by Ava Danielle
Dr. Sue pulls up my gown and squirts the cool gel on my belly and moves the probe around on my belly to get it all started.
“You ready?” she asks me and I look away.
“I don’t know,” I say nervously.
After a few minutes of looking at the screen, dead silence in the room, I can’t believe my eyes. I notice it right away, I mean, who couldn’t?!
What in the world is going on? What’s taking so long? And why in the hell can’t I go in yet? I’m pacing the hallway outside of the door, staring at the family pictures on the wall. I want to be one of them. I want to be happy. I want to have a baby in my arm, a healthy baby that I will love unconditionally. A baby boy that I can teach to play ball, or a baby girl that will look as beautiful as her mom, who I will have to worry about dating boys. A baby, no matter the gender that is healthy and has a bit of both of us.
The door to room five opens and a nurse comes out,
“You may come in now,” she smiles. I huff, “finally,” and enter the room.
Theresa is lying on the chair, her belly exposed, her OBGyn right next to her, “This is Dr. Sue,” Theresa says as I lean my hand toward her and greet the doctor,
“Is everything ok?” I ask Theresa. She looks flushed as if she was crying.
“Dr. Sue has something to show us,” she whispers.
Nervous, I pull a chair up next to Theresa as I place my hand into hers. I grip and stare at the screen afraid of what I might see. I fear nothing good. The atmosphere in here could be cut with a knife. It’s scaring the shit out of me.
“You notice anything, Michael?” Theresa asks me and I’m still staring at a bunch of black and white dots on a screen. I never was good at these things and figuring out what’s an arm, a leg, a nose, but it’s still too early to notice any of those things.
Confused I look at Theresa. I shrug my shoulder shaking my head.
“Look closer, babe,” she says.
What the fuck am I supposed to notice? How am I supposed to tell anything on here, I’m not a doctor, I’m not specialized in these machines that will point anything out to me if I didn’t know about it. And then I see it. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. What I think I’m seeing. I don’t know much, but that definitely stands out.
“Are those two dots?” I ask stupidly. Theresa nods.
“Does that mean?” She’s smiling and nodding toward me again.
“We’re going to have two?” smiling and nodding toward me again.
Oh by all that is mighty, we’re having twins. I’m staring at the screen shocked. I have to know.
“How do you feel about this?” I ask her.
She looks at me smiling, “thrilled and panicky,” I laugh at her. To say the least.
“Are we ready?” she asks me.
“I am, are you?” I’ve been through this three times; I know what’s coming. But she’s going to be a mom for the first time and to two. This will be fun.
“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” she laughs.
The doctor does a few more checks and prints out our ultrasound pictures. Everything is great, but with her being pregnant with twins she’ll have to be considered high risk and be at the doctors more often than a normal pregnancy.
Excited we leave the doctor’s office. I’m ready to tell the world, especially tonight at Addison’s barbecue, that’s if she’s feeling up to it.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m good, I could use a nap though,” she admits.
“We can cancel the barbecue tonight and go another time.” I’d much rather her be able to relax and take this all in.
“No, I’d actually like to get out and be with your friends and family,” she exclaims.
“Whatever you want, you got it.”
“Spoiling me already, Mr. Walker?”
“When am I not spoiling you?”
“Good point,” she lays her head against the window and closes her eyes while I drive us to my place.
On the drive home I try to figure out a romantic way to propose to her. I want to make her officially mine, to live the rest of our lives together. And I want it to be a way she’ll never forget. And that’s when an idea struck! And I’m going to need to get everyone that means the most to us involved. Some of these things aren’t going to be easy since I don’t know much about the most important people in her life.
The plan starts now.
On the way from the doctor’s office to Michaels place I try to figure out how I got here. Not but a few months back I was falling for my boss. I was trying so hard not to pursue more, I wanted the feelings to go away, and to the point I even ran away. I didn’t want any part of this life; I knew it would come with heartbreak like my life always had. I don’t have parents; they left me; that’s an extremely long story itself. The only best friend I have here is Sarah and all other friends from my past have given up on me since most of them were my exes’ friends.
And now I’m here expecting twins. I couldn’t just have one, no, it had to be two. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to have a baby, but I was pretty shocked it would be two. I will love both of them no matter what; I just can’t believe it’s all going so fast now.
Scariest part, I love this man more than I’ve ever loved anyone and I trust him, wholeheartedly, he wouldn’t break me like everyone has, the signs that I’ve gotten accustomed to aren’t there. I feel nothing but love from him. The most exciting part is the banters we have between each other are even made out of love. I definitely want to spend the rest of my life with him. And I’m wondering if I should be untraditional and actually propose to him. It would make for an exciting story in the future. Nothing with us is simple, nothing about our story is traditional, and it’s all falling into a place that we call OUR LOVE.
I smile inwardly with the idea that swirls around my mind. Mission Propose to Michael is on.
We stretch out on the couch in each other’s arms, reminiscing our last few months.
