"Benjamin, don't climb up there," Adam said, taking Ben down from the exam table for the fourth time.
"Daddy, I bored," he sighed, pushing his glasses up. "Wanna play."
"I know. You're going to go to the park soon, but we have to wait until the doctor gets here so we can see the baby."
"But how?"
With special doctor magic," Adam replied, chuckling. "Just be patient buddy. I promise, it's really cool."
Lindsay grinned at them and let her dangling legs swing back and forth while they waited for the ultrasound technician. Colton was walking around the room, inspecting everything he could see. His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the posters, taking an extra moment to look at the one that showed each month of pregnancy with the fetus at actual size.
"Mama?"
"Yeah?"
"How big is our baby?"
"About this size," she said, pointing to the second picture. Next week it's going to get bigger, and then bigger and bigger until it's this big."
"Why does it take so long? Can't the baby eat all its dinner and get big faster?"
"It just doesn't work that way."
"Well I don't like waiting," he said, walking over to her side. She grinned and leaned down, pressing her nose to his.
"Neither do I."
He grinned and reached his hand up to touch her nearly flat stomach.
"I know there's a baby in there but I just can't see it."
"You'll see it soon enough," she sighed, looking at her watch and being fully aware of how long it had been since she had used the bathroom and how many glasses of water she'd had to drink earlier. Her stomach was upset and hadn't given her any relief in the past few weeks, but at least she wasn't throwing up constantly anymore.
The door creaked open and the nurse stepped inside, holding a chart in one hand and two lollipops in the other.
"I hear there's two very patient boys in here. Mom, are lollipops okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine. What do you boys say?"
"Thank you!" they said in unison, their eyes lighting up at the small treats.
"You're welcome. Sorry I made you wait so long."
"That's okay. I was lookin' at all the stuff," Colton said, tearing the wrapper off his candy. "I'm gonna be a doctor when I get big like daddy."
"Oh really? What kind of doctor?"
"I don't know. A really good one who fixes people from being sick. I will take care of little babies but also old people because they get really sick sometimes."
"You're right, they do."
"So, what are you going to do to my mama?" he asked curiously as she set up the ultrasound equipment.
"Well this wand right here is going to send soundwaves into your mama's belly and then they'll bounce back into the computer and show us what they saw."
"I don't know what that means. It sounds smarty though."
The nurse grinned and they started the ultrasound, Colton getting startled at the sudden whomping heartbeat.
"What is that noise?" he asked, his eyes wide.
"That's the baby's heart beating. Look on the screen, you can see it."
His eyes grew wide at the black and white screen and he leaned closer to look at it.
"That doesn't look like a baby."
"Well that's because the baby's so little that it doesn't really look like a baby yet. Also because this isn't the best picture."
She continued to take measurements and he watched her, entranced and totally oblivious to the tears in Adam's eyes or how Lindsay couldn't stop looking at the screen.
"Alright, are you ready to see the baby in all its glory?"
"Yeah!" Colton said enthusiastically, biting his lollipop in half. The nurse made a few adjustments and the screen changed, showing them a grainy picture of a small object that resembled a peanut/baby hybrid.
"Look! Mama look, the baby is moving! Can you feel it?"
"No, not yet."
"It's just swimmin' around in your tummy. It's so cute, right?"
"Yeah, it is."
"Wow, look at it go. It's like when me and Ben's dancin' around when daddy turns on Anamanaguchi."
Adam chuckled and looked over at Lindsay, catching the wonder in her eyes and saving it in his mind to look at again later.
"Okay, it looks like everything is measuring right where it should be," the nurse said finally after several minutes of watching the monitor. I'll get the pictures and video ready for you."
She stepped out of the room and Lindsay sat up, grinning at the still picture that was left on the monitor.
"I like something best in the video. I liked when the baby was head bangin'."
"You like that best, huh?"
"Yep. Can we come and look at the baby tomorrow?"
"No, we can't look at the baby for a while."
"Well when is next time?"
"In a few weeks. We'll come back and they'll tell us if the baby is a boy or a girl."
"What if it is a boy when I want it to be a girl?"
"Well that just means you're going to have another brother to play with. It will be just like how you like to play with Ben."
"Oh, okay. I could have a brother if I have to. Could I ask one more question?"
"Sure, go ahead."
The door opened just at that moment and he turned back to smile at the nurse before sighing.
"How in the world did that baby get in your belly, mama?"
"Um…," she trailed off, not knowing what to say.
"Did it just appear? Like when you make a Mii on the Wii games?"
"Uh, sure."
"Oh. But how did you make it?"
They looked at each other uneasily while the nurse chuckled and handed them their paperwork.
"I don't really know how we made the baby," Lindsay choked out after a moment, trying to usher the boys out the door.
"Who maked it? You and daddy?"
"I have to pee," she answered finally, turning down the hall to go to the bathroom.
"Daddy, do you know the answer?"
"I don't think I do bud," Adam answered. He figured the question would go away and maybe he had another five years at least before he had to explain to his son the birds and the bees. He just had to avoid it for now.
"I will ask someone else then. Someone around here gots to know. Hey Ben, you was a baby once. You remember how you got made?"
