AN: Hey everyone, sorry it took a long time but I'm getting a week off so I should get at least one more chapter up. BTW Abby is 14 wks-16 wks pregnant here. It's over a course of two weeks.
Chapter 3 has been slightly corrected, view if you want.
Disclaimer: I don't own ER or characters.
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Chapter 4: Expect the Unexpected
I looked at the picture of Eric I now kept beside our bed and felt a sharp tug at my heart. After two and a half weeks the pain was still very fresh, being cooped up all day didn't help me keep my mind off of it either. I supposed that was a good thing anyways; better to get it all out in the open than to keep it all inside. I was surprised at myself for thinking such a thing, I wasn't usually an out in the open type of person…
After our appointment with Janet a few days ago, she had advised me to stay home another week or so to rest before going back to work. I had agreed grudgingly, so long as I didn't have to be in bed all day, and had taken the next two weeks off. She told me I could get up and moving but I still had to take it easy.
I wasn't really looking forward to going back to work anyways, since the miscarriage issue the entire hospital knew I was pregnant and I wasn't quite ready to go back to the jokes.
As I swung my legs over the side of the bed I took a deep breath. The morning sickness had passed and I felt lucky that I had only suffered for a couple weeks. Glancing at the clock I saw it was 12:30 pm, Luka had already gone to work, he would be home later.
I showered quickly then climbed into some sweatpants and a bulky sweater. Pulling my hair into a ponytail, I wandered into the kitchen, pulled out one of the battered cookbooks and slumped down onto the couch. Thumbing through it I found a recipe that looked scrumptious, Chicken Kiev. I debated a moment before getting up again; I had wanted to try cooking for a long time. I'd always wanted to be able to cook for someone and now that I had Luka and the babies I figured what better time to start then now?
Shuffling back into the kitchen I pulled out the ingredients, it was a good thing Luka kept up on the groceries, I was clueless. Laying them on the table I took a deep breath and began.
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I heard the key in the lock and quickly fastened the back of my pants. I wore a pair of simply black dress pants with a small pouch in the front for my belly. For the top I had chosen one of my new maternity tops. It was an off the shoulder, burgundy colored top with a simple pattern. Personally I thought the top was gorgeous. I had started wearing maternity clothes, why bother hiding it how? I fastened a necklace so that it hung down around my neck, the earrings I wore matched the necklace perfectly.
I hurried into the kitchen and lit the candles, setting a homey glow about the room. I could hear Luka hanging up his jacket in the closet.
"Abby?"
I went into the hallway and he caught his breath as I stepped out into his view,
"Wow."
I smiled lightly as he looked on,
"You want to go get changed? I have supper ready too."
"Supper?"
I could see the incredulity on his face as I nodded. Cooking had never been one of my fortés but I felt sure he would enjoy this meal.
He turned and walked towards are bedroom as I made my way to the kitchen, putting the last few touches on our meals. Just as I was sitting down he entered the room, smiling,
"Abby, this is fantastic!"
I beamed with pride as we began to eat.
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Luka pushed his chair away from the table,
"Abby that was delicious." He kissed me on the cheek as he took both of our plates to the sink.
As soon as he was finished he came next to me and said "Would you like to go for a walk with me?"
I agreed then went to change into a more comfortable outfit. When I had finished he handed me my coat and took my hand as we walked out into the night.
The streetlights illuminated the lingering snow, giving it an unearthly glow. There was a chill in the air but it felt as though winter was finally passing, spring was coming. We walked in silence; I could sense Luka had something to say so I waited quietly.
Sure enough, as we passed the quaint shops on the side streets he began to speak,
"Abby, I've been thinking, I know how hard it is to take care of one baby let alone two and neither of us really have room for two babies. So I was thinking, maybe, if you want to…we could look for a house together."
I sucked in a deep breath, filling my cheeks with air. "Luka…"
He waited patiently until I said,
"Luka, give me a little while. I'm used to being alone and independent, let me think about it a few days, ok?"
He nodded but I could see he was pleased.
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Two days later, I'd made my decision. When Luka came home, he found me sitting in the middle of his couch, surrounded by mover's boxes with a key in my hand. When I handed him the key he looked somewhat surprised and slightly disappointed.
"Oh…ok, I guess I can help you move out tomorrow."
I grinned, "No Luka, it's the key to my apartment and the rest of my things. I'm moving in, on one condition."
Now he was smiling, "What?"
"I want to find a house before the babies come. I called a real estate agent this afternoon."
Luka looked surprised to find that I was that capable,
"You called an agent? What did you say?"
"I said we were looking for a small house for two adults, two children. A fenced in back yard, no pool, a big kitchen and at least three bedrooms."
Luka was nodding, "Sounds good Abby. Sometimes you amaze me."
He pulled me into a hug that I returned happily.
As we sat down on the couch together he touched my belly. "How're my babies doing?"