“What about your parents?” I ask to get to know her on a deeper level. Now that we’re becoming parents together, I need to know so much more about her.
“They abandoned me,” she pauses for a few seconds, ”Well actually, they were part of my life until I was sixteen and had made some bad decisions. I met the wrong guys, I’ve always met the wrong guys, he was a few years older than me. Because of him I dropped out of high school and got my GED. After we broke it off, I decided to go to college to get my business degree, I had to do something. I met another guy there, someone I trusted and thought he was my future; only he broke my heart as well. They’ve always broken my heart and my parents always blamed me. It got so bad they quit talking to me. I wasn’t the image of a perfect daughter. I started moving a lot just to get away from all the guys that broke me. And that’s how I got here to Connecticut.”
I’m not really sure what to say to all of this. It’s a pretty sad story, I never realized she’s been through so much heartbreak, I mean she mentioned it, especially in the letter, but I never realized it was this bad to the point it’s made her who she is.
“And you’re not in touch with them at all?”
“I have no idea what they are doing and they have no idea where I am, and I’m sure they don’t care to know.”
“What about your siblings?”
“They too ignore me, I have no use for them, they could care less about me.”
“Do you want your parents in our lives? Especially now that you’re also becoming a mom?”
“To be honest Michael, I haven’t thought much about them and I really don’t want to. They weren’t there for me in my hard times, they didn’t answer my phone calls when I needed them, so I don’t need them now and I don’t think they deserve to see our babies.”
She says that with no doubt, fully sure of herself and I’m not about to argue with that.
“What about your parents?” she says cheerfully.
“I’d like you to meet them one day this week, i
f that’s ok? They live about twenty miles south in a condo. The girls spend the weekends with them sometimes or during summer break. They’ll be there this weekend and I was going to ask you to join us for a dinner there.”
“I’d really like that, Michael.”
“What about your friend Sarah, are you close?” I ask curiously, I need to figure out how to get a hold of her to make sure she’s there for her, Theresa will need one person that she can have in her life that doesn’t have anything to do with me or my past.
“Yeah, she took me in when I was struggling to get back on my feet after the last break up. She knows everything about us, and the letter I left you, and she totally disagreed with me. Honestly, she was on your side. She kept trying to push me to see you but I wasn’t having it. I should probably get together with her one day and thank her for everything, I owe her a dinner,” she says laughing.
I kiss the top of her head, “we should probably start heading over to Addison’s. And I’d like to officially meet Sarah soon, so maybe just invite her here and we’ll make her a good dinner and maybe tell her the good news?”
“That sounds great,” she says as she gets up and we get ready to walk to Addison’s to hang out with all our friends.
“Hey baby,” I stop her before we head out, she looks at me with that beautiful smile of hers, “you’ll always have family and friends here, they aren’t just there for me, they’ll be there for you too.” She kisses my lips and whispers, “thank you.”
Once we’ve mingled some and I see Theresa talking to the girls by their swing set, I decide to prepare to get everyone together for the big plan. Brandon and Addison are sitting on a blanket enjoying their time with their baby boy, Aiden. He’s starting to crawl and that reminds me of the times Addison and I would have to chase down the girls. Violet had us paranoid; then again we were new parents. Then Cheyenne came not too long after and Violet was running around while Cheyenne had to be chased down. That seems easy when there’s two of you, but now that I think about having to chase down two crawling babies, it makes me chuckle inside.
“So I need to talk to you guys. I have something planned at the Country Bar Friday night, would you be able to come? Maybe bring the girls? Aiden is still too small for any of that,” I say as I pat his little head and he giggles at me.
“Sure, what are you planning?” Brandon chimes in before Addison could speak, but the look on her face, she knows what I’m thinking.
“Let’s just say I’ll never be able to top what you did, but I’m going to try and do it my way,” I say as I get up off the ground and leave them two to talking.
Brandon and I have formed a friendship. It may have taken me a while at the beginning, but I understand now, I understand that the love between Addison and I was never as strong as it is with our new partners. Maybe we were too young or maybe we just grew apart and never tried. Either way, she always has a spot in my heart, she’ll always be my first love and we’ll always be connected, not just because of the girls. I’m just lucky and glad we all get along so great and for the girls sake still do a lot together. Not many people can make it work like this, and being neighbors makes it so much easier.
After I talked to them I made my way around to Ryan and Kristina and asked them to be there Friday night. I plan on making Ryan my best man and let him in on more of the details. There are a few extra things I’ll need help with and only trust him with it.
“What you boys talking about?” Theresa joins us.
“Oh you know, guy stuff,” Ryan stammers.
“Should we tell them the news?” Theresa whispers into my ear. I pull her around the side of the house, she’s leaned against the wall.
“Let’s wait a little longer?” I ask her. I actually want it to be a surprise to them at the bar after my surprise for Theresa.
I lean in to kiss her, god I love this woman with all my might. But before I know it we’re interrupted by Violet.
