A/N: I know, this took forever. I'm naughty and I deserve to be punished. But I have a defense! I still had writer's block. It sucks. I am actually a writer by profession, and I the block full stop. I couldn't write anything. But now, hopefully, I'm back.
So sit back and enjoy!
By the way I just want to send a shout out to Rachel who's support made this update possible. Thanks, babe!
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Part of expecting twins was preparing for twins. And there we incurred several problems. Outside of work, Sara drove a white compact, and I had a green Jeep. Both were five passenger cars, and in just a couple of months, we were going to be a family of seven. Problem one.
We were living in a three bedroom house that was already bursting at the seams. Problem two.
The answer to the first problem was simple; we needed a new car, or more specifically, we needed a mini-van. Sara was crushed that we would have to own such a slow, fuel-inefficient car, but there it was.
"What if we just…I don't know, drive the kids in two cars?" Sara whined as we walked up and down the rows of cars.
I smiled. It was a hot September day, I had just dropped the girls off at school, picked Sara up, and now we were searching a car lot for our new family sized vehicle. "Because that's energy efficient?" Poor Sara. It was hot, and she was miserable. "Not to mention inconvenient and time-consuming. You're not going to win this one."
Sara more or less waddled behind me, slurping her forty ounce iced tea and scowling at me. "There are other seven-passenger cars, Cath. Why does it have to be a mini-van?"
"Nancy has had a mini-van for five years. She's been in three accidents and no one has ever been hurt. What does that tell you?"
"That your sister needs to learn to drive?"
I turned and slapped her arm. "No. That they're safe." I continued walking. "Mini-vans are designed as family vehicles. Those other monster trucks are just disasters waiting to happen- Ah! Ow!" I felt something cold skittle down my back. I spun to see Sara smiling impishly, holding a handful of ice cubes from her open drink.
"Oops."
I fought to keep a straight face. "Yeah, oops."
"How did that happen?"
"Gee. I don't know." I took some of the ice from her hand and put it in my mouth. "Actually, it felt kind of good."
"Yeah? Turn around."
"Oh, sure, that's gonna happen."
"I'm not gonna do it again, just turn around." She pushed at me shoulder.
Cautiously, I turned my back. A second later I felt coolness on my neck. I rolled my shoulders and closed my eyes. "God, that feels good. It's so damn hot."
"Hmm." We just stood there for a minute.
"Is there something I can assist you ladies with?" I jumped at the sound of new voice and the ice once again trickled down my back. Turning around, I saw a young man with a clipboard. He was in his late twenties with some unfortunate early balding.
"That depends," I smiled. "Do you actually work here or are you just doing a survey?"
He laughed falsely. "No, I work here, my name is Don Sandal and I'm here to help."
Sara finished putting the lid on her drink and turned to the man. She pointed at her stomach. "Twins. Three more at home. Need bigger car. Hate mini-vans." She smiled quickly. "Help."
I frowned at her. "We're not opposed to mini-vans."
"Yes, we are."
"Well, there are several options, and a mini-van certainly is one of them. Why don't I take you through our most popular models, and we'll just go from there?" He guided us into the air conditioned building. "You should take a seat, ma'am." He waved Sara into a chair and I took the one beside it.
"Now, is this going to be your primary vehicle?"
"Yes." Sara sat as far forward as she could and I sat back. She was much better at this kind thing than I was.
"And is your sister also going to be driving the vehicle?"
Sara stopped. "My what?"
He slowly turned his head toward me. "Your sis…ter."
Sara looked at me. I turned to Don, my eyebrows high. "Sisters?" I smirked, and Sara started laughing. "Do we look like sisters to you?"
Don looked between us and swallowed hard. "Umm…no. I guess not."
After the initial embarrassment, Don was actually a really good sport about the whole thing, and he sold us a really great car. Or should I say SUV. We did not get a mini-van, which I learned to live with. They really are sort of clunky cars anyway.
