Jessa's pregnancy continued on pace. She grew heavy with their children, but far from the uncertainty that plagued her in the beginning, she started to glow with the understanding that women had been doing this since the dawn of humankind. If they could, so could she.
The tally of possible names hadn't grown, but it was becoming clear that there were clear favorites. Most popular for boys seemed to be Levi, Theo, and Dante. Girls names were more difficult. The leaders were Emilia, Opal, Roselyn, and Elesabetta. As for the parents, they were still in a debate of a different sort.
"Jessa," Damon pleaded, looking into his wife's eyes with need. "Please, your mother said you could."
Jessa was unmoved. "I thought we'd agreed early on to be surprised? What's so important about knowing early?"
Damon rolled his gorgeous blue eyes. "Babe, how are we supposed to decorate the nursery? What about clothes? And all the little details for our little ones?"
She walked over to where he was sprawled on the sofa in the library. She was seven months along and a bit unwieldy, but she still managed to perch on his lap. Taking his face in her hands, she turned him to look into her eyes. "Do you REALLY want to know?" She asked, certain that if he so desperately wanted it, she'd give it to him.
His eyes softened at her question. Did he really want to know? Yes. He was almost burning with curiosity. Did he want to make her learn something she didn't want to know? Of course not. He'd follow her lead, but he did want some idea of nursery decor, baby clothes, and at some point an idea about names would be nice. He started to shake his head, but she stopped him. Her eyes widened and she blurted out what he wanted to know, but she may not have.
"It's a boy and a girl." Her eyes were still wide and she looked at him like she was in shock and more than a little awe.
"Jessa?" He was scared, the look on her face wasn't what he expected and she looked like it hadn't been her choice to answer. "What is it?"
"THEY told me, Damon. I can HEAR our children's thoughts." She was slowly getting over her shock, and was starting to smile. "They love your voice, and think that I worry too much."
Damon was grinning like a madman. Of course his beautiful, talented, powerful wife would be able to do the unimaginable. He kissed her quiet and stared deeply into her eyes. Pulling away, he told her how amazing she was.
ONE MONTH LATER
"Mother and Papa should be here by next week," Jessa said, as she hung up the phone. "They wanted to take one last trip and this was the first time they had cell coverage. If the weather holds, their travel plans should be OK."
Damon was painting the nursery. Mint green with a border added later, if they could ever decide on the theme. He smiled at his very pregnant wife. She was beautiful with her hair up in a loose bun and tendrils framing her face. Wearing oversized denim bibs, she asked him if he needed her help. Shaking his head, he gestured to the heavily padded rocking chair that he'd sat beside a finished wall.
They had made one of the suites Damon and his contractors designed into a nursery and playroom. As she sat in the chair and lightly rocked, she cradled her large belly. When she gave a gasp, he dropped the paintbrush and was at her side in a flash. "Jessa, are you ok?" He was terrified, but didn't want to show it. He feared that she'd go into labor before her mother arrived. He had read in one of his many books about childbirth that with twins, early birth is normal.
Smiling at him, she took his hand and placed it on her bump. "Just the twins trying to fight for limited space." He was always amazed when he felt his children move. They were active, and fiesty, just like their parents. Chuckling he dipped his head and gave them a stern talking to.
"Guys, tone it down, Mommy needs a break." He kissed the bulge of her belly, and felt them move beneath his lips. "Daddy loves you!"
When he stood up halfway, he carefully kissed his wife. "And Daddy definitely loves you, Mommy."
She smiled at him as he turned back to finish the last wall. "You're almost done."
"Yep," he answered, then asked for what felt like the millionth time. "Have we decided on the border?"
"What did you vote for?" She asked, feeling like she was dealing with a bad case of pregnancy brain. "Bears or jungle?"
"Teddy bears." He replied. "The cream color of the border, plus the lightness of the bears looks neutral enough for both of them, and it compliments the color of the walls."
"Teddy bears it is," she said, not remembering why they'd struggled for so long. "The jungle theme might be too vibrant against the lightness of the walls. Did I really put up a fight for it?"
Finishing the last swipe of color, he turned to her and grinned. "Yes, you fought like a tiger."
Rolling her eyes, she said, "Great, now we just have to pick names."
Damon moved back to her side. Pulling her to her feet, he walked her out of the nursery and down the hall to their room. She sat up against the headboard as he went into the bathroom to clean up a bit. Coming back into the room, he noticed that she had taken down her hair.
"We could just wait to meet them?" He offered. "We know the contenders, the names we like the most, but what if we wait to meet Lil Miss and Mister Salvatore?"
He crawled into bed beside her. Opening his arms as he sat against the headboard, she happily moved over to lay against him. His reasoning worked, even if it meant that they'd have their family and friends constantly asking what they picked. She sighed as she heard the comfort of his heartbeat. She was tired and open to a nap.
"Sounds good to me," she answered, a yawn escaping. "So does a nap."
He chuckled and slid down to the pillows. "Then we nap." As she fell asleep, he was again struck by how lucky he was. Holding the woman he adored, who was carrying his children inside her, what could be better than this?