Chapter Nineteen: Not Now!

A/N: Manny and Paige are now 7 months pregnant.

"I'm so fat," Paige complained. Manny, Emma, and Paige were all having a sleepover at Manny's.

"Hey, no complaining over there, I'm twice your size," Manny said. "I got two kids in here," she pointed at her stomach.

"You both look great. The prettiest pregnant women I ever saw," Emma complimented them.

"Thanks, that's sweet Em," Paige said. "By the way, where's Chris tonight?"

"He's sleeping over Marco's house tonight. They're going to talk about us," she laughed.

"I told Manny that I think he's trying to plan a baby shower," Emma said. "Normally, there would have been one by now, but these guys are really slow."

"I can't believe that in just 2 months, we are going to be mothers," Paige said. "I mean, really. We will have children. This is just so crazy."

"I know what you mean. I can't believe it either. You guys, I'm really scared," Manny told her friends. "Paige, I know that you are going through the same thing, but I'm going to have two babies to take care of. Of course, I have to give birth to them first. I'm just so scared that something might go wrong."

"Maybe you should talk to my mom," Emma suggested. "She'll really understand how you feel. She had me and nothing went wrong."

"Yeah, I think maybe I'll do that tomorrow," Manny told her. "I'm really tired now. It's past 12 and I think we should go to sleep," she said as she walked over to turn off the lights. Manny settled down into her bed and Paige and Emma slept on the pullout couch.


Over at Marco's house, Chris and Marco were far from planning a baby shower. They were deep in discussion about the babies.

"This is weird, I don't even like girls and I feel like I'm going to be a father," Marco said.

"That's just because you've been there every step of the way for Paige. I bet Dylan loves you for that," Chris told him.

"Well I hope Dylan loves me whether I support his sister or hate her. I want to spend the rest of my life with him Chris. I really do. It just makes me sad that we probably won't be able to have a real family with kids and everything. It's exciting for me at the same time though. I'm going to be an Uncle. Well, sort of," Marco explained.

"Well, I'm glad that you're so excited. It's nice that you know you're going to be with Dylan forever. I'm not so lucky," Chris said sadly.

"What do you mean? You love Manny. I know you want to be with her for the rest of your life. You've got twins on the way. You should be happy," Marco pointed out.

"Yeah, except for the small reason that those twins might not be mine. Marco, I have to tell you something. I know that I told Manny I wanted to be with her no matter what the outcome, but I don't know if I can do that anymore."

"I understand why you're feeling this way, but hypothetically speaking, you're not the father. Just because some stupid blood test says that you're not, that doesn't mean you aren't. Did you understand what I just said? Because I do."

"Yeah, I get it. If I'm not biologically the father, I've still been there for her every step of the way, and I can help out with the twins. They'll grow up thinking I'm their father, and I will be, in a caring sense," Chris said.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Marco told him.

"Well, I understand that. But if I'm not their father, I don't think I can stay with Manny. I will have to look into those babies' eyes and see their real father. It will be a constant reminder of what those assholes did to her, and how I couldn't do anything about it." He began to cry. Marco leaned over and hugged his best friend. Then he held onto Chris' shoulders and looked right into his eyes.

"Chris, you know that it wasn't your fault. And it wasn't Manny's fault either. If you leave her, it won't do either of you any good. With two children, she'll need you. She can't do it on her own. Besides, there's a chance that you are their father. You need to think this thing through," Marco said, trying to convince him.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do," Chris said sadly.


"Ah!" Paige screamed out in pain. Manny's eyes flew open. The clock read 2:38 am.

"What's wrong Paige?" Emma asked quietly. She was still half asleep.

"The baby is coming! Now! Ow ow ow owwwww!" she cried. Manny shot up out of bed.

"It can't be coming now! It's too early!" Manny yelled. She was struggling to get out of bed. It was hard since she had gotten so big.

"I'm supposed to be the one saying that! Ah ow! Help me!" Paige screamed louder.

"Okay everyone, stay calm. I know a little bit about this. My mom had Jack right at home. It's going to be okay as long as we don't freak out. I know it is…"

"Emma! You're rambling. Go get Heather or Jason or someone. You can run faster," Manny ordered. She picked up the phone and dialed Marco's cell phone number. "Marco!"

"Wh-what? Manny, is that you? Do you have any idea what time it is?" he asked.

"Yes I do! Paige is having the baby! You have to meet us at the hospital."

"But it's too early! This can't be happening."

"What's going on Marco?" Chris asked sleepily in the background.

"We'll meet you there Manny. Bye." She heard him say as he slammed his phone shut. Just then, Emma came down the stairs, dragging Heather behind her.

"I called the hospital to let them know we're on our way. They know that it's early too," Heather explained to Paige. "We need to leave now."

