Okay this took me a lot longer to write than i thought that it would and, in result, my mind may have wavered. So i apologize if the characters seem a little OC. Anyway, i hope you enjoy the new chapter, i do, even if it was completely frustrating to write.
A Knock on her Stomach
By the time Peter and I touched down in New York I was almost ready to pass out.
"Peter," I yawned, "Do we have to go and fill out paperwork?"
"No," Peter said yawning himself, "Come on, Jones will be waiting for us."
We grabbed our small bags and headed out of the terminal to where Jones would be waiting with the car. Peter and I had just gotten back from a three day assignment in Florida and were exhausted from the flight back. Peter decided to catch the red eye, which turned into a horrible decision when we were placed right in front of two young children. They yelled the entire way back and, despite our best attempts, Peter and I hadn't been able to sleep at all.
"So, how's Abigail?" I asked and Peter's mood seemed to brighten a little at the mention of his daughter.
"Elizabeth says that she's reverse cycling," he told me with a goofy smile.
"Which is?"
"She sleeps in the day and is up all night."
"Sounds helpful for today," I said with a chuckle.
"Yeah but Elizabeth hates it. How's Alex?" he asked as we arrived at the loading/ unloading area.
"She's been really moody lately. I think she doesn't like how much I've been working."
"Hey, I work at least two hours longer than you every day."
"Peter! Neal!" Jones yelled from down the lane and we started our way towards him. I yawned again and got into the back of the car.
The next thing I knew Jones was shaking me and telling me to get up. "What? Where are we?" I asked confusedly.
"You're home, you fell asleep in the car."
"Oh," I said and got out of the back seat and stretched.
"You should get some sleep, you look worse off than Peter was; and he looked like hell."
"Yeah," I said and walked up to Alex and my new townhouse. It was a simple three floor white house that we had bought right after we got married. There was a large oak in the front yard and Peter and I had put a garden complete with coy pond in in the back yard. I walked inside and dropped my bag in the entrance.
"Neal?" I heard Alex say from the living room. I took off my shoes and walked farther in and saw her sitting on the couch and reading a magazine, "Hey, I didn't think that you were going to be back until later."
"Peter decided to book us seats on the red eye," I said and yawned yet again.
"Oh honey, you look horrible," she said and started to lead me upstairs to our room. She walked me into out room and I collapsed onto the bed.
"Neal, I need to tell you something important," Alex said turning to me, but I was already asleep.
I woke up to the sound of my alarm reminding me that it was quarter to seven in the morning. I blindly reached over and smacked something, hoping that it was the snooze button. Thankfully, it was. I yawned and opened my eyes to see Alex's sleeping face. I smiled and leaned over to place a light kiss on her lips. As soon as I did her eyes slowly opened and she smiled a brilliant smile.
"Morning," I said to her sleepily.
"Morning," she said back and I kissed her again, "Ug, you're still in yesterdays clothes, go change," Alex said and pushed me off of her.
I got out of bed and headed into the bathroom to shower. When I was done I walked back into the bedroom to get changed and saw that Alex was gone. I quickly slipped on some pants and a shirt and went to look for her, it wasn't like her to get out of bed before nine. I walked downstairs and heard the sound of retching coming from the bathroom.
"Alex?" I worriedly asked. After no answer I knocked on the door and tried again, "Alex, are you okay?"
"Yeah just, uh, just give me a second," she said and I soon heard the toilet flush and the sink turn on. A second later the door opened and Alex stood there, eyes downcast.
"What's wrong?" I asked suddenly nervous.
"Come with me," she said and led me to the couch in the living room, "I've been wanting to tell you for a while but I, I needed proof first."
"What are you talking about Alex?"
"Wait here," she said and went upstairs.
I looked around the room wondering it was that she had to tell me when I heard a small knock from behind me. I turned to see Alex nervously standing in the doorway. She bit her lip and reached into her purse which she had gone to get. She unzipped the inside pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper, "I had my appointment two days ago," she said and, sitting down, handed me the paper.
I took it and stared at it for a second wondering what was contained for me on the other side. I unfolded the paper and four black and white photos appeared along with the time and Alex's name.
"What is this?" I asked, my brain not comprehending what I was seeing.
"It's a sonogram. My sonogram," she said and I looked up at her with confusion, "I'm pregnant Neal."
"You- you're, you're pregnant?" I asked, my eyes darting to her stomach.
"Yeah, and Neal," She said and I looked back up at her, "Um, do you see this spot on the sonogram?" she asked pointing to a small black spot on the photo, I nodded yes before she continued, "And, do you see this other spot on the this side?" She asked me and pointed to another small black spot on the same picture.
"Do you know what that means?" she asked me and I shook my head, staring at the picture of my unborn child, "That means that, we're having twins Neal."
"Twins?" I asked her and my heart stopped. I was going to be a dad. In a matter of months I would have two beautiful children. Two children.
"Yep," she said with the most beautiful smile that I had ever seen, "It's too soon to tell the sexes yet but in a few months…"
"Twins," I stated, still in shock.
