"Jack, can you try Mommy again?" Brian asked passing his phone to his son who was sat in the back of the car. Brian had just finished a 6-hour shift at work, picked up Jack from school and were now on their way home to Mia and Ava. Mia was feeling a little under the weather with a cold, so she decided to take a day off from teaching to recover and maybe spend some time with her daughter. Brian has been trying to get hold of her since leaving work as he wanted to tell them that Letty had gone into labor, but his wife wasn't answering her phone, so he was hoping that she'd left her phone at home while she had taken Ava out somewhere.
"Daddy, she's still not answering," Jack, who turned 6 three months ago, reported.
"Okay, just keep hold of my phone in case she calls back," Brian replied as he drove towards their house. "How was school today?"
"It was good. My teacher made a volcano," Jack answered smiling.
"She did?" Brian asked.
"Yep, with Coca Cola and it went shooting up to the sky," Jack explained excitedly.
"Wow! That sounds like lots of fun," Brian commented.
"It was. We had to do it outside 'cause it would have made a big mess inside, wouldn't it?" Jack said some more.
"It would and I'm sure Mrs. Applebee wouldn't want to clean it all up," Brian said as he smiled.
"No, that would take forever and ever," Jack said acting all tired which made Brian laugh.
"It would," Brian agreed as he pulled into their driveway and made their way to the front door as he whispered, "Let's see if we can find out where Mommy and Ava are".
"Okay," Jack whispered back. Brian stopped when he saw why Mia hadn't been answering her phone: she was asleep on the living room couch with her arm draped over Ava's back who was also asleep. Pinky was on the floor and Brian guessed that it slipped out of his little girl's hand. Tiger was also on the floor sleeping.
"Jack, you need to be quiet. Mommy, Ava, and Tiger are sleeping," Brian whispered.
"Okay," Jack whispered back. "What can I do if I can't play in the living room?"
"Well, you could play in your room," Brian suggested.
"It's boring without Ava," Jack replied which made Brian smile a little bit.
"Well, Auntie Letty is having her babies right now. Why don't you make her and Uncle Dom a card?" Brian suggested again.
"I could do that," Jack agreed. "But, my markers and paper are in the living room".
"It's okay. I'll get them for you," Brian said as he went to get them.
"Thank you," Jack said as he made his way to his room. Brian went into the living room to get the supplies when he noticed Ava lift her head from Mia's chest and looked around confused.
"Hey, baby girl," Brian said quietly going over to the 1-year old. "Did you have a good nap?"
"Dada," Ava replied rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Yeah?" Brian asked picking her up, so he didn't wake Mia.
"Mama seep," Ava said.
"She is asleep, just like you were," Brian said as he went over and picked up the paper and markers. "Shall we go and find Jack?"
"Ja," Ava said as she clapped. With Ava in his arms, Brian made his way to Jack's room and gave him the supplies and decide to let Ava toddle around for a little bit, so he settled her down.
"For my card, I decide to draw a picture of Uncle Dom, Auntie Letty, and the babies," Jack announced to his father.
"That's a good idea," Brian agreed as Jack got started.
"Is Auntie Letty having boys or girls?" Jack asked.
"I don't know, Jack. They decide to make that a surprise," Brian answered.
"I guess I can make one boy and one girl," Jack suggested.
"Good thinking. The twins might also be one boy and one girl," Brian said. Then, he noticed Mia arriving after waking up from her nap.
"How long was I out for?" she asked.
"I don't know. You and Ava were both asleep when Jack and I got home," Brian answered as he gave her a kiss.
"I'm sorry. I had some cold syrup and I guess the effects have taken place," Mia guessed.
"How are you feeling by the way?" Brian asked.
"A little bit. I think I can make it to work tomorrow," Mia answered. Then, she came over and stood behind Jack. "What are you drawing, sweetie?"
"A card for Uncle Dom and Auntie Letty. That's them and their babies," Jack told her proudly.
