The day of the baby shower dawned sunny and cool, very unusual for the middle of January in Colorado Springs. The baby, who had decided that food would have to be eaten very soon, awoke Sam very early.
Fear gripped Jack when he awoke an hour later and noticed Sam's absence from their bed and heard no noise coming from their bathroom. He wandered into the kitchen and found his wife pigging out on ice cream and a jar of pickles.
He grimaced when he saw the food. "Hey, darlin', you didn't eat anything like that when you were pregnant with the twins, what's up with it now?" He asked the question as he sat down across the table from Sam.
Sam smiled at him through a spoonful of ice cream. When it was gone she replied, "Hey sleepy head. It's a different pregnancy, honey. This time I'm not craving jalapenos and horseradish sauce. By the way, do you know what happened to the twins? Usually they're up by the time the baby wakes me."
Jack nodded his head, "They're still asleep, I checked on them as I was coming out." He got up and put a pot of decaffeinated coffee on. When he returned he found his wife smiling sweetly up at him, an empty ice cream container in her hand. He sighed, took the container, and promptly returned with a new one.
Sam grinned sheepishly and said, "Thanks honey," before dipping her spoon again into the frozen food.
The two sat in compatible silence for a long while, drinking coffee and Sam eating the food that the child had her craving. When Sam was full and Jack was done with his coffee, they headed off to the shower, as it was only 0630 hours.
When the two emerged from their bedroom, half an hour later, fully clothed and clean – they found two small heads of rich brown hair sitting at the kitchen table eating a breakfast of toast and Jell-O.
Sam and Jack just stood there in silence, gazing proudly at their two children. They had come through so much in the past year, and they would go through so much more in the next years of their lives.
Thora, who could sense that her parents were watching her, turned her head toward her brother briefly before jumping out of her chair and running into her father's waiting arms. "Daddy!"
Jack held on to his daughter for a few minutes before his knees started to protest and he had to put her down, but while he was bending down, Johnny decided that it would be a good idea to jump on "daddy's" back. Jack pretended to groan and fell over, allowing his children to tickle him and sit on his stomach.
The small family laughed and sat around after the twins got dressed, watching Sam's choice of television show – The Simpson's. Strange as it may seem, but as soon as Sam had seen one episode by force with Jack, she couldn't get enough of the animated show. They sat there through two entire episodes before the doorbell rang, interrupting their peace.
Jack sighed as he got up to open the door to their visitor, their family's peace would be put on hold for the rest of the day.
A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update and that this chapter is sooo very short. You see, my Muse took a vacation for the Spring Holy Day season (I'm Jewish) and she's still there. This was written before she left my mind and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for very very long. Again, sorry for the wait. She should be coming back soon. Oh, yeah, if you want to do your part to bring her back faster - REVIEW!