Chapter Eighteen

"Jacks to Colt. Jacks to Colt. Daddy in sight." Jackson released the button of his toy walkie talkie, peering round the side of the climbing frame. He giggled softly to himself, before he jumped out from behind the structure, soaking his father with the water gun in his hands. "Now!" He called out to his brother, giggling as he slipped away out of Nick's arms.

Colt grabbed the bucket of water he had in the house of their climbing frame, throwing the water over the climbing wall, drenching Nick even more. "Got you." He cheered, squirming away as Nick tried to grab his legs. He ran over to the slide, making a loud squeaking noise as he slid down in his swim trunks. He hurried across their lawn towards the paddling pool, grabbing his concealed super soaker from inside, while his younger brother went for the bucket of water balloons they had prepared earlier.

The odds of two against one weren't exactly fair on Nick's behalf, especially now that they were both armed, so he tried to take shelter behind their climbing structure. He managed to block a few water balloons being thrown in his direction, distracting him from Colt's advance the other side of the climbing wall.

"Okay, okay... I give up... time out."

"You can't give up." Colt held his gun at his side, watching his father picking off the little bits of balloon from his chest. He squirmed away from him as he suddenly reached out to him, giggling and squirming as his father disarmed him. "Daddy, Daddy. I give up."

Jacks jumped into Nick's arms a second later to free his brother, knocking his father onto his back on the floor.

"Okay... I'm out." Nick released both boys, feeling a twinge in his lower back as he struggled to his feet. He panted for breath as he made his way back to the patio, crashing into one of the hot sticky chairs. He ran his fingers through his soaking wet hair, finding another piece of green balloon in his hair, not noticing the boys sneaking up on him. "Hey... I surrender." He held up his hands, blocking the fire from Jacks' gun. He grabbed the gun, eliciting a shriek from the four year old as he pulled him towards him to playfully tickle him.

"Daddy, I'm hot." Colt ruffled his hand through his hair, leaning against the side of his father's chair. "Can we have an ice cream?"

"I don't think we have any in the house." He pushed himself to his feet, stepping around Jackson to get into the house. He hadn't actually washed up from lunch yet, so the counter was still covered with plates and things that would usually drive him crazy, but it was too hot to worry about that right now. He pulled open the door to their freezer, leaning inside for a moment to feel the cool breeze against his sticky chest.

Apart from the empty ice trays on the top shelf, they didn't have much in the way of cold food, especially no ice creams of any kind. He glanced towards the door as he heard voices outside, before he made his way towards the window to see who it was. He dropped his jaw slightly as he saw his mother in their front garden, stood talking to their neighbour, Evelyn and Greg's mother, Jean. Two people that she absolutely couldn't mix with in the past, but now she was stood talking to them both as if she had been friends with them for years.

He hurried to the laundry room to grab a t-shirt, pulling it onto his bare chest, so he was decent enough to rescue his mother. "Hi, ladies."

"Hi Nicky, we were just talking about the twins." Jean showed him the pictures that she had printed off. "Autumn is sucking her thumb for the first time in this one."

"We're not callin' her Autumn." Nick immediately objected to the name, taking a closer look at the photograph. He smiled at it as it was the first picture they had of her tiny face without a ventilator blocking her adorable features.

"What are you callin' her then?" His own mother queried. "She's a few weeks old now, you must have thought of a name for her by now."

Nick shook his head slightly, feeling bad that they hadn't, but they hadn't been able to bring her home yet, so it was still hard for them to decide. "We have been narrowin' down our list, but we still haven't picked one." He opened the door a little wider, ushering the three of them inside out of the heat. "Sorry about the mess." There were toys all over the front room from the boys games this morning, a mountain of laundry in the basket and a few baby things on the tables and dressers throughout the house.

"Where's Greg?" Jean asked, hanging her bag up by the door. She stepped around the other ladies as she heard her grandchildren, hurrying to greet the little monsters in the kitchen. Nick's mother remained by the door though, feeling a little envious of her in law as she hugged her grandchildren that were at least half hers.

