Chapter 31: Good News & Bad News

Normal POV

"I still can't believe that you fell flat on your face when we learned that I had twin girls growing in me . . ." said Amanda as she let out a small chuckle. "I never realized that the news would be that much of a big shock to you . . . You were really hoping for a boy huh?"

"Well . . . it would be nice to finally have a son of my very own," said Randy as he shrugged his shoulders. "I was so confident that the baby, our baby, was going to be a boy, and then when the news came that we were having twin girls instead, well . . . it was a bit crushing to know that it won't be a boy after all."

"But . . . you are happy about our twin girls, right . . . ?" asked Amanda, uncertainty apparent in her tone as Randy turned the truck into his grandparents' long driveway. ". . . Right?"

"Of course I am . . ." Randy answered her quickly as he let a smile came across his face, just as he grabbed her left hand in his right and kissed her knuckles. "I would be stupid not to be happy about our girls. . . Besides, I bet you would kill me if I told you that I didn't like the news. I'm not that stupid."

"Well . . . I wouldn't kill you," said Amanda as she shook her head. "I wouldn't be that cruel to leave our daughters fatherless. . . . I would give you a good kick to the nuts and then beat the crap out of you, but I wouldn't kill you."

"Well that's good to know . . ." Randy said sheepishly as they noticed that the house was coming up. "Now . . . on to the next thing on the agenda: Telling our families and friends our good news."

"That's right . . ." said Amanda as they pulled into the garage. "I do wonder how they'll respond to the news that we're not expecting one bundle of joy, but two."

"Well . . . I can say this for a fact," said Randy as he cut the engine. "Alanna would be so excited to find out that she'll be the older sibling of two little sisters. . . She's so going to bounce around the house and scream her head off when she finds out."

"Please tell me your grandparents have earplugs lying somewhere around their house," said Amanda as they unbuckled their seatbelts and got out the car. "We may need them for later if what you just said is true."

"That won't work . . ." said Randy as he shrugged his shoulders. "She'll just scream louder if she sees us do that. Plus, earplugs don't really help vampires in any case anyway."

"Is that my favorite snake couple I hear in the garage?" asked Nate as he suddenly appeared in the doorway that connected the garage to the kitchen. "Ah . . . what news do you bring from the doctor's office you two? I hope it's good."

"Oh . . . it's good alright," said Randy as a bright smile came across his face. "It's actually a little more than we expected, but it is definitely good nonetheless."

"I see . . ." said Nate as he moved back to let his brother and his mate step into the kitchen. "Alanna, Grandma, and Grandpa are in the living room. You could tell us your news there."

"Fine by us . . ." said Amanda with a shrug as Nate led the way. The three walked into the nearby living room to see that the three of them were watching a soccer match on the plasma screen TV. "Hey guys!"

"Ah, you're back!" said Rita as she looked at Randy and Amanda with a grin on her face. "How'd it go? What's the verdict?"

"Well . . ." said Amanda as she let out a small breath. "The results were more than we bargained for."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Bob as he raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"Well . . . we're not expecting one healthy baby," said Randy as he wrapped an arm around Amanda's waist before turning to the rest of his family. "We're expecting two."

"Two?" said Rita as her grin turned into a broad smile. Alanna looked absolutely shocked, while Nate and Bob looked at the snake couple wide eyed in stunned surprise. "That means twins!"

"Yeah . . ." said Amanda as she shook her head. "Its' twins alright . . . Twin girls to be exact."

"GIRLS?" exclaimed Rita and Alanna in unison while Nate and Bob continued to stay silent at the news.

"That's right . . ." said Amanda as she shook her head. "Twin girls. . ."

"I'm going to have sisters . . ." said Alanna in shock as she ran out the room. "I'M GONNA HAVE LITTLE SISTERS! YES!"

"Well that escalated quickly . . ." said Randy as he poked a finger into his ear to check if he could still hear out of it. Once he was done with that, he turned to 'Manda with a smirk on his face. "I told you she would be running around the house yelling at the top of her lungs."

