When the party mess was cleaned up, Jeff, Chase, Kelly, Jamie, and I all sat down in the living room.
"So, Chase." Kelly sat on the arm of the couch next to her son. "I was talking to Jamie while you and Jeff were gone. I was thinking it may be a good idea for her come stay with me in Birmingham for her last trimester. She really needs someone to help her while you're gone."
Chase looked from his wife to his mother, and then stood up with a sigh. He crossed the room to look out the window onto the busy street beyond. "Meaning she'd have the baby in Detroit, rather than here."
"I know it's not what we originally planned," Jamie said, moving to stand next to Chase. "But...I think it would be good for me."
Chase didn't answer for a long time. "It's that hard for you here by yourself, huh?" He ran his palm back and forth over his head, a gesture I knew meant he was upset.
"Yeah, it really is." She moved to stand in front of him, wrapping her arms around his waist and staring up at him. "I like your mom a lot. It would be nice to get to know her, for one thing. And for another, I'm barely twenty weeks along, and it's already getting harder for me to move around. When I'm thirty-four weeks and can't get up without a fricking crane, being here alone while you're touring would be...god, it'd be impossible."
Chase nodded. "I get it." He let out a long breath. "So you're moving back to Detroit. Okay, then."
Jamie frowned up at him. "No, Chase. I'm not moving anywhere. I'm staying with Kelly temporarily until I have the baby. By then your tour will be over, and we'll come back home together." She put her hand to the back of Chase's head, tilting his face down to hers. "This is home. Here, with you. I know this tour is important, and I'd never ever ask you to stop, or change it, or cut it short. I just--I need help, baby."
The hard, tense set of Chase's shoulders relaxed. "You're right. You're right. It is a good idea. I just--I wish I could be here. I wish it wasn't necessary. That's all." He lowered his face to hers for a kiss.
When their lips met, I looked away and found Jeff watching me. He tilted his head toward the door, indicating that it was time to go. Kelly had already sneaked out the front door, and when I turned to say goodbye to Jamie, I realized why: She and Chase were lip-locked in a kiss that had all the signs of not stopping, regardless of who was or wasn't in the room. I felt myself blush when Chase's hands slid up the backs of Jamie's thighs to pull her against him.
"On that note, I think it's time to go," I said.
Jamie lifted up on her toes and peeked at me over Chase's shoulder. "'Bye, Anna. 'Bye, Jeff. Call me tomorrow."
"Sure thing. I think we're leaving after lunch, so we can do breakfast together."
Jamie just waved at me with one hand, already lost in Chase's mouth. I turned away before awkwardness descended any more thickly on me. When we were in a cab headed toward our hotel, Jeff twisted on the seat to look at me. "You all right?"
I shrugged. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Jeff just frowned, but I knew what he was getting at. He wouldn't be able to say it out loud, but I knew. I decided to put him out of his misery. "I'm fine, Jeff. I'm happy for Jamie and Chase. Did you have fun with him?"
Jeff nodded. "Yeah, once I got past that it was fucking pretty-boy Chase I was hanging with, yeah." That was as close as Jeff would come to acknowledging the elephant in the room that was my previous relationship with Chase. "He's cool. We drank some scotch at the sports bar down the street and watched the UConn-Nebraska game. I'm not really into the whole March Madness thing, but I'll watch a game here and there. Chase is the same way."
"I have no idea what March Madness is," I said.
"College basketball playoffs, basically." He glanced at me to gauge the effect of his next words. "Chase is pretty mixed up about the whole being gone while Jamie's pregnant business. He admitted that he's thought about cutting the tour short to be with her full-time."
"He really can't do that," I said. "This tour is a make-it-or-break-it thing. They're getting big, but this tour can really cement them as one of the biggest up-and-coming bands in the business. If they cut the tour short, it could ruin all the progress they've made. They're not so big that they can do whatever they want, not yet at least."
Jeff nodded. "He said the same thing, basically. I think Jamie going back to the D until the baby's out is a good plan."
"I think so, too. And I'm really excited that she'll be around for a while. It would be so cool if we could have our babies at the same time." I smirked at Jeff. "You know what else is a really good idea? Finding out the gender on Monday."