"Greg's sleepin' upstairs with the baby. He's been watchin' him like a hawk since he came home." Nick explained, stepping into the front room to search for their revised list of baby names. He sorted through the cards of Congratulations from all of their friends and the new presents they had yet to unwrap, before he found it between the pages of the baby name book. He realised that Greg had added another two names to the list since last night, making it an even longer revised list.

"No ice cream, oh no." Greg's dramatically gasped as she searched the freezer for the boys. "You don't have much of anything really. What are we doing running around in our swim shorts then?"

"We're having a water fight." Colt grabbed his Nana's hand, leading her outside to show her their armoury. Evelyn followed them out with Jackson at her side, leaving Nick's mother stood in the kitchen, looking a bit like the odd kid out at a party.

"Greg likes names that end with a y now." Nick decided to show her first, trying to keep her involved so she didn't feel too left out. "We've got Emily, Avery and Zoey. We've also got Robyn, Carmen, Fallon..."

"Fallon?" His mother questioned the name. "That's an unusual one isn't it?"

"It's Irish I think. Greg liked the sound of it."

"Does he let you make any decisions?"

"Yeah." Nick nodded, wondering what she meant by that. "And the last two are Aidan and Lauren. We seem to change our minds everyday over which one we like the most. I think it'll be easier once she's here. But they don't know when that is yet. You wonna come outside and meet the boys?" He took his mother's hand, not taking no for an answer as he led her out into the garden.

"It is really hot today." Jean agreed with her grandson, Jacks, smoothing a fresh layer of sun cream onto his little back. She sprayed some more on his chest, hopping off her seat to give it to Nick's mother. "Is Greg going to show his face then? I got him some presents."

"I don't know, he might be out for a while. Can I get anyone anythin' to drink?" Nick offered, getting head shakes from them all.

"Can I have juice?" Colt hurried over to them after reloading his super soaker water gun. "Daddy, can we play again?"

"Not yet bud, I'm all tired out." He made his way back into the house, grabbing Colt a juice box from the fridge. He glanced over his shoulder as he heard footsteps, spotting Greg stumbling through to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Ooh, you look rough." Nick reached his arms out to him, pressing his lips to the younger man's forehead. "Big night out on the town?"

"No, Ethan never sleeps. What have you been doing? You're all sticky." Greg pulled out of his arms, going straight for the fridge to grab a bottle of water. "Who's here?"

"The boys wanted a water fight. And your Mom, my Mama and Evelyn just showed up."

"Oh, good luck." He made his way for the kitchen door again, giving Nick a smile before he hurried up the stairs back to his sleeping baby boy.

"Thanks, G." Taking the juice box back outside, Nick handed it over to Colt, before he found himself a chair to join the ladies. He handed his names list over to Jean, letting her and Evelyn discuss the girls names, while his mother sat quietly in the shade. He wished that she would at least try and participate, but she spent most of the time turning her nose up to things they were saying or rolling her eyes at Greg's mother.

Greg eventually rescued him by bringing baby Ethan outside, diverting all of their attention to their adorable baby boy. All three women couldn't resist cooing over the tiny infant, finally putting a smile on Nick's mother's face. "Yeah, he eats like a pig, barely sleeps and needs a diaper change like every five minutes." The younger man sarcastically remarked, letting his mother take the baby from him. "It's great to have him home though."

"He's so adorable." Evelyn cooed, placing her hand over her heart as the baby gave out the cutest little yawn.

"He's got some hair coming in now." Jean noticed his few patchy strands across his once bald head. "He's looking more and more like you now, Greg."

"I think he looks like Nicky." Nick's mother objected, waiting for the greedy younger woman to give up the baby, so she could have a hold of her grandson too. "Has he been alright since he came home?" She directed the question at her son.

"Yeah, he's been fine." Greg answered, getting the usual response of a glare. "His new schedule takes some getting used to. Colt never slept through the night, but at least he stuck to a sleeping schedule through the day. Jacks loved his sleep, but I can't get Ethan on a schedule at the moment."

"You've only had him home for three days." Jean giggled, handing the baby over to Evelyn beside her, rather than her in law. She took no notice of the woman's scowl, instead turning her attention to her son as he was still very pale. She made sure he had been taking his medication, before she started asking what he had been eating and drinking.

