by Marcy Pacino
“A good doctor, why is finding a good doctor so important, Thomas isn’t a sick child and… oh my goodness Sarah he said in shock are you saying that you’re, we’re, going to have another baby?” he asked in amazement.
All she could do was nod. He jumped up from his seat, almost knocking his water glass over, and taking her by the hand pulled her into his arms. He lifted her up and spun them around once, then set her back down on the dance floor and kissed her tenderly, but with passion. The matre’d approached with a bottle of sparkling apple cider and two glasses.
“Thank you”,” Brian said.
Congratulations were offered by the entire restaurant staff. Exhausted they finally managed to sneak out about midnight. Arriving back at their apartment, Mona demanded to know what was so special about the evening. Brian said he’d go check on Thomas and meet Sarah in bed. So the two women sat down on the sofa and Sarah told Mona their double surprises. Mona was overjoyed with the announcement of another baby but a little depressed by the news of the move, but Sarah reassured her that they’d stay in touch.
The weekend following the news, leaving Thomas with Mona, they had driven to Boston in search for a place to live. They were extremely blessed because that Sunday they located a small but adorable three-bedroom house for sale. It was in need of some minor work but with Sarah at home all day, she figured she could handle most of it. With the paperwork all in order and smiles on their faces, they headed back to Newark.
Three weeks later, the packers had finished and moving day was upon them. Mona stood weeping as they loaded up the few things they were taking with them. She gave Thomas one more hug and kiss and placed him in his car seat.
She then gave Brian a hug saying, “Take good care of her, I know you will.”
Then it was Sarah’s turn and they both fought so hard to control their feelings. Sarah was crying when she sat in the car. He started the car and pulled away before he spoke.
He put his hand on her thigh, and patting it gently said, “I’m so sorry. I know this is hard for you, but it’ll get better, I promise. You‘ll meet new friends and you still have me and Thomas and the baby. By the way” he continued, a little concern in his voice now, “how are you feeling, I mean with the pregnancy.”
She replied, trying to keep the sorrow out of her voice, “I’m fine, just a little sad, but as you said, I’ll make new friends and I still have you and Thomas and the baby. I love you.”
The move went smoothly, as did the pregnancy, although she had gained more weight faster with this pregnancy then with Thomas, but she wasn’t overly concerned and was eager to get settled in Boston and find a new doctor. Brian’s company paid for and arranged the move; all she had to do was watch and keep Thomas out of their way.
Chapter Nine
Christmas came and they both enjoyed watching Thomas tear into all the shiny packages. That evening, as they sat in front of a roaring fire, arm and arm, Sarah sighed contently and thought to herself “Life just can’t get any better than this.”
She arrived home after a doctor’s visit in January in a daze. She was both shocked and happy over the news, and she couldn’t wait to share it with Brian. He called about seven that night to tell her he would probably not be home before midnight, that he was sorry, not to wait up for him and that he loved her. She crawled into bed disappointed but planned how she could tell him the next day. The next day was Saturday so she knew he wouldn’t have to go into work. He’d gotten home around 1:15 a.m. and was still asleep as she prepared his breakfast.
As he stumbled into the kitchen mumbling “Good Morning”, she hoped he was awake enough to notice breakfast and understand the significance of what she had prepared.
He sat down to two eggs over easy, two strips of bacon, two pieces of toast, two napkins and two cups of orange juice. He dove into the breakfast with zest, having missed dinner the night before, so he was halfway through his first class of orange juice before he realized there were two.
She could see him then, study the plate in front of him, and as he realized that everything was in two’s, so he asked, “Why did you fix me a breakfast of two of everything?”
She just smiled, glowing actually. Suddenly his eyes grew wide and he jumped up, almost upsetting his second glass of orange juice.
He then said, “You had a doctor’s appointment yesterday, didn’t you?”
She nodded.
“And did he tell you something important?”
Again all she could do was nod.
“Something like two?”