"Are you, are you okay?"
"Okay? Alex, I'm terrified," I told her honestly, "But… if they're ours then I know we'll be fine."
She smiled at me with tears running down her cheek and I kissed her.
Neal had been smiling that goofy smile ever since he first walked into the building. No matter what he was doing there was always just a trace of it plastered on his face. When we went to lunch I noticed that his eyes were shining even more than usual, but this was a different kind of shine. This was a shine that I had never seen before.
"Neal," I said and he looked up from his paperwork, still wearing that smile, "Can we talk in my office."
"Sure Peter," He said and got up.
I led him into my office and he sat down in one of the chairs across from my desk. That stupid grin was still on his face as his picked up a rubber band ball and started to play with it.
"What's up?" I asked taking the ball from him.
"Nothing, I was just wondering if Abigail would like to have a playmate."
"Abigail is seven months old, she can barely-" I stopped talking and the rubber ball fell out of my hand as soon as I realized what he was saying.
I stared at him and he smiled the biggest, goofiest smile yet to grace his face.
"So? I was thinking that they could meet in about, oh, eight months say?"
"You're going to have a kid?" I asked incredulous.
"Well, technically two but, you know…semantics."
"You're having…twins?" I asked nervously and his grin grew even wider, "You better start saving now," I said with a chuckle.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because as soon as El found out our credit card bill tripled," I said and for the first time today, he stopped grinning.
Eight Months Later
I woke up to see Alex's sleeping face and smiled at how beautiful she looked. I turned onto my side and placed my hand on her swollen belly. Even eight months pregnant she looked beautiful. I closed my eyes and lay there and, everything just felt right, this was how life was supposed to be.
"Neal," Alex said worriedly, I wasn't expecting her to be up this early, especially on her day off, "Neal!"
"What?" I asked opening my eyes at her urgency.
"I think my water just broke."
"What! Are you sure?"
"Well I'm not exactly one for peeing my pants!" she said and tried to get up.
"Okay, okay!" I said jumping out of bed and getting dressed as fast as I could. "Okay, wheres the hospital bag?"
"The hospital bag is by the door," she said changing as well.
"Got it," I said struggling with my shirt. I gave up and settled for just my plain white undershirt and a simple jacket that Peter had gotten me for just this time. He said that functionality was worth more that fashion when waiting for you child to be born. I disagreed at the time as it went against my usual beliefs but now, it seemed like a good idea, "Ready?"
She nodded and I helped her down the stairs and to the front door. I grabbed the hospital bag, my cell phone and the car keys and we rushed out the door. I got in the drivers side and Alex cried out.
"What?" I asked panicking.
"Contractions," she said grasping her belly.
We got to the hospital in ten minutes thanks to some driving that would have Peter yelling at me. I parked in the front entrance drop off and took Alex inside. I checked her in and two nurses rushed her to an empty bed in the maternity ward.
An hour later Peter and Elizabeth showed up toting Abigail with them. I was just bringing our breakfasts up from the cafeteria when I spotted them in the hallway.
"Peter! Elizabeth!" I said jogging to catch up with them
"Neal! How's Alex?" Elizabeth asked hiking Abigail up higher on her hip.
"She's already yelled at me twice about how my children were killing her from the inside and she would kill me as soon as she got them out."
"That good huh?" Peter asked with a smile.
"They had to move us to an empty room."
"That, that," Peter said chuckling until he got a stern glare from Elizabeth, "That's not funny."
"You remember what I was like when I was in labor?" Elizabeth said and is saw Peter shudder, "Keep talking like that and I'll go straight back to acting like that."
"We're in here," I said pointing to a door. I walked in and saw that Alex had fallen asleep. I set her bagel and cream cheese down on the table next to her and sat down in a seat.
"Did you call June and Mozzie?" Elizabeth asked.
"I did but well, you know Mozzie and hospitals and June is upstate for her granddaughters soccer tournament. She'll come down as soon as she's able to."
"So, have you decided on a name yet?"
"Well, since Alex decided not to hear the genders, by extension neither can I. So now we have to pick out four names, just in case, which makes it even more difficult. Every name that I propose she doesn't like, and every name that she proposes she decided two seconds later that she doesn't like it."
"What names have you thought up?"
"I think the better question is what names haven't we thought up?"
"What are your favorites?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well, I like Liam and Christopher for guy names and Sarah and Mackenzie for girl names. Alex likes Charlie and David for boys and Allison and Adana for girls."
"And Neal refuses to see that my names are better," Alex said sleepily from her bed.
"Hey," Elizabeth said walking over to her, "How are you feeling?"
"I feel like every five minutes I'm getting hit in the stomach. The nurse said the had to wait until they were about every two minutes before they put me in a delivery room."
"I know it hurts but believe me, it's worth it," Elizabeth said taking her hand.
"Hey Neal, will you show me where the cafeteria is? I don't remember," Peter said getting up from his seat.
"It's just downstairs," I said looking at him confusedly.