"Yeah . . . you got me there on that one . . ." said Amanda as she noticed Bob handing Nate twenty dollars. "Uh Bob, why are you suddenly giving Nate money?"

"We made a bet . . . I bet that the baby would be a boy and Nate bet that the baby would be a girl. If there were multiple births of the same gender, an extra ten bucks would be added to the original prize money of $10," explained Bob as he let out a small whistle. "By the way Nate, you were right . . . The Orton family is being taken over by women."

"Oh that's not true . . ." said Amanda as she shook her head. "The Orton lineage may have more girls than it's usually used to, but the clan isn't going to be taken over by them. . . You men are too stubborn to let that happen anyway."

"Damn straight . . ." said Nate as Bob shook his head in agreement. He then turned to Randy with an accusatory look on his face. "And you, older brother, are the main cause for our bloodline becoming more . . . feminine."

"Oh quit with that bro," said Randy as he shook his head. "Just because I'm going to have three daughters in total doesn't mean you have to blame me for our family getting more girly. . . I can't choose my child's gender . . . What happens, happens okay? With any luck, your firstborn may end up to be a girl, just like Alanna."

"NEVER!" said Nate as he crossed his arms. "My firstborn will be a boy. There will be no ifs, ands, or buts about it."

"We'll just see about that . . ." said Rita as she shook her head and got out of her chair. "I'm going to prepare dinner. Bob, prep the grill. . . We're having ribs tonight!"

"Yes dear!" called Bob, his face lighting up as soon as he heard the word 'ribs'. He quickly left the room, leaving Randy, Nate, and Amanda to themselves.

"It's not certain that your firstborn will be a boy . . ." said Amanda as she shook her head. "I'm just warning you now Nate. Prepare yourself for anything, or else you'll end up with your face on the floor when you find out the baby's gender won't be what you hoped for, like Randy here for example."

"Oh . . . are you going to mention that to everyone we talk too?" asked Randy as Amanda began to leave the room.

"Yes . . ." said Amanda with a smile as she stopped in the doorway. "And speaking of talking to everyone, we got some calls to make. Let's go Randy."

"I'll be there in just a second . . . I'll meet you back at our room," said Randy as Amanda walked out the room. He turned to his brother, who was looking at him with a small smirk on his face as he shook his head. "What?"

"You fell on your face when you found out you're going to be the father of twin girls?" asked Nate as he let out a small chuckle. "So the Viper could get shocked after all huh?"

"Oh shut up you . . ." said Randy as he punched his brother in the shoulder. "Another word out of you and I'm going to make sure you're sleeping tonight without any of your teeth in your mouth."

"Like I'm so scared . . ." Nate taunted as he rolled his eyes at his brother. Randy then proved his point by trying to punch his brother in the face, but he stopped his fist a mere centimeters from Nate's nose. Nate instantly ran away from him to hide behind the couch, his eyes looking a little freaked out as he popped his head over the couch. ". . . You are an evil big brother. . . EVIL!"

"Like I've never heard that one before . . ." was all Randy said as he walked out the room. He made his way back to the room he and Amanda were sharing to find her talking on her phone while lying on the bed, a smile stretched all across her face as she talked with her sister on the line.

"No, I didn't know that it's almost one in the morning over in Preston," said Amanda as a chuckle escaped her lips. She then turned onto her side, her body now facing the window so that she could gaze out into the beautiful landscape. "If I waited till the morning to call you sis, you would get so mad at me as soon as you heard my good news. You know how much you love good news, especially when it's told to you as soon as possible, so listen up!"

"Well the twin sis conversation sounds interesting . . ." Randy mumbled to himself as he took off his sneakers before taking a seat on the other side of the bed.

"Well then tell Wade to shut up and listen . . . better yet, put your phone on speaker and I'll do the same with mine," said Amanda as she quickly pressed caller ID. "Can you two hear me now?"

"Yep sis . . . we can hear you loud and clear!" said Monica, her voice sounding tired as the sounds of her yawning could be heard through the receiver.

