“Twins?!” Angel and Aaron exclaimed from the doorway of the kitchen. Our families were here for Thanksgiving and we were trying to prepare a big meal. I chuckled and tilted back my beer.
“Yep,” I sighed. I was excited, I was. I just wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of me was terrified I was going to mess something up or ruin something. Besides that, Shelby and I were both worried this would take away from the attention we had been giving Lanie. We didn’t want her to feel neglected at all. And the flip side of that – we didn’t want to neglect the twins in anyway, either. “We haven’t told Lanie yet, though. So don’t mention anything.”
“She’s gonna figure out soon enough,” Aaron laughed and grabbed a soda from the fridge.
“No shit,” I rolled my eyes. “We just don’t want to say anything prematurely. The doctor said there’s still a chance Shell could experience a miscarriage. Especially now that there are two babies…there’s more risk.” I explained. Alicia came into the kitchen holding Lanie. “Hey baby. Are you and Grandma having fun?” I asked her with a smile.
“Uh huh,” Lanie smirked. “Grandma said I can help make the turkey ‘cause mommy’s sleeeeping.” She emphasized the word ‘sleeping’. I nodded and kissed her forehead.
“Sounds good. How ya feeling?” I asked and pulled her juice cup from the fridge. That was one thing I was really good about – keeping her hydrated after she had been so sick.
“Good,” she said as Alicia set her on the counter to help prepare the turkey.
“Okay, well, you stay in here with Grandma and Aunt Angel. I’m gonna go check on mommy,” I said as I left the room. I knew the word of the twins had come as a bigger shock to Shelby. She hadn’t really expressed much to me because we had been so busy preparing for company. The car ride home from the doctor consisted of silence. We were both in too deep of thought to process everything. The only person I had really talked to about anything was my friend, Chris. He had gone back to the doctor’s with me to get Shell’s car the day after her appointment. “Shell?” I whispered softly as I entered into our bedroom.
“Hey,” she grinned. She was lying on her side flipping through a photo album.
“You okay?” I asked and sat on the edge of the bed. She nodded. “Well, I’ll let you rest. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” I grinned and kissed her gently.
“Nick?” She asked me before I made it to the door. I turned back towards her to ask her what was on her mind, but before I could even open my mouth, she sat up and opened hers. “What do you think about all this? I mean, two babies now instead of one? Are you going to have to go on tour soon after they’re born? Do you think you’ll have to leave during the pregnancy? What about us? Are we gonna be together after they’re born?”
All these questions. I knew she had been bottling everything up inside the past few days. “Baby, slow down.” I said softly and went back to the bed to sit next to her. “Shelly, you have to learn to tell me these things as soon as they come up in that head of yours. You can’t keep all this inside and let it freak you out, okay?” I said. She nodded vigorously. She was really freaking out. “Okay, let’s start with the first question…I think this is awesome. I mean, I think its gonna be a lot of hard work. But I think in the long run, it’s gonna be fun and amazing. I kinda feel like we messed up by trying to raise Lanie separately when we were divorced…and now we’re getting not just a second chance, but a third chance, too.”
“Are you just passing off Lanie?” She sounded angry, as if I was giving up on Lanie.
“Of course not! Shell, Lanie’s doing amazing right now with her health. At this rate, she’ll be fine by the time the babies are born,” I quickly corrected what I said. “I just meant that with these two babies we can start the way we should have started with Lanie. And we can continue to raise Lanie together. We can start doing things differently.” I shrugged. She nodded, still contemplating what I had been saying.
“What about you? I’m not going to ask you to stop your career again, Nick. After Lanie’s better, I know you want to get out on the road and tour,” she sighed. “I want you to. I know you love it out there.”
“Yeah, I love it,” I agreed. “But I love you and this family a hell of a lot more. We’ll just see what happens,” I shrugged. “The babies aren’t due until July, so we can easily fit in a tour – if Lanie’s better – in the spring time. Then I want you home and ready for them to come. And then by that time the boys and I will be due a little break. Then maybe one day we can go on tour as a family.” I suggested. I really hadn’t planned it out at all. I was just throwing out ideas.
“You’re right,” she sighed and kissed me softly. “I’m worrying for nothing right now. It’s just a lot to take in.” She rested a hand on her stomach. She was starting to pooch out a little – the doctor said she’d get a lot bigger with twins.
“It’s okay,” I winked and kissed her softly again. “I understand. But right now, all I want you to worry about is taking care of yourself and those babies. We’re gonna make this work, Shell.” I grinned. “And honestly? I’m so excited. I figure we’ve already had a girl, and out of the two inside you, one of ‘em has to be a boy.” I laughed softly.
