18 Weeks
"Does this usually take this long?" Jane complained from beside me quietly, her hand no longer resting on any part of my body as she slumped back in her chair. We had been in the ultrasound room for an hour and were yet to get any information. I had tried to explain to her before we came that this was going to be a long appointment, but none the less I was prepared for some complaints.
"We're taking pictures of all your babies' organs and limbs, just making sure everything is exactly how it should be." The technician said to Jane, whose eyes widened in embarrassment at the fact her complaint had been overheard.
"Can you tell if they're identical?" I asked her, trying to decipher what I was seeing on the screen. For the first time in my life I wasn't sure of something and it was unnerving.
"It looks like they're not sharing a placenta, which usually suggests they're fraternal. Though there's still a chance of them being identical, I'm confident in saying they won't be." Thank god. At least I know I will never have that awkward moment where I call one of my children by their wrong name.
"Did you want to find out the sexes?" The woman asked politely, smiling down at me as she spoke. Janes hand suddenly grabbed onto mine, squeezing tightly. The woman laughed quietly at her action. Jane nodded, leaning forward to look at the screen. "We usually leave this until the end, but I can tell you're getting antsy."
We waited while she searched around my stomach, trying to find the right angle to get a good picture. During my research I had found that a lot of the time they weren't able to tell the sex of both babies due to positioning. I was praying that wouldn't be an issue for us.
"Here's baby A." She said, pointing to the baby on the screen. I heard Jane let out a quiet sigh as we took in the image of our first baby. "You've got yourself a little girl." She said, smiling across at us, writing it down on the clipboard as she spoke.
"Oh, holy shit." Jane said, slumping back in her chair, her hand still holding tightly onto my own. My heart was racing. A little girl. A baby girl. I was going to have a baby girl. My mind immediately flashed to ballet classes and painted finger nails. My palms started to sweat.
"Look like you're getting the best of both worlds." The woman added, pointing to our second baby on the screen. "A little boy."
"A boy?" Jane asked, leaning forward and looking over my stomach at the screen frowned, the whole room seeming to get painfully quiet as we both stared at the screen.
"Jane, are you…" I pursed my lips as I noted tears spilling down her cheeks. The technician silently left the room, giving us a moment of privacy. It was at that exact moment, sitting looking at our babies that I saw my wife turn into a mother.
"I love you." She said through tears, shaking her head at herself as she desperately tried to wipe tears away before the fell from her eyes. I fell even more in love with her in that moment than I ever knew possible.
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The fourth of July was never something my family celebrated. I had always seen fireworks and parties on the television of course, but to us, it was just another day. That all changed the moment I became a Rizzoli. The first time I celebrated the holiday with them I woke up the next morning with clothes on that did not belong to me. Thankfully, this year we were having the celebrations at our house.
To say a lot had changed in the past two years was an understatement. Two years ago we were out drinking every other night after work, now everyone opts to go home to wives, husbands and children instead. This year we had decided a BBQ, our family and the fireworks were all we needed.
"Are you sure you're feeling up to this?" Jane asked curiously as she handed me a bottle of cold water. I rolled my eyes at her as I took the cap off, secretly loving how over protective she had become in the past 18 weeks.
"I'm pregnant, not disabled." I reminded her, throwing the words she used on me two weeks ago back at her. She smirked, and I knew she was proud of my quick come back. I was starting to really enjoy this whole pregnant with two babies thing. Anytime I tried to help do anything either Angela, my mother, or Jane would take the task away from me and order me to sit back down. I could get used to this.
"Do you realise this is our last fourth of July just the two of us?" She said, stopping what she was doing, her face going blank as the realisation of her own words washed over her.
"Are you okay?" I asked with a giggle, reaching for her hand, pressing a light kiss to the back of her head reassuringly. She sighed, smiling affectionately at me before she went to greet her brothers.
I had prepared my body for tonight. I had bought a maternity support belt to help relieve some of the pressure on my pelvis. I hated it; it was bulky and visible under just about anything I wore. I had decided to go with a maxi dress, something I never thought I would ever catch myself dead in. Pregnancy really had meant sacrificing my sense of style. I missed my tight dresses.
"Any back pain yet?" Lydia asked, her hand smoothing over TJs hair as he sat quietly in her lap. I placed both my hands over my stomach, something I had realised I instinctively do anytime anyone asks anything about the baby, and shook my head.
"I'm finding myself hungry all the time." I told her, reaching for one of the strawberries I knew Jane had bought out just for me. I couldn't imagine any of the Rizzoli's choosing a strawberry over chips.
"What are you doing about names?" Lydia asked curiously, resting her chin on her little boys head. I raised my eyebrows, waiting for her to continue. "Like are you going to be the mommy?"
"Oh. We actually haven't discussed that yet." I frowned. Were Jane and I not talking about the right things? We were so busy planning everything to make sure we were physically ready when the babies came. Maybe we weren't as prepared as we though.
"You okay?" Jane asked with raised eyebrows, sitting down beside me and shooting a sutble look in Lydias direction. I knew what she was really asking me.
"Do you want to be mommy?" I asked her, placing a hand on her thigh as I spoke. She frowned, watching her brother's wrestle on the grass by the BBQ. "Well what do you want them to call you?"
"I always pictured you being the mommy." She said with a shrug, turning to press a gentle kiss to my lips. I felt one of the babies start moving around inside of me, and more than ever I wished Jane were able to feel what I was feeling. I took her hand in mine, pressing it down hard where I was feeling the flutters. "I wish I could feel it too." She said quietly, smiling empathetically at me as she spoke.
"Only a few more weeks and you will be able to." I assured her, squeezing her hand that was resting on my thigh gently. "Have you noticed all anyone talks to me about anymore is being pregnant?" I said, just realising it as I said it aloud.
"Have you thought about when you're going to stop working?" Jane asked, completely ignoring the sentiment behind what I had just said to her.
"My body will tell me when it's time." I said with a light shrug, honestly dreading being housebound for the last part of my pregnancy. All I did at work was sit and write notes and… Cut open dead bodies. Surely that can't be dangerous for a pregnant woman?
"We have some news." Jane announced loudly, standing up and helping me follow suit. I wrapped an arm around her waist, one of the babies rolling around in my stomach making me feel as though butterflies were swimming inside me.
"Baby A…" I started, placing my hand on one side of my stomach to differentiate between the two babies. "Is a baby girl." Angela didn't wait for us to reveal what the second baby was before her arms were thrown around both of our shoulders. It didn't end there, every one of our relatives moving to congratulate us.
Then without warning, everyone seemed to go back to what they were doing.
"Don't you want to know what baby B is?" Jane asked with a frown, everyone seeming to completely forget that we were having two babies. "It's a boy." Jane said proudly, placing her hand on the other side of my stomach protectively.
"What are we calling them?" Cailin asked curiously, pushing Jane out of the way playfully so she could place her hands on either side of my stomach. "Oh! What about Renee?"
"No." Jane interjected quickly, scrunching her nose at my sisters suggestion.
"Tracey?"
"No." I objected, chosing to sit down in anticipation of how long this conversation was about to be.
"Mary?"
"No."
"Hannah?"
"No."
"Why isn't anyone offering a boys name?" I asked, realising every name being thrown at us were girls names.
"Jed?"
"No."
"Jake?"
"No."
"Adam?"
"No."
"That's why." Tommy said with a laugh, pushing his sister as she continued saying no to every name our family suggested.
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