I shrugged then said, "Luka, you have no idea how weird it is to be pregnant, to actually have a life growing inside of you."
He smiled, "So when are we going to start thinking of names?"
I shrugged again, "I don't know. Janet said we could find out the sexes of the baby in 2 weeks so maybe we could start then…or now and have them ready for then."
Luka kissed my cheek, "Whatever you want Abby."
I leaned back onto his shoulder, "I say we wait."
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About a week and a half later, the day I was supposed to go for my ultrasound, the real estate agent called with four houses for us to look at. I told her we would be able to go out for a few hours then we would have to get back home; I wanted to be able to take a nap before going to see Dr. Coburn. She agreed to meet us at the first house and I hung up the phone.
"Luka!" I yelled up the stairs.
He appeared in the stairwell, a puzzled look on his face. "Yeah?"
"That was the real estate agent, she wants us to go look at some houses now."
Luka looked surprised, "Already?"
I nodded, "Let's go."
"Are you sure you want to? You're feeling ok?" I had been feeling a little tired and achy lately.
I nodded and Luka came downstairs, grabbing his sophisticated black leather coat off the banister. I picked up my own black coat and slid it over my shoulders.
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When we got to the first house, I wasn't entirely impressed and I could see Luka wasn't either. It was a small split townhouse with paper thin walls. It had a nice backyard and a decent sized kitchen but I could hear the neighbors through the walls already.
When she asked us what we thought I told her no and Luka nodded in agreement, it was too small and not suitable for two new babies. She nodded in understanding and asked us to follow her to the next house.
It was only a few blocks away but those few blocks made a world of a difference. The house was enormous! It had a two car garage with extra storage and about six rooms on each floor. I shook my head and whispered to Luka,
"If we lived here I'd be scared to lose a baby in one of these rooms."
He chuckled and told the real estate agent no.
The third house was smaller and I liked it a lot. Luka however turned up his nose the moment we walked in the door. "Abby, it's country." He said.
I shrugged, "It's cute."
It was, it had most of the rooms on the first floor, all except one bathroom and three bedrooms, which were on the top floor. Though it was an old country style house I like it, it felt homey. Luka whispered to me that he thought it looked like Shania Twain had exploded in there. I laughed out loud and reluctantly told the real estate agent this wasn't the house for us.
The fourth house, I fell in love with. It was only about ten minutes away from the hospital but it was a suburban dream. It had a small front lawn but made up for it with a huge, fully enclosed, backyard. It was surrounded by a 5 foot high cedar fence and near the back of it there were huge oak trees, one with a tire swing hanging from its boughs.
The house was white with blue trim and blue shutters. It was a two story house with no basement but there were three bathrooms, one was an en suite to the master bedroom and the others were in the hallways. It had a one car garage which I was sure would be enough for us. At the front of the house was the dining room, the hardwood floor complimented the pale green walls with wide windows looking over the street. I could see us with a family dinner sitting around a table in the gorgeous room.
Children were playing out in the front of the other houses and their parents were watching carefully from white porches, identical the one on the house we were looking at. It looked like a very child friendly neighborhood.
Connected to the pale dining room was a very modern kitchen, the floor was a black and white tile and the appliances that were to go with the house were stainless steel. In the back corner of the kitchen there was room for a small table, surrounding that area were huge windows looking over the backyard.
On the other side of the kitchen was a reasonably sized family room. It was painted in earthy tones with the same wide windows in the kitchen overlooking the back yard.
In the front corner there was what looked like a child's playroom. It was painted in bright colors and had smaller windows that were suitable for blinds to keep Peeping Toms away.
In the hallway a small corridor led to one of the two bathrooms and a laundry room leading to the garage.
Upstairs were the bedrooms and one bathroom. There were four bedrooms, one more than we had expected but the remaining one would be able to be turned into an office for now. The master bedroom had an adjacent bathroom and the remaining bathroom was across from the other bedrooms. The four formed a horseshoe shape with our bedroom facing the front.
Out of all the bedrooms, only the master bedroom was painted, it was done in rich creamy colors that gave the room a beautiful glow. The other rooms were white and my fingers itched to decorate and make children's rooms.
I looked at Luka and saw that he had the same expression of eagerness on his face. The real estate agent left us alone in the corner bedroom to make our decision.
"I know it's sort of odd to find the perfect house on the first try but I honestly don't think we're going to find a better house for a better price." Luka stated.
I could've kissed him right then and there, "Yes." I breathed, "This is our house."
He smiled, "It's more expensive though, and do you think we can manage."
"Luka, I've lived on my own my entire life and I know you have for the past while, I'm sure we can come up with the money."
He was nodding, "You're sure?"
I nodded and he said, "Ok."
The real estate agent returned and Luka made the offer. She said she would take it to the owners and get back to us ASAP.
