Chapter 12 - Twice as Nice

A few weeks after school closed for the summer, I was finally able to meet the elusive Rebecca! Jasper had been to her birthday party and ended up being the last guest to leave. He and Becca (as she preferred to be known) had spent the night on her sofa, confessing their feelings for one another. After that night, they were inseparable and she would often stay over, messing around in the garden with Jass until the early hours of the morning.

They made a beautiful couple. I suppose I'd always known that they'd get together as Jasper talked non stop about her. As expected, now that he was a handsome young teenager he was in high demand from all the girls in his class, but Jasper only had eyes for Rebecca. She was a pretty girl, with olive skin, a unique sense of style, and short chestnut hair swept over one of her startling hazel eyes. I could see why my son was so close to her.

Sometimes a little too close for my liking!

I'd had a couple of sleepless nights after meeting Becca. I would sit and think about how my baby boy was growing up and how strange it was to see him drifting away from me as he began a life of his own. What would happen to our children when Dayvid and I were gone? I was sure they'd be fine - If Cescie and Colin turned out anything like their older brother then they'd be level-headed and sensible, yet grab every opportunity offered to them - I reassured myself. I would sigh and marvel for the umpteenth time over how perfect my life was. Jass may have been walking slowly away from me, but It warmed my heart to know that someone he loved was holding his hand as he did so.

In anticipation of Colin's impending birthday, Jasper and Rebecca redecorated the spare room on the top floor together. I thought they did a marvellous job. Who knows, maybe they'd be decorating their own child's room someday!

Anyway, we'd be needing the extra nursery room because, just weeks after my thirty-third birthday and to our utter surprise and delight, I discovered that I was expecting again.

I know I said no more kids for a while but I promise you that the pregnancy was not planned. Not that I was, in any way, upset by it. In fact, I was overjoyed and couldn't wait to meet the little cherub, although the morning sickness was really getting to me this time round.

Dayvid was so happy that he welled up a bit when I told him the news. Money was a little tight but he insisted on putting in the hours in order to bump up our funds. Speaking of bumps, mine appeared just weeks after the test came up positive.

I didn't know what it was at first, but this pregnancy felt different somehow. My figure was ballooning much faster than with the other kids and the sickness and mood swings seemed a lot more severe. I had considered the possibility that I was carrying more than one baby, but ruled it out in my mind. My family had no history of multiple pregnancies and I hadn't taken any fertility drugs. Nevertheless, Dayvid made me go to the hospital to make sure.

I took Colin with me to the scan as Dayvid couldn't make it. He had a game on that he couldn't miss and if he won there would be a big bonus coming his way. As the sonographer smeared the gel onto my belly I pondered the consequences of having more than one baby. I had always wanted a large family but intended to stop at four. Could I continue with my career if I was a mother of five? God knew I needed the money.

The screen lit up suddenly and the black and white image appeared. There was no mistaking the two little heartbeats pulsating on the monitor.
'Congratulations! Your suspicions were correct. In a couple of months you'l have two baby girls.' The nurse beamed at me.
I knew that things would be more complicated, but I couldn't stop my mouth breaking into a wide grin. The nurse was babbling on about the increased health risk and the extra check-ups but it was all white noise to me. Tears of joy spilled down my face as I looked at the twins. A mother of five. Oh my goodness.

Colin's birthday passed without fanfare. I felt kind of bad but everyone was so busy preparing for the babies. Dayvid was silent for a full minute after I told him the news and at first I thought he was upset, but he soon began laughing uncontrollably.
'That's great, Liza! Sure, it'll be more work, but we can manage! It'll be lovely for Cescie to have two little sisters.'

And the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't wait for the babies to be born. We'd let Celeste and Colin choose the names. Becca and Jass had taken Colin to see 'A Midsummer Nights' Dream' at the theatre so he had decided upon the name 'Helena'. Celeste's favourite book was 'Pride and Prejudice' so she chose the name 'Lydia'.

Nearly two months before my due date, I woke with a start. I lay there with my eyes open, listening to my own rapid heartbeat while I waited for the contraction to pass. Slowly, I heaved myself up and swung my legs around and off the bed. I needed to get dressed and in the car before the next one came. I gripped the edge of the mattress to steady myself and fumbled in my pocket for my phone whilst I got to my feet.

The next contraction came quicker than I expected so I resolved to call Dayvid when I got to the hospital. I dressed and managed to stagger down the stairs and, several contractions later, I reached the garage.

Jasper was at Rebecca's, Dayvid was working late and both Colin and Celeste were at a sleepover party held by a kid in their school. I was alone as I drove myself to the hospital.

After a couple of wrong turns and what seemed like fifty traffic lights, I stumbled through the doors of the hospital whereupon I almost gave birth in the corridor. Luckily, I was lifted onto a stretcher and hours later I emerged from the building with a baby carrier containing my two youngest daughters -

- Helena, the oldest by a matter of seconds -

- And Lydia, the younger of the two.

When Dayvid reached the hospital I had already left so he returned home to find me snoozing in the nursery chair. I woke when he entered but pretended to still be asleep. I watched as his bare toes padded across the floor towards the cot. He leant over the bars and lifted little Helena from her bed, holding her tiny face up in front of him. Tremors shook his hands as he kissed her forehead and stroked her nose with his long silver finger before placing her back in her cot and tucking her in. I rose, drowsy but contented and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned and looked at me with his sparkling amber eyes and pulled me into an embrace.
'I'm so sorry I couldn't be there.'
'Don't worry, it all happened so fast!'
He bent down and kissed my hair softly and we stood there in each others' arms for what seemed like an eternity. The rest of the night was spent in the nursery with our new baby girls.