If there is ever such a thing, then I am feeling it now and that is pure happiness. And giving someone else the same is close enough to give miracles. That is what I have given her, the miracle of life not only for the gift of reuniting a family but also the chance to start our own.
She has spoken to her dad each day for the past week but not to her mom yet. I told her baby steps is what it takes, if she wants to meet them one at a time then it is what she needs to do. It is not that she cares less, she just does not do too well when she gets overwhelmed.
Tomorrow is the big day and everyone can hardly wait. I think mom more than the others and of course, there are bets going around. The majority leaving Ava with being the winner. Well, we will just have to see about that, I will have my boy.
Everyone including Ava has long gone to be, my ass very nervous and anxious pacing the kitchen.
Kaylin ~”You are going to start wearing the floor out.”
I nearly jump higher than the counter.
Trayton ~”Fuck Kaylin you nearly scared me shitless.”
Kaylin ~”That did not take much now did it.”
Trayton ~”I am glad to see you have clothes on.”
Kaylin ~”I will take a pair of sweats your choice of clothes tonight.”
Trayton ~”Did you come to the kitchen for a reason or just to give me shit?”
Kaylin ~”A bit of both.”
Trayton ~”Can I get you coffee or water?”
Kaylin ~”Water is fine. Now tell me why are you wearing out your heels at this ungodly hour?”
Trayton ~”We finding the sex out today.”
Kaylin ~”Oh yes, the source of all the recent betting.”
Trayton ~”And who are you siding with? Me or Ava?”
Kaylin ~”Both of you.”
Trayton ~”How can you bet on both of us?”
Kaylin ~”Easy, I am saying it is twins.”
I drop the bottle of water I was just about to hand her on the counter and stop dead in my tracks.
Trayton ~”You said what?”
Kaylin ~”I am telling you that it is twins.”
Trayton ~”Why the fuck will you come up with such a crazy idea?”
Kaylin ~”Because the poor girl is nearly three times her size.”
Ava ~”The poor girl can still use her hands.”
Kaylin ~”Fuck where did you come from?”
Trayton ~”Are you coming to grumpy eat again?”
Ava ~”If I were both of you I would keep my mouth shut.”
Kaylin ~”She is definitely grumpy eating again.”
Trayton ~”Are you struggling to sleep, baby girl?”
Ava ~”The baby thought it is a great time squish against my bladder.”
Trayton ~”Why you in the kitchen if you needed the bathroom then?”
Ava ~”Why are you asking so many questions?”
Trayton ~”Baby girl go back to bed. I will bring you some snacks.”
Ava ~”Please bring me some skittles and some of those M&M’s with the nuts.”
Trayton ~”Baby girl we don’t have any of those things.”
Ava ~”But that is what I feel like.”
Kaylin ~”Guess baby will have to go buy those then.”
Trayton ~”Your big mouth is coming with me.”
Kaylin ~”I am in my pj’s.”
Trayton ~”Does it look like I don’t care or do you want to go wake up Kenton?”
Kaylin ~”Fuck no, he is a terror if you have to try and even wake him up.”
We head out the front door to go to the nine eleven while Ava goes back upstairs. The things that this little baby will make me do for him. If he wanted a snack bar on the other side of the world, then I would have gone and fetched it for him.
When we get back half an hour later, I find her fast asleep in the bed again. I put the packet on the dressing table and kick my shoes off, I strip my clothes and crawl behind her underneath the blankets.
Ava ~”Thank you, baby.”
She wraps my arm over her tummy and we both fall asleep again.
As I wake up again, she is standing with a packet of skittles in her hand at the foot of the bed staring at me. She is happily crunching them away.
Ava ~”Oh good, you are awake.”
Trayton ~”Morning baby girl?”
Ava ~”I was thinking.”
Trayton ~”About what baby girl?”
Ava ~”What if it is a boy? But what if it is a girl?”
Trayton ~”How long have you been awake?”
Ava ~”For three hours. What if it was a boy and a girl?”
Trayton ~”How much of that have you eaten?”
Ava ~”Only two packets. Tell me what do you think?”
Trayton ~”I think you need to put those skittles down and come back to bed.”
Ava ~”No it is time to get up, you overslept.”
Trayton ~”Then why did you not wake me up?”
Ava ~”I was just about to when you did.”
Trayton ~”No more sugar for you.”
Ava ~”I will get Kaylin to go buy then.”
Trayton ~”You will not dare.”
Ava ~”Just try and take my Skittles away then.”
Trayton ~”Bring that chocolates here before I smack your ass.”
Ava ~”Try and catch me first.”
Trayton ~”Oh fuck that is going to be so easy then.”
Ava ~”Trayton DeCarlo are you telling me I am slow or are you telling me I am fat?”
Trayton ~”You are slow because you are so fat.”
Ava ~”Oh you are so dead.”
