10
Bright headlights bounced off the walls in the living room, Ali pulled up with the girls and beeped the horn. Emily and Spencer paused their Netflix marathon, shoved their feet into their slippers and practically skidded and shuffled across the warm wooden floors. Spencer and Emily hopped over the ledge to the front door and went outside to greet Alison and help her in with Lily and Grace. As the girls stepped down onto the pavement, Alison finally turned off the engine and the headlights shut off, the only light was from the interior which was highlighting the figure of the blonde.
Emily made her way towards the car with her arms flung open ready to catch her bride-to-be in her arms, "Hey babe, how was the day?"
Spencer continued to take Lily and Grace out of the car, both arms occupied by car-seats with a splash of pink and purple. "Hi, girls…you look so cute today. I mean, you look cute all of the time but today, even more so". Spencer spoke with a heightened baby-voice, evidently, she was speaking to Lily and Grace but Alison with her typical sarcastic demeanour said "Thank-you Spence, you don't look to bad yourself!"
Emily wasn't too thrilled with the insinuations, even though she knew the pair was joking around. "Woah, guys, Alison is mine, so can you just cool it for a second…yes?"
Emily was the last to enter the house but a bright light danced through the bushes, glistening against the bricks of the house like a disco ball, her eyes followed the lights as they passed through the hedges.
"OUCH!" Emily was blinded by the headlights that crept around the corner and drove up onto the driveway. Emily called into Spencer, "Toby's here!". Spencer stopped unbuckling the girls and passed that task onto Alison and darted out of the living room, hopped over the couch and out the front door to greet him.
Emily's strands of hair were floating as the air beneath it had a sudden gust as Spencer ran past her, "My God, I didn't realise she was so nimble"
Alison replied quickly, she didn't need to think of an answer, "Not as nimble as you", she spoke with a raised eyebrow and beckoned Em to come over using her pointer finger in a curling motion. Emily reached over and undid Grace's harness and had her scooped up into her arms so she could lay on her tummy against her mom's forearm. Emily scooted herself back on the couch with her heels buried into the edge of it so her knees were at a 90-degree angle, Grace was placed in the wedge between Emily's stomach and the toned stomach. Emily proceeded to brush her hands over her daughter's head, she wasn't over the short, light-brown fuzz that covered a tiny peanut-like head. The light brown fuzz was a perfect combination of Emily's and Alison's hair colour, the girls' skin was a perfect balance that turned out to be a light honey complexion that complimented their hair. Grace was sleeping on her mom's lap with a pink pacifier gently motioning up and down with each suckle.
Alison had already sat on the couch with Lily and was about to feed her when Toby walked in with Spencer draped over his arm.
"Woah, is this a bad time?"
"Urgh, Toby! J, just close your eyes a second, if Lily doesn't get this feed she will be screaming bloody murder" Alison spoke with a slight annoyance lingering in her sentence, she didn't mean to aim it at Toby, she was tired from the long day of looking after both the girls and it had been her first full day of doing activities since the post-partum depression flared up.
"Sure thing Ali" Toby squeezed his eyes shut and Spencer covered his eyes with her thin, slender hands and pushed against his back to guide him towards the couch.
Ali continued to adjust her tee-shirt to feed Lily and lay a muslin cloth over her chest so Toby could open his eyes again.
Spencer sat Toby down on 'her' three-seater. "All right Tobes, you can open your eyes again", she spoke as she went and fetched some drinks from the kitchen and the bag of pre-popped popcorn that she and Emily had pre-empted that they'd need.
Ali looked over in Toby's direction, "Toby, I'm sorry for snapping at you. I guess I'm a little sleep-deprived and this depression isn't really helping". Toby had nodded, completely understanding the situation and didn't hold it against her. "Maybe I should've considered the tablets, rather than dismissing them", she spoke to no one in particular, she was just speaking her thoughts aloud.
Emily offered her opinion, "Al, if you want to go back and get the tablets, I'll support you. Especially as I'm going back to school full-time to get my bachelors in physiotherapy and you will have the girls for another 9 months (at least) on your own, you need to feel the best you can. Or you can hire help?"
Toby was half-heartedly listening to the conversation but picked up on Em's words, "You know, I'm looking for a job. Especially now that I'm my own boss, I only get the odd job and I have tonnes of free-time I could use the cash. Plus, you guys know me, I'm not exactly a stranger. I can be your Manny?!"
