Chapter Twenty-Two: At Last
A/N: The babies were all born on July 15.
Manny, Lucas, Lily, Avery, and Paige went home on July 18 (three days after the babies were born). Marco and Emma stayed the entire time with them. Manny was happy to leave, but when she brought the twins downstairs to their new home, she was hit hard by realization. Chris was gone, and so were his clothes. It looked as if he had never lived there. Lily and Lucas were sleeping, so Manny put them in their bassinets. She flopped down onto her bed as Paige was walking down the stairs. She almost forgot that Marco was dropping her off. Her mom was at work and she didn't want to go home to an empty house. Heather and Jason were also at work, and all the kids were at daycare. Spike had picked Manny and Emma up and dropped Manny off at home. Paige sat down next to Manny on her bed and put Avery's car seat next to her. She was sleeping too.
"What am I going to do Paige?" Manny sighed. She was trying not to cry.
"Chris is such a jerk. You're better off without him, trust me," Paige replied, trying to reassure her.
"I know it's just that…" she trailed off. "I love him. I just don't know why he would do this to me. He told me that he'd be there for me and the babies, no matter what. Now that he's having doubts that he's not their father, he just leaves, before finding out the truth," she said in tears.
"It's all going to be okay, I promise," Paige said, rubbing her back. "I don't know about you, but I think we should get some rest while the babies are still sleeping," she pointed out.
"Yeah, we probably should. You can put Avery in Lily's crib," Manny offered.
"Well, I don't want to use it when Lily hasn't slept in it yet. She'll be fine in her car seat. I don't want to wake her up by moving her anyway. Sweet dreams."
"Yeah, I'm exhausted…" Manny began to say, but the minute her head hit the pillow, she fell fast asleep.
"Manny wake up!" A voice yelled in her ear. She opened her eyes a little.
"What is it Jayden?" she asked him. "I'm tired," she groaned.
"The baby's crying," he answered, pointing to a bassinet.
"Oh great, I'm a bad mother already." Manny was so used to Quinn's crying, that her own children didn't even wake her up. She sat up and noticed that Paige was gone. There was a note on the pillow where she had been sleeping.
Avery woke me up around 3 and then my mom called because she was home. She's coming to pick me up and I don't want to wake you up because you're so tired. I'll see you later. Paige
Manny finished reading the note and looked at the clock. It was 6:45. "I was sleeping for a long time huh?" she asked Jayden.
"Yup. Lucas was crying before but mommy brought him upstairs. I think she gave him a bottle," he explained. Manny was about to ask how she fed him, but remembered she had pumped breast milk into a few bottles and left them in the refrigerator.
"I'm gonna feed Lily and then I'll come upstairs and maybe you can hold the twins," she suggested.
"Okay but I have to tell you that it's Anthony's birthday party tomorrow," he said as he was running up the stairs.
"Great, I don't even have a present for him," Manny said to no one in particular. She hurried over to Lily and picked her up. "It's okay honey," she whispered to her. She sat back down on her bed and fed her. When Lily was finished eating, Manny brought her upstairs to find everyone sitting in the living room watching television.
"There's some pizza in the oven," Heather told her. "I'm guessing you're hungry. I can take her if you want." Manny handed Lily over and noticed that Jason was holding Lucas. She went into the kitchen, got two slices of pizza, and went back to the living room.
"What are you watching?" she asked.
"Sesame Street!" Caleb yelled.
"Cool," Manny said to him. She was already on her second piece of pizza. "I guess I really am hungry."
"Well, you haven't eaten since this morning at the hospital," Jason pointed out.
"Yeah, I didn't realize that," Manny said.
"Can we hold the babies now?" Jayden asked excitedly.
"Let me finish my pizza first okay?"
"Okay," he agreed.
Manny quickly finished her last piece of pizza because she knew that the boys were anxious. She told all of them before the twins were born that they were going to be uncles.
"Can Quinn hold them too?" Caleb asked.
"No honey, she's not old enough," Manny told him.
"But she's one years old! That's old!" Jayden argued.
"When she's a little bit older then she can hold them okay sweetie," Heather told him. Jayden held Lily first, while Caleb held Lucas. Then they switched babies, and finally, Manny helped Anthony hold them one at a time.
"Okay guys, I have to go to my room now. Lily and Lucas are getting tired."
"That's boring!" Caleb said.
"I'm sorry, but they're little and they need lots of sleep. Don't worry; you'll get to see them tomorrow. And the next day, and the next one for a long time. Probably forever," Manny muttered the last part under her breath.
"Here, I'll give you a hand," Jason told her and picked Lily up. Manny scooped up Lucas and said goodnight to all the kids since they'd be going to bed in a little while. Jason followed her down to her room and put Lily in her bassinet, and rocked her for a minute. Before Manny could say anything, he decided to. "You know you're going to be okay, right?" he asked her.
"I just don't know what to do," she said. A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she kept herself from crying anymore.
"If Chris chose to leave you, then you'll be fine without him. You don't need him at all. We will help you with everything we can. You have Spike, Snake, and Emma too. Even Joey and Caitlin offered to watch the twins," he explained.
"I don't want my children anywhere near Craig. If they really want to watch them, they can come here and do it. Otherwise, they won't be able to see the twins at all," Manny said angrily. She put Lucas down in his bassinet and pushed it over near Lily's so he could be closer to her. It made them both stop crying every time.
