This oneshot was sparked by the conversation Mum and my aunty were having the other day- my cousin and I had the same due date, but because I am such an impatient person, I decided to arrive a month early. And, simply because my cousin is so chilled, she was a week late. And wa-la, this was born! Read and review!
Rhyleigh xoxox
As Jake Barton so eloquently put it, "Good God, things like this can only happen to the Rafter family". While everyone had laughed, they all knew it was true.
It had all started that afternoon, where Julie Rafter had called her oldest daughter Rachel, inviting her and her partner over for dinner that night, to hear her brother and sister in law's big announcement. She had immediately asked if her boyfriend's family could come along, because she too had an announcement. Julie had willingly agreed, and before she knew it, her house was full of everyone they loved. Ben and Melissa, Jake and Rachel, Sammy and Melissa, Ted, Ruby and Carbo bringing the numbers to eleven. Grace and Alex Barton finished off the group, as they crammed around the dinner table, in front of the feast Julie had set out.
But then spoke up. "Hey!" he cried, waving his fork around and narrowly missing taking out Carbo's eye completely. "Guys! Mel and I have an announcement!"
"So do Jake and I", Rachel told her brother.
Sammy's eyes darted from Melissa to Rachel, wondering what announcements she had not yet been told. The three were sisters (despite Rachel being the only blood Rafter), and told each other everything.
"Well, you go first", Melissa said to Jake.
"No, you", he said politely.
Instead, all four spoke at the same time.
"I'm having a baby", Melissa and Rachel said in unison.
"I'm going to be a dad!" Jake and Ben whooped together.
Immediate uproar followed.
"Congratulations!"
"Oh my God, I'm going to have grandchildren!"
"GRANDCHILDREN? I'm too young to be a grandpa!"
"Dad, you're fif-"
"Don't say it, mate".
"But Dad-"
"Don't say it, mate!"
"Oh my God, I'm so happy for you guys!"
"Do you have a due date, Rachel?" Grace said excitedly.
"Yep- Mel, have you been to the doctor yet?"
"We went this morning", Melissa admitted. "Do you want to go first?"
Rachel grinned. "The doctor said the baby should come on September the fifteenth".
Ben gawked at his sister. "Are you kidding?"
"Why?" Jake asked suspiciously.
"When Ben and I went to the doctor's", Melissa said slowly, "We were told our baby should be arriving on the fifteenth of September".
Which was where Jake spoke up.
"Good God, things like this can only happen to the Rafter family".
There was nothing anyone could do but laugh hysterically, at the young man's proclamation.
"Hey Carbo", Alex said cheerfully, "I bet you fifty bucks that Jake and Rach's baby will arrive first".
"Nah!" Carbo immediately argued. "Ben and Mel's baby's getting here long before theirs!"
Julie laughed. Her oldest daughter had been a month early, and had ploughed through life, full steam ahead, ever since. There was no stopping her Rachel Rafter. Her Ben Rafter, on the other hand? He had been ten days late, and was quite happily plodding through life at a snail's pace. An energetic little boy, she had to wake him up half an hour before Nathan and Rachel simply to make sure they got out the door on time.
"Sam, I bet you twenty bucks that both babies are going to be boys", Nathan said confidently.
Sammy was quick to argue. "I'm fairly sure they're going to both be girls".
"Ooh, you're on!"
"They're betting on our babies", Melissa said faintly.
"Did you really expect anything else?" Rachel shot daggers at the people she had known forever. "I mean, Mel, they took bets on Ruby".
"We took bets on Ruby", Melissa reminded her.
As Nathan shook hands with his wife and Carbo shook hands with his mate, their parents and grandfather just laughed.
It was going to be an interesting nine months.
As weeks passed, so did conversations about the two new children to be born into the Rafter family. Details were kept secret (although everyone knew that Rachel and Melissa and Jake and Ben were holding onto a lot more than anyone knew).
"Tell us", Carbo said finally. "Rach, is it a boy or a girl?"
"It's a boy", Nathan said conversationally.
"It's a girl", Sammy argued back.
"We decided not to find out". Jake shrugged cheerfully, squeezing Rachel's hand with a smirk on his face. "Just to keep you waiting".
"Benno?" Carbo said hopefully. His best mate and his best mate's wife had been keeping him in the dark all afternoon, saying that they wouldn't reveal anything until they had gathered with the rest of the family.
"What?" Ben raised his eyebrow at his housemate.
"Boy or girl?"
"Yeah, put the poor guy out of his misery!" Alex piped up.
"I think we'll wait until the bub makes an appearance, what do you think, Mel?" his blue eyes twinkled evilly and Carbo let out a wail.
