-Chapter Three-


Continuing from Chapter Two

Hannah begins squirming in her mother's arms, rooting at Jo's breast. "I think she's hungry," Jo chuckles. She lays the baby on her legs and situates herself. Then, she brings the baby to her breast and Hannah latches on. Jo breathes a sigh of contentment.

Sam looks at Haley, who is beginning to squirm. "Are you ready for her?"

"Hang on," she replies, giggling, trying to adjust herself with one hand, "I've never done this with twins before."

Suddenly Haley's face turns bright red and she lets out a wail.

"Go ahead and bring her over."

Sam stands up, cradling his daughter, "C'mon, sweetheart. I'll bring you to mama." He places the baby in Jo's arms. "Here you go," he states, still addressing his daughter. "Do you need anything?" he asks his wife.

"Can you fix my pillows?" she asks as she tries to get Haley to latch on without disturbing Hannah. Unfortunately, as Haley latches on, she accidentally bumps her sister and causes Hannah to detach from Jo's breast. She starts to wail. "Sam, can you help?"

"What do you need?"

"I need my bed raised up some more and a couple pillows under my arms."

Sam raises the bed and arranges the pillows. "Is that good?"

"Perfect," she smiles. "Can you take Haley for a second while I get Hannah situated?"

Sam picks up their youngest child, who is wailing at the top of her lungs. Jo situates their other twin, who is also wailing and has stiffened her body, with limbs extended out so she is difficult to console. Sam places Haley at his shoulder and rubs her back, "Shhhh, Daddy's got you." He rocks her gently, trying to get her to relax.

Jo picks Hannah up and holds her transverse across her body, with the baby's head near Jo's exposed breast. She turns the baby toward her and rubs the baby's back. "Hannah," she sing-songs. Soon, Hannah's wailing turns to sobs and then stops altogether. "Okay, baby girl. Let's get you fed." She guides her breast next to Hannah's mouth, causing her daughter to root and latch on. As soon as she feels the baby is securely on, she asks Sam for Haley, "Could you lay her here?" She receives the baby as Sam lays Haley in the crook of Jo's right arm. She guides the baby to her breast and she quickly latches on.

Sam sits in a chair nearby and watches in amazement.

"What?" Jo asks with amusement.

"Do you know how amazing you are?" He questions.

"Sam," Jo blushes.

"No, seriously. You are. You gave birth to our beautiful twin girls with no pain medication and it wasn't a text book delivery. I'm a wimp when I get a paper cut."

"Oh, you are not!" She continues to blush. "C'mere." Sam gets up and approaches his wife's side. Jo leans up. "Closer," she states in a sultry voice. He does as instructed. She plants a soft kiss on his lips. "Thank you." Sam looks at her puzzled, so she continues, "for giving me these beautiful little girls. Yes, I had decided our family was complete and no, I didn't get pregnant on purpose, but thank you for these beautiful babies."

Sam smiles. "You don't have to thank me. We both made them."

"I know, but I was the one who wanted to have more kids."

"And I didn't," he sing-songs, "but I'm glad they're here, they're healthy, and that you're their mother." He places a soft kiss on his wife's lips.

Jo leans against her pillows, taking in the moment.

A few minutes later, Hannah begins squirming. "Sam, can you take her? I think she's finished." Sam takes the baby, sits down in the rocking chair and begins burping the baby. Jo sees that Haley is finished as well, so she lays the baby on her legs while she situates herself again. She picks the baby up and begins burping her.


After the couple burp and change their daughters, Jo tries to stifle a yawn, but Sam notices. "You look tired."

"I'm okay," she protests.

"Jo," he continues, "you've had a hard day. Get some sleep."

"But we've got two of them."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of them both. Besides, you've had them to yourself for nine months. I want some time to get to know these little girls."

Jo kisses Haley on her head and places her in her bassinet; Sam brings Hannah over and Jo kisses her on her head. Then she kisses her husband on the lips. "I think I will take a little nap." She pulls the covers around her and soon she drifts off to sleep.

With his free hand, Sam picks Hannah up from her bassinet. He sits on the couch with Haley in his left arm and Hannah in his right. "Hi girls, I'm your dad. Your mom's asleep over there, so we can't wake her. She's had a hard day. You two have had a hard day too I suppose, with getting out here into the world. You've got a big sister and brother that can't wait to meet you; they don't even know you've been born or that you're girls." He yawns and looks down. The twins are also asleep. He decides to place them in a bassinet together and stretch out on the couch. Soon, he's asleep.