Our other problem was the problem of space. We were already a family of five in a three bedroom/ two bathroom house. And with two more on the way and three girls who were taking increasingly more time in the bathroom each morning, we needed a new working plan and fast. Obviously, we needed to move, but neither Sara nor I wanted to go through the drama of moving while she was still pregnant. But we decided to look at few houses anyway, just to see what was out there.
What was out there was not a lot. All of the houses in all of the good neighborhoods were at least a million dollars. And if we wanted a four bedroom house in a good school district, it was going to be at least three million dollars. Now technically, yes, with Sara's money that she inherited from Matt and Warren, we could afford a house that expensive. But it just didn't seem worth it, especially after we decided to tour the local elementary school.
"Hello, may I help you?"
"Yes, I'm Catherine Willows, and this is my wife, Sara Sidle. We called about a tour yesterday? We have a one o'clock appointment with a…" I looked down at the card in my hand, "a Whitney Davenport."
The woman behind the front desk flicked her eyes between Sara and I for a moment before smiling tightly. "I'll let her know you're here. Take a seat please."
I looked at the low sofa and then at Sara. "You need help?"
"Uh…I think I'll stand for now."
I smiled at the woman whose nameplate read Deb March. "We'll stand, thanks."
The woman nodded and disappeared out the door and down a corridor to her right. Five minutes later Deb returned with another woman in tow. She was tall and her dirty blonde hair pulled back in bun. She wore a sensible tan suit jacket over a very modest brown pencil skirt. She looked to be only about Sara's age, but her attire and mannerisms made her appear much older.
She smiled at us as she walked in and held out her hand to me first. "Ms. Willows? I'm Whitney Davenport, we spoke on the phone."
I held her grip, "Call me Catherine."
She nodded, "Catherine." She turned to Sara, "And you must be Ms. Sidle, it's nice to meet you."
"And you, Ms. Davenport."
The woman looked down Sara's stomach and smiled again. "When are you due?"
"Two months." Sara held up a hand. "I know what you're going to say. Yes. I am a whale. It's only going to get worse. It's twins."
"Twins? Well, congratulations."
"Thank you."
There was a coughing noise behind me and I turned to see Deb March looking deliberately at Ms. Davenport.
"Oh, yes. Deb needs to give each of you a form to sign so that you can get your visitor's pass. We take security very seriously around here."
I filled out my form and handed it back to Deb who looked at it like she'd rather not touch it, but took it any way. She took Sara's in the same manner, and Sara frowned. A minute later, passes were printed out with our names on them. When Deb handed them over she glared sharply at us.
As Whitney Davenport guided us out the door, Sara muttered, "What the hell is her problem?"
When we were safely out in the hall, Ms. Davenport replied, "Don't worry about Deb, she was just caught off guard. You see, there was some confusion over the appointment you made. We didn't realize that the two of you were…partners. We thought you were just two friends who wanted a tour. Deb's a bit old fashioned, but she's really nice when you get to know her."
Sara snorted. "I'll bet."
"Is it that uncommon for there to be gay couples here?" I asked.
"Well, we do try to encourage diversity here. We even have a school choice program for some of the inner city African-American students. But we don't get a lot of gay families here. We had one for a while, but there son went on to the middle school last year."
"Huh." Well, it wasn't like I was expecting the hallways to be flooded with lesbian moms, but to be the only ones? That was quite a distinction.
"Would you say our girls would have trouble fitting in because they have two moms?"
"Oh, no. Our whole community is taught to very accepting towards others. We even have a gay teacher."
I raised my eyebrows. "Really? A gay teacher? That's…fascinating."
Sara stifled a laugh.
The rest of the tour went on this way. And the more we saw of the school, the more we disliked it. This community was nothing but a bunch of spoiled upper middle class white kids taught to have no free thinking skills or creativity. It was not the place for us. So, the problem of space remained a problem, one we would have to solve after the babies were born. For now, they would sleep in our room and we would just have to come up with something else when they were too big to do that.
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"Mom! Lindsey locked me out of the bathroom!" That was Ayla calling from upstairs.
I sighed. "Use the one downstairs!"
"My toothbrush is in this one!"
I looked at Sara on the couch. She raised her eyebrows. "Lindsey!" I called.