Ben raised an eyebrow and shook his head, then scuffed his foot across the carpet.
"I guess I will have to do more 'vestigating."
"Yeah, you should just ask all the kids. The grown ups won't know," Adam fibbed as Lindsay came back out of the bathroom.
"Okay, let's get out of here so daddy's not late to work."
She took Ben's hand and they went outside, into the warm fresh air.
"What are we going to do while daddy's at work?"
"We're going to meet Austin and the kids at the park, remember? We're having a picnic."
"Oh yeah! I was stoked 'bout that this morning."
"Are you still stoked now?"
"Yep. Plus I will ask Isa and Sarah to help me with my 'vestigation and we will find out how babies are made. Plus if we need help we could ask Flack because he's a detective you know."
"Son, maybe you don't need to know how babies are made. Maybe it's better when it's just a mystery."
"No daddy, it's not. See, when the baby is born after bein' in mama's belly it won't know about the whole world. So I will have to tell it everything and I will have to start with how it got made. If I don't know that, then how do I tell the baby all the rest about the world?"
Adam and Lindsay exchanged glances, cursing their combined personality trait of curiosity and stubbornness and regretting that it had been passed on so fiercely to their first child.
"His logic is kind of terrifying."
"I'm still not telling him."
"I could hear you talkin' about me, you know. You know the answer and you won't say because you're mean!"
"Colton."
He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at them.
"We don't tell lies in this family."
"Okay, you're right," Lindsay said, crouching down to look him in the eye. "Someday we'll tell you how babies get made, but it's really something that kids don't need to know about."
"But it's a mystery to solve!"
"I know. But all good mysteries take some time, right? You just be patient."
"I don't like that answer."
"Well that's the answer you're going to live with. At least for today."
She was feeling a little guilty keeping it from him and never thought she would balk during "the talk," she just wasn't quite sure how to explain it to a five year old without damaging him forever. Maybe she could come up with something in the next few days, but right now she really didn't have any ideas.
"So you could tell me tomorrow?"
"Colton… just let me and daddy figure it out, okay? It's a very long kind of story and you'll get bored hearing it all."
"Oh. Okay, I guess."
He continued down the street, satisfied with that answer for now, his mind returning to the trip to the park and playing with the kids.
"Dodged a bullet on that one," Adam sighed.
"You know, you could have taken the lead on that. You're the man."
"How do you know?"
"Three kids, daddy-o. That's how I know."
He chuckled and grabbed Colton's shoulder as he started around the corner.
"Hey wait a minute dude."
"What?"
"I've got to leave you guys now so I can go to work."
"You gonna take a cab?"
"Yeah."
"Oh."
"I'll see you when I get home tonight, okay?"
"Okay."
"Can I have a hug or are you just going to mug me?"
Colton giggled and jumped into Adam's arms, hugging him tightly around the neck.
"I love you daddy. You be safe at work."
"I will. You be safe at the park."
"Okay."
He returned Colton to the ground, then picked Ben up, hugging him tightly.
"I'll see you later Ben Ry."
"Bye daddy," he whispered, his eyes downcast.
"Hey. I love you."
"Ben loves daddy too."
"You be good for mama."
He nodded and squirmed down, joining Colton on the sidewalk where they marveled over a sun dried worm.
"Want me to pick up dinner on the way home?"
"Yes please."
"Any preference?"
"Not really. Whatever you want."
"Okay. Call if you need me to come home early."
She nodded and he leaned down to kiss her, taking just an extra moment to let his hands lightly squeeze her hips.
"I love you."
"Love you too. Be safe."
"So eating outside was a great idea," Austin commented as the kids sprinted off to the playground, leaving sandwich crusts and half eaten strawberries in their wake.
"I love how the shrieking and hitting was kind of deadened by the fresh air," Lindsay agreed, shoving all their trash into a garbage sack.
"There's a reason they call it the great outdoors."
"Yes there is."
They both sighed and laid back on the picnic blanket, their heads propped up with diaper bags and other kid paraphernalia so they could keep an eye on the playground where their offspring were currently all engaged in some game that involved them walking around backwards.
"Okay, so did you bring me ultrasound pictures?"
"Oh yeah. Sorry."
Lindsay reached over and grabbed the print outs from the side pocket of the diaper bag and handed them to Austin who grinned.
"Never gets old," she said, shaking her head a little.
"I know. It's weird how it goes from blob to mini-human in like two weeks."
"Everything is healthy?"
"Yep."
"Are you guys going to find out and actually tell people this time?" Austin asked, casting Lindsay with a side-long glance.
"Yeah, I think so. Knowing our luck we'll have a modest kid and we won't even be able to find out."
"Lin, you're gonna jinx it!"
Lindsay snickered as Sarah skipped over to them, plopping down on the blanket between them.
"We got anything to drink?"
"Here," Austin said handing her a bottle of water. Sarah drained half of it, then closed the lid and put it away.
"What's that?"
"Pictures of the baby."
"Oh, I want to see, I want to see!"
They handed her the pictures and she stared at them for a moment before her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped open.
