Chapter Eleven: ExpandingThe next few weeks went by so fast I almost got whiplash. Nathan was fully back on his feet now and his bruising was mostly gone aside from a few around his ribs that we also now healed. I was given a clean bill of health at my check up with Dr. Simmons who found no signs of pre-eclampsia. The girls were growing right on schedule and were also healthy. Dr. Simmons recommended I keep off my feet for long periods of time if possible though which Nathan and Lucas made sure I followed. Nathan and Lucas have gotten super close over the last few weeks, it was like some switch got flipped and their bond was unbreakable. Nathan hired the best moving company in town to put a rush into getting into the new house as soon as possible and it has been exhausting even though I wasn't doing the brunt of the work. There were many late nights spent with me on a chair watching Nathan and Lucas build furniture and move things to where I liked them. It was coming along nicely and today it was officially done.
"Welcome home." Nathan said.
The house was a single story house with similar coloring to our old house ironically. It had a nice front lawn and a little smaller of a backyard, but plenty of room for Oliver to run around still. The back porch used to be a closed in patio, but Nathan had the walls removed and we had plans of putting a nice grilling area there instead. Nathan, Lucas, Oliver, and I stood in front of the house just admiring it for the first time.
"Shall we go in?" Nathan asked.
"Let's go!" I said.
I've obviously seen the inside before but Nathan and Lucas refused to let me see it the last few days while they put the finishing touches in. We started off in the kitchen which was done in a black and white theme. It had plenty of counter space that wrapped around and doubled as a island for us to sit at. That was my one request for the kitchen that we didn't lose that island because I just loved it at the old house. Tucked in by the curved window was a small table with two chairs on either side. However, with how the family was expanding we were going to be using the dining room table that was just behind the kitchen. On the wall across from the island stood a shelf that held several different knick knacks and books. Oliver's bowl sat on one side of the shelf and a garbage bin on the other.
"This turned out really nice!" I said.
"You like it?" Nathan asked.
"I do!" I said.
"Next we have the living room!" Nathan announced.
Like the dining room the living room didn't have a proper doorway giving it a sort of open floor plan feeling. The walls were painted a purple color while the floor was a simple black wood paneling. On the main wall there was the television hung on the wall above the entertainment center that held miscellaneous decorations along with gaming consoles picked out by the boys. Bamboo was placed on either side of the entertainment center creating a nice relaxing space. There was obviously a couch along with a coffee table, and behind the couch Nathan had placed a pack and play for when the babies weren't in the nursery.
"This is wonderful." I said.
"Lucas was a major help with this room." Nathan said.
"Over here mom I was thinking we could put dad's urn." Lucas said.
I followed him over to the wall that was behind the couch where a slim table sat with some more knick knacks. But there sat an empty space where the urn would look lovely.
"I think he'd like it there." I said, smiling.
"Are you okay with it not being in the bedroom love?" Nathan asked.
"This is a lovely spot." I said.
I kissed Lucas' cheek before giving him a hug.
"Now! For the room I am most excited about! Lucas' room!" Nathan announced.
"Yes! I've been waiting to see it!" Lucas gasped.
"You haven't seen it?" I questioned.
"Nope, in true Nathan fashion he wanted to keep it a secret." He told me.
Lucas' bedroom was to the right of the television and we walked inside. The walls were painted a light green color that brought all of the green furnishings together nicely. The bed sat in the middle of the room with two end tables on both sides. There was a bookshelf for all of Lucas' books and a printer on it for his school work. On one wall there was a computer set up with strings hung up above it with different kinds of pictures. The wall next to it had a sofa where he could sit and read a book or do his homework. The coolest part of this room though was the corner area where he had his own television and gaming consoles. There were posters on the wall and a mini cooler with drinks inside and snacks on top of it. Lucas gasped as he took it all in.
"Nathan! This is so COOL! Mom look at my room!" Lucas yelled.
"I see! This has to be the perfect room for a teenager." I laughed.
"Can I stay here?" Lucas asked.
Nathan laughed, "We'll leave you two alone."
I laughed as Lucas mumbled something about being excited to tell Samantha about it.
"Shall we continue?" Nathan asked.
"After you." I said.
