Chapter 168
"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Casey and Ryan, happy birthday to yoooou!" voices rang through the air. Casey and Ryan both found the singing very amusing and were happily giggling sitting next to their birthday cake. Tegan grabbed Ryan from behind and kissed his pink cheek. "My big boy" she said and kissed him again. "And my little princess" said Tegan before kissing Casey. Everybody cheered as Tegan and Lindsey blew out the birthday candles on behalf of the babies. Casey soon had her hand in the cake and then onto her brother. "Rather mess with it than eat it guys" said Kate. "What do you mean, it's their birthday, let them have cake" said Tegan. "Okay, go for it but I'm not going to say I told you so when they puke on you" said Kate. "God you're going to be a boring mother" said Tegan sarcastically. "It's not a birthday until somebody barfs" winked Tegan and proceeded to cut the cake for the rest of the guests.
"Hey gorgeous, how are you feeling?" asked Kate sitting down next to a very pregnant Sara. "Ugh…. Hot… huge… uncomfortable… oh and I have the worst case of heartburn in human history" said Sara throwing her head back. "But other than that I'm fine. When are they cutting the cake, I'm craving" laughed Sara with her hands on her belly. "You…. are so damn hot" whispered Kate seductively into Sara's neck. "No I'm not… I'm repulsive" said Sara. "No… you don't understand what an incredible turn on this is" said Kate pinching Sara's bum. "Hey you don't have to try and impress me anymore. I'm all yours remember" said Sara and kissed Kate. "Sara! When's the big day?" asked Alecia eating some birthday cake. "Due date is in about 5 weeks" said Kate. "Good luck! How's the new album going?" asked Alecia. "Great, it's pretty much done. Don't know about a release date yet, may keep it in the can for a couple of months until we're ready to do some promotion" said Sara. "You don't have to tour an album you know. A few big shows will do. I know you'll want to do some press for it but you can cut down on that a bit too. You two are so hot after that Soundtrack album, the new one is going to sell itself" said Alecia. "Well I hope so because I won't be able to be out on the road for weeks on end, neither will Tegan. Not for a year or so at least" said Sara. "Fair enough, just think out of the box though" said Alecia and winked. "Gift time" said Tegan excitedly. The adults at this party were way more excited about than the kids who in fact didn't have much of a clue what was going on. "Hottie" mouthed Kate to Sara from the other side of the room. Sara smiled shyly and shook her head.
Tegan held Casey's hands and walked on the grass with her when most of the guests had left. "Almost there sugar lips… you can do it" she said. Casey was laughing and drooling. The twins were the sweetest, happiest little things and even now, with them teething, were always laughing. "Hey Casey, come to Aunt Kate" said Kate on her knees in front of Casey. "Tee let her try on her own!" said Kate. "No… she's not ready" said Tegan. "Maybe she is? Anyway, you'll catch her if she's not" said Kate. Tegan let her give a few more steps and then reluctantly let go of her hands. Casey kept going, on her own into Kate's arms. Kate grabbed her and fell back on the grass laughing. "She did it! Lindsey! Where's Linds? She did it" yelled Tegan jumping around. "What! What happened?" said Sonia running up to them. "Casey walked! She walked" exclaimed Tegan still jumping around. "She did, she walked" said Kate on her back holding Casey in the air. A blob of drool fell on Kate's cheek. "Oh jeez" said Kate and sat up to wipe the drool from her face. "Better get used to that" laughed Tegan.
"Casey! Baby girl did you really walk?" yelled Lindsey as she came running up to them. "She walked babe" laughed Tegan and hugged Lindsey. "I don't believe it! I've been filming every single attempt for the last month and the one time I'm not around she walks" said Lindsey disappointed. Lindsey desperately tried to get Casey walking again with no luck. "Oh relax, she's got a whole lifetime of walking ahead of her" laughed Tegan. Sara carried Ryan over. "Okay come on Ryan, your turn" said Tegan and held Ryan's hands to help him walk. The second she left them he plonked down on his bum. "Don't worry, this is the one" said Tegan and helped him up again. Ryan plonked down again. He sat happily on the floor and started pulling out grass. "Mmmmaa mmmma mma ma" he babbled. "You hear that Sar, he can say mama" said Tegan proudly. "Uh huh" said Sara stifling a laugh. After a few more tries Ryan was getting fed up and started crying. "Guys, boys can sometimes be a bit lazy" said Kate. "Who are you calling lazy?" asked Tegan annoyed. "He'll get there. Remember he's been smaller than Casey all along" said Kate. "One day when he asks who walked first it's always going to be Casey… and he's going to feel like the weak one" said Tegan. "Let's guess, you walked after Sara?" asked Kate. "Only about a week after" said Sonia. "Yeah and she's been falling behind ever since" said Sara rolling her eyes. Tegan gave her a dirty look before picking Ryan up. "Okay, come here birthday boy. You're so tired, we'll try again later" said Tegan and held a fussy Ryan to her chest. "There we go champ… nap time" said Tegan and took the bottle from Lindsey. Ryan looked into Tegan's eyes as he happily sucked on his bottle while rubbing Tegan's arm up and down. "He loves doing this. Quite touchy, feely this one" smiled Tegan. Casey was fast asleep in Sonia's arms already. Lindsey put a light baby blanket over Ryan where he slept on Tegan's shoulder. "You're spoiling them" said Sara. "You can never love or spoil a baby too much. You'll understand that pretty soon" said Sonia. "Hmmm – I guess" said Sara smiling. "I never thought I could love something as much as I love these two" said Tegan. "Oh, I don't count?" said Lindsey jokingly. "Of course you count. This is a different kind of love though" said Tegan softly stroking her son's dark hair.
