by Lesley Jones
“What’s wrong, why were you crying, why didn’t you wake me up?”
I laugh at him and shake my head. “I’m fine. I was just having a moment. And why would I wake you up to watch me cry?”
“I don’t know? It’s my job. If you’re sad then I should be there to cheer you up, not snoring next to you, why were you crying?”
“Gabe, it’s hormones, I was just having a moment, stop worrying, I’m fine, I love you.”
He looks down at me, through those lashes that I’m so jealous of and a small smile starts to pull at the corners of his mouth as he starts to slowly grind his hips into me and I feel his erection pressing right on my clit.
“Good morning baby.” He says into my mouth as he kisses me, he flips me on to my back and slides down my body and kisses my belly.
“And good morning babies. Do you two know how much I love you and how much I love your Mummy? Do you have any idea how lucky you are? Just you wait till you meet her, then you will know, then you will understand, your Mum is so, so special.”
He rains kisses down on my belly as he talks and I run my hands through his bed head hair and swallow back the tears I can feel threatening again. Without warning the bedroom door flies open and Zac and Sam come walking in with a tray each.
“Fucking knock will ya!” Gabe shouts as he pulls my/his T shirt down over me, he pulls the doona over both of us as we sit up.
“Well that’s a nice welcome; we bought the parents to be breakfast in bed. Be grateful, you won’t have many moments like this once those babies arrive.”
“What the fuck are you on about? What babies?” Gabe looks at me, mouthing ‘What the fuck’ as Sam and Zac sit on the bed with a tray full of bacon rolls and another with tea and coffees on; I shrug.
“They guessed, everyone guessed except the kids and Stella and Coop and Jen.”
“Na darl, Jen was the one who mentioned to me that something was up, you weren’t drinking, you’ve put on a bit of weight and just the way Gabe was looking at ya. It all made her wonder if you were pregnant, I told her not to be ridiculous, but then I told her after I spoke to you that she was bang on the money but don’t worry, she knows not to say anything.”
“Where’s Ava?” Gabe and I both ask at once.
“Awww too cute, you even think and talk in unison.” Zac says in a totally piss taking tone.
“She’s in the pool, all the kids are.”
“The pool? It’s freezing out there.” I shiver as I speak just thinking about it.
“Na. I switched the heating back on in the week; it should be pretty warm once there in.”
Gabe grabs a bacon roll off of the tray that’s now sitting on the bed, Sam has slid under the doona next to me and has passed me a cup of tea.
“Congratulations little bro, twins, fuck, good luck with that dude.” I smile as I watch the brother’s fist bump each other and then smile some more as Gabe looks at me.
“We’ll be right mate Laurens a fantastic Mum and I’ll be there to support her every step of the way, but seriously, this isn’t public knowledge until we get all the tests done and we know everything is okay, we do not want anyone else knowing, especially not Ava or Laurens boys.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve threatened him with a lifetime sex ban if he dares breathe a word to anyone about this.” Sam says. Zac shakes his head as he shrugs and crosses his heart in a silent gesture.
It suddenly dawns on me that for the first time in many mornings, I actually feel okay. “What time is it?”
“It’s just after twelve, Jemma and Max went early this morning as they had to collect the kids, Ryder and his little dolly have left, he said he would call you later Lauren, Cooper and Jen just left and Stella went home last night after she cracked it when she realised that the beds were all taken.”
“She should have taken Ava’s bed.”
“We had Ava’s bed. We had the joy of sleeping in the pink pleasure dome with all those boy banders, I totes like swear I grew a vagina overnight.” Zac mimics Ava perfectly.
I start to laugh but then hear Gabe ask. “So where did Ava and Sophie sleep?”
“All the kids slept in the family room, on the floor and sofas, they were fine, they’re all up now and in the pool.”
“All the kids slept in the family room. Together? Louie and that spotty kid who kept eyeballing me and starring at Ava’s tits all night, they all slept there?”
Oh shit.