At this she burst out “Yes, he said we are having twins.”
“I have to sit down” he said.
He was even more attentive and concerned over her condition and even insisted they hire a part-time maid/nanny to help her out. She didn’t really mind, because she and Nancy became almost instant friends! She was about ten years older than Sarah, and she, too, had three children. Rebecca, her youngest had started first grade that year and Marie, her middle child was in third grade. Her son, Justin, was in fifth grade, although Nancy didn’t delve much into her life. Sarah did learn, overtime, that Nancy was in her second marriage to an absolutely wonderful man and that her first marriage ended abruptly and that her childhood had been very hard on her. She was petite, like Sarah, although Sarah was at least 6 inches taller than her. She had shoulder length, auburn hair that had a natural curl to it, something Nancy often grew frustrated with.
With the spring came excitement and anticipation. The twins, though not actually due until the end of June, were expected to arrive early. The nursery, this time decorated with ponies and unicorns, had been finished nearly two weeks ago and now all Sarah, Brian and Nancy could do was stand in the door with anticipation. Thomas, with his brown hair and the brown eyes, not quite two years old, didn’t fully comprehend what all the excitement was about. Sarah found herself pacing the floor almost nightly as May approached and began to pass by. The nursery was complete and ready for the twins, Nancy had already made arrangements to take Thomas to her house no matter what time it was, and Sarah’s hospital bag had been packed for weeks, so what caused the pacing? Brian. His job demanded a lot of his time, and it seemed to her that the closer her due date got, the more he had to work late into the night. She only hoped, on a cool night in the middle of May, alone again, that once the time came, he would be there. She sat up in bed with a start three weeks later. Her contractions had begun, but what woke her up was that the bed was soaked beneath her, her water had broke. It was 5:38 in the morning and Brian, having rolled in at 2:30 that morning was sound asleep beside her. As her contraction subsided, she lay back on the pillow, her eyes fixed on the clock by the bed. “5:39, nothing 5:40, nothing, 5:41, still nothing, 5:42 nothing then slam, another contraction.
“0h my, 5 minutes apart. Okay, breathe and relax”, she said quietly to herself.
Once it was over, she continued trying to keep herself calm. As the next contraction dissipated, she picked up the phone and dialed Nancy’s number.
A groggy “hello” greeted her. “Roger wake up this is Sarah”, she said gently but firmly. Continuing she said “Roger put Nancy on the phone. “Nancy it’s me, Sarah, yes they are five minutes apart. Please get over here as soon as possible. What? Yes, Brian’s here, no, he is still asleep” she answered, responding to Nancy’s questions.
“Yes, I’ll wake him, see you soon” she said and replacing the receiver gently but firmly, she shook Brian’s the shoulder “Brian, honey it’s time to get up” she said gently.
“What time is it? I’m going to go in a little late today”, he said in a drowsy voice, not opening his eyes. “Brian”, she said with a little urgency in her voice ”It’s time to give up now, the twins have decided it’s time to come
out.”
With that Brian sat straight up in bed, shaking the sleep out of his head, “Is it really time? Isn’t it too early they aren’t due for another couple of weeks?”
At that moment another contraction hit her extremely hard. She grabbed her stomach with one hand and the pillow behind her with the other.
Seeing this he responded by saying, “Relax honey, breathe,” as he lightly caressed her swollen belly. The pain eased and she smiled a weak smile at Brian.
“Five minutes apart, I think we need to go now” she said. They dressed quickly and had just started out of the bedroom when there is a light knock on the front door.
“That’s Nancy” Sarah said, “I called her earlier.”