The babies were playing on the floor of the living room while the gang was chilling with some sundowners. Ryan pulled himself up against the couch without anybody even noticing. He gave a few steps forward towards Tegan. "Ryan! Look guys, he's walking! That's it big boy" exclaimed Tegan and held her arms open for Ryan. He grinned and shakily walked into his mom's arms. "I knew you could do it" said Lindsey and kissed Ryan's head. "They're doing so well aren't they" said Sonia to Kate. "They're doing amazing" smiled Kate. "Can you believe it's been a year, they were so tiny. They really are amazing for two premies" said Sonia. "They're doing better than most full term babies actually. They're walking quite early, especially if you consider that they're actually supposed to not even be ten months yet" said Kate. "They have been giving them plenty of practice though, walking around holding their hands every day" said Sonia. "Yeah they have, and that's really important. They've had some real, quality time with them and nothing can replace that kind of stimulation when it comes to development" said Kate. "Can't wait to see my new grandchild" said Sonia. Sara sat down next to her mom and grinned. "You still don't want to know what it is?" asked Sonia. "We know what it is, we just haven't had confirmation from a scan yet. We'd like to see if we were right" said Sara. "How are you so sure this is a girl?" asked Sonia. Sara just shrugged and smiled. "Hope you're right because you have a lot of girl stuff! Guess we'll see soon enough" said Tegan walking back into the living room after putting Ryan down. "We're right!" said Sara and winked at Kate.
"So are you two ever getting married or what" Tegan blurted out. "Yes we are, just not with me almost 8 months pregnant" said Sara. "It's been a busy year" said Kate. "Uh huh" said Tegan and rolled her eyes. Sara gave Tegan a dirty look. "Not sure if I'm into the whole big ceremony and reception thing anyway" said Sara. "So, get married in Vegas or something" said Tegan. "Tegan, we'll get married when we're good and ready thank you" said Sara sarcastically.
"So how's the job going Kate?" asked Sonia, keen to change the subject. "It's going great, thanks Sonia. Working hard right now in the hopes of taking a bit of time off when the baby comes" said Kate. "And the hours?" asked Sonia. "Hours are manageable, I've cut down considerably from what I used to do a couple of years ago. Admin seems okay with that. It works for me, I've mellowed down quite a bit" said Kate. "I have to say, it's kind of weird but so wonderful to see the twins so... domesticated" laughed Sonia. "Domesticated?" said Tegan. "Yeah, what do you call this kiddies party" said Sonia. Tegan shrugged. "We may be... more domesticated, but let me assure you, we can still rock" said Sara. "Sure you can honey" said Sonia. "I'm serious mom... music is still our jobs!" said Sara. "Of course it is" said Sonia. "You think we've become boring?" asked Tegan. "Not in the least, in fact you're way more interesting now than you ever were" said Sonia. "Right" said Tegan with her hands in her sides. "Being in serious, committed relationships and starting families... that's what I've always wanted for you. If being happy makes you boring, so what... anyway... by the looks of your popularity and album sales the public seems to agree with me, you're way more interesting now" said Sonia. Tegan smiled. "Spoken like a true mom. Thanks for that" she said.
A/N: A short little "domesticated" chapter. Have to just fill in a few things before the next lot of action (there will be plenty). I'm wondering if I should do this next part as a separate fic but I don't really want to go through explaining who everybody is again etc etc. Anyway, just thinking out loud. Please review, tell me what you like and don't like. If you don't, I feel like nobody's liking it or reading it. Thanks for those who do send feedback regularly, it really does keep me writing. If you can, try and register so I can send you a reply.