"Letty went into labor a few hours ago," Brian explained which suddenly got Mia excited.
"Oh my God. I'm going to be an Auntie!" Mia said surprised.
"Babe, I think we've established that months ago," Brian said laughing. Jack finished his card when Brian got a phone call from Dom.
"They're here," Brian announced to the rest of the family.
"Who is?" Jack asked.
"The babies. Uncle Dom just told me," Brian replied.
"Are they boys?" Jack asked excitedly.
"One of them is. The other one is a girl," Brian answered.
"Oh. Then, it's a good thing I drew one boy and one girl," Jack said which made Brian laugh. "Do they have names yet?"
"Yeah, the boy one is called Antonio and the girl one is called Isabella," Brian replied.
"Those are Grandma and Grandpa's names," Mia told Jack.
"Can we go see them?" Jack asked.
"Let's go, then," Brian said and the family headed out for the car on their way to the hospital.
"We're going to see our baby cousins, Ava," Jack told his little sister.
"Baby?" Ava asked.
"Yes, sweetie. Babies," Mia repeated for her. A few minutes later, they made it to the hospital and into the Maternity Ward where they knocked on Dom and Letty's door.
"Come in," Dom told them and the family entered the room to see the two new additions. They saw the babies in Letty's arms and Dom sitting next to the bed, so they came for a closer look.
"Congratulations, man," Brian said to Dom hugging him. "Welcome to fatherhood".
"Thanks," Dom said as they watched Mia carry one of them.
"Awww! They're so cute. Hi, baby. This is your Auntie Mia," Mia introduced herself to the baby she was carrying.
"They are so cute," Jack agreed with his mother. "Which is which?"
"Antonio is in Auntie Letty's arms with the blue hat and Isabella is in your Mommy's arms with the pink hat," Dom explained to him. Ava watched as her parents and brother gazed at the new babies and doesn't look too happy.
"Ja," Ava called out to her brother with her arms out for a cuddle.
"I will cuddle you soon, Ava. I wanna cuddle with the babies first," Jack told her and then went to carry Antonio (with Letty's supervision of course!).
"Do you want to see the babies, baby girl?" Brian asked Ava.
"No!" Ava exclaimed at which the family then stared at her in surprise.
"Why doesn't she want to see the babies?" Letty asked.
"I think she's jealous of the attention we're all giving to the babies. And when Jack said he will cuddle her soon after he cuddles the babies, I guess that pushed her over the edge," Mia guessed.
"I didn't mean to make Ava feel bad," Jack quickly said.
"I know you didn't, buddy. Why don't you say sorry to Ava and then cuddle her?" Brian suggested. Jack gave Antonio back to Letty and went closer to Ava.
"I'm sorry, Ava," Jack apologized to his little sister and offered his arms to her. "Want my cuddle now?"
"Yeah," Ava answered, then Brian passed Ava to Jack who was sitting in the bed where the two siblings cuddled for a couple minutes.
"Now, do you want to see the babies?" Jack asked Ava.
"No!" Ava said as she doesn't want to lose her brother's attention again.
"Yes, you do," Jack playfully disagreed. By that time, Letty has both babies in her arms and Jack pulled Ava closer to them. "See? Aren't they cute?" It took Ava a few minutes, but then something happened. "See, Ava? Isabella smiled at you. She loves you too," Jack told Ava which made her smile.
"Baby smile," Ava said.
"Yeah, baby girl, the baby smiled at you," Mia said as she picked Ava up from the bed.
"Damn! Jack is good," Dom whispered to Brian. "She's practically putty in his hands".
"I know. I'm so proud of him," Brian said proudly. "I hope your kids will be the same way".
"Of course they will," Dom said as he picked up his newborn son. "We're family. We always look out for each other". The O'Conner family stayed for almost 20 minutes before they have to leave for dinner, but not before Jack gave Dom and Letty the card he made for them.