A/N: HEY EVERYONE! HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING HOPE FOR TOMORROW! A COUPLE OF THINGS BEFORE THIS NEXT CHAPTER GETS STARTED:
1 - THERE ARE EIGHT MORE CHAPTERS UNTIL THIS STORY IS COMPLETE!
2 - SUNDAY IS MY BIRTHDAY AND ON MONDAY, I'M GOING TO BE OUT OF TOWN ALL DAY. I'M GOING TO SEE HOW MY TUESDAY GOES AND I MIGHT WRITE SOME THEN.
3 - THIS SONG IN THE STORY IS A REAL SONG, ONLY THE WORDS HAVE CHANGED. IT REALLY GOES LIKE THIS:
Would you like to hold the baby?
Would you like to see him smile?
Can you make your arms a cradle
And rock him for a while?
This gift that I've been given
Is yours as much as mine
Would you like to hold the baby?
Take your time. Take your time.
ENJOY THE REST OF THE STORY!
FROM,
~ Lucky
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
(chapter title – Jace and Felicity Pontmercy)
Cassidy and Marius were getting prepped for the delivery of the twins. Cassidy was already changed into a sky blue hospital gown and Marius was finishing putting on his navy blue scrubs. He kissed Cassidy one last time before she went under anesthesia.
Marius felt tears stream down his cheeks as he cut Jace's umbilical cord. Jace was then taken to get weighed, measured and cleaned up. He was then placed on Cassidy's chest. Marius held him as Felicity entered the world ten minutes later. She was also taken to get cleaned, weighed and measured before placed on Cassidy's chest. Both babies were crying softly and Marius was sobbing like a baby.
The doctor then finished the procedure by tying Cassidy's tubes. She was then taken to recovery while the twins were taken to the NICU, since they arrived two weeks early. They would be staying in the NICU for a week.
Jace weighed 4 pounds, 3 ounces and was 12.6 inches long. Felicity was 4 pounds, 6 ounces and was 12.7 inches long. Other than that, they were perfect.
Marius left them in the NICU and went to find his family. This time, Bahorel, Courfrayac, Joly, Ella, Javert, Jehan, Grantaire, Anton, Ryan and Cosette came. The others would be meeting the babies when they came out of the hospital.
He then told the crowd about the twins and that only two people could see them at a time. Ella and Javert went first, followed by Bahorel and Anton, Courfrayac and Joly, Jehan and Grantaire and finally, Ryan and Cosette.
Marius smiled as Ryan and Cosette looked at their new brother and sister, who were currently sleeping. Cosette pressed her face against the glass incubator and looked at her sleeping brother.
"Baby!" she whispered. She and Ryan were now a year, Anton was five and Ella was fifteen. Marius couldn't believe how fast the years were flying.
He went to visit Cassidy in recovery. She was fast asleep with all sorts of monitors and machines beeping, buzzing and humming around her. He sat in the chair next to her bed and stroked her hair.
"I love you so much, my sweet chickadee." Marius whispered in Cassidy's ear. He swore he saw her smile.
A week later
"Okay, babies. Welcome to your new home." Marius whispered as he brought Felicity into the house while Cassidy brought Jace inside.
They carried the babies to the third-floor nursery and put them in their cribs. They then turned the mobiles above the babies' heads, turned on the monitor and slowly backed out of the room.
Cassidy went to lay down while Marius kept an ear out for the babies. The only noise he heard was the babies' peaceful breathing, the year-old twins playing in their room and Ella practicing her violin in the living room. Ella had two after-school activites that she loved – violin lessons and ballet. With Hope being sick a lot, Ella wanted to spend more time on her other activites.
Ella finished practicing her violin and went to get a snack. She saw Marius in the kitchen, reading the newspaper. He put it down when Ella sat next to him. She had been wanting to talk to him about the first time he punished her – she had started having nightmares about it. She thought that if she talked to her dad about it, the nightmares would go away.
"Dad, can I talk to you?" Ella asked, finishing her apple.
"Sure, sweetie. What is it?" Marius inquired.
"Remember when I ran away because you were mad at me for the prank call I sent to Cassidy?" Ella questioned. Marius nodded, a confused look on his face, "why did you punish me for that? I don't understand."