She drops the packet on the bed as she races towards me as I get out of bed. Before she can even lift her tiny hands to punch me, I already have them in my hands.
Trayton ~”You going to hurt yourself.”
Ava ~”I will only hurt myself if you let me too.”
Trayton ~”And you know that will never happen. Now get that sweet ass of yours into the shower so we can get going.”
Ava ~”Aren’t you coming in?”
Trayton ~”I am right behind you.”
I watch her as she undresses, even with that big belly, she is just as gorgeous. We both stand under the water for a few minutes just holding each other. Once I’ve done washing up, I step outside to dry off and to get dressed.
Trayton ~”I will see you in the kitchen baby girl.”
Ava ~”How long do I have?”
Trayton ~”About an hour.”
I make my way downstairs where everyone is eagerly waiting.
Mary ~”What time are you leaving?”
Kenton ~”What time is the appointment?”
Trayton ~”I have never seen my family waiting so eagerly for me to go?”
Kaylin ~”We just can’t wait to find out any more.”
Dominic ~ “She is just being polite, we can’t wait to see who has won the bet.”
Trayton ~”For every single cent you bet, you will be changing a diaper.”
Kenton ~”Mom says you get those throwaways.”
Trayton ~”You still need to change them, you idiot.”
Kenton ~”Oh fuck, then I am canceling my bet.”
Kaylin ~”It’s too late to do that now.”
Mary ~”I can’t see any of you boys changing a nappy in this house.”
Ava ~”That one better hope that he does.”
Kaylin ~”You just like your fiancé, you like sneaking up on people.”
Trayton ~”She can’t do much sneaking while she is crunching on those skittles. Baby girl, I thought that you have stopped.”
Ava ~”I was hungry baby.”
Trayton ~”Then why don’t you eat real food?”
Ava ~”Because there is no breakfast.”
Mary ~”Oh sweety I have already made that, we were just waiting for you.”
Ava ~”Sorry mom I was taking long because I struggled to get dressed.”
Trayton ~”Why did you not call me baby girl?”
Ava ~”I did not want to shout and get myself all worked up.”
Trayton ~”Then you should have phoned me.”
Ava ~”My phone is here in the kitchen.”
Trayton ~”Mom can you put it in a container, we have to go.”
Mary ~”Sure I will be done in a second.”
Ava ~”I am sorry baby.”
She bursts out crying and immediately my heart does a standstill.
Trayton ~”Baby what is wrong?”
Ava ~”I… I… I am just in the way.”
She is sobbing uncontrollably, her words barely coming out.
Ava ~”Everybody has, everybody has been waiting, waiting for me because I could not get dressed.”
Mary ~”Sweety, you not in the way.”
Kenton ~”We were standing and talking.”
Kaylin ~”We were not just waiting for you, we were waiting for Kenton and Trayton too.”
Dominic ~”Trayton told us you were busy.”
Trayton ~”Come here, baby girl.”
I pull her closer into my arms, hugging her as tightly as I can. Her body is shaking and she is shivering. She is terrified, she should be happy but she is scared. Today is a big deal for her, I don’t want her to be unhappy.
Trayton ~”Kaylin please will you go grab her jersey on the bed. Mom, I think there is still some of that strawberry milk in the fridge, and Kenton will you set the table. I will let Doctor know we are going to be late.”
Ava ~”But baby.”
Trayton ~”No buts, put those skittles down and get ready for breakfast.”
An hour later we have finished breakfast, she has changed into something warmer again and we are ready to head out the door.
Mary ~”Good luck you two. And you make sure you phone me first.”
Ava ~”Mom is definitely the first one to know.”
Trayton ~”And I expect to see that bet money in the jar for the boy’s toys fund.”
Ava ~”Don’t you start so early with that damn jar of yours.”
Trayton ~”Damn is an ugly word, that will be ten bucks from you now.”
Ava ~”You and your stupid jar better come before I start crying again. We are already half an hour late as it is.”
After hugging everybody twice, she is finally in the car and we are ready to go. As we make our way through the city, I can feel the tension grows, until finally, she bursts out crying again.
Trayton ~”Baby what is wrong?”
Ava ~”I don’t know. What if it is a boy and everyone else wants it to be a girl.”
Trayton ~”But I want it to be a boy.”
Ava ~”I know. But what if it is not a boy and it’s a girl like everyone else wants it to be.”
Trayton ~”Then it is a girl like you want it to be.”
Ava ~”But how is everybody supposed to be happy then?”
Trayton ~”Baby just as long as the baby is healthy, I don’t really mind if it is a boy or a girl.”
Ava ~”Are you serious?”
Trayton ~”Yes, just like I don’t mind if you are a boy or a girl either.”
Ava ~”Trayton!”
Trayton ~”I am just checking that you are listening.”
Ava ~”I always listen to you.”
Trayton ~”Then why are you eating that skittles again?”
