If it was really a month, they would definitely find a way to get rid of this guy who was' torturing 'them. Besides, he was going to leave soon, and after he left ….

Adriaan could not do anything about it. After all, the filming in New Zealand had to continue. Therefore, he could only try his best to supervise them while he was still at home. The only thing that made him feel at ease was that the media did not report about this. The cover-up was done very well. When the midwife and the nurse signed a contract, if they did not talk about it within ten years, they would receive a large sum of money. If they did not talk about it within ten years, they would receive a sky-high compensation.

In Queens Town, it was still the same. Without his hosting, the progress of the filming was rather slow. Even if he gave Jackson some of the filming rights, it would not work.

"I'm sorry, Eide. I tried my best, but I could not do what you did," Jackson said apologetically.

Although Adriaan had produced many movies with different styles, it did not mean that he did not have any style. In fact, the method of skipping scenes was his biggest style. No one could learn it, not even the world's top directors. Jackson naturally could not do it. His method of filming would only cause a lot of waste. If he used his own method to film, it would be very slow.

"It's okay. You have tried your best. Peter, leave it to me. Although there were too many things last month and a lot of time was wasted, the rest will definitely be completed within this month," Adriaan declared confidently.

Of course, basically everyone snorted at his words. Was the miracle director still a miracle director if he did not return to Los Angeles? From the beginning of last month until now, had he lasted even a week? However, some things were always unexpected. In the next two weeks, Adriaan stayed in Queens Town and the nearby exterior, which surprised everyone.

Then, there was no then. Was the miracle director still a miracle director if he did not return to Los Angeles?

In fact, Adriaan did not want it to be like this, but there were always things to take care of. He was not a completely hands-off boss.

"I'm glad that you can support me, Eide," Claude said after the meeting ended.

"When did I not support you?" Adriaan shrugged.

"Once in July of 1994, once in March of 1995 …" Claude immediately counted with his fingers.

"Hey, even if I object, it should be in private," Adriaan quickly interrupted.

"That is still an objection." Claude spread his hands and then laughed out loud as Adriaan rolled his eyes.

"What do you think, Charley?" Adriaan asked casually when he returned to his office and happened to run into Charlize, who had just sorted out the meeting notes.

"Maxim has a lot of potential, but it still needs time to develop." Charlize thought about it and gave his answer.

"Oh? Can I listen to your detailed analysis? "Adriaan could not help but raise his eyebrows.

The main reason for his return this time was to preside over the acquisition of the British magazine Maxim. Of course, it was more of a formality to show that he understood and supported it. AC Media had always been lacking in print media. Although they had acquired a few newspapers and magazines, they were still not as strong as the groups in traditional media. Therefore, they worked closely with Hearst and Newhouse.

But this did not mean that they would let it be. It was just that the traditional media had been divided up, and it was not easy to find an entry point. Then, Claude discovered that although Maxim was only released in the UK in 1995 and was only released in the US last year, it had a good positioning. It was suitable for men to bring home and read in front of their girlfriends or wives. But when they were ready to take action, the board of directors had different opinions. Therefore, Adriaan had to express his opinion.

Naturally, Adriaan supported it. Other than Claude's suggestions, he had always supported them. One of the reasons was that the magazine's sales would be good in the future. It seemed to be distributed in dozens of countries, and the Top 100 Sexiest Women of the Year was also very famous. Although he knew about it, he did not know how it had developed. Currently, the magazine's sales were very average. Therefore, when Charlize said this, he wanted to hear it.

"Online." Unexpectedly, Charlize's answer was very simple. "Although there are many problems with this magazine, such as the lack of uniqueness or the lack of control of the scale, the most important thing is still publicity. There are many similar magazines in the current situation, so the competition is very fierce. If we can't win by surprise, it will slowly disappear. We may have competitors in other areas, but no one can compete with us in online publicity. We already have a news website, and the magazine website will not be too far away. Moreover, when I was collecting information on them, I found that they also have the same idea. This is a very good opportunity. Pioneers can always seize opportunities to develop, and we are the pioneers in this area. "

Clap, clap, clap. Adriaan applauded with a look of approval. Charlize's words had easily enlightened him. That's right, wasn't their biggest advantage the Internet? After the millennium, online magazines were everywhere. They could totally buy a few magazines and make a website as pioneers. Naturally, they could also drive the sales of the stronger magazines.

"Very good, Charley." Adriaan hugged her, held her face, and said admiringly, "You always surprise me."

Although Charlize put on a look of "so what" and "don't flatter me", there was always an indescribable tenderness in his grey-green eyes. After that day, the relationship between the two became more and more intimate, and there was also an indescribable but clear feeling flowing between them.

"If there's nothing else, I'll go out." After looking at each other for a long time, Charlize said so.

"Okay." Adriaan lowered his head and gently touched her lips, but when she walked to the door, he stopped her again. "Wait, Charley."

He pinched his chin and revealed a smirk — of course, it was not aimed at Charlize.

"I suddenly thought of a good idea. It's about a magazine, and I need you to write it down." The corners of Adriaan's mouth turned up. "Our group will take the lead and contact other game companies to organize a world e-sports competition, or WCG for short!"