Disclaimer: The only part of Castle that I own is the TV on which I used to watch the show.
I usually take a bath at night and then when I get up on weekdays like today which is Wednesday I put on my school uniform and take Scrapple out. This morning Dad came with me on the walk and I put on a red hat and red mittens because it's Valentine's Day.
"Hey, Dad? You know what I'm wearing?"
"Well, I'm looking right at you so I think I do. But am I missing something? If I had my X-ray goggles with me I'd know."
"Ha! In honor of Valentine's Day I have on red underpants which nobody will see unless they have X-ray goggles, and red socks which are mostly hidden by my pants, so I think I won't get in trouble at school, do you?"
"No way. And I applaud your holiday spirit. I'm wearing underpants with red hearts on them."
"Really? I'd love to have some like that."
"I'll make a mental note for next year."
"Thanks, Dad. You have the best underwear."
"I don't know that your mother always agrees, but thank you. Now, if you and Scrapple are ready, we should head home. I'm making something special for breakfast."
"You don't have to ask me twice," Scrapple told me. "I hope I'm getting something special to eat." And then he turned right around and started walking towards our building.
"Scrapple's ready, Dad."
"I see."
"But he wonders if he's getting something special, too."
Dad leaned down and scratched Scrap's head. "I would never, ever leave you out."
As soon as we came in the door I ran up to my room to get the presents for Mom and Dad which Otis, Abby, and I wrapped. They look okay considering all three of us are not very experienced wrappers.
When I got downstairs the twins were already sitting at the table and I put the packages at Mom and Dad's places. Mom came in with a bottle of juice and a pitcher of syrup because it turned out that Dad was making heart-shaped pancakes. When Scrapple barked Dad cut up one pancake, but no syrup, and put it in his bowl.
"What's this?" Mom said, pointing to her package.
"It's from us kids, but you and Dad have to open them together."
"Open what?" That was Dad, who was carrying a big platter of pancakes and started putting them on everyone's plate.
"Eliot and the twins got us presents for Valentine's Day."
"Us already born twins," Abby said. "Not the other ones."
I think she's a little bit jealous of the new babies.
"Wow, that's so nice of you," Dad said. "I had no idea."
I saw him wink at Mom. You probably remember that they have some secret code about "I had no idea" or "you have no idea" which I still haven't figured out.
"Shall we open them before we eat?"
"Yeah!" That was Otis, Abby, and me all together. We couldn't wait for Mom and Dad to see their shirts.
Dad always opens presents ten times faster than Mom because he just tears the paper off and she is very neat. She even rolls up the ribbon after she's untied it. Anyway, Dad saw his first. "Wow! thank you. A Joe Torre tee shirt! This is so cool. Mom will have to take a picture of me wearing it so I can send it to Joe."
"Aren't you curious how we chose that one, Dad?"
"Hmm. Maybe it's because you like the story of when I introduced him to Mom."
"Nope."
"Okay, put me out of my misery. I'm dying to know."
" 'cause it's number six and when the babies are born you'll have six kids," Otis said.
Dad cracked up and the twins and I high-fived each other.
We love Cheaper by the Dozen, so I said, "Maybe they should make a movie about our family and call it Cheaper by the Half Dozen, Dad."
That cracked him up, too. He was in a really happy mood.
"C'mon, Mom," Abby said.
She finished getting the last piece of tape off and unfolded her shirt. "Oooh! Reggie Jackson. I bet I know why you got me this one. Because I'm forty-four." She looked at me and nodded a little tiny nod like a secret signal. "I'll put in on right over my sleep shirt."
"It's X-" I kicked Otis under the table before he could be a brat and finish saying it was XXL.
"It fits," Mom said. "Good thing you guys found a big one to fit over my big belly. I love this. Thank you."
Otis moved his mouth like nyah-nyah but I ignored him.
"Mom," Abby said, "you have a new bracelet. Can I see?"