(Mid-July 2002; Seven and a half months ago; the evening after Jo tells Sam)

Sam and Jo are in bed. The kids are asleep, so the couple feels like they can talk freely about the baby, or babies, in this case. Sam is still on a high from the news his wife brought.

"Are you happy about the babies?" Jo questions.

Sam chuckles and holds his wife close, "Of course! This is the best news."

"I know you weren't wanting any more kids."

"That doesn't matter," he replies, brushing a lock of hair from her face, "what matters is that we're having two beautiful babies in about seven months and I love you very, very much."

"Oh Sam!" A lump grows in her throat.

"So, when do you want to tell the kids?"

"I want to wait," she replies, smiling, "I want to keep this between the two of us for awhile."

Curious, Sam continues, "How long do you want to wait? We can't wait too long."

"Oh, we can probably wait another month before we tell the kids. I think it'll be awhile before I start showing."

"Are you sure?"

"I shouldn't be showing until I'm about three months along. Most of my clothes aren't tight yet, so unless these babies grow like crazy, I shouldn't be showing for another month or so."

"If that's what you want."

A smile spreads across Jo's face, "That's what I want."

They snuggle together into the covers and eventually drift off to sleep.


Back to the present.

Soon, it's four o'clock and the kids should be home from school. Sam looks at his watch and realizes that he needs to go pick the kids up to bring them to the hospital to meet their new sisters. He kisses his wife on the cheek and she stirs. "Jo."

"Hmmmm?" Her eyes flutter open.

"I've got to pick the kids up. They should be home from school."

"Lizzie's gonna be excited," the blonde replies, gazing at the sleeping babies in the bassinet beside her.

"I think Matt will be once he gets over being the only boy." A smile spreads across his face.

"What?" She asks, curious.

Chuckling, he continues, "unless you want to try for another one."

"My family's complete just the way it is," she smiles, planting a light kiss on her husband's lips.

"I'd better go." He plants another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Sam places a light kiss on the head of each of the twins. "I love you too." He leaves to pick up his older two children.


At the McGuire house

Matt is watching TV with Lanny in the living room and Lizzie is talking on the phone in her bedroom.

"I think you're right, Lanny," Matt declares, "this weekend we should build our own extreme skate park."

Lanny blinks.

"Yeah!" Matt's face lights with excitement. "And we could even build a halfpipe! Boy Lanny, you are a genius!"

Sam pulls into the driveway. He gets out of the car, walks up the sidewalk and enters the house. "Kids! I'm home." He calls.

"Hey, dad," Matt greets, "how's mom? Are the babies here?"

"They're here. Where's your sister?"

"Up in her room. What are they?" he asks, with anticipation.

Lanny grins and blinks rapidly.

"I bet they're boys too!" Matt states, excited.

"Your mom wants to tell you. Can you get your sister?"

Matt yells from the base of the stairs. "LIZZIE! DAD'S HERE!"

"Matt," Sam states, a bit exasperated, "I could've done that. Go get your sister."

Matt and Lanny knock on Lizzie's door. "Lizzie, dad's here. The babies are here and they're both boys!"

The door flies open, "What?" She shoves the pair aside and races down the stairs, "The babies are here?"

"Yes," Sam replies.

"Matt said they're boys." Lizzie's smiling, trying to hide her disappointment. "So, what are my brothers' names? Is mom okay?"

"Matt and Lanny are just toying with you," he replies, "I haven't told Matt what they are. Your mom wants to tell you what they are, but I will tell you that your mother and the babies are just fine."

"HA!" Lizzie snarks back at her brother. "I bet they're both girls!"

A wave of panic crosses Matt's face, "Aww man, I hope they're at least one of each."

Sam laughs, "C'mon you two, your mother is waiting for you. Lanny, do you want me to drop you off at your house?"

Lanny blinks.

"He rode his bike over," Matt adds.

"All right," Sam replies.

Lanny rides off as Sam and the kids drive to the hospital to meet the newest members of the McGuire family.


At the hospital

Jo pics up Hannah out of the bassinet and dresses her in a ruffled pink and black dress, headband and coordinating blanket. "This is a dress your sister Lizzie picked out for you. She was hoping both of you were girls, so she bought matching dresses for you and your sister." She chuckles. "Of course, you would've looked funny in them had you been boys." She looks over at the matching outfits Matt picked out just in case the babies had been boys and sighs. He picked out orange, purple, black and gray tie dye onezees with matching socks, hats and blankets. "There! You look great!" She picks her daughter up and kisses her on the cheek before putting her down so she could dress Haley. She picks up the other dress and also one of Matt's outfits. Matt's outfits are unisex. Should she dress Haley in one of Matt's or should she have the girls match? Matt would want me to dress one in his outfit and the girls will have all their lives to match. Plus, the girls won't want to match all the time; they're not identical twins anyway. She puts away the matching dress in favour of the onezee set hoping that Haley will still look like a girl.

