Game Changer

by Amelia Whitmore

  I reached for the handle of the glass freezer door and felt a sharp pain low in my stomach.

  “Woah.” I gasped, grabbing the bottom of my bump.

  “Another contraction?” Aiden asked, reaching in and grabbing my favorite brand. Lately, I’d been having Braxton Hicks contractions, so it wasn’t quite new.

  “Yeah, but this felt different Aiden.” I said, looking up to his eyes.

  He looked confused, “What do you mean ‘different’?”

  “I’m not su...OH!” I put one hand on the door and bent down a little bit. “I think this is the real thing.” I gasped.

  “Okay, let’s head home and time them.” He was so damn calm about it. Of course he would be though, he wasn’t the one who was about to push two watermelons out of a grape sized hole.

  “Yeah, okay.” I said trying to remain calm, emphasis on the word ‘try’.

  Back at the house, the contractions started coming faster, yet it felt like such a slow process. Five hours later, my water broke. “Aiden, we need to go to the hospital now.” I said, nudging him awake from where he’d dozed off on the couch.

  “What? Okay, let’s go.” He was still half asleep and pretty out of it.

  “You need to wake up first.” I said calmly, rubbing his shoulders until he started thinking clearly.

  The world seemed to make more sense after a couple minutes. “Okay, we need to get you to the hospital.” He said, yawning.

  “Okay, Emm. I need you to push now.” The doctor ordered. I took a deep breath and pushed as hard as I could. As much as it hurt, pushing felt right.

  “Alright.” He stopped me.

  Aiden looked down and looked back up immediately, “I see its head!” he exclaimed.

  I would have laughed if it weren’t for the fact that the head could be seen and I was incredibly uncomfortable.

  “One more push and baby number one should be out.” The doctor said. I took another deep breath and pushed with everything in me. The sound of a tiny cry brought tears to my eyes. I had about two seconds to breathe before I had to push for the second one. Five minutes later, baby number two was born.

  Chapter 24

  The babies were placed on my chest, wrapped tightly in their blankets. “What are they?” I asked, sniffling. They were so beautiful.

  “This,” Aiden rubbed the head of baby number one, “Is our baby boy.” He announced with pride.

  “And this one,” He said softer, “Is our daughter.” He had such a sweet and loving tone when he talked about her.

  “One of each?” I asked, looking down at my babies. We’d opted to be surprised, and never found out the sex.

  “Yeah baby, one of each.” Aiden kissed my forehead

  Shortly after giving birth to the twins, nurses took them away to get the necessary tests done. While they were gone, Aiden and I attempted to pick out names for our babies.

  “I hate those names!” I exclaimed, making Aiden laugh. “What’s so wrong with Luke and Leia?” He asked, looking very innocent… he was such a faker.

  “Nothing is wrong with them on their own, but I am definitely not naming my children after Star Wars characters.”

  “Well, what do you want to name them then?” He asked, settling back on the bed beside me.

  “I really want a unisex name for the girl.”

  “Like what?” He sounded wary.

  I scoffed, “Don’t sound so unsure, you’re the one who said Hayden and Payton for girls.” I elbowed him lightly.

  “It’s cute.” He grinned.

  “I was thinking of Micah.” I told him, “I’ve always wanted a daughter named Micah.” I bit my lip, wondering how much more I should say.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” Aiden asked, after narrowing his eyes at me.

  “Well…” I started, and then stopped. I wasn’t too sure what he’d think of the names I’d picked out, but I was in love with them. “I thought that Micah for a girl and Jude for a boy would be cute. And for their full names, it could be Micah Jade and Jude Michael. Jade and Jude are similar, and so are Micah and Michael, so they’d have a cute twin connection, but they’re also good separated.”

  “Micah Jade and Jude Michael?” Aiden tested them out. A grin grew on his face, “I like them.”

  I smiled, “Do you really?”

  He nodded and kissed me lightly. “Micah sounds as sweet as our baby is, and Jude is a unique, yet sturdy name. Why didn’t you mention them before?” He asked.

  “I was nervous how you’d feel if I picked out the names by myself.” I admitted.