"That would be a good idea. Ali gets some support, Toby can earn a few and you know him. Win-win-win?", her words trailed with some confusion that she said 'win' way too many times".
Alison was easily convinced as she slapped her free hand on her thigh, "Right then Toby, I'm going to need a reference and why you're a perfect match for us".
Even though Spencer wasn't in the same room, she and Emily questioned Alison in unison, "Seriously?"
Toby was caught off-guard, partially surprised because Alison sounded 100% serious, "Seriously?"
"Of course not, you're hired. I need you here Monday, Wednesday and Friday (11am-6pm)."
"Yeah cause I'll be back from work at 7pm", Emily spoke up to help work out the rota that was being created as they spoke.
"…and I'll be back at 5pm, so I'll get to see you 3 days a week", Spencer's voice got louder as she came out of the kitchen and into the living room. She was pretty sure that Toby saw the cheeky smile and the smile in her eyes as she was talking and slumped herself on the couch next to him, almost spilling the drinks and popcorn she had tucked under her arms.
"Great, I pop round just expecting to see Spen…I mean everyone, but I get a job out of it", Toby didn't acknowledge his slip up and he continued with the conversation. Ali and Emily couldn't help but miss a beaming smile from Spencer as she sat devouring popcorn as if she was metaphorically acting as if she was scoffing down every word Toby spoke.
*8:08pm*
"Aww, don't they look cute with babies?" Emily muttered in Ali's ear as the couple were laying together on the floor, holding each other in their arms. It was one of the rare occasions they got to have alone, without the worry that one of the girls were going to start crying.
"Well, they are our daughters, so I was planning on them looking cute. But yeah, I guess they all look cute", Ali responded in a volume that was louder than anticipated with an undertone of 'well, obviously'.
Emily looked up to over the fireplace where the clock as hanging and she only just realised that it was past 8pm. "Damn" Emily cursed under her breath and tapped her forward in annoyance because they forgot about the girls' bedtime. "Guy's, we need to pry our girls from you now. Lily and Grace need to go down for their bedtime. We are trying to get them into some sort of a routine ASAP"
Alison shot up as she didn't realise it had gotten that late so quickly because the four of them had been lost in 3 hrs of binge-watching tv shows and munching away at bags of popcorn. Alison picked up Grace out of Toby's arms and lay her over her shoulder. The girls were already asleep, but Emily and Alison wanted to make sure that they had their night feed and was in their crib by 8. Emily followed, nearly replicating the same action but instead had Lily over her shoulder.
As Spencer was passing Emily Lily's pacifier she asked, "Quickly can we play a game?"
"It better be a minute or less?", Alison responded sharpish, enough to say 'get on with it then'.
"It depends how long you have to think about it".
"Who's who?"
Emily looked at Alison and Alison stared at Emily, it was the million-dollar question. Who was Lily and who was Grace? Emily took a hard gulp and spun Ali around so she could look at her daughter's face who was resting in the crevice of Alison's neck and shoulder. "Okay so this is…uhhm, this is…" Emily was dragging out her analysis of her daughter, she was scanning her face, trying to find something that distinguishes one from the other. Emily was still thinking as she simultaneously placed her right hand over the baby's head she was holding and held her in front of her, intently staring at her and making comparisons in her mind. "So, Alison is holding Grace and I have Lily?"
"How do you know?"
"I know my children?!".
"Okay…" Spencer was unconvinced.
Alison started to clarify as she started to sway as she could feel Grace starting to stir and get irritable, "Also because Grace has a tiny freckle developing right (as you look at her, left side) above her right eyebrow bone. I have a freckle like that on my body that Emily loves, plus Grace is a mini-me cause she likes all the attention, whereas Lily is mom's (Emily's) little girl and loves the attention she has from Em.
Emily jumped in, "That is also true, see I knew that. I just had to make sure". She said as he tried to shrug it off and started to walk up the stairs to start the feeding session.
In unison Spencer, Toby and Alison responded "Yeah…?".
"Come on Ali!"
"You have orders Alison", Toby joked as he gestured to Emily who was already at the top of the stairs.
Alison walked out of the living room, dodging all the obstacles which included baby bouncers and rattles and Spencer's rogue shoe that seemed to have become stranded in the middle of the floor. She met Emily upstairs who had already started her feed with Lily, which was looking like it was proving difficult because Lily was just falling asleep instead of feeding. Alison sat down in the rocking chair with a 'boppie' placed on her lap and she lay Grace in it, who was now wide awake, showing off her beautiful hazel/brown eyes, no one was sure of the final colour they would turn out to be.
