Chapter Twenty – One
Two weeks later, Lila and Steven were still mulling over the same four houses. "Do any of them stand out above the rest?" Steven asked Lila as they pored over the real estate listings. They'd been looking at the same houses for a month, but they were still stuck.
"I don't know," Lila sighed. "There are good and not-so-good points to them all. It's such a big decision."
"Yeah, it is," replied Steven. "But it's not so big that we can't handle it."
"I know, babe," said Lila, rubbing Steven's back just a bit. "I just want it to be the perfect home for our family."
"Our family," sighed Steven, "I hear it and I still don't really believe it's happening."
"I know," said Lila. "But we deserve to be happy and we will be. My folks are both doing really well, my Mom saw the nephrologist again and her numbers are steady, Dad saw the neurologist and he's doing well. Grandpa is doing well, things are coming into place more or less."
"That's good, Lila. We do deserve to be happy," replied Steven as he placed his hand on her tummy. "We've been through so much with our respective families, yours mostly medical and mine mostly stupidity, but no one can argue that our family isn't meant to be, not even my parents."
"Indeed." said Lila, her hand atop his.
"I guess we need to weed out a few more of these, huh?" said Lila, getting back to the task at hand.
"Yeah, I think so," said Steven. "Which ones do you like the most?"
"Well, I think we should go with 4 bedrooms versus 3," said Lila. "At first I didn't think we'd find any 4 bedrooms in the price limit Dad set, but since we did I like the idea of the extra space."
"Okay, so that's this one and this one, right?" asked Steven, moving the pages off the table.
"Right," answered Lila. "I like that this one has the master bedroom and the smaller bedroom downstairs, it'd name for a nice, close nursery while the twins are small."
"Okay, so you want a house where we can have the nursery close to our room?"
"Yeah," Lila replied. "I know we'll have a baby monitor and all, and they say a mother can always hear her baby when it wakes at night, but this being the first time I'd really like to have them close."
"Sure, babe, whatever makes you happy." Steven knew he would be working nights in blocks of threes or fours and there would be many nights Lila would be alone with their twins. "So, that really only leaves these two here." He handed her two pages from the few that remained on the table.
"I guess so. I'd like to walk through them both once more and really decide which one feels more like home. Maybe we should bring my Dad, it is his money for the down payment."
"Not a problem." Steven's pride took a hit with Jamie footing the housing bill, but he knew it was the best for their family. "I'll call Rita tomorrow and see when she can get us back in."
"Great! Looks like we've almost got it figured out, huh?"
"Looks that way to me," answered Steven with a smile. "I want to get everything done with the financing by the end of next week, so hopefully we'll be able to move by the end of next month. I want us to be totally settled in before the little ones arrive."
"Do you think they are boys, girls, or one of each?" Lila asked him.
"Depends on when you ask me!" replied Steven with a laugh. "I think one thing one day and the opposite the next. I really don't know. What do you think?"
"Oddly enough," said Lila, "I'm doing the same thing you are, flipping back and forth. You'd think I'd have a 'mother's hunch' of some sort, but I really don't."
"Well, boys, girls or both, they are going to be the most beautiful babies in the world."
"And the most loved," added Lila. "I can't wait, Steven, It's going to be so amazing."
"I know, babe," he replied. "I'm counting the days right along with you."
They met with Rita a few days later, and she showed them the 2 houses they had left to choose between. That evening, they once again sat on the family's couch discussing their options.
"I'm torn," Lila sighed. "Completely torn between them."
"What things are making it hard to pick?" Jamie asked as Eddie served them tea.
"Well, the layout of this one is great as far as guest space and storage space goes," she said. "But this one has the little bedroom close to the master, which is important to me since I want the babies close to us."
"If that's really what's tripping you up, I don't see how there's a problem. I think we should go with this one so we can have the babies' room close to ours. That's a lot more important than having extra closet space and a bigger attic," Steven reasoned and received a firm nod from Eddie. She knew Jamie was biting his tongue, he liked order, but even he would concede to the babies' proximity being more important than places for boxes.
"You're absolutely right!" said Lila, a relieved expression on her face. "I don't know why I didn't look at it that way, I mean what's more important - where we keep the extra junk or where our babies sleep?!"
"That's right," Steven agreed, glad he was able to help Lila make a decision she was happy with. "I'll call Rita first thing tomorrow and let her know we'd like to put an offer in on this one, okay?"
"You bet," replied Lila. "Let's hope we get it, I'd hate to have to choose again!"
"Well, for now the choosing is done. Now why don't we drink our tea then head for home to get some shut-eye? We've got an early appointment with Dr. Mianni tomorrow."
"Yeah, we do," said Lila with a yawn. "I don't know that it'll be all that involved, but it's always nice to know everything is still going on all right."