The drive to the hospital was short and she was very thankful of this because the contractions had narrowed to three minutes by the time they were on their way. Brian spoke reassuringly as she tried to concentrate on something other than the contractions, but they were much more intense than she remembered they had been with Thomas. The doctor met them at the entrance and whisked Sarah off in a wheelchair, ushering Brian into the corridor that lead to the delivery room. Ashley and Eric arrived at 7:27 A.M. and 7:33 A.M. The doctor was very pleased, Ashley weighed four pounds and seven ounces and Eric weighed four pounds and fifteen ounces. Brian was just as amazed at their entries as he had been with Thomas. Exhausted he crawled up on the hospital bed next to his wife and dozed off. Two hours later he was awakened by the chuckle he heard from the doorway. Stirring and looking in that direction, he saw Nancy standing there with Thomas squirming in her arms.
Thomas squealed “Daddy” and struggled to be released from Nancy’s firm grasp.
At the sound of Thomas’s voice, Sarah stirred and realized that Brian was in the bed beside to her.
She sat up a little and laughed quietly to herself. “Shh Thomas, Daddy’s asleep” she said, also quietly, her fingers to her lips.
“Come here and see Mommy” she continued.
“Hi Nancy, thanks for bringing Thomas down.” she said to Nancy, who was escorting wiggly Thomas to the bedside.
“Have you seen them yet?” she asked. Nancy nodded.
“Aren’t they adorable?” she continued.
“Daddy, Daddy” Thomas cried, and slipping his small hand from Nancy’s grip, ran to the other side of the bed and smacked Daddy on the stomach. He woke up with a start.
“Thomas” Nancy scolded, “You come here and leave your father alone, he’s tired.”
“It’s okay Nancy, I’m awake now” Brian said, a little more awake.
“Hey Kiddo” he said directing his attention to Thomas, still standing next to the bed. Brian got down off the bed and hoisted Thomas up into his arms.
“Where’s Mommy’s bewwy Daddy?” he asked his inquisitive face turned toward his father’s face.
All the adults laughed.
“Thomas” Sarah said gently, “Mommy’s belly is smaller because Ashley and Eric, your baby sister and baby brother came out to meet you.”
Thomas’s eyes grew wide.
“Do you want to go see them?” Brian asked.
All Thomas could do was nod. Brian kissed Sarah tenderly, and with Thomas riding on his shoulders, left the room.
Chapter Ten
Back in her own bed a week later Sarah was happier than she’d been in a long time. Brian had taken a few days off from his job and had explained to his boss that he needed to not work as many late hours as he had been, now with the twins and all. His boss seemed to understand. Brian had been home for two days now and was extremely attentive to Sarah and the twins. Nancy still came by during the day to help with the housework and keep Thomas occupied. This particular morning, Brian had just brought in a breakfast tray for Sarah and had gone to get the twins. He came back with two sleepy babies in clean diapers and dressed for the day. On her breakfast tray sat a bottle of mother’s milk, which she had expressed the evening before. She was determined to nurse for least the first month, so every feeding they switched; one was nursed and the other was fed with the bottle by Daddy. He laid the infants on his side of the bed and removed the breakfast tray. He then handed her Ashley and, picking up the bottle from the tray settled himself with Eric in bed beside them.
This wonderfully blissful life ended three days later when Brian had to go back to work. The day before, they had begun to separate the twins feeding time by half hour, that way when Nancy wasn’t around to help or Brian was held up at the office, Sarah could feed both babies without one of them crying while the other one ate. Sarah was a little sad to not have Brian with her all day and she really missed his company. But least he wouldn’t be working too many late nights. She was extremely grateful for Nancy, as much as she loved all three of her children; it was such a blessing to know that if she didn’t feel up to it, she didn’t have to feed both infants. And Thomas really seemed to love Nancy. She found she was relying on Nancy a lot, but hoped Nancy didn’t mind. She still had a big favor to ask her. She was anxious to resume their wonderful lovemaking sessions and had actually circled the six week date on the calendar in the bedroom. As the day grew closer, her anticipation and desire grew stronger. That magical day arrived and she decided to pamper herself just like she had after Thomas’ birth. Nancy was a doll and took all three children for a walk while she bathed. Dressing in a sexy teddy, she felt a little silly, after all, they had been married for almost three years.