“Chill Gabe, all the kids, including Ryder and his Sheila, they all slept in the family room, they were fine, Ryder made sure the boys stayed on their side of the room, he told them you would have their balls if they tried anything in the night. Man, you seriously need to chill. You don’t want them bubs in there picking up on these bad vibes dude, it’s so not good for them.”
“Fuck off Zac. When your daughters are fourteen and you’ve got hormonal boys sniffing round, we’ll see how chilled you are my man, till then, shut the fuck up and stop talking shit.”
The conversation is interrupted by a loud splash from the pool and the sound of the girls shrieking and laughing.
“Don’t bring that kid here again Zac, not until Ava’s at least thirty.”
I can’t stand this anymore. “Gabe, would you just listen to yourself? She’s fourteen and gorgeous, she’s gonna have boys sniffing round, it’s a fact of life, get used to it. And one day, you know what; she will actually have sex with one of those boys. So screw your loaf, do you want her sneaking about in secret or would you rather her develop a relationship, with a nice boy, right in front of us all, where we can keep an eye on what’s going on and where she has Louie there for back up if she ever needs it? Think about it, because mark my words; you come down too strict on her, she will rebel.”
The room falls silent as all eyes turn to Gabe, who’s dragging his hand over his jaw, he looks at Zac. “ODIO quando ha ragione.”
Zac laughs and shakes his head, then patting Gabe on the shoulder says “Solo accettare e funz. Lei `e sempre a destra” And they both start shaking their heads.
Italian. I have two men in my bed talking Italian, no idea what they are saying but it makes me feel like I could just dissolve into a puddle. I need to get Sam and Zac out of here so I can have Gabe to myself for a bit. It doesn’t happen, the boys are on a roll, laughing and joking together and I enjoy watching the banter fly back and forth between them, I hope my children will all grow up to be as close with their siblings, who will be aged between twenty five and zero when the twins arrive. We will make for a very interesting blended family that’s for sure and I actually can’t wait.
I eventually convince everyone to leave the bedroom so that I can take a shower, when I come out to the family room, Gabe and Zac are talking to Cooper on speaker phone.
“Well, I am due some time off, I am supposed to be on holiday this week, I don’t mind flying in for a day for the big meeting on Thursday but that’s it. Me and Zac have carried the load these past couple of months Gabe, I know it’s not your fault and we don’t begrudge you the time you’ve had to take off with the girls but you need to step up now and go to Adelaide, we don’t have the old man to call on any more for this type of thing, it’s just us. It will only be for a few days, it’s not for fucking ever mate.”
Zac looks at Gabe and shrugs. “I went last time. I’m not going again.”
Gabe’s obviously double stressed, he’s raking his hand through his hair and rubbing at his jaw. “Okay, okay, I’ll go, but it won’t be till Wednesday and I want to be back by the weekend. In fact, Friday night at the latest.”
“No worries, I’ll get Stella to book the flight tomorrow. And Gabe?”
“What?”
“Congratulations man, you and Lauren will be amazing parents to those babies; I really am stoked for you both; the ol’ man would be so proud of you. I love ya man.”
I watch as Gabe’s hands stop worrying his hair and his jaw and rest on his hips as he looks down at the tiles; he has his back
to me and I just know that he is trying to compose himself before he can reply to Cooper, I go to him and wrap my arms around him from behind, he brings my hands up to his face and kisses each of them.
“Thanks Coop, I love you too.”
He turns around in my arms and looks at me, pushing the heels of his hands into his eyes, he sobs. “I miss my Dad Lauren, our babies will never know him and I’m so fucking angry about that.”
“Baby, please don’t cry, I had this conversation with Zac last night. We will make sure these babies know everything there is to know about both their Pops. And don’t be angry Gabe; your Dad wouldn’t want that, sometimes life is just shit with its timing and the hand we get dealt.”
I’m struggling with what to say to him, I know how angry I felt when my Dad died. “Gabe, Laurens right, the old man would be pissed off at you for carrying this around; what’s the point in being angry at things you can’t change, it’s such a waste of energy mate.” Zac pats him on the shoulder as he speaks.