Emily broke the 5 minutes of complete silence, "I'm serious Alison, if you need to visit the doctors to get the anti-depressants I support you".
"Em, I know you do. I just don't want to admit defeat", Ali continued the conversation as she was slowly rocking back and forth with her golden blonde hair splayed over the back of the wooden chair.
"Defeat? Alison, this isn't defeat. This is help, that everyone is entitled to".
Ali didn't answer she just looked directly into Emily's eyes, Emily knew that Ali had heard her and that she understood what she was saying. Lily was passed out on Em so she finally placed her in her crib and turned on her mobile that was Alison's when she was a baby. Em turned back around and placed a kiss on Ali's head and ran her fingers through the locks of gold and stroked her chin, "I love you, you know"
"I know you do, you say it multiple times a day".
"Good, I was just making sure that you remembered". Emily had a response that was almost sultry and Alison wanted to go after her and drag her to bed, but that was pretty hard to do when she had a pillow and a 5lb baby attached to your nipple, who would surely scream if her feeding time was interrupted. Alison lay back in her chair and shook her head lightly, thinking "She got lucky this time" as she watched Emily's tanned slim fingers loosen around the door frame as she walked down both flights of stairs.
Emily practically jogged down the stairs but came to a halt when she saw Toby and Spencer having some face-time on the couch. She turned herself around, spinning on her heel and nearly ran up the stairs back to Ali. "Looks like we are having an earlier night than planned" Emily jolted her head in the direction of Toby and Spencer, "They are catching up on the 15 hrs they haven't seen each other" she tried to stifle her laugh but ended up manically smiling instead.
"If they're going to get something tonight, I think we should too? Don't you?"
"Definitely" Emily's face softened into a smile that was ecstatic to be able to touch and pleasure her fiancée before she gets worn out by school-work.
Through their conversation, Ali had already put Grace down and turned on the baby monitor and the night light. She proceeded to close to the girls' door and reached out for Emily's hands to follow her into their darkened master bedroom. Emily released the grasp of Alison's hand and dropped back onto their bed and lay amongst the pillows. The pair was still fully clothed but that wasn't going to last long. Alison pushed and locked their bedroom door and crawled on top of Emily and said with a smirk, "Hmm, we are back to familiar territory…you beneath my groin".
Emily couldn't help herself and tried to lean up and kiss Alison but she was pushed back down and was greeted by pink, sultry lips that crashed into hers with passion and depth.
Emily tried to talk, but it ended up as a mumble as she spoke into Alison's mouth, "I have to be up at 6am"
Alison rolled her eyes because her fun was spoiled, but she knew Emily was right…someone needed to bring home the money because the addition of 2 meant two times the amount of already expensive things that babies need. "Fine, we'll make it quick". Alison had a way of making her right eyebrow move independently, it made Emily hot, so she grabbed Ali's long loosely waved hair and pulled her face back down to hers.
The couple squirmed and topped each other, slowly removing each item of clothing till they were both vulnerably naked, sprawled over the bed, shaking with orgasm. Emily's legs were intertwined with Alison's and Emily's head resting on Ali's bare breasts. Alison hadn't realised that her girl had fallen asleep listening to her heart beat, so she collected the sheets that had been littered on the carpeted floor and she continued to place them over Emily's tanned slender body. Alison carefully got back into their bed and snuck her arm in and looped it between Emily's. their naked body's flush together, Emily's backside pressed against Ali's stomach and groin, Ali placed her left leg over Em's calve.
*6am*
Emily had already fed both Lily and Grace at the same time, they were content and happy to go back to sleep which granted Alison another 3hrs at least to sleep. Emily slipped out of their room and went back into her own, creeping around the room to make sure her sleeping-beauty wasn't about to be disturbed. Emily dunked her body in the shower so she didn't smell like sex for the first day back at school, dried her body but let her hair naturally dry over the next couple of hours. She had a mad dash with some mascara and some concealer to hide the fact she was completely sleep-deprived. Emily finally emerged from the ensuite, fully dressed but still barefoot because Ali hated shoes being on around the house, she felt ready to tackle the day. Before the left the bedroom she flicked off the side lamp near Alison and kissed her cheek, "I love you beautiful". Em swung their bedroom door open and heard the sleepy mumble of "I love you more, Mulan". Emily chuckled to herself and continued to close the door.