"I'm busy!" Came the reply.
I stood up from my chair. "Doing what?"
"Nothing!" After living with this girl for nearly twelve years, I knew her tones. And this one was just the slightest bit guilty.
I headed for the stairs. "Lindsey Willows, what are you doing?"
"I said, nothing!" This time she sounded even more distressed.
Ayla stood back as I approached and knocked on the door. "Lindsey, get out here right this second!"
"No!"
"Now!"
"No!"
"Lindsey…" My voice was warning and dangerous.
"Fine." The door opened slowly and she came out with her head down.
"Lindsey, look at me."
She shook her head.
I took her chin in my hand and brought her face up. Oh, dear. I fought to keep a straight face. "Linds? What did you do?"
"Nothing?" Now she sounded like she was guessing.
"Did you take my makeup?" I didn't remember having a shade of lipstick quite that…pink.
"No…"
"Did you take Sara's makeup?"
She pursed her lips. "Kind of."
"Kind of?" The corner of my mouth quirked. She really did look like a clown.
She rolled her eyes. "Sara doesn't have any cool colored lipstick or eye shadow. But I took her skin stuff and mascara and stuff. I took them last week. It's not like she uses them."
"Where did you get the lipstick and the, the umm…blue eye shadow?"
"I bought them."
"How?"
"I gave my allowance money to Meghan and she bought them for me when she went to the mall with her big sister."
"Gotcha."
"Are you mad?"
"Not exactly. Except…honey why are you putting on makeup? You're beautiful without it."
Ayla giggled, "She wants to look pretty for Tyler Travis."
"Shut up!"
"Lindsey!"
"Sorry."
I turned to Ayla. "Is Tyler Travis a boy at school?" The name sounded familiar.
She nodded, grinning. "He's like the cutest boy in the whole school. And he's going out a sixth grader. They've been going out for like two weeks already."
How dramatic. I turned back to Lindsey. "If he has a girlfriend, why do you like him?"
She scrunched her nose. "He doesn't really like her. He's just going out with her because she's older and popular. Besides, he told Jason who told Eric who told Emily who told me that he really likes me."
"Then why is he going out with someone else?"
She threw up her arms. "I don't know! Maybe because I'm not pretty enough! His girlfriend is like super pretty and she wears makeup."
"She does?"
"Well, she wears glittery lip gloss and mascara. But I want to be even prettier than her, so I have to wear more makeup."
I took her hand and led her back into the bathroom. Wetting a washcloth, I smiled at her. "You do not need to wear more makeup. You don't need to wear any makeup. You are beautiful just the way you are." I wiped at her face even as she protested the action.
"Yeah, right. Come on, Mom. You wear makeup like, all the time."
"Not to impress boys, I don't."
"You used to. Before Sara."
Walked right into that one. "Well…I'm older. I have to wear make-up so I don't look like a scary old lady." This inspired a laugh. "But you, my dear, are still very young. So you don't need makeup."
"But I want it."
"Not today. How about tomorrow, we wake up a half an hour early and have a whole makeover. How does that sound?"
"I have to get up early?" she whined.
"That's the way it works if you want it done right. Makeup is a commitment."
She looked at me as I dried her face. "Then maybe I should wait for a little while."
I smiled. "I think that's a good idea." I touched her nose with my finger. "Now, hurry up. Miss Ayla needs to brush her teeth, and you need to get your shoes on. We don't want to be late for Aunt Nancy." I sighed my relief as I watched my oldest child clamber down the stairs.
These days, since Sara was officially too big to fit behind the steering wheel, my sister was taking the older girls to school while I drove Maggie. It wasn't a problem; Jeremy went to the same school as Linds and Ayla, and Nancy used to drive Lindsey to school all the time before Sara and I got together.
When I got home, child free, I found Sara on the couch, right where I had left her. I sighed as I collapsed beside her, resting my head on her shoulder. "I'm so not ready for this."
"For what?" She never looked up from her newspaper.
"This." I gestured at the upstairs. "My daughter, our daughter, growing up, being interested in boys and all of that."
"Is this about Tyler Travis?"