Once everyone was up to speed on Greg's daily intake, he took his fussing baby boy back from Evelyn, realising he needed another diaper change. "I got him." Nick slid his hands beneath the tiny infant, lifting him against his shoulder. He had hardly had any time with him since he got home as he had been in charge of looking after their older sons, while Greg crashed out in their bedroom all day.

Nick's mother promptly climbed to her feet, not wanting to be left alone with these people. She followed her son inside, giving him a hand with the diaper change of her newest grandson. "Where's your changin' mat?"

"Here." Balancing his baby boy against one arm, Nick grabbed the change mat from beside the sofa, laying it down on the living room floor. He lay Ethan down on top of it, carefully unbuttoning the poppers of his onesie sleep suit.

"He's so tiny." Jillian found the diaper bag for him, sitting herself down on the sofa to watch her son changing a diaper for the first time. "Much smaller than a regular newborn."

"That's because he wasn't supposed to be born yet. He should still be growin' inside, Greg." Nick reminded her, lifting Ethan's legs in one hand to take his wet diaper off. He rolled the wet diaper up, stuffing it into the bag his mother had opened for him. "My operation is tomorrow."

"Right after your birthday?"

Nick was beginning to think everyone had forgot that it was his birthday today, but he didn't really feel like celebrating it anyway. "Yeah, I got my letter through. I was gonna call and change it because we have Ethan home now, but Greg said he can call his Mom to help out. Evelyn's gonna handle the school runs for a while, so we've got everythin' covered."

"You don't need me then." She sighed softly.

"I would have asked you, but you're not exactly a big fan of Greg. And with you and him here alone together, I'd just be constantly worryin' about him." Nick admitted to her, re-diapering his newborn. He buttoned him back into his clothes, pressing a kiss to his little forehead as he lifted him back into his embrace. "Do you think he can sense that his twin isn't here? They say that twins like to be together after they're born, because they were always together before."

"Don't believe everythin' they tell you. Your sisters, Vicki and Ronnie hated each other. They couldn't even sit in a pushchair beside each other."

Nick knew that his twin sisters hated each other because they were always competing against each other that was always encouraged by his parents, but he didn't want that for his children. "I think he misses her." He concluded, climbing to his feet with his baby boy. "You wonna hold him?"

"What's happenin' with your daughter?" The woman queried, pushing herself to her feet from the sofa. "Do you know when she'll be able to come home yet?"

"They're not sure yet. We were talkin' to a couple that have had their baby in there for four months now. Their little boy has had almost the same procedures that she's had, only he was born a lot earlier than her, so we're hopin' that she won't be in there for quite as long as him." Carrying his baby boy back through the house, Nick returned outside to his partner, lowering their baby boy into his arms. He took a seat behind the younger man, gently looping his arm around his waist as his mother stepped outside.

She didn't look too pleased to see her son in such a romantic embrace with the younger man, but no one else was taking any notice. She retook her seat beside Greg's mother, watching her grandsons playing, while the topic of conversation drifted back to baby names.

"What do you think of Dudley for Ethan's middle name?" Greg asked his husband, telling him his idea that he had this morning. "He can be Ethan Dudley Stokes and we could call his sister either Aidan Emily Stokes or Avery Robyn Stokes. They're my new favourites at the moment. What do you think?"

"I..." Nick thought about it for a moment, but he liked both of the same.

"I like Dudley as his middle name." Jean approved, giving her own input as she saw her son in law struggling a bit. "And Robyn is such a beautiful name for a little girl and not too common either."

Greg tilted his head back against his partner's shoulder, giving him a smile as he watched him still thinking about which one he preferred for their baby girl. "You don't have to decide right away, we've still got a little bit of time to think about it, but do you like Dudley for his middle name?"

"Yeah, I love it." Nick put his arms around both Greg and the baby, pecking a kiss to the side of the younger man's head. He wasn't worried about going in for his operation tomorrow now as he had most of his family around him for his birthday. "I love you." He whispered to his partner, hoping he knew just how much.

Shortly after Evelyn returned home, Jean insisted on making them some dinner, so Jillian immediately offered to help her to show her son that she really was trying. Greg took his boys upstairs to put Ethan back in his cot, changing the kids out of their soaked swimming trunks, while Nick found them and himself some clean clothes to wear.