Nathan led me into what was the master bedroom. I gasped when I saw the deep blue walls and black flooring, on the main wall below the windows sat our bed with two side tables with lamps. At the end of the bed were two bassinets where the girls would be until they were old enough to sleep on their own. I wanted them close to us at first because that way we wouldn't be going back and forth to the nursery until we established a routine. In the corner of the room we also had our own television which would come in handy for entertainment while feeding them.
"Nathan, I feel like I'm living a dream." I whispered.
"You deserve this dream." Nathan said.
"So do you." I said, smiling.
Attached to our master bedroom was the master bathroom. It was spacious with a black and white theme just like the kitchen. I gasped when I saw there was a special bath tub for Oliver which would come in handy for all those times he insisted on rolling in mud. I was especially excited about the jacuzzi tub in the corner because I could see myself spending a lot of time there.
"Not gonna lie the dog bath is way more exciting then it should be." I giggled.
"Leaning over a bathtub was rough on the back for sure." Nathan agreed.
"Are you ready to see the nursery?" Nathan asked.
"Yes! I can't wait to see how the color we chose turned out!" I said.
He lead me to the nursery and I was happy to find out that the walls looked amazing. We picked a soft pink color and paired it with a light wood floor with a octagon pattern. In the middle of the floor was a long pink rug with two play pads on top of them. Nathan had found this gorgeous canvas picture of the cannons to hang over the dresser that would hold the girls' clothes and blankets. On the left side of the wall sat the two diaper changing stations with a shelf to hold all of the essentials, something told me it wouldn't stay that nice looking once we were in the thick of it. On the opposite wall were the absolutely gorgeous white cribs with pink floral bedding nestled on either side of two giant white cat plushies. I walked over to the cribs and ran my fingers over the wood and smiled thinking of two little infants in them.
"I can't wait." I whispered.
Nathan walked over to me and rubbed my back.
"We need names." He said.
It was a topic we were struggling with. We spent endless nights laying in bed throwing girl names back and forth but nothing was sticking.
"Olivia and Sophia." I said, suddenly.
Nathan stood there thinking for a moment.
"They just came to me, seeing this nursery and dreaming about them in these cribs." I said.
"Olivia and Sophia, I love them." He said.
I smiled up at Nathan and gave him a soft kiss.
"MOM!" Lucas screamed.
My stomach completely dropped as I took off running faster than you'd think someone carrying twins could do.
"LUCAS?!" I yelled.
Lucas stood in front of the front door and had a huge smile plastered to his face. He looked over at me and started to point out to the front yard. I took a deep breath once I realized he was alright and put a hand on my stomach silently apologizing to girls for jostling them. I walked over to the front door and let out a scream before gently pushing Lucas out of the way and rushing down the steps to the front porch.
"FIN!" I screamed.
I ran into her arms almost knocking her backwards.
"Oh my god what are you doing here?!" I gasped.
I hadn't even realized that Oliver had followed me out here.
"I had some free time since Hannah is so busy with her friends and her new job. I wanted to come see my best friend." Finley said.
"I missed you so much!" I said.
"Let me look at you!" She gasped.
"Wow! Hard to believe there's two babies in there." Finley told me.
"Believe me, I know." I giggled.
I hugged her again before we walked into the house.
"This cannot be little Lucas." Finley gasped.
"The one and only." Lucas said, smiling.
"How do you keep him clothed?!" Finley joked.
"I swear he has gone through enough clothes to dress the whole world." I laughed.
"And this hair!" She said.
She started fussing with his long hair until he groaned and playfully batted her away making Finley laughed. She spotted Nathan standing off to the side with his hands in his pockets. I always forget that the two of them never officially met. Finley was the first person I told about Nathan and she has been giving me advice ever since about being in relationships. Nathan smiled at her and walked over to us offering his hand for Finley to shake.
"Are you kidding me right now Nathan?" Finley huffed.
She pulled him into a hug causing me to laugh.
"Well nice to meet you too Finley." Nathan chuckled.
"You've been treating Rae like a queen, you really expect me to shake your hand?" Finley asked.
"I told you, she's a spitfire sometimes." I laughed.
...
"And then Hannah fell backwards into the mud while the goats just trampled over her!" Finley said.
"No way!" Lucas said.
"She was mortified." Finley laughed.
I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants.
"It must be constant chaos to live on a farm." Nathan told her.
"You wouldn't believe, and the early mornings are brutal." She said.