"It's a Valentine's present from Dad. He gave it to me this morning. Isn't it beautiful?"
I got up to look at it. It's all gold and really wide, not skinny like most bracelets. "What are all those little dents? I like those."
"It's called hammered gold. Do you see anything else?"
"Yeah! Scattered around it says F-I-V-E. Dad, how did you find that? It's so good because Mom's about to have five kids."
"I didn't find it, I had someone make it."
Mom said, "Eliot, if you look at the two ends, where the bracelet almost meets, you'll see a word you know." She turned her arm over and there it was. Well, there were two words, one on each end.
"Cinq! French for five. I'm just starting Russian but I think the other word Пять is five?"
"You're right. Wasn't Dad amazing to think of that?"
" 'cause those are the languages you speak, Mom," Abby said.
"I love it when Mom speaks French or Russian to me," Dad said. "Even though I don't understand anything she says."
Mom laughed. I think maybe she blushed, too. "Okay, kids. Time for school. All of you remember to take your envelopes of Valentines for your classes. And it's Wednesday, so Otis, make sure your karate clothes are in your backpack, and Abby, make sure you have your violin."
In a billion years Abby wouldn't forget that she has a violin lesson on Wednesday, but Otis has to be reminded about his karate, even though he loves it. Sometimes little kids forget things because they're thinking about something else.
When Dad was walking us to school I asked him what Mom gave him for Valentine's Day. He had his best goofy smile and tugged on the top of my hat. "Well, she's pregnant with twins, and that's the best Valentine's Day present I could ever want. That and my Joe Torre shirt, of course."
School was extra good today. At lunch we even got Valentine cookies and each one had a red hot on top. On Wednesdays I go to my friend Ethan's apartment with his babysitter and Sarah picks me up after Otis and Abby's lessons. Ethan's building is right across the street from ours. So today I was surprised when school let out and Gram was standing there with Sarah who was talking to Monique, who is Ethan's babysitter. The twins were already with them.
"Hi, everybody. Happy Valentine's Day."
They wished me a happy one, too, and then Sarah told the twins it was time to go and they left. "Have fun," Gram said. "We'll see you later." As soon as they were out the door she started talking to me. "I'm going to take you home, sweetheart, instead of your going with Ethan and Monique. We wanted Otis and Abby to stick to their schedule."
That was weird. "Is something wrong?"
"Not at all. Everything's fine. But about half an hour after your father got back this morning your mother started to have contractions. At first they thought it was nothing, but it turns out those little soon-to-be siblings of yours are ready to come join us, so your parents have gone to the hospital."
"But Gram, they'll be too little. They haven't been in there long enough."
"Thirty-three weeks. That's not unusual for twins. Remember, Otis and Abby were early, too."
"But they were thirty-five weeks. That's two whole weeks more. What if something happens to the babies? Or Mom?"
Gram was holding my hand, and then she held it harder. "I never lie to you, kiddo, so I'm not going to say nothing will happen, but your mother is healthy and strong and we have every reason to believe that the twins are, too. Wonderful doctors and nurses are looking after them. Your father says everything is going well. And they have fetal monitors, so if there's any problem at all and the doctors think they need to do a Caesarian to get the babies out right away, they will. Your mother told you about that, didn't she?"
"Yes. But I don't want anybody to cut her open, Gram. It could be dangerous."
"I have an idea. We're almost at the loft. Why don't I make you some hot chocolate and then we can call your father? I think you'll feel a lot better if we do that, won't you?"
While Gram was heating the milk I talked to Scrapple.
"Was Mom okay when they left?"
"Yup. She was swearing though. She told Dad, 'It hurts like hell, Castle.' She poked him in the chest. And then she said, 'All you men should have to go through this at least once in your lives'."
"That's not too bad."
"Well, she said something worse but I won't repeat it. She looked fine to me. Oh, and she was wearing her new Reggie Jackson shirt."