"That's not fair!" he argued, as Melissa exploded into giggles.
"Come on, mate, really?" Alex rolled his eyes. "Did you really fall for that one?"
"Jake and I picked a name", Rachel smugly told her brother, smirking.
"Mel and I have had a name picked for ages", Ben said casually. "Sorry to break up this little shindig, family, but Mel and I have somewhere we need to be. Come on, Mel".
His wife entwined her fingers with her husband's, as Ben led her out of the backyard in a state of panic. "Holy shit, we totally don't have a name!"
"Calm down", Melissa giggled. "They don't know that".
"I didn't know you guys had a name!" Alex faced his brother in surprise.
"We do". Jake nodded, putting a hand on Rachel's baby bump. "It's from the list of names Mum discarded when she was pregnant with you. Come on, Rach, we better be heading home. Aren't Libby and George coming around this afternoon?"
"Yeah, they are". Rachel smiled. "See ya later, guys".
They could almost see the cogs in Alex's head whirring, as they too left the Rafter backyard.
"Guys!" he threw his hands in the air. "Guys, I've got this, Mum told me ages ago! It's Richard".
"Richard?" Sammy, Nathan and Carbo echoed. But Nathan was the first to crack.
"Richard!" he hooted. "Rach wouldn't call the kid Richard, because that was a failed relationship! It's not Richard, mate!"
"Um, fairly certain I know the names Mum thought about for me", Alex shot back. "Its Richard, I know it".
"What do you think Ben and Mel are going to call their baby?" Sammy wanted to know. "And neither of them have mentioned gender yet, Alex-"
"But they got it from the list of names Mum thought about for me", Alex argued. "I know these names… maybe its Christopher!"
"Rachel and Jake are definitely having a boy", Nathan nodded in agreement.
"Mel and Benno are calling their kid Nick".
"Nick?"
"Melissa told you flat out that they aren't calling the baby Nick".
"What if it's a girl, mate?"
"Nicola, we already discussed this!" Carbo sounded impatient. "Get with the program, Sam! They're calling it Nick".
"But Melissa said-"
"You're just annoyed because they aren't calling it Elliot", Sammy told her husband.
"You're saying Brayden wrong, dear", Nathan argued.
"!"
"Elliot is an awesome name! I've never met an Elliot I didn't like". Sammy crossed her arms.
"I've never met an Elliot", Alex spoke up.
"They're calling him Nick!" Carbo tossed his hands in the air, making little Ruby giggle.
"You're all wrong", Alex said calmly, "Because Mel and Ben are naming him Finn!"
They all stopped.
"Finn is win, rhymes and everything!"
"Brayden!"
"Brayden's a dumb name, it doesn't even rhyme with anything!"
"You're a dumb name!"
"Real mature, that was".
"Get over it, because they're calling him Elliot". Sammy crossed her arms. "So it's settled then. Sammy wins again!"
"Wait!" Nathan tossed his arms in the air. "How about we each write down five names- five for Rach and Jake's baby, five for Mel and Ben- and put a little bit of money towards it? That way, the winner can simply add to their cash collection- which will be me, of course".
"No it won't be, because they're calling him Nick!" Carbo argued, but accepted the pen and paper Nathan went to retrieve.
The names went into a Tupperware container Sammy found, placed on the top of their cabinet until the fateful day where either Rachel or Melissa went into labour.
Alex's list for his older brother and almost sister in law held 'Richard' and 'Christopher', and was almost positive that James would be somewhere in the name.
Carbo, on the other hand, had written down variations of his own name- despite being told repeatedly that neither couple would be naming their child after him. Nicholas, Nicola, Nick, Nick and Nick, on both slips of paper.
Sammy wasn't entirely sure- they were focusing mainly on boy names, but neither couple had let slip which gender their child was- if they knew at all. While Elliot was her main name (for both Jake and Rachel and Ben and Melissa), it varied from Emily to Hayden, not really knowing at all what the couples would choose.
Nathan was certain that his sister would choose Brayden, but then again, she was his sister. So he scrawled Brayden on the list for Ben and Melissa, slipping it into the Tupperware container.
"Twenty bucks each list", Alex decided.
"But what if no one guesses the name?" Nathan wanted to know. He was fairly certain on his names, but there was always the chance one of them could surprise them.
"Then we'll put the money away", Sammy told them. "Start up an account in the kids' names. I mean, that's already eighty bucks per child".
"But its okay, because I'll get it", Carbo said gleefully.
This time, they were louder about it. "THEY AREN'T CALLING THEM NICK!"
"That was really harsh", Carbo sulked.