"It's a little tiny baby! I can see how it has a nose even! Right there!" she exclaimed, pointing to the profile shot. She traced her finger over all the pictures, pointing out things she could make out and asking about what she couldn't.
"You know what?"
"What?"
"This baby will be my best friend," she decided with a nod of her head.
"Oh really?"
"Yep. Colton and Isa is best friends and Ben and Junior is best friends and I don't got a best friend, so this baby has no choice."
"I think the baby will be just fine with that," Lindsay chuckled, reaching over to tuck Sarah's hair behind her ear.
"Would it be okay for me to have one of these pictures?"
"How about I take them home and make copies for you."
"Really?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Okay!" she agreed, handing the pictures back over and jumping up from the blanket. "I'm going to go tell the other kids!"
They watched her go, then looked at each other and snorted with laughter.
"How did you guys get a Sarah? She's so sweet, she's nothing like you."
"Yeah, and you ended up with Colton who is really smart and nothing like you either."
They giggled and watched the kids play together as cohesively as if they were all siblings, but still almost as politely as if they were all just friends. They watched as Ben fell off the end of the slide and Isa pulled him to his feet and swiped the bark chips off his back. They watched Sarah hang from the monkey bars while Colton jumped up and down encouraging her to go a little further, but hugging her when she dropped to the ground anyway. They watched as all five kids climbed up to the top of the slide and went down in a chain, shrieking with laughter the entire way down.
"You know," Austin started softly, examining the ends of her hair. "If I had to go through life the way I did, without a close family, I am pretty sure this right here makes up for it."
"Hard to imagine it being any other way."
"When we're eighty-"
"Ninety."
"One hundred and ten. Do you think we'll be watching our great-great-great grandkids playing together?"
"I hope so."
"I forgot to say goodnight to the baby!" Colton hollered from his bedroom, throwing the covers off and running out to the couch. He climbed up and pressed his hand to Lindsay's stomach for a moment, speaking solemnly.
"Goodnight baby. You do some growing, okay? And I will find out where you comed from."
Lindsay sighed and looked at Adam who arched his eyebrows in response.
"Colton stay here for a second."
"What mama?"
"I'll tell you how babies are made, but I am only going to give you the Cliffs Notes."
He nodded, knowing that sometimes when they explained something scientific or complicated to him they didn't tell him everything because he would get confused.
"Someday we'll tell you all of it, but for now, this is all you need to know, okay?"
He nodded again, wishing she would get on with it.
"When a mama and a daddy really, really love each other, sometimes their hearts get really full. And they just can't hold all that love anymore, like when you fill up your glass of water until it spills over the top."
"Uh-huh."
"Sometimes a mama and daddy's love spills over the top like that and it makes a baby."
He thought about it for a minute, his brow furrowing.
"Well then how come you and daddy don't gots more kids?"
"Because… um… sometimes it spills over to make a deposit in the love bank."
"Well what's that for?"
"You know how sometimes daddy and I have arguments and we get upset with each other? We get over that by dipping into the love bank."
"Oh, get it!" he said, even as Adam snorted at her description. "I could go to bed now."
He hopped off the couch and went back into his room while Adam erupted into laughter.
"What? I didn't see you doing any better!"
"I was avoiding. Love bank?"
"Well, I don't know."
He shook his head and tightened his arms around her while she glared at him.
"Hey," he whispered softly. "You remember the specific night that our love bank got too full…"
"I remember a lot of specific nights," she purred, her eyes turning darker.
"You know what I mean."
"Yes I do. And yes."
They blinked slowly together and sighed. It may not have been the specific night, but it was the one they were sticking to. It had been a spur of the moment kind of evening, starting out slowly and transforming into a drawn out encounter that had ebbed and flowed for several hours until they both fell into a blissful sleep, then had picked up again as the sun was coming up. It was a night that would be permanently etched into their minds forever, even if it hadn't resulted in their third offspring.
"We need to start thinking of names," she said softly, breaking the spell.
"I thought we weren't going to start until we figured out what it was rolling around in there."
"Well yeah, but it might not be as easy for us to pick something as last time."
"Yeah, especially since we've named ourselves into a corner."
"What?"
"Reverse alphabetical order."
"Ending with N," she finished with a sigh. "I guess it doesn't have to be a pattern though. We don't have to tell anyone."
"Really Linds? You think that you and I are going to sit here and see a pattern and not run with it?"
"Yeah, I guess. So we're down to A names."
"That end with N."
"Why doesn't anything come to mind?"
"Allen."
She scrunched her entire face up at that one.
"What? It's not a horrible name."
"No, it's not. I actually don't hate it. But I am not birthing a 45 year old man."
"Point noted. Hey, I was thinking earlier, if it's a boy, maybe we use Monroe for the middle name."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's a strong name and it fits with our middle name pattern."
"Okay. I can see that."
"Linds?"
"Yeah?"
"I really love you."
"I really love you too."
He leaned down and kissed her, cradling the back of her head in one hand while the other rubbed gently over her stomach. She hummed under his persistent lips, dragging her fingers up to play in his hair.
He broke the kiss after a while, dropping his forehead to hers and giving her a little smile.
"You wanna go make a deposit in the love bank?"
"When do I not?"