"I put on another load. Our Moms aren't even talkin' anymore." Nick handed him an outfit for Jackson, while he dressed Colt in the clean t-shirt and shorts he had just put through the dryer. "Are you sure you're gonna be alright..."

"You can't postpone it again, Nick. Besides, if we get it all over and done with now, then you should be well enough to help me out once our daughter is well enough to come home." Greg pecked a kiss to the older man's cheek, playfully ruffling his hand through his hair. "Would you stop worrying about everything? Those wrinkles on your forehead are starting to get a few friends."

"Hey." Nick pouted at him.

"You know I love every inch of you." He pressed multiple kisses to the creases on his partner's forehead. "This surgery won't change anything between us. You'll still be the same guy that I fell in love with. The only guy." He wrapped his arms tightly around Nick, closing his eyes as he hugged him back. He didn't want to let on that he scared of losing him tomorrow as it would only make Nick worry more, so he tried to keep his tears at bay to mask his emotions.

He managed to hold onto them for the rest of the day, letting Nick enjoy the rest of his quiet birthday with his three boys.

"Okay, a sharp pinch, Mr Stokes." The nurse warned him, administering his pre-op into his arm, while his husband held his hand on the other side of the bed. "Okay, we'll be back to get you in a little while." She smiled at the two of them, checking the monitors, before she left the two of them alone for a moment in the room.

"Your hairs all sticking up." Greg gently combed his fingers through Nick's hair, seeing beads of sweat on his forehead. "You know, Catherine said this heat wave will end in a few days. They're predicting heavy rain fall by the weekend. Looks like the kids summer holidays are gonna be cut short again. Not that we've really done anything with them anyway. We should be able to take them all away by next year. The twins won't be able to do much as they'll only be one, but I'm sure the boys would love to go to the beach or something."

Nick smiled up at him, even though he was still terrified that this would be it. "You don't have to fill the silence with awkward small talk, G."

"But that's my thing." Greg grinned back, combing Nick's hair into a cute little Mohawk. "Next birthday we could be on a beach on some exotic resort somewhere. By then I might actually look good in a bathing suit. Although I'll probably have a receding hair line and a few greys by then."

Nick chuckled softly, shaking his head at the younger man. "It's only a year, Greg. Your father doesn't have a receding hair line, so there's no reason why you should. And you dye your hair way too much. I don't think you'll ever see a grey."

"Why do you think I dye it?" He joked, weaving his fingers tightly together with Nick's. He pressed a kiss to the back of his hand, wishing they had just a little more time to be alone together. "I'm gonna go see our daughter once they take you in. Do you want me to tell her anything from you?"

"You can tell her I love her." He spoke softly, trying not to choke up with tears. "And you can tell her what her name is."

"I thought we hadn't decided yet."

"Avery." Nick said his daughter's name out loud for the first time. "I think we should call her Avery."

"Avery it is then." He smiled at the sound of her name, feeling excited to tell her later. He glanced up as he heard footsteps, seeing doctors and nurses gathering outside. He turned his attention back to Nick, taking his watch and rings off his fingers, sliding them onto his own for safe keeping. He leant down to press his lips to Nick's forehead, making a memory of his scent, just in case.

"Okay, it's time to go, Mr Stokes." The nurse pinned both doors open, letting her colleagues in to help move him.

"Can I go with him?" Greg wouldn't take no for an answer, but he thought he might as well ask first.

"Only as far as the theatre doors."

"That's fine."

Keeping hold of his lover's hand as they wheeled him down the hall towards the theatre doors, Greg started to feel his own heart racing inside of his chest. It was only a short walk towards the double doors to the theatre, so his walk alongside his husband was over too fast. He quickly sealed a kiss to Nick's lips as they tried to stop him from going any further, making sure that he knew just how much he loved him.

"I'll see you on the other side, Tex."

Thank you for reading! Please review. I'd also like to announce that my neighbour has finally given birth to her twins. I based Colt on her toddler for my first story and I thought up this story after she got pregnant with her own set of twins. They were born last night on 6th June, both boys, and they should be home by 11th June.

Have a great weekend!

~ Holly