Jeff let his head fall back onto the seat with a sigh. "Here we go again."
I just laughed.
*
Jeff squeezed my hand gently as the ultrasound technician prepped me, lining my belly with white towels and splooging a glop of frigid blue goo onto my stomach. The lights were dim, a computer monitor on the wall opposite the chair showing a black screen with indecipherable words and abbreviations on either side. My name, Anna Cartwright, was written across the top of the screen. I was still getting used to writing "Cartwright" as my last name, but I felt a thrill every time I did.
"So," the technician said, rubbing the tip of the wand into the goo on my belly, "you're not finding out the gender?"
"That's what he says." I jerked my thumb at Jeff. "I want to know, but he doesn't. Maybe you can tell me and he can cover his ears or something."
"That's cheating," Jeff said with a grin."
"Well, we could do it that way," the technician said. "I wouldn't recommend it, though. You should know or not know together, as a couple. I will say, though, that you'd be surprised by how many couples have this same argument in here. It's not uncommon."
"I just want to be able to decorate the nursery." I watched the screen shifting as she slid the wand around my belly.
"Okay," the nurse said. "Look here, you can see the head and a little arm, see it?"
Jeff and I looked at each other, then the screen. I clenched Jeff's hand as we saw our baby for the first time. My heart stuttered, leapt, and then began hammering as the reality of our baby hit me.
"Can you tell what it is?" Jeff asked.
"I"m looking," the nurse said. "I want to get a fix on the heartbeat first, though. Here, listen."
She tapped a key on the keyboard, and then another, and the sound of the heartbeat filled the room. I covered my mouth with my free hand, hearing a real live heart beating inside me. I looked at Jeff, who was as transfixed as I was.
There was something odd about the heartbeat, an odd overlapping in the rhythm. It made my stomach drop. "Is that how a heartbeat is supposed to sound?" I asked.
"I'm looking into that, just wait a second," the nurse said. "I think--" But she cut herself off as she wiggled the wand around, sliding it from one spot to another, the sound of the heartbeat distorting.
"What is it? Is everything okay?" Jeff demanded.
"She's fine, it's just...wait...now listen." She swiveled the wand a fraction, and the distortion of the heartbeat cleared, and then she swiveled it in the opposite direction, making the sound fade, distort, and then clear up again. "Hear that?" She turned in her seat to grin at me.
I felt an inkling of realization strike me. "Is that...two heartbeats?"
"Two? Like twins?" Jeff asked.
I turned to look at him, seeing surprise on his face as I'm sure it was on mine. The nurse repeated the effect of producing two distinct heartbeats, then tapped a few more keys and searched my belly some more. I watched the view on the monitor shift and adjust, and then, as she brought the wand around to my side, I saw it, saw them, two distinct forms. Four arms, four legs. Two heads. Two heartbeats.
Two babies. Holy shit.
The nurse searched and tapped some more, and then pointed at the screen once more. "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright. You're having twins!"
Jeff and I traded stunned glances. Jeff's mouth flapped open and closed as he tried to speak. "Twins? How--how--twins?"
<
br /> The nurse just laughed as she continued to adjust the wand for different views. "That's a very common reaction, actually. Are there any twins on either side of your families?"
I nodded my head, almost absently. "Yeah, yeah, we both have twins in our family."
"Well, there you go. It's a genetic thing, although there are rare cases of twins in families with no history of it." She printed out some pictures of the babies--babies, plural...oh, god--and put them in an envelope, then proceeded to swivel the wand and tap on the keyboard, sometimes making parts of the screen turn technicolor. "So, do you still want it to be a surprise, now that you know you're having twins?"
Jeff and I exchanged glances.
I touched his cheek so he looked at me. "Jeff? You're the one who wanted it to be a surprise in the first place."
He shook his head slowly. "I think...I think we've got enough of a surprise now."
"So you want to know?" The nurse adjusted the wand to focus on one of the babies. "Well...it looks like this one is...ooh, this is a great potty shot. It's a girl. See?" She moved the wand, searching for the best view once more, talking to herself. "Okay. Baby number two...where are you? There you are. That's your head, and there's your legs, come on, baby, give a good look. Ah, gotcha. Baby number two is...a boy! They're fraternal twins, a boy and a girl."
