Chapter Eighteen: Big News
A/N: This chapter takes place three and a half months after Chapter Seventeen.
"I'm so excited!" Manny squealed to Paige over the phone.
"Me too!" Paige squealed in return. "What time is it hon?" she asked.
"It's 11:30. Aren't you ready yet? Chris is getting impatient."
"I am not!" Paige heard Chris yell in the background. "I just want to know!" he said.
"Okay, all I have to do is fix my hair. I should be done by the time you get here. See you then. Bye!" Paige said as she hung up the phone. Manny and Paige were both four and a half months pregnant. They had both started to show around the beginning of February, and the babies were due in July. Both girls were over their morning sickness, as they were in their 2nd trimester.
"I'm so glad that I'm not puking any more," Manny commented to Chris.
"Me too. Holding your hair was starting to get hard," he joked. Manny playfully shoved him, but knocked him over onto their bed. "Hey! You don't know your own strength any more."
"Oh, just shut up and kiss me," Manny said, as she leaned over on top of him. They shared a kiss, and Chris sat up, pulling Manny into his lap.
"Yeah, remember what happened the last time we did this," he said, patting her stomach.
"Or didn't happen," Manny said sadly, getting up and turning away from him.
"I'm sorry, I just keep forgetting," Chris apologized.
"Well, I'll never forget. Chris, I just don't know what I'll do if you're not the father. I'll just die," she said, tears streaming down her face. Chris got up and walked over to her. He put his arms around her shoulders and hugged her.
"Don't say that. Everything's going to be fine. I know it will," he reassured her. "Now let's go. Paige is probably sitting on her front steps by now."
"Yeah, sure she is. I have a feeling we'll be waiting outside for her for quite a while," Manny said and laughed.
"Now there's the laugh I fell in love with," Chris said, and kissed Manny on the cheek. They both went upstairs, said goodbye to everyone, and headed over to Paige's house. The girls were going to have their first sonograms. They were off school for a week due to February vacation. Sure enough, Chris pulled up outside Paige's and she wasn't waiting for them.
"I'll go in and get her," Manny offered. "This may take awhile."
"Well, tell her that if we miss this appointment, I won't be taking her anywhere anymore," Chris said.
"Don't get in a bad mood now. Plus, she probably wouldn't care, seeing as she could probably drive herself."
"Remind me why I'm taking her then," he said.
"Stop being so rude Chris. She doesn't have anyone but me. If you keep acting like this, I'll just go with Paige." By now, Manny had gotten out of the car and was talking to him through the window.
"Fine. You just do that!" he said angrily. The next thing Manny knew, she was standing there watching Chris speed away.
"Jerk!" Manny screamed at the top of her lungs. She began to cry. This was the first fight she'd ever had with Chris. She turned around to see Paige opening the door. Manny ran up the steps and past Paige, right into the house.
"What's wrong? Where's Chris?" she asked.
"We got into a fight and he drove off," she cried. "He was being really mean, all because he was afraid to be late for the appointment."
"It's okay, we can just take my car then," Paige said, trying to calm her down.
"That's not the issue Paige! I can't lose him, I just can't," she sobbed.
"Snap out of it Manny! You're not going to lose him. He loves you. Now stop crying, we've got an appointment to get to." she said.
"Sorry. I meant to ask you if you had talked to Spinner recently. I thought you were still trying to get back with him," Manny said.
"Well, I was. I even called him up and asked him to come to the appointment with me. He said no. He hates me now because Hazel convinced him to. Honestly, I don't know what I ever saw in him. He has no backbone. He'll never make it on his own. But enough of that, let's go," she finished.
"I'll drive," Marco said as he came out of the bathroom.
"Hey Marco! I didn't know you were here," Manny said, giving him a hug.
"Yeah, he agreed to come with me so I wouldn't be alone. Isn't he so sweet?" Paige said.
"Come on guys! You don't want to be late to this appointment," Marco said, pushing them out the door.
"That's just what Chris got all hung up about. Maybe you can knock some sense into that boy's head the next time you see him," Paige said. "Bye mom!" she called as Marco shut the door. After only five minutes of driving, they arrived at the doctor's office. Manny was hoping that Chris would be waiting for her, but when they entered the waiting room, she saw that he wasn't.
"Now I'm going to be alone," Manny sighed as she said down to wait. Paige told her not to worry about it. When a few more minutes had passed, a nurse came through the door on their left.
"Manuela Santos," she called.
"That's me," Manny said as she stood up. She looked back at Paige who gave her a comforting smile. "See you in a bit," she told her.
"Do you want us to come in?" Marco asked.
"No that's okay. I'll do this on my own if I can't have Chris here." She turned and followed the nurse through the door, down the hall, and into the room.
"You'll have to get undressed. You can leave your bra and underwear on, and put this gown on. The doctor will be in shortly," she said, handing Manny the gown and left the room.
Manny got changed, and then sat down on the doctor's stool in the corner. A few minutes later, Dr. Murray entered the room. "How are you feeling today Manny?" she asked.
"Better than usual. I'm morning sickness free," she said, laughing.
"Where's that boyfriend of yours?" the doctor asked.
"Um, he couldn't make it today. He was busy," Manny lied.
"Well, we can start by weighing you, if you'll step up on that scale there," Dr. Murray said. Manny got up and stepped onto it. "Now let's see," she said, fiddling with it.