"Why don't you show me," Peter told me and I got the hint.
"Yeah, I'll show you," I said and walked out the door, Peter in tow, "You're not really hungry are you?" I asked as we got into the hall.
"With all of the food that El's been making? I don't have to eat for the next week. No, I just thought that they could use some girl time together."
We walked downstairs in silence until I found that we were in a small outside garden. We made our way to a bench and sat down.
"So, you're going to be a dad soon."
"Yep," I said and leaned back in the bench, "Peter, I don't know if I can do this."
"This said from the man who once jumped out of a judges second floor window onto an awning and into a van only to get immediately out of the van and into maintenance pipes so that he could prove that you didn't do something illegal. Neal when you put your mind to it you can do things that no other man on this earth can. If I chased you for as many years as I did I refuse to believe that something as simple a children can bring you down. If I had known that I would have gone to a daycare a long time ago."
After Peter finished we sat there in silence and stared at a large oak tree. It must have been ten minutes before something dawned on me, "Three floors."
"What?" Peter asked and looked over at me.
"I jumped three floors, not two," I said and Peter started to laugh.
"Mr. Caffrey! I found you!" Alex's nurse exclaimed running into the courtyard, "You're wife just went into the delivery room!"
"Where?" I asked jumping up.
"Top floor delivery room three," the nurse said and took off running as fast as I could. I ran to the elevator but it was taking too long so I opted for the stairs instead. I took them two or three at a time and was at the top floor in no time. I looked both ways and saw delivery room three just to my right. I went to walk in but a nurse stopped me.
"Hey Wait! You cant go in there," she said grabbing my arm just as I was about to open the door.
"My wife's in there!" I said looking at her pleadingly,
"That may well be but it's a sterile environment, you have to put on a sterile apron," she said and grabbed a yellow apron, cap, mask and gloves. I hurriedly put the ensemble on and walked into the room.
"It's about time you got here Neal!" Alex yelled at me.
"Hey, how are you?" I asked taking her hand.
"I'm pushing your two bulbous children out of my body! How do you think I am!" the yelled and Elizabeth wiped some sweat off of her face.
"Elizabeth, where's Abigail?"
"Mozzie has her," she said and went back to doting on Alex.
"But Mozzie doesn't-"
"Okay Mrs. Caffrey you have to push," the doctor told Alex.
"I am pushing!" she said and shouted as another contraction hit her. She collapsed back onto the pillow, "So help me Neal if you ever impregnate me again I will castrate you."
"Duly noted," I said nervously as she took a death-grip on my hand.
Half an hour, many curse words and one bruised hand later; Alex and I were holding our newborn children, one boy and one girl.
"They're beautiful," Alex said looking down at our children.
"He has your eyes," I said looking at the little bundle of blue in her arms.
"She has yours," Alex said nodding to my own little bundle of pink.
"So what are you going to name them?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah, you really have to decide now," Peter said now holding a sleeping Abigail. He had just gotten her back from Mozzie who, after saying his congratulations, left the hospital like it was on fire.
I looked at Alex before offering a compromise, "How about, I name out daughter and you name out son?"
"Okay," she said and thought for a second, "our son's name will be Liam David Caffrey."
"And our daughter will be Adana Sarah Caffrey."
"They really are beautiful," Alex said tiredly.
"They're sure to break hearts," I said and put Adana in her crib and then Liam. I stared at them for a second and my heart soared when I saw them simultaneously yawn. I took my spot next to Alex on her bed and took her hand in mine. We all stared at our children when I felt my eyes starting to drift shut. I looked over to Alex and saw that she had fallen asleep. I smiled and let my own eyes close, visions of our children dancing across the back of my eyelids.
"Okay Mr. and Mrs. Caffrey I need to-. Oh," the nurse said coming into the room. Peter and Elizabeth looked over to see us both fast asleep, "I'll come back later," the nurse said and walked out again.
"So," Peter said awkwardly.
"It really is something you have to see to believe. Neal Caffrey, former conman and FBI consultant, married with two children. Who would have thought?" Elizabeth said and smiling, took a photo of the couple.
"I think that deep down, this is always what Neal wanted," Peter said with his own smile.
Okay so it took me a lot longer to write this than I expected. I have no idea about the technicalities of the birthing process so if I messed something up I apologize, I'm going off of movies here. As for the children's names it took me a really long time to think of them, especially Adana. I look a lot into the meaning of the names so that's partly why it took me so long to write this. I honestly spent an hour today looking up the meaning of names and trying to find ones that fit. For what each of the children's names mean I have them below.
Abigail- source of joy, father rejoice
Liam- determined guardian
David- beloved or friend; a common name for Scottish kings in the middle ages
Adana- her fathers daughter
Sarah- princess
Adana and Liam are paternal twins, not identical, by the way.
I have the next chapter already thought up but school starts again tomorrow, today, and I have a lot of assignments to work on so it might take me a couple of days to find the time to write and post it. I hope you like the story so far! Reviews make me very happy! Seriously, my inbox is a very lonely place.