I sucked in a deep breath to calm myself. "God, twins." I looked at Jeff, who seemed to be still struggling with shock. "You called it, remember?"
He shook his head, then met my eyes. "I called it? Oh, yeah. Way back, just after I proposed." He laughed. "I did, didn't I?"
"We're having twins, Jeff." I said it out loud again.
"Oh, god. Oh, god. Twins." He gave me an odd smile. "So, Miss Interior Decorator. How are we doing the nursery now that we're having a boy and a girl?"
I just shook my head. "I have no idea. I like green?"
Jeff laughed. "What I said in the first place? Nice, Anna." He turned to the nurse. "So aside from the fact that there's two babies in there, does everything else look good?"
She nodded. "Yes, everything looks great. All the measurements are right on target for twins. The high-risk doctor will want to talk to you, though."
Jeff's face paled. "The high-risk doctor? Why? I thought you said things were good?"
She patted his hand. "Any time a woman carries twins, she's considered high-risk. Giving birth is complicated enough with one baby, so when you have two, we just have to be extra careful so the mother and the children are all safe and healthy. It's just a precaution, Mr. Cartwright. No need to worry."
When we were back home, I kicked off my shoes and lowered myself to the couch. Jeff sat next to me and lifted my feet onto his lap, rubbing my instep with his thumbs. Several minutes passed in silences, until I felt myself drowsing.
As I was about to drift off, I felt Jeff's hand cover my belly. I felt his face touch my stomach, and opened my eyes sleepily. His eyes were locked on mine, molten brown love, tender hands caressing my belly. "Caleb and Niall," he whispered. "Caleb and Niall."
I smiled at him, brushing his hair across his forehead. "Caleb and Niall. A son and a daughter. Are you ready for this?"
He laughed. "No. Not even close. But it's happening. It's real." He leaned toward me, taking my lips with his. "And I'm glad."
"You are? You're glad?" I spoke into his lips as they covered mine, tasted mine.
"Mmm-hmmm. Of course." His fingers touched my cheek, then traced down the curve of my neck. "A little nervous, I admit. But glad. I'm excited to be a daddy."
"I'm excited to be a mommy." I twisted and lay back on the couch, pulling Jeff over me. "I'm also excited for you to get me naked and plunder me on the couch."
Jeff pushed my shirt up over my head, and I unclasped my bra while he tugged my pants off. A few more moments passed, and I was naked and wrapping my knees over his shoulders and burying my fingers in his hair while his tongue dipped into me, slowly at first, in circles and gliding upward strokes. I let him tongue me into a frenzy, but when I was on the cusp of orgasm, I pulled him away, pulled him up to me. He'd shed his shirt and unbuttoned his jeans at some point. I slid my fingers under the band of his boxers and freed his heavy erection, pushing his jeans away and guiding him to me. He nudged my knee aside so my foot planted flat on the floor, the other stretched out along the back of the couch. Kneeling above me, Jeff put one foot next to mine on the floor and nestled his tip into my folds, one hand on the armrest of the couch just past my head, the other caressing my face and my breasts and my belly, then dipping down to cup my mound. I lifted my hips and he slid in, both of us sighing as he filled me. His fingers slipped between the joining of our bodies and circled my clit, driving gasps from me.
He was only barely moving, but something about the angle and the placement of our bodies on the couch gave him incredible leverage, letting each stroke drive deep and slick along all the best nerve endings. I needed more. God, more. I pushed up off the floor with one foot, bracing the other on the opposite end of the couch, lifting my hips to crash against his in a pleasingly punishing rhythm. Jeff seemed surprised by my sudden desperation. I wasn't sure where it was coming from, but as he slid into me, driving deeper with each thrust, I found myself needing more, more, even though I'd had him just the night before. Each stroke of his shaft into me drove me crazier, wilder, incited my need.
