She pulls me in for a hug.
"You look great!" She says. She pats my stomach.
"Boy or girl?" She asks.
"Marcus and I will find out before the wedding." I say. She smiles.
"I'm rooting for a boy." She says, laughing.
"How did you find out about everything?" I ask.
"A little birdie called me to make you a dress." She says. I immediately look at mother.
"That would be me." She says, raising her hand. I smile.
"Thank you."
"So Amber, are you going to be a bridesmaid?" I ask.
"Only if the bride will have me." She says.
"It would be my honor." She pulls out a blue dress.
"And it looks like this one is just my size." She says, teasingly. Of course she knew I would ask her to be in the wedding. Kaitlynn comes over and tries on her dress.
"Annelise, you look gorgeous." She says.
"You do too." I say. I look in the mirror a little longer. I can't believe it's finally happening. My baby is growing, tomorrow I'm getting married to the father of my child, the love of my life. My only worries are about the games…
I slip off the dress and carefully place it back in the bag. I put my t-shirt back on and my sweatpants. Kaitlynn twirls around in her dress, and it almost takes force to get her to take it off.
"You get to wear it all you want after tomorrow." I tell her. She finally takes it off and Amber slips it on the hanger. I wobble down stairs to the kitchen. I take my vitamins and make a sandwich. Marcus comes in and walks to the kitchen. He holds me from behind and kisses my neck. I turn around and kiss his lips.
"Good to see you." I say.
"Good to see you too." He says. He leans down and kisses my stomach.
"And I can't wait to see you." He says. I laugh.
I take my plate to the table and sit down to eat. Becca and Jane walk in, wearing their dresses. They are both going to be flower girls. Marcus asked Daniel to be his best man.
"Hey don't ruin those before tomorrow." I say. They giggle.
"We won't!" They say in unison.
Then they rush off to Becca's room. I look out the glass door into the backyard. Father and Greg are setting up the alter. Greg has been walking a lot more, and doing things like lifting and carrying. It's a remarkable improvement from six months ago, when he was stranded to a bed, unable to get up and move. I inhale the food and put my plate in the sink. I start to walk to the living room, but Marcus quickly scoops me up and carries me there. I roll my eyes.
"You don't have to carry me everywhere." I say.
Tomorrow couldn't come any faster. I was excited for the wedding, but more excited to finally find out the gender of my baby. I rub my hand over my stomach, smiling.
"I can't wait to meet you." I whisper.
I plop down on the couch and turn on the TV. Marcus comes and joins me. I lay my head on his lap and he rubs my stomach.
"You're going to make a great dad." I say. He smiles.
"You're going to make a great mother." He says.
I return the smile. We watch the TV for a while, and then Marcus speaks up.
"Whoa. I think I just felt the baby kick." He says. I rest my hand on my stomach. I feel a little nudge and I giggle.
"I think its saying hi." I say.
I continue watching the TV. I can hear mother arguing with Becca and Jane to get their dresses off. Father and Greg come in and plop down on the couch next to us.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Father asks. I nod my head and smile.
I let out a yawn and take a nap on Marcus's lap. I wake up around evening. I grab Marcus's hand and bring him up to my room. We lie down on my bed and wrap ourselves in my cover. He kisses me and rests his forehead on mine. I close my eyes and soon fall back asleep.
Marcus wakes me in the early morning.
"Its time." He says. A sleepy smile breaks on my face. We finally get to see our baby. I slip on some shoes and we head out the door. I hop into his car and we drive off. He has one hand on the steering wheel, and the other is holding mine. I can't help but feel excited. We get to the hospital and I literally run in. Marcus is close behind me. I rush to the receptionist's desk.
"Hello Miss Annelise. Your doctor is ready." She says. I grab hold of Marcus's hand and walk into the room. I sit on the table and Marcus sits across from me in a chair. We wait eagerly until the doctor comes in. She smiles.
"Ready?" She asks. We both nod eagerly.
She has me lie down and she puts some weird gel on my stomach and runs a device over it. An image pops up on the screen. I close my eyes. I want to be surprised.
"Oh my god." Marcus says.
"Congratulations. One of each." She says. I feel confused, then I look at the screen. Two little bodies appear. Another huge smile breaks across my face. Twins. One girl, one boy. Marcus is smiling too. We're having twins. Two babies. I have two little hearts beating inside of me. I start to cry tears of joy.
"Twins." I say. The doctor hands me a picture of the ultrasound. I clutch it to my chest. "Thank you doctor." I say.
"Its what I'm here for. I will see you again in two months for another checkup." She says. I thank her again and we get up to leave. We get in the car and I stare down at the picture. I can't wait to tell everyone. Marcus leans over and kisses me.
"I can't believe we're having two babies. Twice the fun." He says. I let out a small laugh.
A bunch of names run through my mind. I decide to wait until they arrive to pick names. I pat my stomach. This is more than I could hope for.