"Yes!" I waved a hand wildly. "Who the hell is Tyler Travis?"
Sara rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Mom," she pitched her voice. "He's just like the totally coolest boy ever!"
"Yeah. Caught that." I hit my forehead on her shoulder. "But who is he? And why is my daughter putting on makeup to impress him?"
"Makeup, hmm?"
"Gallons of it."
Sara laughed. "That's so cute."
"This is serious!"
Sara smiled and patted my thigh. "Cath, she's eleven. It's harmless."
"Yeah, tell me that a year from now when this Tyler Travis is knocking on our front door with roses and an agenda."
"A year from now? Honey, twelve year-olds don't have agendas. They don't even date."
I just looked at her.
"What?" She looked disbelieving. "You?" She blinked. "You went on a date when you were twelve years old?"
"Not only did I go on a date, I had a boyfriend. For three months I dated Dale Weatherly. He was fourteen."
"Fourteen? Fourteen? And did you…? I mean…what did you do?"
I shrugged. "Kissing mostly. Second base was as far as it went."
"But you were twelve. Was there anything to…you know, when he got to second base?"
"Oh, I developed early. So did Nancy. I was completely done growing in all departments by the time I was thirteen."
"Thirteen? Lindsey's not that far away from thirteen." Now, Sara looked worried.
"That's what I'm saying. And after thirteen is fourteen, and I lost my virginity at fourteen."
"Fourteen? Jesus, Cath. How?"
"Well, there's this thing called sexual intercourse…"
I received a slap on the arm. "Not what I meant."
"I know. Uh…well. My friend Daphne Bridgeport had an older brother, Scottie…"
"On second thought, maybe I don't want to hear this."
"…And he was on leave from the army for New Year's. There was quite a bit of leftover mistletoe and eggnog and…the rest is history."
"Wow. You were so young."
"Yeah, well, I didn't look it, and I tried hard not to act it. Why, how old were you?"
Sara muttered something under her breath and looked away.
"What was that?"
"I said, like I'm telling you."
"C'mon. I can't believe I don't know already."
"There's a reason for that."
I smiled. "Tell me."
"You'll make fun of me."
"Will not. I swear."
Sara sighed. "Fine. I was twenty, okay?"
"Twenty?"
"See, I knew you'd make fun."
"Honey," I rested a hand on the baby bump, "don't go all hormonal on me now. I am not making fun of you. I think it's sweet."
"Yeah, sure."
"I do. So, tell me. How'd it happen?"
Sara quirked a reluctant smile. "Spring break my sophomore year, a bunch of friends and I went up to Montreal for the week. My best friend Kathleen and I shared a room. Our second day there, she caught me changing and she was really weird about it for the rest of the day. Well, so was I- I had had the hugest crush on her since about the day we met. Anyway, we stayed up late talking and one thing led to another and in the morning I was no longer a virgin."
"Aw. That's a great story. I wish my first time had been with my best friend. What happened? Did you guys go out?"
Sara shook her head. "Nah. We were together for the rest of the week, and then we went home. I asked her out, she didn't want to date a girl- told me very emphatically that she was not a lesbian, and we were never friends again."
"Bitch."
"Yeah, well, she was just confused. Now she lives with a woman in Mexico, running a high-class fitness center and spa."
"Ha."
"I can't believe you lost your virginity at fourteen. Lindsey's going to be fourteen in three years."
"Exactly, so don't tell me not to worry."
She shook her head. "I'm not ready for this. Do you realize that when she starts dating, we are going to have two preschoolers running around the house? How are we supposed to stop her from running off with God knows who?"
"Mmm…make her baby-sit while we go out on the town?"
"Yeah, that could work, or…how do you feel about a chastity belt?"
I laughed.
"Just 'til she's eighteen?"
"I think Linds is smart enough now to realize she could go to the police with that one. I don't think it has a prayer of working in five years."
"Home schooling then."
This made me laugh harder. "That's even more ridiculous than a chastity belt. Who's going to home school her when we've got four other kids driving us crazy. No, I think we're just going to have to accept that she's growing up. I don't want to, but we've gotta."
