October 20th, 2004
Week 30
He was getting nervous. In less than a month, he would be married. Michael was going to be married...and a father. It was amazing.
"Is it easy?" Michael asked standing at the sink.
"What? Marriage?" Elijah snickered as his little brother nodded, "Hell no. Lydia and I have as many fights as the next person. Marriage is a lot of work, but it's worth it. It's parenthood that puts strain on a marriage."
"My god." Michael whispered, "And I'm having twins."
"Yes you are." Elijah laughed. "If Mom and Dad can survive you and Suzie, you guys can survive these twins." Michael smiled weakly.
"Michael!" Neela yelled from their bedroom.
"Sleeping beauty awakes." He said, "She hates trying to stay in bed."
"I understand." Elijah said, "I should get going."
"You don't have to." Michael told his brother.
"Michael!" Neela yelled. Elijah chuckled.
"I think I will." He said, "I'll talk to you later." Michael walked down the hallway to the bedroom. Neela was lying in bed groaning.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" He asked.
"I'm going to vomit." Neela sat up.
"What? Don't do that." he grabbed the trashcan. Neela bent over and started to throw up. Michael rubbed her back, "Do you have a fever?"
"No." She mumbled licking her lips, "It's nerves."
"Wedding jitters." Michael smiled. Neela groaned and threw up again. Michael sighed watching her. She looked pale and in misery. "Do you need me to get you anything?"
"Ice chips." She fell back against the pillows.
"I'll be right back." Michael got up and went into the kitchen. Neela was freaking out just like he was. For some reason, that reassured his nerves. Michael put a bunch of ice cubes into a washcloth and pounded it with a meat mallet. He poured the crushed ice into a Dixie cup and went back into the bedroom. "Here you go, baby. Ice crushed to the crushiest."
"Thanks." Neela took the cup, "is Elijah gone?"
"Yeah, he had to go tend to the kids." Michael explained to her. He did not want her feeling bad for scaring Elijah off.
"Does Annika have her flower girl's dress?" Neela asked.
"You know she does." Michael smiled, "Everything is in place. All we are waiting for is the date to come. Don't worry about it."
"I have to worry." Neela smirked sucking on a piece of ice.
"No you don't. Just trust that everything will go well." Michael smiled pleasantly at her. "We're getting married. We are getting ready to spend the rest of our lives together. This is the beginning of the rest of our lives. It's going to be wonderful." Neela smiled softly. Michael was saying all this stuff more for him. Things would be okay.
November 3rd, 2004
Week 32
Michael paced back and forth in the terminal. He was terrified to meet Neela's family. He glanced at his fiancé. She was sitting down patiently reading a magazine. He knew she was just hiding her feelings.
"The plane landed." Michael told her.
"I know. It'll take a couple of minutes for the plane to get the gate and everyone to file off." She said. Michael looked at the gate.
"People are coming out." he said. Neela put her magazine down and hauled her achy body up. He was right. People were coming out. Neela's heart began to pound.
"Well, good." She said. Her palms were sweaty. She shouldn't freak out like this. It was only her family. Neela peered over the heads when she saw her sister, "Arati!!"
"Neela!" The woman squealed running to her sister. "Look at you." She put her hands on Neela's large stomach "Gan."
"Hey!" Neela slapped her sister's hand away.
"Chharili." Arati chuckled.
"You bet." Neela smiled looking at her brother in law and niece, "Oh my god. Priya…Look how big you've gotten."
"Nee-Nee!" Priya cooed. Jovi leaned over and kissed Neela's head.
"Congratulation, Sis." He said.
"Thanks." Neela said looking around the gate, "Where are Mom and dad?" Arati bit her lip.
"Well, jehra nahin nkalna." Arati said. Neela's lips quivered slightly.
"Ladies, I don't speak Indian…" Michael said. Arati smiled weakly at Michael.
"Our parents aren't coming. They changed their minds at the last minute." She explained. Michael looked at Neela. She looked heart broken.
"Food." Priya squealed. Neela smiled wiping her eyes.
"Aunt Neela is hungry too." She said, "But I suspect you guys are tired." Jovi shook his head.
"We slept a lot on the plan." He told her, "But airplane food isn't good."
It was a lot less nerve wrecking than Michael had thought it had been. Luckily, Neela's parents were not there and Michael knew that was why he felt good. It was amazing to see how happy Neela was. A weight seemed to be lifted off of her shoulders as she hugged her sister.
"This is so good." Arati said munching on a sandwich. "I love American food."
"Yeah, it's good." Michael chuckled.
"More!" Priya squealed reaching for some French fries.
"Wait." Jovi blew on a couple and handed it to her.
"Priya is gorgeous." Michael said. Arati smiled.
"Thanks. Teja and Chander are going to be even more gorgeous I think." She said, "I cannot wait for them to come."
"Soon." Neela said poking at her sandwich. "We have everything ready for them, but we just need to take a breather." Arati nodded.
"Don't over work yourselves before they get here or you're going to die." She smiled, "Twins are hard work from what I hear. I can't imagine two Priya's." Jovi chuckled loudly.
"Lord, me either." He said.
"Remember those twins who lived down the street from us?" Arati asked. Neela groaned and nodded.
"God, I hated them. They were feral children." She said.
"Susan and I were okay." Michael said.
"I know." Neela winked, turning back to her sister. The two of them began talking and laughing at once. Michael leaned back in his chair watching them. It was so refreshing seeing Neela so happy and comfortable. Maybe these few weeks were not going to be so bad after
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