Chapter 20 #2
“He’s good with all twelve names, so I guess it’s up to us now.”
“I, um, think I want my dad in here with me,” Maverick said. “He was at my brother’s delivery and assisted too. He’s on his way.”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same about my dad,” I explained. “He’s assisted in dozens during his time with the fire department. He knows what to do.”
Grinning, I reached for the notebook we’d slid between two blankets. “At least that’s one less thing left to resolve. See, we’ll be ready on time. Briar will find the blankets, and we’ll figure out the names.”
“Arden,” he blurted. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since you mentioned it the other day. I think we need to move it up on the list.”
“One down, three to go?” I murmured.
“I think so,” he said before nodding, a smile brightening his face. “Yeah, Arden Imogen, it is.”
“I love the way that rolls off your tongue. Now we need another girl’s name. Are you still partial to Ember?”
“Only if we can pair it with Adelade the way you suggested.”
“In that case, that’s two down, two to go,” I said.
Apparently, it took being in panic mode for us to stop hemming and hawing over which names to go with.
“What if we took their grandfather’s names and mixed them up, like middle names for first names and first names for middle names, since they’re all on the list?” Maverick asked. “Will be less chance for confusion.”
“Ohh, I like that; it would give each of them their own unique names too.”
“Okay, so what about Skyler Damien and Ryder Jett?”
“Mmmm, what about Skyler Jett and Ryder Damien?” I asked.
“That works. I think we’ve nailed down the names, and all of the grandpas are represented. I think they’ll like that.”
“I do too.”
My backache had lessened over the course of our conversation, but I was still eager to get the nest finished and pleased when Briar came in carrying a mound of blankets he could barely see over the top of.
“There are three more piles in the car,” he explained. “I had to run across town to Boudoirs Incorporated to grab the last few blankets because I bought out every blanket at Chadwick’s that fit your specifications, and it still didn’t seem like it would be enough.”
“You are a prince among snow leopards,” Maverick told him.
“Something tells me you’ll be changing your tune about that the moment the labor pains hit,” he said as he set them down in the nest so Maverick and I could position them properly.
Once we had everything the way we wanted it, Briar would cover it with the heavy, waterproof birthing tarp that we’d deliver the babies on.
Soon.
Everything he brought in was fluffy, thick, and positively perfect, though there was one I carried over and draped over Maverick’s arm. First he gasped, then he moaned and rubbed his face against it.
“This is heaven,” he moaned.
“I knew you’d like it.”
“It’s perfect. I want it right here,” he said, carefully tucking it along the spot where he liked to lay his head.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to run them through the washing machine first?” Briar asked as he carried the next load in.
“I don’t think you’d have time to finish washing and drying them before we’d need to cover the nest,” Maverick blurted before I could.
“Ditto,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat up as Maverick and I locked gazes, giggled, and shrugged.
Guess I wasn’t the only one who considered this one of those soon-soon situations.
“You are not allowed to faint,” I told Briar when he started to resemble a pale shade of puke-green. “Neither of us can faint for a second time until Maverick has his first meeting with the floor.”
“Which means you don’t get to have a second faint,” Maverick remarked, huffing. “Either of you, because I don’t intend to have a first one.
“Are you both good with my dad attending the delivery too?” Briar asked, “Ideally we’d want one attendant per baby, at least according to Grandma Tilly.”
“That would be perfect,” I said as Maverick nodded.
“I’ll let him know,” Briar said, pulling his phone out.
I did the same, comforted to see that there was a screenshot from my pops showing that they were less than an hour away.
It took what felt like forever to get the last of the blankets in place, or maybe it was just that I was moving super slow and every place Briar spread a blanket seemed wrong.
If I didn’t scrunch it and move it one way, Maverick bunched it up and tucked it in another spot.
The relief on Briar’s face when the last one was positioned perfectly doubled when the doorbell chimed at the same time as I received a screenshot from my pops showing that they were just pulling up.
That had to mean that one of the other dads had arrived as well.
That was probably a good thing. I was certain we needed the tarp rolled out, which also meant that Maverick and I were going to need some help stepping out of the nest. Maverick winced as Briar hurried from the room to answer the doorbell, and I took his hand and gave it a squeeze.
“I think these children intend to share a birthday,” I said, very aware that the ache in my back wasn’t lessening this time.
We were still holding hands when the room was flooded, as all four fathers arrived at the same time.
“Someone call for a special delivery crew?” my dad asked as he crossed the room to hug me.
“Yes, please and thank you,” I said as I hugged him as best as I could.
“I’m going to be on door duty,” Pops said after he hugged me. “I doubt you need my brand of coaching in here.”
“Yeah, no offense, Pops,” I said, chuckling as I let go of him. “But if you started blowing your whistle at me and yelling ‘push harder,’ I’d have to have you thrown out of the room.”
Laughing together was fun; the pang of pain to follow, not so much.
Pops stuck around long enough to help get Maverick and I out of the nest and the tarp in place before he said goodbye to us and wished us luck as we started slowly shoving at our clothes.
It would be nice to be able to do simple things on my own again, like dress myself, wash myself, and put my own fucking shoes on.
Groaning, I let myself be lowered to the tarp, because holy shit, I was about to earn those little luxuries in a very big way if the pain I was starting to feel was any indication.
“I’m beginning to seriously reconsider the whole snip-snip plan for Briar,” Maverick muttered, prompting a round of chuckles from the assembly of dads.
“Anyone want to keep score on how many more times Briar is threatened tonight?” Maverick’s dad asked.
“I will,” Briar’s dad replied.
“Gee, thanks, Dad,” Briar grumbled.
“Look at it this way,” I said. “We can always add it to the baby book.”