For disclaimer see chapter one. Thanks. I believe that I own Maisy's Market, Chez Milan and "Double Trouble: Pregnancy With Twins", if not, please correct me.
A/N: Thanks, as usual, for reviewing!! I'm definitely enjoying writing this story, and that is in a big way because of all of your reviews. Also like usual, I hope that you enjoy this chapter (9 already!) and please review!
Sunrise
Chapter 9: Making it Though The Day
Lucy Kinkirk sighed deeply as she pushed her shopping cart through the isles of Maisy's Market. As usual, things were chaotic. Riley sat in the front seat while Mia, Emily, and Meg walked along side. Under the mothers' orders, the twins were each holding the side of the cart, but this didn't keep them from causing trouble. The girls danced, squealed, and giggled their way down the isle, while even Meg joined it. Riley sat in her seat squealing along with them and clapping her hands. Lucy shushed them as she tried to concentrate on her shopping list, but it didn't seem to help their noise level one bit. She reached into one of the freezers and got two frozen pizzas, which always seemed to work out well for dinners, and to the girls' dismay, also got some peas. She turned down the pharmaceutical isle and began to search the shelves for the last item on her shopping list. Finally, she spotted the cough syrup, and grabbed some. With a family of 6, some one always seemed to have a cough. They checked out, and as they walked out the door into the parking lot, they passed Mary and Charlie. They said a quick hello, then the two families continued on their way. When Lucy and the kids arrived home, Kevin greeted them as they came through the garage door. He walked around to the back of the car to help Lucy carry in the groceries while the girls (with Mia holding Riley's hand to help her walk) took off to go play. After the trunk of the car was empty, they shut the garage door and sat down at the kitchen table.
"What do you want for dinner?" Lucy asked her husband, exhausted after her busy day. Kevin smiled at her and stood up, walking over to the stove where a pot was full of cooking spaghetti noodles. "Kev!" Lucy said, surprised. "You didn't have to do this." Kevin walked over and kissed his wife.
"Yes I did. You've been so busy with the girls all day, I wanted to do something to help out. And you know, I'll still be helping out like this if we have more kids…" Lucy's jaw dropped.
"You're starting in with that again?" Kevin's eyes widened a bit, wishing he hadn't just said that. "Hey, listen. If you we going to be the one carrying the baby for the next nine months, not to mention giving birth to it, then maybe we could discuss it, but Kev, pregnancy is so hard on our bodies! Riley's only one, and I'm finally back down to my pre-Riles weight. And before I was pregnant with her I was almost done losing my twins weight, and before that, I was still carrying quite a bit of Meg weight! I'm happy to finally not be sticking out to here!" She held her hand out far in front of her stomach. "Maybe in a year or two, I mean, It's not that I'm totally opposed to having more kids, it's just that right now, I'm not too sure."
"OK. Sorry that I keep pushing you about it Luce, really. It's just, I grew up in a small family, but you grew up with 6 brothers and sisters! And now, we get to have this huge family with Matt's kids, and Mary's kids, Ruthie's, soon David's. I want our kids to be able to experience the same thing." Lucy nodded.
"So do I. But I'm not ready to start trying yet, Ok? You just need to trust me that when I'm ready, I'll tell you, and then we can start trying for baby number five." Kevin smiled at her.
"Ok. I trust you. I Love you, Luce, and I want to have more kids with you, but I'm willing to wait." She thanked him and they kissed. 15 minutes later, dinner was ready and they called the girls in for dinner. They sat down and began to eat, and as they did, Lucy looked around the table, perfectly content with her current family of six.
Anna sighed as she sat on the table at Dr. Stevens' office, waiting for the doctor to come in. Today was her 6 month appointment, and she was attending it alone. David was at a column writing conference all the way in Minnesota, and Anna was not happy about having to brave her pregnancy alone for an entire week. Suddenly, her face paled and she jumped off the table, diving for the trash can in the corner of the room. She made it just as her morning sickness took over. Dr. Stevens walked into the room and gave Anna an apologetic look as the first time mother's entire breakfast and lunch reappeared. Finally, Anna stood and walked back over to the table. Quietly, she gave the doctor a small smile.
"Sorry about that." She apologized. The doctor shook her head and reassured her that it was nothing new to her. Anna sighed sadly. "All the pregnancy books that I've read said that for most women, morning sickness only lasts for the first trimester. Dr. Stevens, I'm entering my third trimester in a week and a half, and I'm still having trouble keeping down my meals."
"Well, like you said, most women only experience it for their first trimester. However, some women have it all the way up to the day they give birth. Plus, I'm sorry to inform you, ladies pregnant with multiples pretty commonly suffer from morning sickness that long. Anna's jaw dropped slightly in disappointment. The doctor opened up her patients file and looked it over. "Yes, look at that, you're right! You're already almost to your 7th month with these two! How are you feeling?" She asked as she slipped a measuring tape around the mom to be's large stomach to see how much it had grown over the last month.
"I feel so terrible. My whole body hurts, I can't stop throwing up, and I mean, just look at me!" She cried. "I look like I'm due any day. I still have two months left of this terror! Just imagine how big I'm going to be when I'm nine months into this. My stomach is in the way of everything! I've been having trouble sleeping too. As soon as I lie down, the twins seem to think that it's soccer time!" Dr. Stevens laughed.