She picks Haley up and dresses her in the onezee set. "This is a onezee your brother Matt picked out. He thought you two were boys, so he picked out this tie dye set, but it looks great on you! It brings out your brown eyes! It doesn't look funny at all like I thought it might." She looks around the room and sees a small purple bow. She gets up, with Haley in her arms, takes the bow, and tapes it to the side of the hat's brim. "Hey, that looks good! Now, you look more like a girl!"

Cradling Haley in one arm, she picks Hannah up in the other. It takes her a couple tries, but she manages to scoop her up. "Sorry girls, I'm new at this. I'm used to having my kids one at a time. We'll get the hang of this together." She gingerly sits back in bed and waits for Sam and the kids to arrive.

The trio arrives soon after. The door opens, revealing Lizzie, then Matt and then Sam.

"Oh my goodness, they're so tiny!" Lizzie squeals as she approaches her mother and admires the babies.

"Hi honey," Sam gives his wife a peck on the lips.

Matt hangs back a bit, studying the situation and smiles.

"Come on over, Matt," Jo encourages. "Come meet your sisters."

Lizzie squeals with excitement as she studies Hannah. "She looks like me." She calls out to Matt, "Hey Matt, the other one looks like you as a baby."

"She does," Jo chuckles.

Matt awkwardly approaches his mother and three sisters. As he gets nearer, he can see that the baby wearing the outfit he picked out is darker like he is and the other twin, with the dress that Lizzie picked out is fair like Lizzie. He feels an instant connection to the darker twin. Perhaps having a little sister or two won't be so bad. Maybe one of them won't be so girly. At least mom didn't put them both in those icky dresses! "So, what are their names?"

Looking at the baby in the dress, Jo begins, "This is Hannah Faith. She's the older of the two. She was born at six o' three this morning. She was six pounds, four ounces and nineteen inches long." Then, she looks at the other baby and continues, "This is Haley Grace. She was born at eight and was six pounds even and eighteen and a half inches long."

"Can I hold Haley?" Matt asks.

"Of course!" she answers. "Sam, some help here?" Sam had been taking pictures.

Sam lifts Haley out of Jo's arm as Matt sits in a chair and then he places the baby in Matt's arms. "Hey kid, I'm Matt. I'm your older brother," he begins, forgetting about everyone else in the room. "I can't wait to take you home and teach you all kinds of fun things. See, you and me, we're the youngest and we've both got an older sister. I'll teach you all about pulling pranks...you know, like putting honey on your sister's phone, or tying all her shoes together..." Suddenly, he sees his parents and Lizzie looking at him. "Heh, heh, heh! As I was saying, I'll love you forever, kid! So what if you're not a boy. You're pretty cute and I love you." He kisses her on the forehead and Sam snaps a picture.

"Oh!" A tear escapes Jo's eye as the scene touches her.

"Can I hold Hannah?" Lizzie asks.

"Sure!" Jo answers as she passes the baby to her eldest child.

Lizzie sits in a chair and begins talking to Hannah. "I'm Lizzie, your big sister. You're so cute!" She studies her baby sister. "Mom, she's got my eyes and my nose."

"Yes, she does. She looks almost exactly like you when you were born."

"Was I bald like this when I was born?"

"None of my babies were bald when they were born. You were so blonde as a newborn, you looked blonde and Hannah's just the same. Matt was dark like Haley."

"I can't believe these two fit in you, mom!"

"Haley was transverse, shoved up almost under my ribs and had to be turned after Hannah was born, so they were quite snug at the end."

"Were they early or on time? My health class teacher said twins usually come early."

"Usually they do, but these girls waited until they were full-term, which means they waited until they were right on time. Six and Six-four are on the big side for twins."

"Did you have to have a C-Section?"

Jo is getting amused. "What are all these questions? You're not...?"

Sam hears the tail end of Jo's question and nearly fumbles the camera. "Lizzie, tell me you're not. I can't say it."

This causes Lizzie to laugh uncontrollably. "No way! I'm fifteen! Gordo and I haven't even. NO! Oh my g...! No! Trust me. I'm not. I'm just asking. We're studying human sexuality in health this six weeks and I'm just curious. That's all. I'm too young for a baby. And besides, if I want to play house, I've got two brand new sisters, I can practice on."