Jamie sipped his tea, "Let me know when and how to transfer the money and I'll be sure that it's there for you to use when the offer is accepted. This location is prime too, it's got one of the best schools in Brooklyn and it's walking distance from here so if you two run into trouble with those little ones Eddie or I can get there fast."
"I can come by and visit on my walks," Frank chimed in as he entered from his room. "What house did you pick?"
Lila showed Frank the picture of two story, four bedroom, two and half bathroom home with a wrap porch and large bay window.
"That's wonderful," Frank smiled. "Good choice and it's a good price for the size and the neighborhood.
When the tea and cookies were consumed and Lila had helped Eddie clean up, still cautious of her mother over doing things, she and Steven headed for home. They fell asleep in each other's arms dreaming of their new life in their new home with their new family.
The next morning Steven woke early so he could treat Lila to breakfast at the favorite pancake house. Lila was craving heavy starch lately and Steven was happy to oblige her. He was glad this appointment fell on a day off. Steve missed a lot of appointments, but he was thankful that his in-laws helped and accompanied her.
They waited half an hour at the doctor thumbing through a baby name book. "I want the names to have significance. I want to give a daughter my family name…Reagan."
"Reagan Tenney, that has a nice ring to it," Steven replied. "What about if we get two girls, we call the other one Rachel, after my grandma?"
Lila smiled and nodded, "And if it is a boy and girl, Rachel for our next daughter."
"You'd do this again?" Steven asked knowing it was getting very hard for his wife to do simple things like get in and out of bed or even sleep.
Lila nodded, "I would…" Steven bent to kiss her then they heard, "Lila," from the nurse. Steven guided his wife up and helped her walk into the exam room. Lila sat on the table and together they waited for the doctor.
"How are we doing today, Lila?' Dr. Mianni asked.
"Aside from having to pee all the time and not being able to get comfortable to sleep," Lila laughed. "I'm fine!"
"Ah yes, the familiar sounds of a patient in her 28th week," said the doctor. "I could introduce you to many, many other women who know exactly how you feel."
"Well, it's nice to know I'm not suffering alone," said Lila with a smile.
"If you'll lay back for me," said Dr. Mianni, "I'll measure your belly and make sure the babies are still on track."
Lila laid back on the table. The doctor pulled a measuring tape from her lab coat pocket and measured the height of Lila's tummy.
"Perfect," she said as she jotted down her findings on Lila's chart. Pulling the small Doppler Machine from her other pocket, she said "Let's listen to the heartbeats." She squeezed a small amount of gel on Lila's tummy, moved the small Doppler wand around until she heard the heartbeat, and then held it still as a familiar, comforting sound filled the room.
"I could listen to that all day," said Steven proudly.
"Does it sound Okay?" asked Lila, being the ever-concerned mother-to-be.
"Sounds wonderful," said Dr. Mianni. "Everything today appears to be right on track, which is exactly what we like to see."
"Amen to that," replied Steven.
"Do either of you have any questions for me?" asked the doctor as the appointment drew to a close.
"I don't think so, my mother and aunts tell enough stories to answer any of my questions three times over and my Aunt Linda is a nurse…"
"Actually, I do have one," said Steven. This surprised Lila, not that he had a question, but that he hadn't mentioned to her before then.
"Sure, Steven," said Dr. Mianni, "What is it?"
"At what point in the pregnancy does sex become unsafe?" asked Steven. "For their sake, not mine," he added, pointing towards Lila with a little grin.
"Unless there are complications of some sort," said the doctor. "Sex is perfectly safe through the entire pregnancy."
"Really?!" replied Steven, clearly a bit surprised.
"Yes, really," said Dr. Mianni. "In fact, some couples whose babies are overdue find that having sex actually helps bring on labor."
"We'll be tucking that away for possible future reference!" said Lila.
"Wow, I guess you really do learn something new every day, huh?!" said Steven. "Thank you, doctor. It probably seemed like a silly question, but I've been concerned about it so I thought I'd better ask. That wasn't exactly a question for Aunt Linda at Sunday dinner."
"It wasn't silly at all, Steven. I think it's wonderful that you're so concerned about Lila and the babies that you'd ask about that, not a lot of men would."
"He's the best," Lila said beaming. "One-of-a-kind in the most wonderful ways."
"I can see that, Lila. This baby is going to be very lucky to have you both for it's parents."
"Thank you, doctor," said Steven. "I think, though, that we're gonna be the lucky ones."
A/N: We're getting closer now…and soon it will be moving day! I want to thank all the reviewers that have been following me for this entire series and hopefully you will all be here for the next nine parts. Don't forget to check out the first installment of the Love Is…Series That's What Love Is For.
Next Update – Ma 24th – Lila, Jamie, and Eddie support Steven after a difficult fire.