"Now can you please tell us your good news so that we could go back to sleep?" called Wade, his voice sounding more irritated than tired as he spoke his piece.

"Alright, alright . . . I'll tell ya," said Amanda as she shook her head. "Randy and I just got back from doing a sonogram earlier. . . And it didn't really go the way we expected."

"What? What do you mean by that?" Monica asked urgently, her voice starting to go into worry mode. "Did something happen to the baby?"

"No, nothing bad happened," said Amanda as Randy came up behind her and gently wrapped an arm around her waist. "To cut it short, we expected one baby . . . Turns out I'm carrying two."

Silence was all Amanda and Randy got as they allowed Monica and Wade to absorb the news. About a minute passed before the two heard Monica let out an ecstatic yell, her voice easily carrying through the receiver.

"TWO BABIES?" yells Monica as Amanda and Randy checked their hearing to make sure it was still there. "Sis, you're carrying TWINS?"

"Monica, can you please quiet your voice down a bit?" asked Wade as he spoke in a quieter tone. "If you keep this up, you'll wake up my parents for sure."

"I'm sorry Wade, but I just found out I'm going to be the aunt of twins," argued Monica in a lowered tone of voice. "This is big news . . . Cut me some slack!"

"Yeah Wade . . . cut my sis some slack," said Amanda as Randy began to nuzzle her neck. "It's not every day you find out that you'll be the aunt of twin GIRLS you know."

"Girls?" asked Monica as her voice went all blunt. "Did you just say twin GIRLS?"

"Damn . . ." said Wade, his voice easily showing his astonishment. "Twin girls?"

"That's right . . ." said Randy as he lifted his head away from Amanda's neck so that he could speak clearly. "The doc said we should be expecting our girls by early December at least, so for us, this is basically an early Christmas present."

"Orton, as soon as December comes, you're going to be the father of THREE girls," said Wade as his voice sounded contemplative. "Do you know how much those three are going to tag team on ya when they want to get money and stuff from you when they're older . . . ? You're doomed!"

"Hmm . . . I never thought of it that way . . ." said Randy as he thought it over. "But, I'll figure out a solution sooner or late. No way am I going to let my daughters take advantage of me for my money."

"We'll see when the three are teenagers, now won't we?" said Amanda as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Please . . . I don't want to worry about that till they're ACTUALLY teenagers." Randy told her grumpily before he went back to nuzzling her neck.

"Alright then Mr. Grumpy Pants," said Amanda as she shook her head. "Well, that was all we needed to say to you guys, so you can go back to sleep now."

"Oh thank you!" called Wade, his voice filling with relief as a soft thump could be heard from the receiver, most likely Wade dropping his head back onto his pillow.

"I guess I'll talk to you later then sis. We'll see you guys when we get back. . ." said Monica. Amanda and Randy quickly said their goodbyes before the younger twin ended the call, which was only the first of the many that they were planning to do.

The snake couple ended up spending the next hour and a half calling their friends and family to tell them their good news. After getting their fair share of congratulations, screams of joy, and a couple of tears here and there, Amanda turned off her phone as Randy continued to hold his mate in his arms, a small smirk dotting his face as Amanda leaned back into his chest.

"Alright . . . that was everyone . . ." said Amanda as she let out a small breath as Randy planted a small kiss on her jugular. "Well . . . everyone that we could immediately think of."

"Well . . . I bet we both have a few stray relatives that we have yet to call, but I think we can save that for another day," said Randy as he began to play with a few strands of Amanda's hair. "If we're lucky, our moms will handle that for us. Did you hear how excited they were when we told them about our girls? They'll be calling up more relatives about that for sure."

"I hope my mom does that . . ." said Amanda as she turned around in Randy's grip in order to face him better. "I have way too many relatives to count. It would take me all day to call them."

"How big is your family again?" Randy asked her curiously as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"When you come from a family where you have at least . . . 25 cousins from your dad's side of the family and at least 22 from your mom's, it's a safe bet that your family's pretty big," answered Amanda as she shrugged her shoulders. "Then again . . . the numbers may have changed over the years."