"Okay," she replies, relieved. "No, I didn't have a C-section. I delivered both girls naturally. Hannah's birth was just like what you read in a textbook, but the doctor had to turn Haley before she could be delivered safely. Yes, it was very painful, and no, I didn't have any pain medication."

"Your mom was a trooper." Sam gives his wife a peck on the lips.

"Ouch!" Lizzie replies. "I hope, a long, LONG time from now when I have a baby, it'll be more like what I read in a textbook." She thinks for a bit and then decides to speak again, "And by the way, the school has a couple fake pregnancy bellies and our teacher has assigned two couples to wear them."

"You're not..." Sam can't complete the thought.

"Yeah, I am," she states, "The teacher drew names of couples and Gordo and my names got drawn."

Jo begins coughing and almost can't respond, "How...how long do you have to wear...and wh...when?"

"A week from Monday and we have to wear them for three weeks. One week for each trimester."

"That sounds like a long time!" Jo exclaims. "Was it a requirement to put your name in?"

"No, it was extra credit. Gordo and I talked it over and decided to do it." Her parents look at her funny, which causes her to laugh. "That came out wrong, WAY wrong. I meant, we decided that since you have maternity clothes already, there wouldn't be any expense for me, it might be a good learning experience for us and now with the babies being born, we could add that to our report as well—what it's like caring for newborns."

"Still," Sam adds, "that's a long time to wear one."

"That was our idea. We could wear it anywhere from a weekend, Friday to Sunday to three weeks, and we chose three weeks."

"And you have to wear it all the time?" He asks.

"Well, yes. Except when I shower." She directs her attention to Matt, wanting to change the subject. "Can I hold Haley now?"

"Sure. I'd like to hold Hannah."

Lizzie gives Hannah to Sam, who carries her over to Matt. He places the baby the bassinet and receives Haley from Matt. Then, he places Haley in Lizzie's arms and then picks Hannah up from her bassinet and places her in Matt's arms. Matt introduces himself to his other little sister. "I'm Matt, your older brother. Sorry about the prissy dress. That would be your sister Lizzie's doing. I can help with damage control there." He studies his sister. "You're pretty cute too. I love you and it's okay you're a girl."

At the same time, Lizzie studies her other sister, "Hey sweet baby! I'm Lizzie. I'm your older sister. You do look just like Matt when he was a baby."

The kids spend time bonding with their newest sisters. Sam takes pictures of his new family, using the tripod when necessary to get family shots as well. Soon, it's time to take their teenagers back home. "Kids, it's time to get you home so you can get your homework done."

Jo gives her eldest kids a hug and a kiss, "I love you!"

"When are you coming home, mom?" Matt asks.

"Saturday. The doctor wants me to stay an extra day since I had a hard delivery."

"I'll see you soon, sweetheart." Sam gives his wife a peck on the lips and kisses the twins and he and the kids leave.

The twins begin to stir. "Are you hungry?" She changes the twins and then adjusts herself and helps each baby latch on. Then, she relaxes and thinks about when she and Sam told the kids about the twins.


Early September. Jo's twelve weeks along.

It's the end of the day and Jo is getting undressed for the evening. She's feeling very bloated and her clothes feel very tight. It's time to tell the kids. She puts on a pair of pajamas and notices they're too tight. She rummages through her dresser, finds a nightgown and puts it on. Much better. She looks at herself in the full length mirror, smoothing the nightgown around her abdomen, so that the slight swell shows. Yep, there they are.

Sam exits the bathroom, wearing a bathrobe, with a towel around his neck, still damp from taking a shower. He stops in his tracks, taking in the scene before him. Gosh, she's beautiful!

Jo notices that she's being watched. She smiles, turns toward her husband. "What?" she giggles.

"Do you realize how beautiful you are?"

"Oh Sam!"

Sam approaches his wife, embracing her from behind, looking at her reflection in the mirror. His right hand travels from her shoulder down to her abdomen, resting over their babies. "I can't wait to meet them."

She relaxes into his embrace. "We need to tell the kids. My clothes are too tight. We probably should have told them earlier. I think Lizzie knows."

"How come?"

"Well, she's been giving me strange looks and asking me questions."

"What kind of questions?"

"Oh, nothing blatantly obvious, but she's just been dropping hints."

"You want to tell them when they get home from school?"

"I was thinking after dinner tomorrow night and after I get dinner on the table, changing into maternity clothes."