"Well, just to let you know, when you go back to school, Spike has offered to watch the twins everyday for free. Now that Jack is three, he will be going to preschool all day long, and she said it will give her something to do," he told her.
"That's great. At least I won't have to worry about paying for daycare. But, it still doesn't make me feel any better about Chris. What if he is their father? He left them, and I don't even know if he'll come back. If he does come back, I'm not sure I even want him to be in my life because of the way he acted. If he's not their father, I don't know what I'll do. I can't even think about Craig or Mr. Oleander…" she couldn't finish the sentence. "Especially if it's Craig. I'd have to let him see them sooner or later because no one believed me about what he did."
"We all believe you Manny," Jason reassured her.
"I want you to know that means so much to me, but it didn't matter anyway. He got off because he lied." Jason leaned over and gave Manny a hug. "Thanks for everything, but I need to be alone for a little while."
"You know where we are if you need any help," he told her and made his way upstairs. As soon as he was gone, Manny sat down on her bed and picked up the phone. She dialed the number she had almost forgotten; she hadn't called it in a long time.
"Hello?" she picked up on the third ring.
"Hi Mrs. Hawkins, it's me, Manny," she said, holding back even more tears.
"Hello Manny. How are the babies doing? And how's Chris?" she asked.
"Oh, um…he's actually the reason I called…"
"What do you mean? Is anything wrong?" Mrs. Hawkins asked, a little frantically.
"Well, you see…I don't know how to say this. Chris left me the day the twins were born. It was after everyone went home. He was upset about the twins and didn't know what to do I guess, and we don't know where he went," she burst out, unable to hold back the tears any longer.
"Honey, I'm so sorry. He didn't come here. Maybe he's at Marco's house."
"I don't think he is because Marco was at the hospital the whole time with Paige," Manny told her.
"I don't think he has enough money to go to the States to visit family. Do you want me to give you the number to his Uncle's house just in case?" Mrs. Hawkins offered.
"Sure, that would be great," Manny said in between sobs. Chris' mom gave her the number and Manny thanked her. She hung up the phone and cried. At the same time, Lucas and Lily both started to cry, as if they sensed their mother's pain. She laid them both on her bed and changed their diapers, then put them into their pajamas. "I love you both, you know that right? You're daddy loves you too; he just doesn't know what to do right now. I'm trying to get him back for you, don't worry," she told them. Lucas began to cry, so Manny picked him up and fed him. He fell asleep while she was holding him, so she placed him back in his bassinet. She picked Lily up and fed her too, then sat in the rocking chair and rocked her to sleep. She put her in her bassinet as well, and lay down on her own bed. She was falling asleep when she heard a knock on the door at the top of the stairs.
"Come in," she said miserably. She saw who it was and cheered up a little. "Hey Emma."
"Hi Manny. I thought I'd come see how you were doing with these two. Looks like you're having no trouble at all," Emma said.
"It's not that easy, but with everyone's help I think I can do it," she stated proudly. "Tell your mom I'm so grateful that she's willing to watch the twins when we go back to school."
"She'll have fun with them. She said that Jack grew up too fast or something," Emma told her.
"Hey Em, do you want to stay here tonight? I just need something to take my mind off of Chris and this DNA crap."
"Sure. I'll just call my mom and have her bring over a bag of stuff for me."
When Emma and Manny finally went to bed it was 1:30 am. Just a half hour later, Lily and Lucas both woke up crying. It was Manny's first night home with the twins and it was a little overwhelming for her. She was glad that she actually heard them crying and woke up, but it didn't bother Emma at all. She never even woke up. Manny changed them both again and rocked them back to sleep at the same time. She hadn't realized how many diapers they'd go through, and realized that she'd have to get a job of her own, especially if Chris never came back. It took a little over an hour for the babies to finally fall asleep, and Manny was exhausted. She knew it would be tiring, but waiting for the DNA results, and Chris leaving added to all that, it was horrible. Manny knew the next four days would be the worst, but she would finally be able to rest when she found out who the father of her twins were.
The waiting was finally over. It was the day that Manny had been waiting for ever since she found out she was pregnant. The results were being sent by messenger, straight from the hospital lab. Manny didn't know when they would be coming, and was getting anxious. Emma, Spike, Snake, Jack, JT, Paige, Marco, and Avery all came over to find out the news. They all waited in the living room (including Jason, Heather, Lily, and Lucas) in silence. Manny couldn't bring herself to say anything; she just wanted to wait.
By 12:30 in the afternoon, the results weren't there yet. Jason ordered a few pizzas for everyone to eat, but Manny couldn't eat anything. About an hour after everyone finished their pizza (it was almost 2 pm) the doorbell rang. Manny jumped up and rushed to the door, throwing it open.
"I'm looking for Manuela Santos," the man said.
"That's me," Manny told him. He handed her a large manila envelope and she signed the paper he held out to her. "Thanks," she said quickly and shut the door. She took a deep breath and ripped open the package, not even bothering to return to the living room. When she finally found the line on the page that stated the father's name, she began to cry. She walked back into the living room.
"Who is it Manny?" Emma asked quietly. "Who's the father?" Without answering, Manny sat on the couch and handed the papers over to Emma, who read the name out loud. Everyone gasped, but Manny simply sat there and cried.
A/N: You're not going to find out this chapter…better luck next time. I want reviews! Tell me who you think the father will be or want the father to be. I'll update as soon as I can.