"Tell me about it." Lucas said.
"I think Fin has to get up a little earlier than you have too for school." I told Lucas.
"Gross." He said.
"Are you hungry? I can make us some sandwiches?" Nathan offered.
"That sounds nice, thank you Nate." She said.
"Nate huh?" He laughed.
"Is that alright?" Finley asked him.
"That's fine." He said.
"Such a good boy!" Lucas said.
"Oliver seems to be adjusting to the new house." Finley said.
"He loves all of the space in the house and the yard." I told her.
"I hate to be the bad guy, but Rae you should get off your feet. You've been up walking around for a while." Nathan said.
"Good idea." Finley said.
"Great, now I have three people working against me." I laughed.
Finley and I walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.
"Raegan this house, is wonderful." Finley told me.
"Isn't it? There's also a spare bedroom and another bathroom." I told her.
"Ah a spare bedroom for more kids." She said.
"Can I get these two out first?" I laughed.
"How long are you staying?" I asked.
"Just today sadly, we have a vet coming to check out the horses tomorrow. But the trip isn't too bad so I figured I'd come down." She said.
"Sad, but you can come back when the girls are here! They need to meet their aunt." I said.
"Once you are all settled in with them I will be back right away." She said.
It got quiet for a few minutes as we smiled at each other until my smile fell.
"I'm scared." I whispered.
It was the first time I admitted to anyone, even myself, that I was scared of having twins. I was still happy and excited about them don't get me wrong but the thought of having two babies at once? Terrifying. I think Nathan was scared too but was like me and didn't want to admit it to anyone. I had to remember that these feelings were perfectly normal for even having one baby, and that anyone who had twins probably felt this way.
"I tried convincing Jason we needed to give Hannah back to the hospital." Finley told me.
I laughed, "You did?!"
"Yeah, it was the first day home and I didn't have the nurses to help anymore. Jason was great with helping, but the nurses just knew what every cry meant and what she needed. Nothing I did seemed to soothe her so I was convinced that someone else would do a better job." She said.
"I had similar feelings with Lucas, but this time is different. There's two of them, what if I'm not good enough?" I asked, suddenly emotional.
"Honey, you are here doing everything you can to keep them safe. That is more than good enough." She said.
"You are the best mom." Lucas said.
Finley and I jumped at his sudden voice.
"You raised me with very little help after dad died. You didn't think I could see the nights you sat on the couch crying, but I could. I know it was hard mom but if someone asked me if I would rather go live with some other couple I would have said no. I wouldn't trade being raised by you and now Nathan for the world." He told me.
I took a deep breath to control my emotions before looking up at him and smiling.
"Thank you baby." I said.
"Do I need to come in there?" Nathan called from the kitchen.
"No! We're fine!" I called back.
...
"And if she gets too stubborn you call me." Finley told Lucas.
Lucas laughed, "I will Aunt Fin."
"Good, because I will be down here in a heart beat if either of you need me." She said.
"I miss you." Lucas said.
"I miss you too kid. Hannah won't believe how big you've gotten." She said.
"Tell her she can text me whenever she wants." He said.
Finley gave him a big squeeze.
"It was great to meet you Finley." Nathan asked.
"You too Nate." Finley said.
They gave each other a big hug.
"Anytime you wanna come down, we have a spare bedroom." He offered.
"I will keep that in mind." She said, smiling.
"We will need all the help we can get." He laughed.
"You guys will be great parents." She told him.
After a very tearful goodbye, Finley was out the door and headed back home. I was in the bathroom washing my face with cold water to stop my eyes from swelling from crying so much when Nathan walked in.
"You're scared?" He asked, leaning against the door frame.
I turned the water off and turned around to face him.
"You're not?" I asked.
He took a deep breath before running his hands down his face.
"I'm terrified." He admitted.
"Thank god." I said, laughing a little.
"I'm sure it's just the unknown since they're still safely in your stomach. But, if you're scared you can tell me. We've got this." He assured me.
I walked into his arms and gave him a deep kiss.
"I love you." Nathan said.
"I love you too Nat- Oh god!" I gasped.
Nathan was immediately on high alert.
"What?!" He asked.
"My water just broke." I said.
Bum bum bummmmm. Olivia and Sophia will be here next chapter! Let the games begin!