"Wait! I'm here!" a voice called from outside. The door burst open.
"I'm sorry Dr. Murray," the nurse called, out of breath. "I couldn't stop him."
Manny jumped off the scale and ran over to Chris, hugging him. "I'm so glad you came," she told him.
"It's okay, he's with her," Dr. Murray said to the nurse, who then closed the door and left.
"I'm so sorry Manny. I don't know what came over me. I love you and I really want to be here," he told her and kissed her softly on the lips.
"I love you too," she whispered in his ear.
"Well, as glad as I am to see you two so happy, we really have to get back to this appointment. We don't want to keep Paige waiting," Dr. Murray commented.
"Right, sorry," Chris said. "I'll just sit over here and get out of the way." He sat down in the chair that was next to the table-like bed that Manny would soon be lying on. Manny stepped on the scale once again, and this time, the doctor was able to finish.
"You've gained about seven pounds since you were here last. That's pretty good, but you'll still need to gain about ten more," Dr. Murray told her. "Now, if you just climb on up here, we can get to that sonogram," she said, pointing to the bed. Manny did as she was told, and laid down. Chris stood up and grabbed her hand. Dr. Murray rolled the ultrasound machine over next to the bed. She put jelly on the end of the transducer and pulled Manny's gown up past her stomach.
"Just to warn you, this is going to be a little cold," she said, before placing it down on Manny's stomach. Manny flinched when it touched her skin, but then relaxed. After moving the transducer around for a minute or two, the picture on the screen became clear. "There's your baby," she told Manny.
Manny began to cry. "It's so beautiful," she said, as she reached out and touched the screen.
"Would you like to know the sex?" the doctor asked.
"So we don't have to call the baby it for the next 5 months," Chris said.
"This is what I've been waiting for. Of course I want to know," Manny said excitedly.
"Let's see now…oh my…" she trailed off.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Manny asked frantically. She looked over at Chris, who had the same worried look on his face.
"Nothing's wrong, it's okay," she reassured them both. "I don't know how to tell you this, but there are two heartbeats on here," she said, pointing to the bottom left corner of the screen.
"What?" Manny asked, alarmed. "I'm having twins?"
"It appears that way. I just don't see a second baby…" she moved the transducer again, and all of a sudden, the second baby appeared, hiding behind the first. "There," she said. "Baby A is a boy and Baby B is…" she paused, searching. "A girl," she said.
"Did you hear that? We're having a boy and a girl!" Manny said to Chris excitedly. He was speechless.
"Well, now I'm sure we'll be living with Heather and Jason for a long time," he said, stretching out the 'o' in long. Manny kissed him and held it for a couple of minutes.
"I'm going to print out a few of these so that you can see both babies," Dr. Murray interrupted. She did as she said, and handed the photos to Chris and Manny. "Well, I will see you again, same time next month," she said.
"Thank you so much Dr. Murray," Manny said. Chris shook her hand and they both headed back to the waiting room.
"Send Paige back for me," she yelled after them.
"Guess what!" Manny squealed as soon as they entered the room. "We're having twins!" she yelled to Paige and Marco.
"Congratulations," Marco said, giving Manny and Chris hugs.
"Twins?" Paige questioned, still seated. "Oh I hope I'm not having twins. That would be more than I could handle," she said. "Wow, I'm being rude. Congratulations Manny."
"Thanks. Dr. Murray said for us to send you back there. Good luck," she added. Paige and Marco made their way to see the doctor. Chris and Manny promised to wait for them in the waiting room.
Dr. Murray weight Paige and then had her lay down, as she did with Manny. She looked over at Marco, as if noticing him for the first time. "I haven't seen you before. Are you the lucky dad?" she asked.
"Uh…no…I'm the supportive best friend," he said. "I won't be finding myself in this situation any time soon," he joked.
"More like never," Paige said. A single tear rolled down her cheek, but neither the doctor nor Marco noticed. Dr. Murray told Paige that the jelly would be cold, and put the transducer on her stomach. "I'm not having twins am I?" Paige said, worried. After all, there was a possibility that Mr. Oleander was the father of Manny's twins, and Paige knew he had twin sisters.
"One baby, one heartbeat. No twins," Dr. Murray told her. Paige let out a sigh of relief. "Want to know the sex?" she asked.
"No, I want it to be a surprise," Paige answered.
"I wanted to know!" Marco interjected.
"Too bad, you'll just have to wait like everyone else," Paige told him. The doctor printed two pictures out for her. They made their way back to the waiting room.
"She's making us all wait to find out," Marco complained to Manny as they came through the door. He knelt down next to Manny and put his hand on her stomach. "But don't you worry you two; Uncle Marco is going to buy you both something special before you're born because I know what to get you now."
"Get up Marco," Manny said, laughing. He stood up and hugged her, then hugged Paige.
"Come on guys; let's go tell everyone we know the good news!" he said excitedly. The four friends went back to their cars. They drove to Emma's house, finding JT there, and told them, Spike, and Snake the news. They stopped by Paige's to tell her mom, and then to Manny's house to tell Jason and Heather. Chris' parents were over there visiting, so he got to tell them too. Around 5:00, Manny, Chris, Paige, and Marco went out to dinner to celebrate. Manny couldn't wait for her babies to be born. She loved them so much already. The only problem was: who is their father?