"May have changed?" asked Randy as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well . . . the last family reunion I've been to was eight years ago," said Amanda as she shrugged her shoulders. "The numbers may have changed since then. . . I haven't really kept tabs on the rest of my family. . . There're too many people to count."

"Sometimes I imagine what my life would be like if I had a lot more relatives in my family . . ." mumbled Randy as a thoughtful look came across his face. "Then I realized that I should be happy with the family I have."

"Now that's a mature thing for you to say . . ." said Amanda with a smirk as a small smirk came across her face.

"Besides, the more relatives I may have, the bigger the possibility of at least one of those relatives acting like Nate . . ." said Randy as he quickly turned to see that Nate was eavesdropping from the hallway, his head poking in from behind the doorframe. "Go away brother!"

"I just came to tell you two that dinner will be ready soon and that you two should join the rest of us on the outside patio. . ." said Nate as he spoke in a mock innocent voice. And then he made it as brash as possible. "Now get your asses out of this room and come outside before Grandpa and I eat up all the ribs . . . I'm warning you now, so don't come crying to me when you find all the food gone . . . especially you big brother."

"Oh shut the hell up and get out of here . . ." said Randy as he resisted the urge to flip his middle finger at him. "We'll be out there soon."

"You better . . . or else I'll be calling dibs on them ribs . . ." was all Nate had to say as he walked down the hallway.

"I doubt your grandmother would let that happen . . ." said Amanda with a chuckle as she slid out of bed. "Are you coming babe?"

"I'll be out there in a little while . . . I'm going to take a shower first," said Randy as he made his way over to her. "You're welcome to join me if you want."

"Yeah . . . I have the feeling that if I join you in the shower, we're not going to get out of there till Nate and Grandpa really eat up all the food . . . I'm going to have to pass on that," said Amanda as Randy instantly pouted at her answer. ". . . But I'll take a rain check on that offer."

"Trust me . . . I'm going to take you up on that," said Randy as he pecked her lips, his hands landing softly right on her protruding baby bump. "Now go outside and make sure my family doesn't hog all the food. You know how they get when it comes to ribs, especially my grandpa."

"Oh . . . I know. . . I've seen how much your grandpa can eat when it comes to ribs. It's like he practically inhales them," said Amanda as she shook her head. Randy let out a soft chuckle before going over to his luggage to pick out a change of clothes and his washrag. When he passed by Amanda on his way to the bathroom, she slapped him right on his ass, which made him turn around to look at her in shock. "What . . . Like you never done it to me before Mr. Viper?"

"Hmm . . . I guess you got me there." said Randy as he let a small smirk come across his face. He quickly made his way into the bathroom and once Amanda saw him close the door behind him, she quickly made her way out of the bedroom before Randy could suddenly come out and slap her ass when her back was turned. She made her way toward the kitchen and went out the backdoor to the outdoor patio, where she found everyone else, except for Rita, sitting in some lounge chairs while Bob manned the grill.

"Where's Daddy?" asked Alanna as Amanda walked over to the couch that the little girl was sitting on.

"He's off taking a quick shower. . . He'll be out here in a little while." answered Amanda as she sat down next to her.

"Ah . . . the Viper is taking a bath," said Nate as he stretched himself out in his lawn chair. "I guess he couldn't help but wash away the Anaconda cooties he gathered from being in the same bed with you."

"Bob . . . can I borrow that spatula you have next to the grill?" asked Amanda as she eyed Nate with narrowed eyes. "I feel like slapping some sense into your grandson right now."

"Alright . . . but you have to rinse it when you're done," said Bob as he held it out to her, but Nate snatched it out of his hand before Amanda could take it. ". . . Or not."

"There will be no slapping sense into me today everyone . . . not when there's dinner cooking on the fire," said Nate as he shook his head disapprovingly. Incoming footsteps managed to get everyone's attention, and they all turned around to see Rita and Hal walking onto the patio with a second man right behind them. He was dressed in a simple flannel shirt and jeans, but thanks to his long shaggy hair and beard, he looked like he just got himself out of bed. "Oh look . . . a visitor."