"A joint baby shower!" Sammy said gleefully to her two sisters in law. "How cute will that be?"
"Adorable", Rachel sniped.
"Fantastic", Melissa grumbled.
And that was exactly how they found the Rafter backyard, only a week later. A banner strung through the trees, a huge chocolate cake (Julie's specialty), and a huge stack of baby presents from their closest family and friends. Everyone from Rachel's work had donated something for a gift basket, and Melissa's family had all sent presents from Perth (and London, in the case of her older brother).
"You know", Rachel's best friend Libby said conversationally, one hand on Rachel's protruding stomach. "The only thing this party is missing is the baby names!"
"Not a chance", Melissa said smugly.
"No way". Rachel shook her head.
"Worth a shot", Libby said to Carbo, and the man visibly slumped his shoulders.
The eight of September was a fairly peaceful day. Melissa had woken up to rain pounding on the roof, automatically putting her in a good mood. So she lounged about in her comfiest clothing (really, the only clothing that would fit, given her almost nine month pregnant stomach), reading magazines and watching movies- the chick flicks that she could only watch once Ben and Carbo were out of the house.
At lunchtime, her housemates returned, bearing pizza, and it was devoured within minutes.
"I'll be back, I'm just going to the bathroom", she told then, wincing a little.
Ben jumped to his feet. "Carbo call the ambulance!"
"It's alright", she assured him. "Its just Braxton Hicks, they've been happening on and off for the past week, remember? Nothing important".
Carbo let out a deep breath and put the phone down. "I don't have to call the ambulance?"
"You don't need to call the ambulance". Melissa chuckled, heading towards the stairs.
But moments later she was eating her own words. "Uh, Ben? I think we better get to the hospital".
"Oh my God!" Carbo shrieked. "Move move move, go go go, Benno, why are you waiting, there is a baby on its way! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Ben seemed to be frozen to the floor in fear. "Uh-uh-uh", he stuttered nervously.
Carbo grabbed his head in his hands. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEE!" he bellowed into his best friend's ears, startling Ben to life.
"WE'RE HAVIN' A BABY!" Ben whooped, shoving Melissa towards the door. "Come on, Mel!"
Rachel let out a gasp, as liquid trickled down her leg. "Jake", she called shakily. "Babe!"
"Yeah?" Jake appeared in the bathroom door, a worried look on his face. "What happened, baby?"
"My water just broke". Her eyes were wide with fear, and Jake reacted just the way she expected him to.
"Mate?" Jake screamed at his brother, tugging Rachel towards the door and grabbing the bag he insisted she have packed for a month. "We're going to the hospital, THE BABY'S ON ITS WAY!"
"Wait for me!" Alex scrambled off the lounge, snatching up his phone on the way towards the front door. "Ooh, Carbo is going to spew!"
Mate get the cash ready, Rach is having the baby
He climbed into the backseat, chucking to himself- but his smirk was wiped away when he received a message back.
Better stop at the bank on the way, we've been here for 3 hours.
"Mel's having the baby!" he gasped.
"Mate, that's Rachel!" Jake replied, swerving and narrowly missing a street post (causing Rachel to let out a shriek of panic). "Rachel's the one in labour in the front seat!"
"But Mel's the one in labour AT THE HOSPITAL".
"Oh my God", Rachel uttered.
"The race is on!" Alex grinned gleefully and resumed staring out the window, imaging a crisp fifty dollar note being pressed into his hand.
"Any news yet?" Julie wanted to know, bursting into the waiting room with the rest of the family in tow.
Sammy, Nathan, Alex and Carbo all shook their heads. With Nathan accepting his little sister, he smiled at his parents.
"The race is on. Money's ready, all we need are the babies".
"Good luck with that", Dave chuckled. "We could be here all night!"
"Don't say that", Grace scolded gently. "With Rachel's luck, we very well might be".
Everything between the couples were sorted. Both nurseries were decorated and furnished, names were chosen (and kept firmly secretive)… the only thing they were waiting for were the babies.
But they weren't kept waiting long.
Ben burst out of the delivery room, a huge grin on his face. "It's a girl!" he announced gleefully.
Just as Jake burst out. "It's a boy!"
"Only in this family", Ted shook his head, as everyone around him dissolved into laughter.
Hannah Michelle Rafter and Joel David Barton made their debut, as cousins less than two minutes apart, on September the eighth, much to the delight of their awaiting family. Eighty dollars were put into savings accounts for both babies, as no relative had guessed their names (Carbo fuming that neither couple had chosen Nick for their respective child).
"What do you say, Jake?" Ben chuckled. "Joint birthday parties?"
"Absolutely!" Jake laughed.