Paige got out of bed and made her way to the stairs. Halfway there, she fell to the floor, screaming in pain. Emma and Manny helped her up and together they carried her up the stairs. It only took about ten minutes to get to the hospital. Dr. Murray was waiting for Paige in one of the birthing rooms.

"Okay Paige, how far apart are your contractions?" the doctor asked.

"About fifteen minutes," she answered.

"Well that's good then. You're in premature labor, but I'm afraid that the baby might not survive if you give birth right now. I'm going to try to give you some mediation to stop the labor. If that doesn't work, we'll just have to be ready for it," Dr. Murray explained.

"Please stop it," she said, crying. "I don't want my baby to die."

"I'll do whatever I can," she reassured Paige. Dr. Murray hooked her up to some machines. There was one monitoring the baby's vitals, another one was showing the contractions, and the third was monitoring Paige's heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. She put an IV into Paige's arm and all they could do was wait.

A few hours later, after speaking with Paige, Dr. Murray went out into the waiting room to talk to Manny, Heather, Marco, and Emma. Chris hadn't showed up. Marco explained that he was exhausted and would be there if they called him and really needed him.

"The medicine seems to be working, and the labor has stopped for now. We're just going to keep Paige here overnight to make sure it doesn't start up again. You should all go home and get some rest. Paige has requested that at least one person stay with her," she explained.

"Marco, I know you'll want to stay, but do you think I can?" Manny asked him. "I'm just afraid that something might happen to the babies, and I'd feel better if I was at the hospital."

"Yeah, that's fine," he told her. "I'm just gonna go say goodbye to her." He walked off to talk to Paige.

"Emma, you're welcome to stay in Manny's room if you want, or I can take you home," Heather offered.

"I think I'll just go home if that's okay," Emma replied.

"We'll see you later Manny. Are you sure you want to stay?" Heather asked.

"I'm positive."

"Okay, well call me tomorrow when you two are ready to come home," she said. Emma gave Manny a hug and they left. A minute later, Marco came down the hall. He too hugged Manny and headed home. Manny went down to Paige's room.

"Feeling better?" she asked her.

"Yeah I am, but I'm really scared Manny."

"I know you are. I am too," she told Paige. "But I have a feeling that everything's gonna be okay. We should both get some sleep."

"Thanks Manny. Goodnight." As soon as Paige rolled over, she was fast asleep. She had been through a lot. Manny looked at her watch. It was 5:30. She lay down on a chair that converted into a bed. At first, she couldn't fall asleep. She was afraid that she'd go into labor early, and she was thinking about Chris.


Manny felt some pressure on her mouth, but she didn't open her eyes. Instead, she rolled over and buried her head under the pillow. She knew it was probably around noon, because the sun was making her face hot. She then felt someone lean over her and kiss her again. This made her open her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sitting up.

"I came to pick you two up. Paige called me over an hour ago. We were going to wait until you woke up since you look so cute while you're sleeping, but, I couldn't wait that long," Chris replied.

"Well, let me wash my face and I'll be ready to go," Manny told him.

"I brought you some clothes," Chris said as he handed her a bag.

"Thanks, I'll go change." She went over to the bathroom and decided to take a quick shower before leaving. Fifteen minutes later, Chris pulled back the shower curtain. "Chris!" she yelled.

"What! It's not like I haven't been in the shower with you before."

"I'm fat. Now go away. I'll be out in a minute!"

"Fine!" he grumbled as he walked away. A few minutes later, Manny emerged from the bathroom, showered and hair done.

"I just have to put some makeup on..."

"No you don't. We're just going home! You're beautiful without it anyway," Chris told her.

"Aww that's so sweet, but I think you're just in a hurry. I'll put my makeup on in the car," Manny said, laughing. "Paige, do you want to come over for awhile?" she asked her.

"Sure. I think we should look at baby names online. I haven't come up with one," Paige answered.

"Yeah, we haven't thought of names yet either," Manny pointed out to Chris.

"I know, I know. Let's go, maybe we can do that today." When Chris was done complaining, the three of them left the hospital (well, they were really in a part separate from the hospital, called the Family Birthing Center) and headed over to Manny's house.


"Surprise!" everyone yelled when Manny and Paige came into the house. There were balloons and streamers everywhere.

"What's all this for?" Manny asked.

"We decided to throw a baby shower for both of you," Spike told her.

"Why are all these guys here then?" Paige asked.

"We wanted to be a part of it too," Jason said.

"That's so sweet. Thanks guys," Manny said. All of her friends were there, and their parents were too. None of Paige's friends were there except for Marco. The rest of them stopped hanging out with her since she had gotten pregnant. Her mom and Dylan were there too though.

"Oh Marco, I'm so glad you're here!" Paige squealed as she ran over to hug him.