As we left the house I glanced at the clock, it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I had three hours until our appointment.
"Luka," I murmured, "We just bought a house."
He was grinning. "I know!"
I went on. "The babies will have to be beside each other, we can't split them up. If it's a girl we can do pink or purple…or maybe she won't like those…maybe yellow? If it's a boy we can do green and blue…maybe not just the colors, we could do patterns!"
As my voice rose in excitement over patterning ideas Luka slumped over the steering wheel laughing.
I pouted, "What?"
He continued laughing, "You're nesting again."
My lips turned up slightly, "So…."
He shrugged, turning his attention back to the road, "Nothing…nothing at all. I promise I will take you baby shopping when we find out what we're having and when we get a house."
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When we got home I downed the necessary 6 cups of water then curled up on the couch for a nap. I let my eyelids droop for I knew that I had an hour or so to sleep, and within minutes I was fast asleep.
I woke later when Luka poked me in the side.
I jumped surprise and swore loudly, "Damn it Luka, what was that for?"
He was grinning like the cat that swallowed the canary, "It's time to go to the appointment."
I couldn't help but smile at his antics, "Fine, I'm up, I'm up."
Stretching like a cat, I climbed off of the couch and Luka helped me into my coat.
He had to help me out to the car as I rubbed my eyes wearily. As we climbed into the car he asked again,
"Are you ok?"
I nodded, "I'm tired though."
"Tell Janet."
I told him I would and he remained silent the rest of the way. Though he remained silent I could sense his excitement, we were going to find out what we were having.
As we pulled up in front of the clinic I moaned softly. When Luka looked at me I shook my head, "I'm ok…I just really have to pee."
He chuckled and took my hand as we went into the clinic.
We were taken almost immediately; we were the last appointment of the day.
Janet met us in the room as I adjusted the paper hospital gown so none of me was hanging out.
"Uncomfortable Abby?" she asked.
I nodded, smiling slightly, "I never knew how embarrassing it was to wear one of these."
She smiled, "You have a full bladder?"
I nodded, glancing at Luka who was smiling at me, "Luka, stop it, you're creeping me out."
He managed to wipe that stupid grin off his face but not for long. As soon as the ultrasound machine came out it came back.
"Are you feeling ok Abby?" Dr. Coburn asked.
I nodded, "A little tired but fine."
"Good, you should be feeling the babies soon now. You're almost 16 weeks so it could be any day now. And you're returning to work soon?"
I nodded again, "On Monday."
"Aright then, let's do the ultrasound. You two want to know the sexes?"
We both nodded and she smiled, "Alight."
She smoothed the cool gel over my bare stomach and Luka took my hand in his. As the machine was started up I wondered eagerly what we would be having, a boy and a girl? Two boys? Two girls?
Janet placed the wand over my uterus and I made a small noise of discomfort as she pushed against my bladder. She apologized as she searched for the babies.
"Ok, so baby A is up here like last time, near the top of your belly. They're fraternal twins; you can see here are the two sacs."
I nodded as she scanned the child.
"Alright, there you go." She murmured, "Can you see that?" I squinted and saw Luka do that same. We both glanced at Janet and saw she was smiling, "You're sure you want to know."
I nodded eagerly and felt Luka's grip tighten on my hand, "Alright, baby A is a boy."
For some reason I immediately thought of Eric and tears welled up in my eyes. A new baby boy…a beautiful baby boy. I looked at Luka, who was grinning like a madman. When he saw my tears he reached up and brushed them away with his thumb,
"We have a baby boy." He said softly.
I broke into a smile and suddenly laughed out loud. "Luka we're having a baby!"
He smiled back, "We're having two babies."
'That's right," Janet said, "Baby B is here at the bottom, can you see what it is?"
Once again I looked only to shake my head in a puzzled manner.
Dr. Coburn was staring intently at the screen and rotated the wand a couple times, "This one's a bit more difficult but…ah! There we go. Baby B is a little girl."
I felt my hear swell with pride and love; we were having a little boy and a little girl.
"They're both healthy?" I asked.
Janet nodded, "So far, so good. Do you guys have names picked out?"
Luka shook his head, "No, we were looking at some but we haven't found any yet."
Janet pulled the wand from my stomach and wiped it off then led me to a bathroom. When I had finished she brought us back to the room, told us what to expect in the next month, booked an appointment and sent us on our way.
As we got in the car I took Luka's hand again, "A house and a girl and a boy in the same day."
Luka was smiling, "We are unbelievably lucky Abby."
I nodded, "I know Luka, I know."
It was silent until Luka said, "So for names, you're sure you don't want Jewel?"
I shot him a scathing look and said, "Hell No."
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Ok ok ok, so it's not at all realistic they find a dream home on the first shot…who cares. I wanted to! Hee hee hee, please don't try and correct that ;) Anyways, please R&R Keep up the name suggestions please!