“Nonsense” she said to herself “he still appreciates me in sexy clothes.”
She finished dressing, trying to look as casual and relaxed as possible. Nancy had agreed to stay later that night to feed and bathe the children before she left. She was just putting Thomas to bed when Sarah walked out of her bedroom. She walked into Thomas’s room and bent down to give him his customary good night kiss and hug,
“Mommy smells good” he said to no one in particular.
“Good night Thomas” she said.
“Good night Mommy” he answered.
She said goodnight to Nancy and went to sit in the living room to wait for Brian; it was just past 6:00 P.M. At 7:00 P.M., after Sarah had studied the floral patterns in the fabric of the love seat on which she sat as well as the matching sofa, and played connect the dots with the nails in the beautifully refinished hardwood floor, covered partly with an ornamental Oriental rug, the telephone rang. It was Brian, apologizing for not being home for dinner and explaining that it looked like he’d be there late and for her not to wait up. She tried, unsuccessfully, to keep the disappointment out of her responses but she thought to herself as she hung up the phone,
“I don’t care if he does know that I’m disappointed. He didn’t even appear to know what day it was.” She got up from her place on the love seat, blew out the candles on the table, turned the oven off and went to bed. And for the first time in almost five years she cried herself to sleep. It was another three days before their lovemaking would resume; he had worked late every night. But this night, he came home early. They ate a quiet dinner together; the children having been fed and bathed earlier were down for the night. Neither one said much during dinner, lost in their own thoughts. After dinner and the dishes were picked up, Sarah stretched and yawned, saying that she was tired and going to bed. He said he wanted to catch up on some reading and would be in later. It wasn’t until he crawled into bed and discovered Sarah, asleep, wearing the same sexy teddy she had put on the other night that he realized six weeks must have passed. He quickly calculated just be certain, yes it had passed. In fact, he recalled, the first late-night when he had called to let her know he be late, the disappointment in her voice at the time it was a little puzzling to him, now he understood. He slid into bed, cuddled close to Sarah and began lightly caressing her body
with his fingertips. As she stirred, his caresses became more intense and as he became more aggressive she woke up. He continued the caresses until the passion and desire she had suppressed the last couple of days came flooding back with such intensity it shook her entire body. Their lovemaking session, though brief was extremely passionate and fulfilling. Lying awake after Brian had dozed off, she thought to herself “Well, no flowers or champagne, but at least it was still very passionate.
Time flew by and Christmas was upon them. Thomas enjoyed it even more because, since Ashley and Eric were only six months old and not really capable of opening presents, so, he got to open all their presents too. Sarah was exhausted just watching him and was extremely grateful when naptime came. She told Brian the she was going to take a nap too and Brian said he’d join her. They ended up making love instead of sleeping. She was amazing at how intensely she responded to his touches.
Chapter Eleven
The New Year brought a few changes for Sarah. Brian seemed to be putting in a lot of late-nights. She decided she hated staying home alone, so she joined a woman’s Bible Study Group, which met on Wednesday evenings. They offered babysitting services so she was able to bring the children with her. The first Wednesday night that Brian arrived home early, he questioned her about the Bible Study group. He wanted to know why it was only women, and why it had to meet in the evenings and not during the day. She understood his feelings; after all, he wanted his family around when he was home. But she stood her ground and placing a tender kiss on his lips, she left for her meeting. When she returned home after the study, he was waiting up for her. He apologized for the way he had behaved earlier and said he understood why she felt she needed the Bible Study Group. For the next few weeks, he did his best to be home in the evenings, especially Wednesdays, so that Sarah didn’t have to take the children with her, and also so that he could spend some time with the children. The first Wednesday evening that he had the children to himself, he was rather amazed at their energy and speed. The twins, just learning to crawl, seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye. After settling the twins in their cribs and tucking Thomas in bed, he collapsed, exhausted, on the loveseat. Sarah found him there, dozing, when she returned about 45 minutes later.