"Well, on the bright side, we get to do the whole thing all over again. Twice. Starting in about two months."
I stretched out on my stomach and faced 'the babies.' I hugged and kissed them as Sara ran her fingers through my hair. "Hey, guys. You won't grow up too fast will you? Hmm?" I drew lazy circles on Sara's exposed skin.
Suddenly she jumped. "Oh!" Her hands came up to her stomach. She smiled at me. "Do you think that was a yes or a no?"
"Which one was it?"
Sara pointed to her left side. "Baby B. The feisty one. She wouldn't leave me alone all last night."
I quirked an eyebrow at her. "She?"
Sara shrugged. "Or he, I guess. I just get a feeling sometimes…then other times I have no clue. So who knows?"
I placed a hand over her left side. "I like 'she.' Our little girl."
"Our fourth little girl. Besides, what if it's a boy?"
I smiled, "We'll let the girls loose on him with tutus and boas and turn him into a diva fruitcake in no time."
Sara giggled in a very un-Sara like way. "And then have to worry about what kind of boys he brings home."
"Oh, God, we've got fifteen years until then, I really don't want to think about it." I rested my head against her stomach in time to hear a very loud grumble. I looked up at her.
"Hey, I'm eating for three here."
I sat up and patted her thigh. "Alright, let's get the three of you some lunch." Standing I asked, "What'll it be?"
Sara's eyes gleamed. "Chinese take-out? Stuffed tofu and an eggplant hotpot- extra spicy? And some veggie dumplings and…that's it. No, wait. And an order of lo-mein."
I looked at the ceiling trying to remember. "So that's what? An B26, a B17, an A11, and a…C14?"
Sara nodded, "Perfect."
I stood up and kissed her. "Back in a flash, darlin'."
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At thirty-two weeks, Sara started getting a lot of false contractions called Braxton Hicks, and the doctor officially forbade her from going to work. At all. In fact, her orders were to have Sara under house arrest until the babies were born. Now, keeping Sara in the lab had been hard, but at least she could go out to eat or to the park. Try telling her that she can't leave the house. I was actually surprised at how long she put up with it. But after two weeks, she was going stir crazy.
"Well, it's official. There's no way around it." Sara looked over her bare stomach at me. "I'm fat."
I laughed as I pulled on a tank top and lay beside her on the bed. "You're not fat. You're pregnant."
"Big ol' fat pregnant lady." Sara insisted. "I'm a blimp. I barely fit in the shower anymore."
I kissed her belly and then her lips. "Well, if it helps, you're almost done. Just six weeks left, probably not even that many."
"God, I'm bored. Can't we just go for a walk?"
"No. Doctors orders."
"What's the worst that could happen? My water could break on the Devlin's prize-winning lawn and it would take us an extra five minutes to get to the hospital."
"No."
"C'mon, Cath. I have nothing to do. I've cleaned everything that doesn't involve me seeing my toes, I've read everything, I've watched more TV than I knew existed. Just a walk, please? I need the fresh air."
"Go sit in the hammock."
"Grr. Fine. Then at least stay with me." She rolled on her side and hugged me around the waist. "Hmm. Let's just stay here forever."
"Mmm. That would be lovely. But I need to put pants on."
"Why?" Sara whined.
I kissed her nose. "Because I have to go pick up Maggie, and then Greg and I are going grocery shopping."
Her eyes lit up, "I want to go grocery shopping!"
"Forget it."
"Oh, c'mon!"
"No way."
"Please! I'm dying here, Cat. Just take me in the car, I won't even go into the store."
"Sar…"
"Please!" She looked at me with irresistible puppy dog eyes.
Why must I be so easily defeated? "Fine. I'll swing by to pick you and the older girls up after I get Maggie, and we'll all go to the store together. But you will not be doing any shopping."
"Scout's honor! I won't even get out of the car."
"If you do, I'll have my mother come here and baby-sit you every day until the babies are born."
"I swear to God."
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"Mama, put your seatbelt on."
"It doesn't fit."
I looked in the rearview mirror. "Sara, put your seatbelt on."