Just then, Manny noticed someone else who had come to the baby shower. He walked up to her even though she wasn't acting very friendly towards him.

"Manny, I know that you probably don't want me here, and I know that all this crazy stuff is happening between you and Craig, but I still wanted to come. I hope that's okay with you. I'll leave if you want," he explained.

"No, that's okay. You can stay Joey," Manny told him and hugged him.

"Here's a present from us," Caitlin said as she walked up behind Joey.

"Thanks," she said, taking the box out of her hands.

"Before I forget, Mr. Radditch sent presents over for you both. He said he's sorry that he couldn't make it," Snake said, handing the presents to Paige and Manny.

"Why don't you two open your presents now?" Heather suggested.

"Okay!" the girls said in unison.

Everyone got Manny and Paige the same presents, but Manny got two of everything since she was having twins. Emma's family, JT, Mr. Radditch, Toby, and Liberty all got them clothes. Paige got blue, pink, green, and yellow clothes since no one knew if the baby was a boy or a girl. Manny got dresses for the girl that matched outfits for the boy. Joey and Caitlin got blankets and toys for both girls. Paige's mom and Dylan also got clothes for Manny, but got a stroller for Paige. Heather, Jason, and Chris got clothes for Paige. Chris got two giant stuffed panda bears for the twins (they were Manny's favorite animal).

"We have a surprise for you Manny," Jason told her once all the presents were opened. Heather made her close her eyes and she, Jason, and Chris led her down to her room. When she finally opened her eyes, she gasped.

"Aw I love it. Thanks so much," she said, giving them all hugs. They had moved her TV and couch across from her bed, and the other half of the room had been converted into a nursery for the babies. There were two cribs that used to be Anthony and Caleb's. A brand new changing table was in-between the cribs. There were packages of diapers and wipes on the shelves underneath the changing table. Two rocking chairs were next to the cribs, one for Chris and one for Manny. Since Manny hadn't been using the built-in drawers on the wall, Jason and Heather bought a few outfits and put them in it. Two drawers were for the boy and two for the girl. There were two bassinets next to Manny and Chris's bed.

"Those are for the first few weeks after the hospital," Jason said, pointing to the basinets.

"Yeah, and they vibrate, play music, you can record your voice into it, and they convert into rocking bassinets with adjustable canopies," Heather explained. Manny walked over to the cribs and they had Suzy's Zoo bedding in them.

"I bought the bedding because I knew it was your favorite," Chris told her.

"How did you afford this?" Manny asked him.

"Well, Marco helped me get a job at The Dot last night. Jason loaned me the money and I'm paying him back with my first check," he said. "There's one more thing we have to show you." He walked over to the door that led into the storage room and opened it.

Manny saw that the room had been cleaned out. There were two baby swings in it, a foldable playpen, and many more bags of diapers. A box in the corner had a bunch of brand new bottles, pacifiers, and bibs in it. Off to the side were three strollers, two of them were the kind of strollers that had the baby car seats that detached to put in the car. The third one was a double stroller for when the babies got older.

"We figured that we'd put this stuff in here. You can take the swings and playpen out when you use them. We didn't want the room to get too crowded," Jason explained.

"Thank you so much. This is the best present I could have ever gotten. I love all of you guys so much," Manny said. Once again, she gave them all hugs and kissed Chris on the lips. They all went back upstairs to the baby shower. Jayden, Anthony, Caleb, and Quinn were all taking naps, and woke up around the same time. They came downstairs (Heather went and got Quinn) to join in the fun. Everyone played various games and had a huge pot-luck dinner. Before everyone left, Manny and Paige thanked them all for coming and for the presents.

"Thank you everyone for all the presents and this amazing baby shower. This is the best day I've had in a really long time," Manny said and began to cry.

"I'd also like to thank you all. I know that some of you aren't even my friends so this means a lot to me," Paige said, also crying.

Around 10pm, everyone went home. Paige and Manny were outside. "We never got to look at baby names," she said, laughing.

"I think I'm going to wait until the twins are born. When I first look at them, whatever names come in mind, I'm going to give them. Chris and I agreed that I could pick the first names and he'd pick the middle names," Manny told her.

"Yeah, I'll probably wait until he or she is born," Paige said.

"Oh great, we have school tomorrow," Manny pointed out.

"Do you realize that we have only a month left?" Paige asked. "I'm going to be pregnant at my graduation."

"And I'll be a senior next year with two kids," Manny said. "It's crazy isn't it?"

"Paige, honey, time to leave now," her mom called.

"Well, I guess I'll see you at lunch tomorrow," Manny said.

"Bye," Paige replied, heading over to the car. Manny was exhausted, and went straight to bed, where Chris was already asleep.