"Yeah, I have to admit that your stomach is on the larger side, even for women carrying twins. In the last month, you've gained 4 inches!" Anna moaned. "You're not alone in being uncomfortable. Many women pregnant with twins or more get very sore as they near their due dates. Now, I know that you don't want to hear this, but as your doctor I feel that you need to know: Twin pregnancies are more complicated and higher-risk than single pregnancies. Wait gain almost doubles compared to that of a woman carrying one child. You need more calcium, folic acid, and more exercise. There's a higher rate of complications: morning sickness, placental bleeding, hypertension, diabetes, pre-term labor, etcetera. In addition, on average, twins are born at 36 ½ weeks instead of 40 to 41 weeks for singletons. Now, I don't want this to worry you, since every pregnancy is different, but I want you to be aware of the possibilities. Why don't you lie down and we'll start your exam. After performing the main part, Dr. Stevens spread the cool goo over Anna's stomach and started the ultrasound machine. "When you're only pregnant with one baby, you can have ultrasounds less frequently, but with twins, it's important to have them every month." She explained. She moved the probe slowly over Anna's stomach and carefully looked at the images that were on the screen. She pointed at the moving black and white figures. "Here's the boy, I think you said that his name is Connor. He seems to be growing a bit better than the girl, Avery is. We'll need to keep an eye on that. Other than that, he looks good, healthy." She moved the probe over. "Here's Avery" she told her. "She's looking good too, other than being small, like we already mentioned. I'm concerned about this because it's some what common for pregnancies with multiples for one of the babies to be stealing more of the nutrients that he or she needs, and leaving the other baby with too little. Now, that's not definitely what is happening, but to be safe, we're going to be monitoring this. Please call me if you have any questions. I want to have you back in three weeks rather than four to check this out, all right?" Anna agreed and they finished up their appointment.
As Anna climbed into her gar, she moaned angrily. Her stomach barely fit behind the steering wheel. She knew that she shouldn't be driving this far into her pregnancy, but today she didn't really have a choice. She didn't want to inconvience any of her siblings in law by asking them to drive her places. This week, she figured, she'd just have to not leave the house much. Once David got back home, it would be a lot easier. She sighed as she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. This would be a long week.
Sarah Camden smiled as she walked in the door of the home that she shared with her husband and children. The lights were dimmed. She looked around, confused at what was going on. As she put down her things, Matt came around the corner in a tux, holding a rose. She smiled and walked over to him. After they kissed, she looked up at him.
"What's the occasion? Where are the kids?" She aked.
"Well, I thought that it might be nice to return the favor from your surprise at the hospital the other day." He told her with a smile. "Go put on a dress. We have reservations at Chez Milan in 20 minutes. And don't worry about the boys. They're staying with my mom and dad for the night." Sarah smiled up at her husband for a moment before running into their room and changing quickly into her knee length, crimson cocktail dress. She touched up he makeup as quickly as possible, then came back out to meet her husband. He handed her the rose he had been holding and took her hand. "Ready to go?" He asked. Sarah smiled and nodded. Matt lead her out to his car, where he opened her door for her. After she was seated, he came around and got into the drivers side.
When they arrived at the restaurant 10 minutes later, the valet took their car and they walked inside. Matt told the hostess that they had a reservation under Camden, and she led them into the dining area. To Sarah's delight, they were taken to her favorite table, which was on the edge of the dance floor. The band on the stage played a slow jazz tune as the couples on the floor swayed slowly back and forth to the beat. Sarah and Matt sat down and the hostess left. They picked up their menus and chose what they would have for dinner while they chatted. When their server came, they ordered, and to Sarah's surprise, they were given a bottle of her favorite wine. Matt smiled at his wife as he poured her the first class, then did so for himself. They toasted as the server left.
"To us." Matt said, and Sarah repeated it with a smile. Their glasses clinked and they took a sip. Matt stood up and reached out to Sarah. "Would you like to dance?" He asked. Sarah grinned and took her husband's hand. He led her to the middle of the dance floor then put his arms around her lower back, holding her close as they slowly swayed in time with the jazz band's music. Sarah rested her head on her husband's chest. They stayed there dancing happily until their dinners arrived. They sat back down at their table and started to eat. After they finished, they danced for a few minutes more, than started home. When they got there, they walked inside, and Sarah saw a gift sitting on their sofa. Matt smiled at her as she walked over to it and read the card. Slowly, she pulled off the top of the box, and as she did, she gasped. Inside was a beautiful diamond necklace. Matt came over and helped her fasten it around her neck.
"What's all this for?" She asked him for the second time that evening.
"Well, we were so busy for our anniversary this year that we didn't get to do much. This was to make up for that. And I got you the necklace as a sort of belated Valentines Day gift. Do you like it?" He asked.
"Do I like it? Matt, it's amazing!" She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Thank you."
"One more surprise." He said. Sarah laughed as he took her hand and lead her into the kitchen, where there was a chocolate cake sitting on the kitchen table. Scrawled across it in messy letters was "Sarah and Matt, February 14". Sarah smiled and admired it. "Sorry that its kind of messy. I figured that you'd rather have a cake made by me than by some bakery for our anniversary celebration." He said. Sarah laughed and agreed.
"It's perfect Matt. Thank you…for everything." She said. Matt smiled at her and cut each of them a piece of the home made cake. He lit a candle in the middle of the table and the couple sat down and enjoyed their belated anniversary together.
A/N: Hope that you liked this! Please review, and look for chapter ten soon!