"God, Jeff. I love you so much. Don't stop, please." I clutched his ass with desperate fingers, pulling him into me, thrusting up to meet him stroke for stroke until we were thrashing on the couch together, frantic, moaning into mouths and against shoulders, riding the cusp of climax together. Then his fingers found my clit and his mouth found my nipple, and I passed over the edge, screaming his name. I clamped down with inner muscles and arched my entire body off the couch, crushing my soft folds into his hardness and pulsating in shallow thrusts, whimpering and gasping as he hit me deep inside. I felt his stomach tense, heard his breath catch and felt his rhythm falter.
"Give it to me, Jeff. Give it all to me, right now." I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down against me, relishing his weight on me, the feel of his hips hard against mine, his shaft piercing deep and his balls slapping against me, his fingers in my hair and on my nipple.
"You want it, baby?" He kissed me, quick and sloppy, pumping into me madly now.
"God, yes, Jeff. Let me feel you fill me up. Come for me, love. Come hard." I dragged my fingers down his back and felt him shudder, felt him tense. I kissed his temple, his cheek, his shoulder, his chin, whispered his name into his mouth and wrapped my legs around his hips as he came, and I kissed his quivering mouth as he gasped my name with his release.
After the shocks had faded, I curled into the back of the couch, holding Jeff close as we both shuddered. "I think that was the best couch sex we've ever had," I said.
He made a growl of agreement in his chest. "Yeah. Although, once we have the twins, our days of rocking couch sex are numbered."
I laughed. "I think once we have the twins, our days of sex of any kind are numbered."
He lifted up to look at me in mock horror. "Don't say that!"
I quirked an eyebrow at him. "You know we can't have sex for six weeks after I give birth, right?"
He put his face into my shoulder and pretended to sob. "More weeks without sex? I'll die. I'll die dead of blue balls."
"No, you won't," I said, cradling his head with my hands. "I'll take care of you--don't worry."
"Promise?" He looked comically serious. I think he may have been serious.
I laughed and kissed him. "Yes, baby. I promise. No blue balls for you."
I found myself wondering about my own need for orgasms, though. I know you weren't supposed to put anything in your vagina for six weeks after birth, but I could I let Jeff twiddle my button? Or would I be so stretched out that he wouldn't be able to find it? I kept these worries to myself. Jeff seemed horrified enough as it was.
Twins. Holy shit.
/> Chapter 4: JAMIE
I rubbed my shoulder beneath the bra strap, trying to alleviate the twinge in the muscle. Kelly frowned at me, watching me massage my shoulder.
"Something wrong with your shoulder?" she asked, stuffing the last of my maternity clothes into a suitcase.
I shrugged, rolling my shoulder. "No, I'm fine. My shoulder's just been achy recently. No big deal." I zipped my toiletries case closed and tossed it into the suitcase next to my hair straightener and blow dryer. "That should be it. Let's go."
Kelly didn't move, just stared at me thoughtfully. "Have you had any other odd feelings? Achy back, nausea as if morning sickness was coming back? Anything like that?"
I zipped the suitcase closed, set it on the floor, and pulled the handle up with a click. "I've been a little nauseous, yeah, but I think it's just heartburn."
Kelly shook her head, chin-length black hair bouncing. "Don't ignore that stuff. We're going to the doctor as soon as we get to Detroit. How long have you been having those symptoms?" Kelly was a nurse, I had found out, and was taking her role as my caretaker very seriously.
"Symptoms? Why are you calling them symptoms? It's just normal pregnancy stuff, right?" I buttoned up my sweater, stuffed my phone and charger in my purse, and gave my beautiful home one last look-over.
It was clean, tidied, and dark. Mrs. Lettis was coming over once a week to check on things for us, which she would have done for free, I'm pretty sure, but Chase insisted on paying her. I locked the front door behind me, and let Kelly take the suitcase and stuff it into the trunk of the waiting cab.
"Because they very well could be symptoms," Kelly said.
I slid into the seat, puffing embarrassingly from the exertion necessary to just sit down in a car. I was twenty-three weeks now, and officially the size and shape of a beluga. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get out of bed by the time I was full-term, if I kept getting bigger. Stupid Anna, even with her twins, still wasn't as big as me. I didn't get it.
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