"Eliot? Your drink's ready. I texted your father and he'll call as soon as he can."
I had two of the miniature marshmallows and about half the mug of hot chocolate before Gram's phone rang.
"Hi, darling. How's Katherine doing? Uh huh. Mmm. Right. Well, could you speak to Eliot for a minute? He's very anxious."
I told Dad I was worried the babies would be too little but he said what Gram said, and I felt better. He said he was sorry that I couldn't talk to Mom but she was very busy trying to have the new twins.
"Did she almost break your fingers yet?"
"No. But if she does I won't say a thing. You be good tonight, okay? Gram's going to stay there. I told her that you could all have pizza, even though it's a school night. It's a special occasion."
"Thanks. Hey, Dad? Do you and Mom have names picked out?"
"We do."
"If the babies are born today you're not going to call them Valentine or Cupid are you? Because they'll get teased to death."
"I promise. No holiday-themed names. I'm sorry, I have to go now. Mom and I are sending all of you a hug, okay? I'll call you again before bedtime if I can."
"Okay. I'm sending you and Mom a wireless hug."
"Almost as good as the real thing."
When the twins got home we told them what happened. It took practically forever to order the pizza because everybody wanted a different one so in the end Gram ordered two small ones with different halves so there were four kinds. Abby kept picking stuff off hers, which might be why Mom calls her a picky eater. Gram let us watch a movie and then I read the twins a book to get them to pipe down and go to sleep and they finally did. Mr. Paulsen our neighbor went out with me so Scrapple could have a little walk before we went to bed. Dad still wasn't home and even though I tried to stay awake and was very excited, I fell asleep.
When I woke up it was 5 o'clock. I snuck down the stairs and walked to Mom and Dad's room. The door was open and Dad was lying on top of the bed with the duvet partly over him and he was still wearing his Valentine's underwear even though it was February 15th now. I crawled into bed with him and pretty soon he kind of twitched and poked his head up. "Eliot?"
"Hi, Dad. I hope you don't mind that I'm here. Is Mom okay? Are the twins born?"
"Mom is great and the twins are, too."
"Are they boys or girls?"
"Beautiful baby sisters for you and Otis and Abby. Their names are Hannah and Ivy."
"Can I see a picture?"
"Of course." Dad picked up his phone and there was a baby. And then he showed me the next picture.
"It that Hannah or Ivy?"
"Both. First one's Hannah, second one's Ivy."
"Are you sure? That looks like the same baby twice."
"I'm positive."
"Are you positive the first one is Hannah and the second one is Ivy? Maybe it's the other way around."
"See the time stamps? Twelve minutes apart. Five past eleven–that's Hannah–and seventeen past is Ivy. Two Valentines."
"I dunno, Dad. I think we're gonna mix them up. They look a thousand percent the same/"
"We'll think of something."
"Can we go see them? And Mom?"
"I hope they're all asleep at the moment. We'll go right after school, but they're in an incubator like Abby was, remember? They're going to have to stay in the hospital for a while, probably two weeks, but maybe they'll be good eaters and come home before that."
"They will if they're like you, Dad!"
"Very funny, you pint-size comedian."
"Do you have a picture of Mom?"
"Yes. Look, here she is with both the girls, before they were put in the incubator."
"Dad! They're so tiny. Look, they're smaller than Mom's hands."
"You're right, but they grow fast." Then he yawned almost as loudly as Scrapple yawns. "Do you think you can go back to sleep for a little bit? You can stay here with me."
"Thanks, Dad. I'll try. I bet you miss Mom."
"I do."
"Me, too."
"Night, Eliot."
"Dad? Not night. Until tomorrow."
"Atta boy. Until tomorrow."
"Even though it will be today."
"Right, until today."
And he put his arm around me and we went to sleep.
TBC
A/N Thank you, one and all. Until tomorrow. Or (far more likely) next week.