Ava ~”I like the crunchy noises that it makes and I know that it is driving you crazy.”
Trayton ~”Talking about driving. We are going to have to move closer to the hospital.”
Ava ~”What do you mean?”
Trayton ~”If you have to go into labor, we will never make the hospital from where we are staying now.”
Ava ~”You want to move to another city?”
Trayton ~”Baby the Doctor is in another city. I am not going to change Doctors so you can have the baby close to home. What do you think?”
Ava ~”I have not really thought about that yet. But it will only be for a little while?”
Trayton ~”Just for a month or so. We can talk to the Doctor about it.”
Ava ~”Are you still going to make an extra room for the baby?”
Trayton ~”We can move Kenton into the new room and make his room into the nursery.”
Ava ~”Maybe you can break the wall through then I don’t even have to leave our room then?”
Trayton ~”I think all that crunching has woken up your brain.”
Ava ~”Trayton!”
Trayton ~”I am so glad your hands are swollen because you would have smacked me right now.”
Ava ~”I am glad you are taking advantage of the situation.”
Trayton ~”I must take advantage of it, soon I am going to have more than one of us running around.”
Ava ~”Hopefully you will be doing the running after.”
I gently kiss her on the knuckles of her swollen hands and place them back down on her lap. The excitement in me is nearly hard to contain, but I need to keep it together, I have to keep her from not crumbling to pieces.
Trayton ~”Are you feeling better now?”
Ava ~”Yes baby, thanks for taking my mind off it.”
Trayton ~”Are you ready for this, we are here.”
Ava ~”Yes baby let’s go do this.”
I help her out of the car, I stand in the parking lot for a few seconds while she gets her things together, my nerves are starting to build up in me. It feels like I can just about nearly faint. It is the first time I am going to see my baby for real, not real but I will be able to hear its little heart. I have never done anything like this in my life before and I am shit scared. I take her by the hand and we make our way in the hospital, down the hallway, down to the Doctor’s rooms.
Doctor ~”Morning you two. You must be Trayton, the baby’s father.”
Trayton ~”Morning Doctor, sorry for being a bit late.”
Doctor ~”Oh I of all Doctors understand that these things happen. All mommies to be are a bit unpredictable.”
Trayton ~”This mommy to be has a serious case of hormones for the past couple of days.”
Doctor ~”She is just nervous. So what do you say we go see how the baby is doing?”
We go into a consultation room where Ava puts one of those awful funny-ass hospital gowns on. She gets on to a bed next to the sonar machine that I have read in all those baby books about. I can see that she does not really like the machine all that much by the look on her face.
I don’t know who is squeezing whose hand harder as the Doctor enters the room. I have a big ass smile on my face, but I think is more because of me being nervous and also not knowing what else to do at this stage.
Doctor ~”I am first going to check if everything is okay with the baby and then we can find out if it is a boy are a girl.”
Trayton ~”Can you see if it is a boy or a girl Doctor?”
Doctor ~”Yes, I will show you once you are ready.”
Doctor first squirts some gel stuff on her belly and I can see now why she hates the machine. I can feel how damn cold the stuff is as some of it lands on my arm. She moves around with the probe and I can see the same picture appear on the screen like the one that Ava showed me. My heart stops and tears stream up into my eyes. My horny ass made all of that, which is my baby there. A single tear rolls down my face as I squeeze her hand.
Doctor ~”Baby is very healthy and looking great. Are you two ready to find out what it is?”
Trayton ~”Baby are you ready?”
Ava ~”I am ready. Can Doctor let Trayton also listen to the baby’s heart like the last time you made me did?”
Doctor ~”Sure, come listen with the stethoscope.”
Doctor places it on her belly and gives it for me to hear. I am absolutely blown away into shock, it is like a tiny drum playing in my ears. It sounds so funny, it’s like hearing someone knocking on a door, but really fast.
Trayton ~”Why is it sounding so fast Doctor?”
Doctor ~”What do you mean fast?”
The Doctor takes the stethoscope away from me to listen.
Doctor ~”Oh my, oh dear.”
Trayton ~”What is wrong Doctor?”
She scans Ava’s belly again, this time looking more closely. There is a weird look on her face, I don’t know if it is worry or if she seems surprised. All I know it has Ava in a spin now.
Ava ~”What is it? What is wrong?”
Trayton ~”Doctor what is the matter.”
She hands me back the stethoscope.
Doctor ~”Listen carefully and watch my finger.”
I listen again now, then I can hear it. Watching the Doctor moving around the probe and watching where she is pointing her finger at the picture.
Doctor ~”I am happy to tell you that you have a very healthy boy.”
Ava ~”A boy?”
Doctor ~”Yes and Trayton I believe you have something to tell Ava?”
Trayton ~”Baby girl, I think we are having twins.”
And then I do it, I faint.