Surprisingly Spencer was also awake. "Good morning"
"Morning? Spencer, are you in work today?"
"Ugh, yeah. Can you believe it, I have a divorce to sort out and to make plans for custody of their 3 children. My mom debriefed quickly over the phone, I'm going to meet her right now", Spencer bit into a piece of toast and scribbled down a note for Toby, grabbed her keys, hugged Emily and left in her black SUV.
"That was short and sweet" Emily pottered over to the stove, cracked some eggs and made scrambled eggs and put a boat load of pepper on it. Alison joked how Emily should have some eggs with that pepper because there was so much.
Within 20 minutes the house was in silence, the door just closed to as Emily left and everyone else was sleeping. From inside you could hear the muffled sound of Emily starting up the Audi and backed out the driveway, pulled a U-turn and headed off towards Hollis College where she was working towards her physiotherapy degree. Emily had to give up swimming from when she was a teen due to her shoulder injury, that was when she had first contact with a physiotherapist who tried to help her shoulder heal, but it was never up to standard to what it used to be. That day Emily experienced what it was to help people she swore she was going into physiotherapy.
"I invited Hanna, Caleb, Aria and Ezra round so we could all be together, they will be here in 10. I ordered pizza from Tony's", in the same breath Alison said "it should be here in an 1hr. Em, while we wait can you help me change Lily and Grace.
Emily looked in Ali's direction to show her acknowledgement that she had heard her and nodded. She picked Grace up out of her bouncer and lay her over vertically across her chest, Emily could feel the light weight of her daughter on the right side of her body. She followed the blonde's natural curvaceous figure up the dimly lit stair way and into the brightly lit bedroom. Alison and Emily had planned to tell Haleb, Ezria, Spencer and Toby that they were going to be their daughter's godparents.
Before Emily came back home she made a detour to collect Lily's and Grace's baby-grow's they were going to be used as part of the reveal.
Emily sat Lily up on the changing table and pulled down the baby-grow over her daughter's head that revealed a fuzzy haired, confused Lily. Em cooed at Lily as she heightened her voice, "Aww, you're adorable in your purple outfit", she lay Lily on her back on the polka-dot changing mat and popped the clasps on the bodysuit. By that time Alison had already dressed Grace but this time in a pink, identical outfit. The girls had been covered up with a light white cardigan to cover the names on their clothing so when the guests arrive they aren't spoiled with the surprise.
*knocking*
Alison heard a light wrapping of knuckles on the front door, which she could only guess was Aria asking for permission to enter. Alison nudged Emily to go and greet their guests as she took Lily off of her and gave Emily a quick peck on the lips. Alison was bouncing both girls in her arms and took each step carefully downstairs.
"Hey" Emily spoke with a huge smile as she greeted Aria, Ezra then Hanna and Caleb. Caleb ushered Hanna into the house but maintained a tight grasp on her fingers. Alison had just made her way into the living room, while she was putting Lily and grace down in the swings, she instructed 'Aria, Ezra and Spencer to sit on Spencer's designated couch' and that Hanna, Caleb and Toby needed to sit on Emily's and Alison's couch.
Hanna sparked up the conversation, "Wait, what is going on?". Ezra and Caleb both turned their head to Alison and Emily to see what they were going to say.
"You call us all over for a pizza…only a pizza, something isn't right?"
Hanna agreed with Aria, "You guys aren't pregnant, again are you?"
Emily and Alison quickly shut down the insinuation "God, no!"
"Not, for a long time" Alison continues as she clarified what they had meant.
"So, as you know, me and Al have known you lot since forever. You have been there for us in the darkest moments and were standing with us through the happiest moments of our lives", Emily looked over to Lily and Grace who were swaying back and forth, accompanied by a light rain being played around the girls to soothe them.
Alison continued, "That's why we have a surprise for you. All of you sit back into the couch and close your eyes".
Caleb spoke up, "What kind of sadistic game is this".
"Yeah, Alison. You and Ali are welcome to have your own 'fun' in your alone time, but I, for one would be perfectly fine to be left out of it". Ezra continued as he was backing up Caleb's question.
Aria tried to hear the couple out, "Guys, they are trying to tell us something so shut it!"
*The doorbell rang*
Everyone had opened their eyes but Emily rolled hers, "Oh, for fuck's sake. What now?" and slumped towards the front door.
"Babe, curb the language…the girls".