  Aiden laughed and pulled me closer. He was about to speak when we were interrupted by a knock at the door.

  Kira and Ethan walked in holding their baby girl, Reese. Reese Emily Smith was born three weeks earlier than her due date and had been here for about a month now. She was starting to get pudgy little cheeks. They gave her the middle name Emily after me. Since I was going to be her god-mother. I was honored, to say the least.

  “So, how’d it go?” Kira asked softly, as to not disturb the sleeping baby.

  “They’re perfect.” I said with a big smile.

  “What exactly are they?” Ethan asked.

  “Babies.” I told him sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and I laughed, “We have a boy and a girl. Jude Michael was born five minutes before his sister, Micah Jade.” I said proudly.

  Kira awed, “Jude and Micah? That’s so beautiful!”

  The nurses opened the door and wheeled in our baby’s that very moment. They looked so precious bundled up in their pink and blue blankets with matching hats. As soon as the carts stopped rolling, Micah began to cry, which made Jude begin.

  The nurse grinned and winked at me, “Welcome to parenthood.”

  Raising two babies wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. Sure, it wasn’t easy, but I’d walked into it knowing it wasn’t easy to take care of babies.

  Surprisingly, out of the two, Jude was the one who loved being held and preferred to sleep on Aiden’s or my chest instead of the crib. Micah enjoyed looking around, and loved to be around new people. At first, I didn’t like it much that she took so well to people coming up and touching her, but I soon realized that it was probably better for her for when she got older.

  “Aiden, Jude needs his diaper changed again before we leave.” I called out through the baby monitor. Aiden was still getting dressed for our first night out since the babies were born, and I knew he would be able to hear me. I was almost ready, other than putting on my dress, and was currently trying to get the babies ready to go to our babysitters. One of our neighbors had two daughters, one eighteen and the other seventeen, who were amazing with the babies.

  Aiden came around the corner, looking amazing in black dress pants, a navy blue dress shirt, and a white tie. “You look great.” I told him, leaning up for a kiss.

  He grinned and winked, kissing me, then turned his attention to his ‘two little rascals’ as he liked to call them. The babies were in love with Aiden. There was never a time when Aiden couldn’t get a smile out of either of them, which was sometimes difficult with Jude. Don’t get me wrong, Jude was a happy baby, but sometimes he got this intense look; almost like he was taking the whole world in.

  While he was busy changing diapers, I went and put on my dress. It was a strapless and black, tight until under the bust where it started to poof out. The dress was about mid-thigh length. I matched it with shimmery black heels, a pearl necklace, and black jewel earrings that had diamonds around them; they’d been my 20th birthday present from Aiden. I let my hair flow in its natural waves.

  “Alright, you ready?” I asked Aiden.

  He took a moment to move an appreciative glance down my body. I rolled my eyes; at only six months after giving birth, I still felt too large. I walked over to Jude, who was already getting his daddy’s dark hair, with my side of the family’s curls. Micah was taking longer to grow hers, but so far it was blonde with a light wave.

  “Co
me to Momma.” I said as I pulled him from Aiden’s arm.

  He rested against my side easily. Jude was definitely a momma’s boy, whereas Micah was a daddy’s girl. For some reason, both of our children loved being carried down the stairs, it sent them into giggles every time. Sometimes, when they were being fussy, one of us would quickly take them down the stairs and they’d instantly be better.

  I let Aiden bring the babies over to the neighbors, Julie and Jenny. It wasn’t safe for me to carry a baby while in such high heels. I got teary eyed as I said goodbye. Even if it was only for a few hours, it was still hard to have them out of my sight. About five minutes later, Aiden was climbing into the truck.

  “How’d it go?” I asked.

  “They’re fine Emm, don’t worry.” Aiden rubbed a supportive hand against my knee. I took a deep breath and nodded.

  “Right. Plus, we both have our cell phones on us and the girls have the number of the restaurant.” I said, trying to sound calm.

  “Enjoy tonight.” He said softly. I grinned and nodded, “I’ll do my best.”