"It sounds good," he replies, placing a feathery kiss on her cheek.

Suddenly, her stomach growls. "I think these little ones need a quick bite to eat before turning in." She grabs her robe, puts it on, tying the tie around her waist, which enhances her abdomen, and starts out the door. "Wanna join me?"

"Sure. What are you wanting?"

"There's some mint chocolate chip ice cream and peanut M&Ms calling my name."

"I'm right behind you."

The pair head downstairs and discover their kids breaking into the ice cream. "What are you two still doing up?" Their mother asks.

"We couldn't sleep," Lizzie answers.

"Don't you know it's a school night?" Sam scolds.

"Yeah dad, we know," Matt adds. He looks at his sister, who nods. "We were wondering something."

"Oh?" Jo asks, as she dishes out some ice cream for her and Sam.

He continues, "Mom, are you? Ummm, are you?" Feeling awkward, he turns to his sister, "I can't do it. You ask."

"What is it, Lizzie? You two can ask us anything," Sam adds.

"Mom, are you...ohh, how do I put this?" She looks up, trying to gather her thoughts, sighs and then starts again. "Are you...?"

"Lizzie," Jo stops her daughter. She looks at her husband and nods, before continuing, "were you and Matt going to ask me if I'm going to have a baby?"

"Yes!" Matt chirps, still feeling awkward.

"It's okay," she assures her children, "and you're right."

"HUH?" the kids say in unison, hardly believing they guessed correctly.

"I am. I'm having twins," Jo smiles.

"What?" Lizzie squeals.

"Twins?" Matt clarifies, still in shock, "Two of them?"

"Yes, Matt," Sam chimes in, "Two of them."

"So, when, mom?" the young blonde teen asks.

"Next February or March. I'm three months along."

Matt begins stammering. "Do you know what they are? Are they boys or girls or one of each? I hope they're boys. I couldn't handle two more Lizzies."

"No, I don't know what they are. I won't know for another couple months. Your father and I haven't decided whether or not we'll find out or if we'll tell anyone."

"What about names?" Lizzie asks. "I love Emma Kathryn or Olivia Chloe for a girl and Jayden Noah or Ryan Tyler for a boy."

"Those are nice names," Sam answers, "but your mother and I have a list of names already."

"What?" Lizzie asks, excitedly. "Tell us!"

"We're keeping those a secret too," he replies.

"What," Matt groans, "You're keeping EVERYTHING a secret?"

"We told you we're pregnant," Jo teases.

"WE figured that out," he retorts.

"Okay Matt," Sam states, sternly, "enough of that."

"Yes, dad," he says remorsefully.

"We were going to tell you tomorrow at dinner," their mother continues, "I'm curious. How did the two of you figure it out."

Lizzie explains, "Mom, I'm sorry, but it's been a bit obvious for a couple weeks. You're a very thin woman and you've gained weight, but only out front."

"And," Matt interjects, "you've been wearing some of dad's T-shirts, which you never do, prompting us to wonder if your shirts don't really fit."

"They're good," Sam notices, leaning toward his wife, "they're really good."

"Before you ask," their mother begins, "yes, you may tell your friends. We're going to call the family over the weekend and tell them the news. We wanted to tell you first. Since you've finished your ice cream, go brush your teeth and go to bed. It's late. You can tell your friends at school tomorrow."

The kids do as they're told and Sam and Jo retire to their bedroom. Jo begins giggling, "So they both knew!"

"Well, I guess we won't have to tell them tomorrow."

"No, I suppose we won't. Now, we'll have to tell our folks and the rest of the family."

"We can wait until this weekend."

"Yeah," she yawns as she settles into bed.


Back to the present.

Sam returns and sees that Jo's asleep, curled up with the twins in her arms. He smiles, grabs the camera and snaps a couple pictures before she wakes up. "Sam."

"Shh! Go back to sleep."

"The babies," she yawns.

"I'll change them. You just go back to sleep, okay?"

"Okay," she replies, her eyes already shut.

Sam picks up Hannah, changes her out of her dress, puts a clean diaper on her and then places her in her bassinet. Then, he picks up Haley and does the same with her. He yawns and stretches. Realizing that he's tired and that the babies will wake up soon, he makes the couch out into a bed and crawls in. Soon, he's fast asleep.


-End of Chapter Three-

A/N-I'll do one or two more chapters. Like I said, this isn't going to be a long story. I may get one more chapter done soon, I don't know. I'm moving soon, and then I won't get to write for awhile, so if I don't get to update for awhile, sorry about that.