Marius frowned, knowing this conversation would come up sooner or later.
"I was under a lot of pressure and stress at work. Being a lawyer's not fun, nor is punishing you. We just lost your mother and I didn't know how to react to your actions." Marius answered.
"But what I don't understand is why you punished me," she felt tears in her eyes, "I've started having nightmares about it."
Marius felt his stomach drop to the floor. He brought Ella over to the couch and held her as she cried, not realizing that his actions gave her nightmares.
"Honey, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. It's okay." Marius soothed, running a hand through Ella's hair.
He didn't know it, but Cassidy was leaning against the kitchen door. She was out of sight, but she could hear and see everything. She had been in the kitchen getting a bottle of water when she heard the conversation between Marius and Ella.
"Nice talk with Ella." Cassidy told Marius as they got ready for bed that night.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Marius said, going to the bathroom to brush his teeth, Cassidy right behind him.
"Don't play dumb – I heard the whole thing. That was a very sweet conversation you two had." Cassidy said, wrapping her arms around him. He looked over his shoulder and kissed her cheek as she brushed her teeth.
They cuddled for a while before heading to bed. Cassidy would take the first few hours with the twins while Marius took care of them the rest of the night.
The twins were up at midnight, two, three, four and six. Cassidy and Marius sang to, fed, burped, rocked, changed and held them, no matter how tired they were.
When the twins turned a week old, Cassidy and Marius gave them baths. Marius bathed Felicity and Cassidy bathed Jace. Both parents sang to their babies as they bathed them.
Twenty minutes later, both babies were clean and were in the nursery, currently asleep.
Ella volunteered to take Anton, Ryan and Cosette to the park so that Marius and Cassidy could get some sleep.
At the park, Ella saw Sara pushing Jolene in a baby swing. Ella brought all three kids to the swings and helped them onto the swings. She then stood between Ryan and Cosette while she talked with Sara.
"I haven't seen you in a while. Things okay?" Ella asked.
"They could be better." Sara said, giving Jolene a push in the swing.
"What's going on? Anything I should tell my dad about?" Ella inquired.
"No, El. School has gotten really hard for me – I found out I have dyslexia and it's not fun." Sara answered.
"I'm so sorry! Is there anything I can do?"
"Just keep being my best friend – you're the best one I could ask for."
"Would you like to come over and help me babysit? Mom and dad are really tired from taking care of Jace and Felicity."
"Um, sure, but who are Jace and Felicity?" Sara asked, helping Jolene out of the swing as Ella helped her siblings out of their swings.
"They're my new brother and sister." Ella answered, making sure each of her siblings held someone's hand. Anton held Sara's hand as they walked back to the Pontmercy's house.
Ella put a movie on for the four youngest kids while she and Sara snuck to the nursery. Ella saw her dad sitting in the rocking chair, holding one of the twins. He smiled as the girls entered the room.
"Ella, would you and Sara like to hold your brother and sister?" Marius asked, his voice just above a whisper. Both girls smiled and put hand sanitizer on before sitting in the rocking chairs. Marius handed Ella Jace before handing Felicity to Sara.
"They're beautiful!" Sara whispered as she rocked Felicity.
"Would you like to hold the babies?" Ella sang as she rocked Jace.
"Would you like to see them smile?" Sara joined in, rocking Felicity.
"Can you make your arms a cradle and rock them for a while?" Marius also sang, standing between the two girls.
"These gifts that I've been given are yours as much as mine." All three of them sang in perfect harmony.
"Would you like to hold the babies?" Ella sang, handing Jace back to Marius, who put him in his crib.
"Take your time. Take your time." Sara sang, handing Felicity to Marius.
The girls exited the nursery and went back downstairs. They sat on the couch and watched the movie with the kids.
After the movie was over, Sara and Jolene headed back to their place. Before she left, Sara hugged Ella, forever grateful for her friendship.
Once Sara and Jolene left, Ella made dinner for her family before starting on her homework. Marius came to take over dinner while Ella did her math homework.
As Ella worked, she hummed a little bit of the song she and Sara sang in the nursery.
That night, Ella dreamt of Hope and Windy, also of Sara, Jolene, her siblings, parents and all of the important people in her life.