We enjoy what’s left of Sunday. Gabe’s mood lifts and brightens and eventually, he and Zac end up in the pool with all the other kids and they have a noisy game of volley ball. Its freezing and most of them are a nice shade of blue as they hop out of the pool and into the spa. I use tiredness as an excuse when Ava tries to convince me to get in, I am actually exhausted when we crawl back into bed at just after nine on Sunday night, it’s been a great weekend. I feel like our lives are finally settling into a routine, a pattern of just plain old normal. I hope so.
CHAPTER 25
The next few days are really busy, on Monday we drop the girls off directly to school; Gabe and I had a discussion on Sunday night and decided that it’s not good for Ava to keep seeing her parents taking lumps out of each other and until Nina accepts mine and Gabe’s relationship, which is probably going to be never. Especially when she finds out I’m pregnant. Anyway, until a time they can be civil to each other, Gabe will keep his contact with Nina to a minimum. It’s not me being a jealous bitch and forbidding him from seeing her, much. It’s just that we think it’s better for Ava if she doesn’t have to constantly listen to them fighting. After taking the girls to school, we head straight to the hospital for my appointment, where I finally get the cast taken off and replaced by a removable plastic type thingo, that stops at my wrist, freeing up my hand; I seriously cannot wait to get a mani and some shellac going on, I’m an Essex girl, having my nails au naturel these past few weeks has been almost painful but I will wait until I have a day to myself to get them done.
We leave the hospital and head back down to the peninsula, straight to the Palmers place at Red Hill so that I can take a look at what stage we are at, Gabe has told me that most of the tradies are off site now so it will just be a case of coordinating with the carpet fitters and the company installing the blinds; we arrive to find just the tiler on site. The place looks great, just in need of a builders clean before I then get the house cleaning company that I always use to come in and clean properly.
Gabe stands and looks at me totally confused. “So once I pay for the cleaners to come in and do a builders clean, you will then pay another lot of cleaners to come in and clean again?”
“Yes. Have you ever seen how dirty everything still is after a builders clean?”
“Well it is what it is, that’s why it’s called a builders clean and not a Mary fucking Poppins clean.”
“Well that comes later, because once all the furniture is in and I have dressed the place, I get another lot of cleaners in before I present to the client.”
“Are you serious?”
“Deadly.”
Gabe makes calls to arrange his cleaners over the next couple of days, I make calls to arrange for mine to come in at the beginning of next week, then I make calls to the carpet fitters and the company fitting the blinds and plantation shutters I am having fitted to the front of the house, to arrive next Wednesday.
Tuesday we have a doctor’s appointment to discuss the pregnancy and what our options are regarding, removing the coil and what tests there are available to us due to my age and the complications it may cause, we have done our homework and have decided that we want the CVS test that can detect chromosomal changes at just ten weeks, rather than wait until the fifteenth week of my pregnancy for an amnio test. The doctors are relying heavily on the ultrasound for dating the pregnancy as I have no dates to give them for my last period. An appointment is made for the thirtieth of November, at which stage I will be around eleven to twelve weeks pregnant, my due date being around the twenty first of June. Rachel my doctor also recommends that we leave the coil in place until the babies are viable as taking it out may increase the risk of miscarriage; it’s not causing me any problems right now so we will see how we go. We are given leaflets and booklets and a whole pile of stuff to read, I have my blood taken followed by my blood pressure, which is at the higher end of normal and I’m told to go home and rest. Before we leave, Gabe once again confirms with Rachel that sex is absolutely safe. I give him a, see I told you so look, when she tells us to ‘Go for it’. Although we are to get in touch if I experience any cramping or spotting. I leave the surgery with a head ache and feel drained and exhausted after being bombarded with so much information.