"It doesn't fit."
"Put it on under the belly."
"Cath, c'mon." She complained.
"Sar, this car does not move until everybody has there seatbelt on. If you can't find a way to make it fit, you're staying home."
"Here, Sara, I'll help you." Greg unclipped his seatbelt and came forward.
"Greg, if you try to cop a feel while you're down there, I swear to God…"
"What's cop a feel?"
"Umm…it's a grown up thing, Mags. Thanks, Greg."
"No problem. Okay, Cath, we're ready to rock n' roll."
"Alright. For the record, though, I still think this is a really bad idea."
"Duly noted. Now can we go?"
We succeeded in two minutes of relative silence before, "Punch buggy! No punch backs!"
"Ow! Mommy, Lindsey punched me."
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"It's a game."
"I told you, I hate that game."
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Girls! Be quiet. Lindsey, I saw you punch your sister and I didn't like it."
"Mom, it's a game."
"I don't care. I didn't like it, and Ayla didn't like it. You need to apologize." I looked in the rearview mirror to see a huffy Lindsey with her arms crossed in front of her. "Linds…"
She muttered something incomprehensible.
"What was that?"
"I said, I'm sorry, okay?" She turned to Ayla, "You can punch me back if you want."
Ayla seemed to seriously consider this before saying, "No. I'm too mature for that."
I fought a grin, and Sara snorted into her fist, but Greg didn't bother to hide it and just out and out laughed.
When we reached the grocery store, Greg said, "Hey Cath, if it's okay with you, I'll just stay out here and keep Sara company."
I nodded as I stepped out of the SUV, "That's fine. Okay, who's coming with me and who's staying with Mama and Uncle Greg?"
"I'll stay with Mama."
"Yeah, me too. Food shopping is boring."
"I wanna go with Mommy!" Maggie grinned at me.
"I've got one loyal one at least." I opened Sara's door and smiled in at her. "Now, you be good."
"Yes, Mom." She rolled her eyes
I leaned in and kissed her. "Thirty minutes tops. See you later, Mama." I rested a hand on her belly. "Bye, angels." I grabbed Maggie's hand and we headed off to the store. "Wanna hold the list, Maggie May?"
"Yeah!"
"Alright, you want to ride in the cart or walk this time?"
"Cart!"
"What's the magic word?"
"Please!"
"That's right, okay, up you go."
"What do we get first?"
"Let's see what the list says."
"Ice cream!"
"It does not say that!"
"Uh-huh."
"No, it says spinach and then it says zucchini."
Maggie made a face. "Yuck!"
"You like the lasagna I make with zucchini."
"Oh, yeah. Ooh, what's that? I want that!"
"That's mozzarella. It's cheese. You want to try some?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay. Here put this in the basket. No, Maggie, don't try to open it here. You can have some as soon as we get home."
Pouty face.
"Don't give me that look, god you're worse than your manipulative Mama."
"Yep!" Maggie giggled.
"Alright. Now we need to get busy, so stop being a silly goose."
"You're a silly goose!"
"Me?" I acted shocked. "I don't think so!" I tapped her on the nose. "I think you're the silly, silly goose. C'mon, silly goose, let's get-"
All of a sudden I heard the distinct sound of a gunshot coming from the parking lot. For a moment, I was frozen. And then my heart started to pound. I grabbed Maggie from the cart a little too roughly, and she started to cry. Then another gunshot rang out. And another.
I was racing through the store, carrying Maggie on my hip. When I reached the front I had to navigate through a crowd that had gathered at the windows.
"Move! Get out of the way!" My lungs were burning now and my throat was dry. I finally made it to an exit and I burst through, running out to the parking lot. At first, I didn't see anything and my pulse started to regulate. I set a still crying Maggie down and held her hand as I moved up the row. And that's when I stopped cold and all of the blood ran out of me.
"Sara!"
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I know. I. Am. Evil! Mwahahahaha! And you've got to review to find out what happens.
I'll try to get the next one up as soon as possible so you won't have to live in agony for too long. – 'til we meet again, Myx