  Aiden pulled into the parking lot at one of the nicer restaurants in town. We held hands as we walked inside. “Hey, that looks a lot like my parents car,” I said, thinking it was cool that somebody had the same car was here. They even had the same stupid car antenna decoration as my parents did.

  “What are the chances?” Aiden asked, amused.

  Inside, the maître d’ asked for our names.

  “We have a reservation under Swift.” Aiden said, sending the guy a pointed look.

  I sent a confused face towards Aiden before the man said “ah, right this way sir.”

  We were guided to a far corner of the restaurant, where there were double doors. He opened the door and Aiden let me go through first.

  “Thank you.” I said before stepping into the room.

  What I saw made me gasp. My entire family was there, along with Aiden’s side.

  “What on earth?” I whispered, before turning to look at Aiden.

  He was down on one knee with a beautiful diamond ring in his hand. “Oh my god.” I cried, covering my mouth with my hands.

  My eyes were already watering and he hadn’t even said anything yet. Now it made sense that my parents’ car was in the lot.

  “Emily Smith, I love you so much. Sometimes it feels like I’ve been in love with you forever, even though we only met a year ago. You’re the mother of my babies and I want you, more than anything, to be my wife. I want to wake up with you every morning, and go to bed with you by my side every single night for the rest of our lives. Please marry me.” A tear fell from his cheek as he finished his proposal.

  I was sobbing…

  I could only nod as I tried to hold back my tears. Aiden stood up, smiling, and kissed me. The kiss was long and deep. When we finally pulled apart, Aiden slipped the ring onto my left ring finger, and then rested his forehead against mine. “I love you.” He whispered.

  “I love you too,” I cried.

  Our families surrounded us, giving us congratulations and good wishes. It sent me into a whole new round of tears. I smacked Kira’s arm when she came up to hug me. “You knew?” I asked, sniffling.

  She nodded, smiling a huge smile.

  “He told us about it a month ago, but I wasn’t allowed to say anything. Do you have any idea how hard that was?” She asked, hitting me this time. We laughed and hugged it out.

  I felt a finger tap my right shoulder. I turned to see Aiden standing there, smiling. “Baby, may I have this dance?” He asked.

  I grinned and nodded, taking his hand and letting him lead me to the dance floor. The song ‘Marry Me by Train’ started playing and I looked over at the band. My jaw dropped.

  “Is that…?” I looked at Aiden, expecting him to shake his head. Instead he was nodding.

  “I called in a favor.” he said as if it were no big deal.

  “You had a favor, so they got you Train?” I gasped. He laughed and pulled me closer to his chest.

  “I’m a man of mystery, baby,” he said, sounding completely cocky.

  I chuckled, “Oh yeah Aiden, you’re a mystery.”

  Chapter 25

  As a child, I never really thought about getting married. Well, actually, I dreamed of my wedding, but the actual idea of being married never appealed to me. Until I met Aiden. There was something about him, immediately, that changed me.

  The morning before I got on the plane to my sisters’ wedding, I was a witty, sarcastic, kind of bitchy, nineteen year old girl who was just trying to make it through school. As soon as I met Aiden, I became a shy, nervous, emotional, person who was suddenly dreaming of the future.

  Looking back, I think it’s a miracle that Aiden and I are still together. His crazy ex-fiancée showed up and separated us for over a month. Then I got pregnant almost immediately after we got back together. When we found out it was twins, for a split second, I was sure he would run. But he didn’t. I think that the perfect word to describe Aiden, is that he is a rock.

  He’s stable and, depending on the day, has many different sides to himself. He’s cute, depending on which side you see. He can be annoying, like the tiny pebbles you get stuck in your shoe. But through it all, he’s always there.

  The past two and a half years have been crazy. I never realized that planning a wedding would take so much effort. In my mind, all I saw was a white dress and a church. In reality, there’s a white dress that comes with a billion fittings, bridesmaids dresses, tuxes, flowers, color schemes, music, timing, cards… the list is endless. At first, I thought we’d be married quickly, but the more planning I did, I realized that I didn’t want a backyard wedding. I wanted my wedding to be simple, yet elegant, and that took some time.