I sleep through most of Tuesday afternoon and later help Gabe pack a bag for his trip to South Australia in the morning. By eight o’clock I am beginning to wish I had stayed asleep, he is driving me insane with his list of instructions of what I can and can’t do while he is away, I now have his permission to drive, but I’m not to leave the peninsula, I am to make sure my phone is on ring and vibrate at all times and I am to put it on charge at every opportunity. He checks my phone to make sure that I have all the correct contact details for all of his family and he even checks to make sure I have the right number for my GP. MY GP! MINE NOT HIS! Of course I have the right number!
He doesn’t want me to go to work but I have to meet with the carpet and the blind fitters on Thursday but I promise to work from home on Friday; I’ve had enquiries from another couple of prospective clients but in all honesty and as much as I hate to admit it, I am already feeling so tired by mid-afternoon every day that it would be pointless to take on any more work. I finally walk away and leave Gabe dishing out his orders and go and run myself a bath; I manage to fill the bath and sink into the warm soapy water before he comes up for air and even realises that I’m missing; I’m dozing contentedly when I get that tingle and know that he is there, watching me. We’ve been so busy that I haven’t had chance to consider the fact that I’m not going to see him for two whole days, we’ve not been apart for that long since we met. Apart from the Alyssa incident, and I suddenly feel a little tearful, I’m going to miss him.
“I hope that waters not too hot, hot baths aren’t good for you when you’re pregnant.”
Then again, maybe I’m not going to miss him at all.
“Gabe.” I shout without opening my eyes “Will you fuck off telling me what to do, I’ve had two babies before, I do know what to do. How many times have you been pregnant?”
I open my eyes and look at him; his hands are dug deep into the pockets of his trackies and he’s tracing an invisible pattern on the tiles with his toes. Something I’ve seen him do before when he’s upset, and I immediately feel bad.
He looks up and gives me such a sad smile, I want to weep. “I’m sorry. I just hate the thought of leaving you, I’ve not done a very good job of keeping you safe so far and that’s while I’ve been with you. The thought of all the things that could go wrong while I’m away is killing me Lauren, its fucking killing me.”
“Come and get in and wash my back.”
He smiles his lopsided smile at me and his blue eyes twinkle. “Thought you would never ask.”
He’s naked and sliding in behind me about twenty seconds later; we spend the next half hour talking about nothing much and finally fall into bed around nine o’clock; despite how tired I feel, the minute Gabe start
s massaging my feet, I suddenly feel awake. He spends the next couple of hours, stroking, massaging, kissing and licking me from head to toe; it’s the strangest combination of feelings, I’m incredibly tired but tingling with anticipation at how this will end, by the time he slides his cock inside me from behind I am so relaxed and so wound up that I have the strangest of orgasms, it sort of creeps up on me, without any warning and seems to go on forever. My muscles clenching and pulsating around him as he pumps into me a few more times before he explodes himself. We curl ourselves around each other and I fall asleep feeling more content than I may possibly have in my entire life.
CHAPTER 26
Our morning sex is the complete opposite to last night. Last night he treated me with such reverence that I truly felt worshipped, this morning it’s almost as if he’s angry with me. I orgasm regardless. I mean come on, who wouldn’t?
I look up into his eyes as he lies on top and still inside of me. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t wanna go. I don’t want to leave you Lauren” He rests his forehead against mine.
“It’s just two nights Gabe, Stella’s coming over to stay with me tonight and I’m having the girls over for dinner on Thursday night and Friday you’re home; what time do you land?”
“About four I think, traffic will be shit house that time on a Friday coming through the city so I probably won’t get back here till after six. Ava isn’t coming this weekend so at least I don’t have to divert to pick her up this week”
I kiss each of his cheeks and then his lips. “Well. No Ava means we can spend the entire weekend in bed, I might just have to do a little shopping while you’re away and give you a proper homecoming.”
I can feel his cock twitch inside me as he considers what I’ve just said. Good, I’ve distracted him from worrying about leaving me. For now at least. He kisses my neck and I can feel him smile against my skin as he speaks. “What kind of shopping?”