Parents
December 2002
Slushy snow was falling, there was milk and cookies set out for Santa, two little girls were asleep and my surprise was hidden under the tree. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. Not only was this the first Christmas where Tess and Kate actually understood what was going on but I had an amazing surprise for Doug to open in the morning.
I slept well that night that is until very early in the morning.
"Mommy, it's Christmas! Santa came!" I woke up to Kate standing over me, a huge smile on her face. I looked at the clock and in my still blurred vision it was only three thirty in the morning.
"Baby, I know you are excited, but it's too early to open presents. We need to wait until the sun gets up. Come on let's go back to bed," I lead her back to her room. Set her back in bed and pulled the blankets up over body.
"Go back to sleep Katie, when you wake up we will open presents," I kiss her cheek and go back to bed. Obviously I crashed because the next thing I know, it is morning and Tess and Kate are poking me to try and get me to wake up. I roll over and look at them, they smile at me.
"Alright I'm up," I say as I stretch away the last bit of sleep I'll get for the rest of the day. "Now go get your daddy up," I say to them smiling. They both run around to the other side of the bed and start poking Doug. They try for a few minutes with no success, so I intervene. I lean over and kiss him. Slowly he rolls over and looks at all of us.
"Merry Christmas daddy!" both girls say.
"Merry Christmas to you too," he says pulling each girl up onto the bed and hugging them. Then he leans over and returns my kiss. "How about we go down stair and see what Santa brought you, huh?" he says pulling on sweats. He grabs Tess and pulls her onto his back and leaves the room with the girl laughing hysterically. I follow close behind with Kate holding my hand.
Both girls shriek with delight at the huge pile of presents under the tree. I sit on the couch and watch as both girls examine each gift, trying to guess what it is. Doug returns from the kitchen with mugs of coffee for the grown-ups and hot chocolate for the little ones. Finally I give the girls the OK to dig into the gifts. There is a system to Christmas in our house. Everyone opens a gift, but one at a time. First daddy, then Kate, Tess, and I go last. This will hopefully stop the frenzy of opening three gifts at once, and give the girls a chance to show off their new things.
"Daddy, here's one with your name on it," Tess says as she hand him the long slender box I had planted the previous night.
"Thank you little bear," he says to her as he pulls the ribbon off. The box falls open and I watch his face. A smile fades to a straight look then in an instant transforms into a look of pure shock. "Are you serious?" he asks me. I nod. "This is not a joke?" I smile. He jumps up and pulls me into a hug, and starts kissing me.
"Are you happy?" I ask him, looking into his eyes.
"Of course I am. This is wonderful." I kiss him again. Two little pink lines, that's all he needed to know. I was pregnant again. We stood in the middle of the living room holding each other for a few more minutes before the twins began asking all sorts of questions.
"What's wrong mommy? Are you OK?" Tess was standing there staring at me. I knelt down to her level.
"I'm just fine baby," I say to her.
"Then why are you crying?"
"I'm crying because I'm happy that's all."
Doug kneels down and pulls both girls close. "Girls," he begins. "Your mommy and I just got some wonderful news. You mommy is going to have a baby," he says to them. The girls stare at us for a moment before it finally registers in their minds.
"You mean we are gonna be big sisters?" Kate asks. I nod at her and she screams. "Mommy that is the best news ever," I pull her into a hug.
The day goes by in a blur, lots of food, playing with my daughters, and enjoying my family. It isn't until later that night, when we are all snuggled close on my bed that I get this overwhelming feeling of safety. I know that we are not going anywhere and that Doug will be here this time to see the baby be born, and not have to hear about it on the phone.
We fall asleep like that, everyone scrunched close together, warm and safe.
Best Christmas ever.