She rolled her eyes and playfully smacked my arm. “You better be careful, daddy. You don’t wanna jinx it.” She winked and rested a hand on her stomach. “With our luck, we’ll have eight girls.”
“Eight,” my eyes nearly popped out of my head.
“Well, maybe not that many,” she giggled. “But still. I hope we get at least one boy sometime, too.” Sometime. That made me think she might want to have more kids with me. She was making this a lifetime, which threw an idea into my head, but I didn’t want to say anything just yet. “When should we tell Lanie?”
I contemplated for a minute and then smirked. “What if we waited until Christmas? And made it like…a Christmas present?” I suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” Shelby nodded. “She’s always asked me if she would have brothers and sisters or not. I just never really knew…” she shrugged.
“Well, now you know,” I winked and kissed her again softly. “Now come on. Everyone’s out there and we’re going to have the best Thanksgiving either.” I stood up to leave, but Shelby caught my arm and pulled me down towards her again. I sat down as she sat up so we were facing each other.
“Every other year…what did you do for Thanksgiving?” She asked me softly. “And Christmas? And every other holiday?” She seemed so pensive.
I shrugged and swallowed the lump in my throat. I didn’t really feel like saying I sat at home by myself. That would make me seem pitiful. “Sometimes I’d go spend it with my family or the guys.” I shrugged. She nodded and looked down at her lap.
“My mom would come over every year since Lanie was born and she’d help me make a turkey. Lanie would help me with pies and cookies. We’d make this big meal for no one in particular and live off left overs for the next few weeks,” she laughed softly. I chuckled. I wasn’t sure where this was going or why she was telling me, but she obviously felt she needed to. “Last year when Lanie started to understand what Thanksgiving was all about, she would ask me why you couldn’t spend it with us.” She glanced up at me. “She would ask me that at Christmas and on her birthday, too.” She nodded. She looked up and I saw the tears in her eyes. “I always just said that you had plans. I’m really glad this year we get to spend it together. All of us.” She placed her hand on her stomach.
I leaned down and kissed her romantically. When I pulled away, I muttered, “The past is the past, Shell. We can’t change it. I’m glad we’re spending this year together, too.” I beamed.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Lanie bounced into the room. She had so much energy and we were so glad. It was much nicer to see her happy and chipper rather than sick and depressed. “Grandma Alicia and Aunt Angel are bakin’ pies! Let’s go!” She grabbed our hands and pulled us to the kitchen. I laughed as we followed.
“Look, we’re just about finished,” Alicia smiled at us and showed us the massive turkey they had pulled out of the oven.
“Wow,” I grinned and lifted Lanie up so she could see more. “Look at how good that looks.” I kissed her cheek sweetly and she wrapped her arms around my neck.
“I’m hungry,” she giggled.
“Okay, well, let me put this last pie in the oven and it can bake while we’re eating dinner. Is everyone ready? Aaron, did you get the wine from my car?” She called in to my brother. I couldn’t help the proud grin stretched across my face. We were a family and it felt right. Shelby’s mom was interacting with my family and vice versa. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
“Yeah, I got it G,” he called back coming into the kitchen. “Hey bro.” He winked.
“G?” Shelby and I laughed looking at each other.
“Yea,” Aaron slung an arm around Alicia. “She’s Grandma…aka G.” He acted as if he was a gangster.
“See, I’m neat,” Alicia winked and took Lanie from my arms. Aaron rolled his eyes and laughed.
“It’s cool, G. Cool, not neat,” he laughed, making all of us laugh. We all walked into the large dining room that had been set up perfectly. I had never seen this many people in my dining room, not people I could call family, at least. I was at one head of the table with Lanie and Shelby on either side of me, then Angel and BJ were on one side of the table with Leslie and Alicia on the other. Aaron was at the other head of the table opposite me.
“Can we say grace?” Alicia looked over at me. I swallowed and nodded, everyone taking hands.
“I’ll say it,” Shelby squeezed my hand gently. I was glad. She knew I wasn’t into the whole saying a prayer thing. We all bowed our heads and closed our eyes. “Dear Father, we just want to thank You for bring us all here together. We thank You for this amazing meal You’ve placed in front of us and bringing us together safely. We pray You continue to work in amazing ways and heal all of us that aren’t well right now…” she trailed off. “Thank You for bringing me my family. In Your name we pray. Amen.”
A chorus of “amen’s” could be heard amongst us and I looked at Shelby when I opened my eyes. “I love you.” We whispered at the same time. She was right. We were all together now.
Author's Chapter Notes:
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