"Uh . . . Rita, who is this?" asked Amanda as she looked at the disheveled man, inwardly curing herself for leaving her amulet back in her room.

"This is Wilson. He's a neighbor and a fellow vampire like the rest of us," explained Rita as she gestured to the guest. "And don't worry Amanda, we kinda told Wilson about you and Randy coming here to visit before you guys got here. You're secret is safe."

"Oh . . . that's good to know," Amanda said a tad unsurely as she continued to eye the disheveled looking man. ". . . Really good to know."

"I promise you that I won't blab to anyone that you and your mate are actually here in Montana instead of traveling with the rest of your wrestling coworkers," said Wilson as he placed a hand on his heart. "I swear it . . . You have my word."

"As long as you keep your word, you're fine with me . . ." said Amanda as she crossed her arms. She then turned to look into the house, where she noticed a tattooed arm ducking behind a wall. "We're good Randy . . . You can come out now."

"Ah . . . was big brother scared of our surprise visitor?" asked Nate with a cheeky smirk as Randy emerged from the house dressed in a red shirt and black shorts. Randy instantly sent a cold glare his brother's way, which made Nate instantly turn to their grandfather in order to avoid the gaze. "So . . . grandpa, Wilson's your neighbor huh?"

"Yep . . . he and his mate own the next ranch down the road," explained Bob as he began to spread some barbecue sauce on the ribs. "And don't get deceived by his appearance. He's older than he looks."

"How old are you?" asked Alanna as she raised an eyebrow at Wilson.

"To be honest . . . I'm actually older than either of your great grandparents little lady," answered Wilson as he let a small smirk come across his face. "I'm older than them by at least a good decade."

"I see . . ." mumbled Randy as he crossed his arms. "So . . . what brings you over here Wilson? Was it the food?"

"Not really, but I will accept any food you may offer," said Wilson as he shook his head. "I'm actually here to talk with your grandparents on an important matter."

"What's wrong Wilson?" asked Rita as she raised an eyebrow. "What's so important that you had to come all the way out here to talk to us instead of calling us over the phone?"

"That's the thing . . . I wanted to call you guys over the phone, but I couldn't," said Wilson as he shook his head. "All the land lines in this area are completely down due to scheduled maintenance today. Only cell phones work, and you know I don't do cell phones."

"So what's the important issue you have to talk to us about Wilson?" asked Bob as he began to remove some ribs from off the grill to place them on a large clean plate he held in his hand.

"Hunters . . ." Wilson bluntly admitted to the group, which got Amanda and Randy's attention in an instant. "That's the important issue I wanted to talk to you about . . . They've left another message."

"Where was it this time?" asked Rita as her face went all serious

"They left their signature mark on the side of our neighbor Donald's barn," said Wilson as he shook his head. "A sword crisscrossed by two small daggers . . . Like I could ever forget the insignia of the largest hunting guild in the States."

"They're in the area?" asked Nate in shock as he raised an eyebrow. "How long have they been here?"

"Well . . . no one has actual seen them in person, but they've been leaving images of their insignia on different spots all across the area," answered Wilson as he turned his attention back to Bob and Rita. ". . . You know what that means."

"Uh . . . I don't . . ." said Alanna as she shook her head. "What does it mean exactly?"

"Well Alanna dear . . ." said Rita as she shook her head. "It only means one thing . . . it's a warning."

"We weren't certain at first, but with the growing amount of insignia sightings these past few days, it's absolutely certain now. . ." said Bob as a scowl came across his face. "They're coming . . . We just don't know when."

"Well . . . what do you plan to do?" asked Randy, his voice showing his agitation as he held back in a low growl.

"Prepare . . . who knows when they'll strike . . ." answered Bob as he turned to his grandson. "If we're not prepared, then we're done like dinner."

"Oh great . . ." thought Amanda as she shook her head. ". . . And just when I thought this would be a relaxing vacation."

Trouble's brewing once again . . . What will happen next?

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