“Get a room,” she says as she continues to walk around the house.
We both laugh uncontrollably.
After I get off the phone with the Country Bar and let them know about my plans, I need to figure out how to get everyone else there. I don’t want them to know why; I want his family and friends to be just as surprised as he will be. Hoping it all goes off without a hitch.
“Who were you talking to?” Michael walks into his bedroom.
“Oh, just Sarah, told her we’d need to get together soon,” I lie to him.
“You about ready? We’re leaving in about five minutes,” he says as he pulls a nice shirt out of his closet,
“Yes, boss man,” I say and salute him.
But he wasn’t having any of that sass. He pushes me down on the bed and gets on top of me and just when I think he’s going to kiss me, he tickles me, and not just a little peck here and there, no it had to be all the spots that I’m sensitive to. The man has figured my body out quicker than I ever have. He knows spots I didn’t realize I was even ticklish at.
“Michael! Stop!” I laugh and giggle. “MICHAEL!” I scream now. He throws me on my stomach and starts spanking my ass.
“That’s for your sassiness.” But I won’t let him know that I like how that feels or the fact it turns me on. Knowing men, it’ll just bruise his ego.
“Yes, Sir,” I mumble.
“Oh shit, I could get used to that though.” He returns me to my back and lies next to me. His head being held by his elbow he leans in kisses the bridge of my nose,
“I love you, Theresa.”
“And I love you, Michael. Now, help me up and let’s go to your parents,” I murmur.
“Who’s the bossy one now?” he exclaims as he helps me off the bed.
Theresa meeting my parents went very well, they seemed to have taken her in as quickly as I did. They supported Addison and I all through our life and they are more than happy to support Theresa and I. We did tell them we’re expecting and they were thrilled. My parents have never judged me, they’ve always been there through thick and thin, especially when things with Addison ended, and they were more than excited and happy when we made it all work out for the sake of the girls. They are proud not only of me but also of Addison and the girls. There’s no regret or remorse, only love. Guess you can say I’m pretty lucky.
I’ve gotten everything ready for Friday night and I’m more than excited about it. I’m ready to ask her permission to make her mine, and mine only!
Theresa is in her kitchen preparing dinner for us, I’m sitting on the couch watching some TV.
“So, I think Friday night we should go to the Country Bar.”
Oh fuck. Is she on to me? Has she figured out my plan? That can’t be. I need to play this cool.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve gone and it’s always so much fun,” she exclaims as she’s stirring whatever is in that pot.
“Okay. Sounds good.” Let’s just hope she hadn’t figured it out. But that does release the pressure of how to ask her to go out Friday night. This makes it so much easier now.
“Yay! I’m looking forward to that. Now come sit down at the table and eat something.”
“How are you feeling?” I ask her as I make my way to the table.
“Well, I could eat.” she says as she fixes her plate. I remember the way Addison ate while she was pregnant. I was always jealous of that. I would’ve loved to have eaten anything in the world, especially at two in the morning when she begged me to go to Burger King to get her her favorite french fries.
“We need to talk about something,” I say to her while I finish making my plate and sit down to eat.
“Oh shit, that sounds so serious, what’s up?” she says in between bites.
“Living arrangements. We can’t keep going from place to place, back and forth for a day here and there.” I pull a key out of my pocket and lay it on the table next to her plate with a keychain that reads, ‘Join my bed every night’
She looks
down at the key and back at me.
“Move in with you?”
“It only makes sense, baby. I could take care of you on days you don’t feel good, pamper you, and we have all that space to move around in,” I say looking around her apartment.
She debates for a while. “What about the girls?”
“What about them? They’ll still have their rooms, well actually, I had the idea of finishing up the attic and turning it into a big room with an extra bathroom for the two older girls, that would give us a room downstairs for the twins. And Emma can keep her room. The older girls won’t be with us much longer, they’ll be graduating before we know it. So?”
A long pause worries me.
“Baby, I love you, I want you around me day and night and I want you to become my home,” I say trying to convince her.
“It would only make sense, I guess, I have to give the landlord a notice though and what about my furniture?”
“We can store them in the garage for starters and find a place for each item in the house, we can always add on,” I say and wink at her.
“Alright, let’s do this,” she puts the key in her hand, kisses my lips, and waves it around my face, “You’ll be stuck with me forever,” and smiles.
“Because that would be sooooo horrible,” I laugh.
Shopping this past week with Sarah, I’ve come across the perfect dress for tonight. It’s hanging on my closet door and ready to be worn. I look at it for a minute and get giddy. I’m going to ask the man of my dreams to marry me. I will be his and he will be mine, and together we’re having these two little peanuts. I rub my belly imagining what I will look like in a few months. One things for sure, we won’t get married until after they’re born, there’s no way I’m going to so squeeze into a dress with a stomach the size of a watermelon. And come to think about it, I would want them to be there, they are what glued our love together. They are what made me follow my heart and do what’s right, and that was the best decision of my life.