  When Aiden and I were picking a date, we both realized that no matter how long it took, we were already practically a married couple. It took a lot of the stress off of us and I finally felt that I could plan the perfect wedding.

  My babies turned three a few weeks ago. It’s crazy to see how they’ve grown. Jude’s hair is even darker than Aiden’s, and has only a slight wave to it compared to the curls he had as a baby. Micah, however, has my blonde hair with tiny ringlets. They’re both gorgeous and perfect in every single way. They talk to each other nonstop, and their laughter could light up a dark room.

  In my wedding, Micah is going to be my flower girl. I got her a white leotard and a grey tutu, since my wedding colors are grey and white, and a pair of grey ballet slippers. I also found a purple flower barrette to put in her hair. Micah is my little dancer. She’s always moving around when we have music on.

  Jude is the ring bearer. His little tux is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. It’s grey, with a white button up shirt and a purple tie, to match Micah’s flower in her hair. He’s got a little pillow that, thus far, he’s been very serious about taking care of. He gets this stubborn little look on his face that makes his bright blue eyes swim with emotion if anybody tries to touch the pillow. He even sleeps with it.

  My bridesmaids are wearing grey strapless dresses that hug under the bust and flow down to their knees. I have a fairly large wedding party with Kira as my matron of honor, Mel as my maid of honor. Hailey, Grace, and Samantha have all become closer to me than Erica (who was not part of my bridal party) so they were in. I also have little MissKatarina as a junior bridesmaid. She’s almost nine and still just as gorgeous as the day we met.

  Aiden chose Seth as his best man; he’d be walking down the aisle with Mel. Ethan is going with Kira, Owen is going with Samantha, Hailey is going with Dominic, and Grace is going with Jesse. Dom and Jess are both from Aiden’s team and were over at our house more often than we were.

  My dress was white, strapless, and hugged my body to my hips, where it puffs out to the floor. I fell in love with it the moment I tried it on, it was perfect. My hair was pulled back in curls with a cream colored flower towards the top.

  I tried to go with an earthy theme and
used yellow flowers for the bridesmaids’ bouquets and white ones for mine. Our reception had an entirely different feel than the actual wedding, so the centerpiece flowers were pink, in tall clear vases.

  The wedding was actually taking place in a church. We didn’t choose the location based on our religion; we were having a non-religious ceremony, but I was googling places we could have our wedding in Houston and the moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it there. The walls were a light stone, the ceiling was at least thirty feet up, and there was a round chandelier right over where Aiden and I would say our vows. It was a little rustic, but still beautiful.

  I think that my favorite part of the whole wedding was the cake. It was three tiered with a white fondant covering. On top of the covering, flowers and leaves were drawn on in a gel icing. It was not necessarily traditional, but I fell in love with it and had to have it.

  Everything eventually came together nicely, which leaves me standing here in the dressing room at the church, looking into the mirror. In a few minutes, I’d be Mrs. Aiden Swift. The thought gave me goose bumps and butterflies. Behind me, things were chaotic with the girls trying to get a few last minute things ready. “Momma Momma Momma!” I heard from the open door. Jude was standing there, clutching the ring pillow tightly in his left hand.

  “Hi baby!” I said, twisting to look at him. He looked so handsome.

  “Momma…” He was about to continue, but stopped halfway through, looking at me. “You pretty Momma.”

  I smiled and walked over to lift him up, careful not to tug at the dress, “Thanks baby! Now, what are you doing all the way over here, stinker?” I asked this as I tickled him, making him giggle and twist in my arms.

  “Daddy ready.” He announced. I took a deep calming breath before setting him on his feet.

  “Okay, Mommy will be finished soon.” I promised. He nodded and ran back outside, but not before kissing Micah’s cheek and telling her she looked pretty too.

  I turned to my bridesmaids, “Alright, you all ready?” I asked, grabbing my bouquet when Kira handed it to me.

  “Are you?” She asked with a smirk. I grinned and nodded, “I’ve been ready for this, my entire life.”