Justine gave me a hug.

"Oh mom," she said, "I'm going to the concert with Kelly today. She invited me so I'm gonna go."

I nodded.

"That's fine," I said, "Just be home after it's over."

She promised and hurried off to have some breakfast.

"AND IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE HOME LATE CALL," I said.

"I ALWAYS DO," she called back to me.

I laughed, my mind once again going back to that day fourteen years ago.

"I can't believe we have twins," I told Stan smiling tiredly.

He kissed me.

"Olivia I am so proud of you. Our babies are so beautiful-"

"Proud of me," I asked my emotions taking hold of me, "Stan I did nothing to adjust my life for this pregnancy. I didn't have any prenatal care or increase my caloric intake or-"

He held up a hand to stop me. I was nearly hysterical.

"You didn't know you were pregnant," he said gently, "Of course you didn't change your life to fit this pregnancy. You had no idea there even was a pregnancy."

He stroked my hair.

"They need names," I said.

"You're right," Stan replied, "What should we name them."

I chewed the inside of my lip thoughtfully. Stan hated it when I did that but it wasn't something I did knowingly. Stan was smart enough not to say a word.

"You know I've always loved the name Justine," I said.

"Justine," he tested the name out on his tongue, "I love it but I think she needs a middle name too. I'd like that to be Alexandra."

Alexandra was the name of his older sister. She passed away at our wedding. You heard me right. She passed away at our wedding.

"I love that," I told him, "I loved your sister and I think it would be great to honor her."

"Our boy needs a name too," Stan pointed out.

"I know," I said, "I was thinking of Jordan Alexander."

...

"Mom," Justine said interrupting my thoughts, "Can I talk to you?"
"I think you mean can you talk with me," I told her gently, "and sure"

"Lately my friends have been making fun of me. One of them even called me THE FREAK GIRL WITH THE FREAK THING WHO IS A FREAK"

"Justine," I said, "Those people are obviously not friends. A friend wouldn't do something like that"

"It's still upsetting," she said.

I got out the ice cream. Justine and I both love ice cream.

"Thanks," she said smiling a little bit.

"You know honey," I said, "When I was your age I went through the same thing you've been going through."

Justine looked at me wide eyed.

"You did," she asked sounding more like she was 7 then 14.

I smiled to myself. Justine loved stories about when I was little.

"Yes," I said, "I actually was a bit of a wild kid when I was your age. I did a lot of stuff I shouldn't have done unlike you who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Justine laughed. I loved the sound of her laughter.

"You?"

"I did a lot honey," I said, "One of my favorite things to do was something called tagging. But anyway when I went through a tough time I found out who my true friends were."

"Well Kelly and Mary-Ellen both stood up for me," Justine said, "and Alison bought me lunch."
"See," I told her, "Those are real friends."

"Thanks mom," she said, "I feel better now."

"One more thing Justine," I said, "You are not a freak. You're a beautiful wonderful young lady that I am proud to be the mother of."

"Even despite my mistakes," she asked.

"Especially because of them," I told her, "You took responsibility for them."

"Well I knew you'd always be there for me," she admitted, "and that you would always love me."

The bus honked.

"I'll see you later," Justine said and hurried out to catch the bus.

I smiled as my thoughts went back to the day I delivered Justine and her brother Jordan.

...

"Why is it taking so long," I exclaimed, "When are we going to know something? The wait is killing me."

Stan rubbed my shoulders.

"We'll know soon," he promised me.

"Stan what if something is wrong with one of them or both of them," I asked.

"Then we'll fix it," he said, "But there isn't going to be anything wrong."