AN: Both foobar137 and Robot Wolf 26Z requested something between Gretchen and her parents. After much deliberation, I've decided that this chapter will also serve as an epilogue to "Life Turned Upsidedown". Spoiler alert!
24-year-old Gretchen and her husband, Ferb, were sitting in the coffee shop waiting for their parents to arrive.
"I can't believe it." Gretchen said as she held her two-week-old baby in her arms and started to cry. Ferb handed her a handkerchief as he offered to hold their son.
The door to the coffee shop opened as Linda and Lawrence came in, making their way to the table where Ferb sat with Gretchen. No sooner had they sat down, Will and Trudy Weiss came in.
Gretchen smiled tightly as she started shredding serviettes. Ferb gently moved the dispenser away from her, but she grabbed one off an adjacent table. "Is something bothering you dear?" Will asked his daughter, who shook her head and continued shredding the little paper napkins. "Hormones." Linda and Trudy replied simultaneously. Ferb blanched as he looked to his wife. He hadn't dared utter the 'H' word in the past nine months.
Lawrence turned to Ferb. "How's fatherhood treating you?" Ferb smiled and nodded, then glanced to Gretchen and raised an eyebrow. She looked from him to her parents then to her in-laws. "Ferb and I have some good news." She said. The four parents were puzzled. "If it's about little Alexander, I think we're already aware."
Gretchen looked to Ferb for help. "I, uh… we, uh…" She tried. Ferb rubbed his hand on her arm. "What Gretchen's trying to say is that Alexander's going to be a big little brother at 2 o'clock." The four parents looked to each other. Lawrence obviously trying to decipher what his son's just said. "I'm not sure I understand, son. Can you explain that further?" He asked.
Ferb blinked at his father. Gretchen started to laugh and dabbed her eyes with the handkerchief. "What Ferb's trying to say is that we're going to become parents, again, at 2 o'clock." As if they weren't puzzled by Ferb's words, Gretchen's words created further confusion.
Trudy spoke to her daughter as she studied Ferb. "Is there something you'd care to explain?" Gretchen took a breath, shredded another serviette and looked to Ferb who nodded back. "The adoption went through, we're picking up the twins at 2 o'clock."