Emily huffed as she accepted the pizza and searched her back pocket for some cash to pay the delivery man.
"Ali, you know the girls' won't remember and cannot understand you, right?"
Alison responded half-heartedly, "Obviously Han? Can we just tell you what we have planned?"
Emily wandered over and scattered the pizza boxes over the coffee table and opened them to reveal the flavourings of each pizza, except for Aria's plain margarita pizza that was placed on her 5-month baby bump. "There you go" Emily said proudly as she rubbed Aria's shoulder and sat back down on the floor with Alison.
"To finish off my speech, can you guys pick up the girls? Ezra, you should have Lily on your lap". Ezra was sitting in between Aria and Spencer so Lily was directly in the middle.
Alison went on, "Caleb, you get Grace and wedge yourself between Hanna and Toby".
"So, are you pair trying to make me and Ezra look adorable by holding your children?"
Hanna rubbed Caleb's thigh, "You're already adorable!".
Emily started by saying to their 6 friends, "Right, ALL of you close your eyes and don't open them till we say so, we're gonna take the twins' cardigan's off".
Emily used her pointer finger and thumb to tug at the small curled up sleeve on Grace's clenched arm. Em wiggled the sleeve over the tiny, lightly tanned fist that had formed. The cardigan slowly slid off and Hanna continued to take the other sleeve off to fully remove the item. Alison did the same thing to Lily and the couple laid the garments over the bannister that was a few steps behind them.
"Open your eyes!", Alison spoke with happiness as she couldn't hide her overly joyous feeling because the couple couldn't wait to see the reactions.
"Ugh, my eyes are trying to adjust to the light", Aria speaks as she is blinking furiously trying to remove the blur.
"Me too, I can't see anything", Hanna was mimicking Aria, in hope that it would help her to once again see clearly.
Emily already had her arm around Alison's shoulder's. The couple was sitting close to each-other, Ali was nearly sitting on Emily's lap, "Well, for this task you need to use your eyes and read"
"I hate reading" Hanna speaks with slight annoyance.
"I know, but you are going to want to read this", Alison tried to reassure Hanna.
Spencer was the first to realise what it said and her facial expression showed her delight, she started reading, "Will you…"
Aria continued, "…be…"
Toby joined in "…my…"
"GODPARENTS", Hanna unexpectadley screamed as she got filled with excitement. She accidentally startled the twins, their eyes widened, exposing their hazel eyes; which were browner than Aria's with subtle tones of green lingering near the iris.
"You want us…all to be godparents?" Ezra spoke almost with a joking tone. Not that it was meant to be patronizing but that he was flattered to be considered.
"To your daughters?", Toby just wanted to make sure he had understood what he had been asked to do.
"Are you sure?"
Alison responded to Caleb's question, "We're 100% sure, you know us better than anyone. You haven't disobeyed us, you are loyal, you respect us".
"What more could we ask for. All of you are perfect candidates, what do you say?"
"Yes!…duh!?" Hanna was the first to give her answer.
Aria was the second person to give her answer, "Of course we will!"
"What she was meant to say is that we, as a couple are honoured, Em…Ali". Ezra scuffles up the fuzz on Lily's hair as she sat on his lap. "She will always have a home and support from us".
Toby and Spencer looked at each other, almost as if it was fate gluing them together, like they would never be separated. Spencer was the first to break the gaze, "I'm in, Lily will be taken care of…so will Grace, you two needn't have any worries about them". Toby rubbed his obviously big thumb over Grace's light sun-kissed forearm and said "Me too, the girls will be in good hands".
Caleb was the last to answer. Emily and Alison felt hesitant to ask him as the last time they had a conversation regarding babies with Hanna, Hanna had mentioned that Caleb probably worried about being a poor role model and was put off the idea of having his own offspring, but since the girls were born he had shift in his reasoning. He was the first to hold the girls, holding them made him realise that he wanted to be a dad which sparked Haleb's conversations of having a baby. Em and Ali thought that this was a golden opportunity, the would be able to have a 'practice child' with less commitment that they could give Grace back at the end of the day but they still had to exercise responsibility. Caleb now had grace lying down in is arms being cradled. Only Hanna had ever seen this really soft, gentle side to Caleb…he finally said, "You really know how to stump a guy for words", he finished his sentence with a slight laugh at the end which sounded choked with emotion. He passed Grace to Toby and went in with a hug to Hanna and whispered in her ear…