35. Beau
35
BEAU
“ A lright Mom and Dad, are you ready to find out the genders?” The tech asks, guiding the wand over Marley’s belly. In the last few weeks, the babies have grown so much. I can tell that Marley’s discomfort is growing. It can’t be easy being pregnant, let alone being pregnant with twins.
“Yeah,” Marley says. She looks over to me for confirmation.
I nod in agreement. The wand moves, a whooshing sound accompanying it. “Baby A…” she slowly says, “is a boy!”
My heart thumps wildly and I look down at Marley, tears in my eyes. “We’re having a boy?” I confirm.
“Yep,” the tech responds. Marley smiles, and I lean down, kissing her forehead. I have my arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding her hand in my free one.
“Oh my god,” Marley laughs. “I can’t believe it.”
“We’ve still got one more baby,” the tech responds with a laugh. The wand moves again, the picture on the screen morphing to the other baby. She studies it for a moment, then announces, “And Baby B is a girl!”
Pure shock runs through my veins. My eyes lock with Marley, and tears stream down both our faces. It didn’t matter what the genders were, but it doesn’t change the excitement. Now we can plan names. Marley can decorate however she wants.
My arm is still wrapped around her shoulders, my head resting on her forehead. “I can’t believe this,” I murmur, kissing her cheeks, the tip of her nose, her forehead, her lips.
“I know,” she replies, eyes still watery.
I glance back up to the screen where we have a view of our daughter and son. “How is it possible to already love them so much?” I ask.
Marley softly laughs, leaning into my touch. “I feel the same. It’s such a deep and raw feeling.”
I nod, because that’s exactly how I feel. Not only for them, but also her. I want to say it. I want her to know how much I love them.
“I love you,” I say. “All of you.” I press another kiss to her lips, not really giving her a chance to respond. I know she’s not there. I’ve always told her I love her, so that’s nothing new. I just don’t think she knows that this time, I mean that I’m in love with her.
We bask in the excitement for a few more minutes, and the tech prints off some pictures for us, giving us an extra glimpse of the babies. Baby Boy is proudly showing off his gender, while Baby Girl looks like a little blob of black and white.
It’s crazy what you can see with an ultrasound, even in black and white. I guess in a few more weeks, we can do a 3D ultrasound, and really see their faces. Marley wasn’t sure if she wanted to do that, but I told her we should.
We walk side-by-side out of the clinic, and I resist the urge to reach down and hold her hand.
“It feels so surreal,” Marley states as she settles into the passenger seat. “It makes me want to go shopping, and buy all the things.” She laughs.
“Let’s go,” I say, pulling out of the small clinic parking lot. “We already have the day off work, may as well have some fun.”
Marley turns. “You’d do that?”
“What, go shopping?”
“Well… yeah.”
“Of course. I want to, Marley. I want to be there to help pick things out.”
“Okay,” she says with a renewed excitement. “Let’s go.”
“Where to, butterfly?”
I think I greatly underestimated just how much stuff we needed. My vehicle is packed full, and that doesn’t even include the two cribs we ordered to be shipped to the house. Nevermind the fact that we need two of everything, babies need a ton of shit.
I’m more determined now to get Marley into a bigger place, though. In fact, the house I showed to that family a few weeks ago is still available. Despite the wife wanting the house, the husband wanted to keep looking. Sure, there are a few minor things wrong with it, but those could be easily fixed on a weekend with my brothers.
Marley’s phone buzzes in the center console. We sent a mass text a few hours ago with the babies’ genders, deciding not to do the whole gender reveal thing, and our phones have been blowing up since.
Marley is fast asleep, her head leaning back on the headrest, breathing hard. She’s worn out from the busy day. My own phone buzzes as well, the group message acting up again.
Thomas
What are you naming them?
Andrew
I vote for Andrew for the boy. Or you could name the girl Andrea. That’s close enough to Andrew.
Josie
Oh my god, you did not just say that.
Andrew
Why? Is something wrong with Andrew?
Josie
**face palm emoji**
Jason
Some people are trying to work.
Thomas
Turn your phone off then, grumpy pants. We’re having a conversation here.
Jason
*Leaves Chat *
Thomas
*Adds Jason to chat *
Jason
Seriously?
Thomas
This is the family chat man, you can’t just leave.
Andrew
I’m offended.
Josie
Guys, leave him alone. He’s got stuff to do.
Andrew
Ugh fine. We haven’t even heard from Marley and Beau since they sent the message. I think they’re purposefully ignoring us.
Josie
I can’t imagine why.
Andrew
Was that sarcasm?
Josie
How did you ever guess?
Thomas
fight, fight, fight.
Jason
I’m out.
I pulled into Marley’s driveway a few minutes ago, and I’ve just been watching the messages roll through. My siblings are weird as hell. Marley gasps, startling herself awake.
“We’re home?”
“Yep, and my siblings are on a rampage,” I say with a chuckle.
Marley stretches, lifting her arms over her head. “Lovely.”
“Andrew wants us to name our children after him.”
She scoffs. “Right. Like that will happen.”
“Pretty much.” I shut off the car, and climb out, rounding the vehicle to her side. I open the door, and offer Marley my hand.
She shakes her head. “I’m fine, just taking a minute to wake up.”
“I know, I’m just doing my partner-ly duty.” She slides her hand into mine, and I help her out of the car. She’s right, she doesn’t necessarily need help, but either way, I’m happy to be of assistance.
She groans. “I just remembered we have to bring all that stuff in.”
“I’ll get it. Then what do you think about watching a movie and relaxing?”
“I’d like that,” Marley replies, the softest hint of a blush on her cheeks.