Our Favorite Days (My Favorite Mistake #3) (23 page)

“I’m having twins.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“It’s true.” She started to laugh, but I gave her an icy glare and she stifled it.

“I’m sorry. I’m so not laughing at you, but holy shit, Taylor. Holy shit.” I threw my hands in the air as she pulled out of the lot.

“Don’t you think I fucking know that? Of course I’m the one who gets knocked up by accident with twins. Of course that would be me.” Renee snorted.

“You know it’s going to be okay though, right? You’ve got Hunter and you’ve got us and those babies are never going to want for anything. I mean, even though there’s two, I’m pretty sure we’re still going to fight over who gets to hold them.” Hunter had basically said the same thing. I would need to see the rubber meeting the road to believe it.

“I just can’t believe this is happening,” I said, leaning my head on the window.

“You’re in shock. That’s totally fine. I’m pretty sure anyone else in your position would feel the same. I can’t even imagine.” She shuddered.

“Well, I can’t either, but it’s happening.” I put my hand on my lower belly.

“Damn Hunter and his baby batter,” Renee said and I laughed.

“That is seriously gross, thank you.”

“Hey, you’re the one that’s had that in your body so don’t even say that to me.” It was true. When we were in the heat of the moment, I didn’t really think about it, but hearing Renee call it “baby batter” was just plain ew and yuck.

“See? Got you to laugh,” Renee said with a smirk.

“Oh, you’re good,” I said and she pretended to doff a cap.

“Thank you, thank you very much.”

I
nstead of taking me home, Renee drove us to a Starbucks.

“I know you can’t have caffeine, but they have good pastries and you can cool down for a little bit before we go home.” That was probably a good idea. I’d simmered down a little, but I was still on edge and I might go off again.

Renee hooked her arm in mine as we walked in and ordered. She told me that it was on her, so I got a vanilla bean Frappucino and a chocolate croissant.

“So, do you want to talk about it or not talk about it?” Renee said as we sat down with our drinks and snacks.

I sighed.

“I don’t even know. It’s still so surreal. Even when she showed me the ultrasound. I mean, what are the chances?” Renee gave me a look.

“Do you really want to know, because I can pull out statistics.” I waved my hand.

“No, that was more of a rhetorical question. I’m just so not ready for this, Renee. I think that’s it. I just have this image in my head of holding two screaming babies, one in each hand, and trying to feed them at the same time. I can’t get rid of it.” When we’d first found out we were having a baby (now two) Hunter had been able to paint the rosy picture and make me see that it was possible. That we could do this, even if we were young.

Now I wasn’t so sure.

“Hey, look at that woman who had the eight kids at once. I mean, she was bat-shit crazy, but still. She had four times the kids and she didn’t have Hunter, or me or the rest of our friends. I know that’s not enough, but you do have support. You have a mom and a sister and Hunter’s family. You have a whole fucking village to raise these kids.” A woman walking near our table gave Renee a dirty look for swearing. Renee just gave her a sweet smile.

Renee got away with a lot, looking like a cute, wide-eyed little pixie.

“But what if that isn’t enough?” I said.

“It’s gonna have to be.” She had that right. These kids were coming whether we wanted them or not. I wouldn’t consider the alternatives. They weren’t alternatives for me. I wouldn’t dare judge any woman for the decisions she made for her body, but this was what I was going to do.

“Two babies,” I said.

“Two babies.”

I
got back to an empty house and I felt like shit. I hadn’t wanted to drive away, but I knew she needed some time and I had to give it to her.

She’d left the ultrasound picture in the car, so I brought it in the house with me and sat down on the couch to look at it.

Two babies. We were going to have two babies. Fraternal twins, so there was a chance we could get a boy and a girl, which I was kind of hoping for. One of each. That would be ideal.

I couldn’t blame Taylor for being upset and scared. There were a lot of risks involved with any pregnancy and the potential for something to go wrong was higher than with just one baby. I was going to monitor her even more than I already was. I’d already put Dr. Howard’s name in my speed dial. Just in case.

Mase was first home, so he was the first one I told about the twins.

“Shit, really? Knocking it out of the park on the first hit, huh?” I shoved his shoulder.

“Shut up.” He smiled and gave me a hug, pounding me on the back.

“Congratulations again, man. I’m excited to be an uncle. It’s going to be great. You should call my mom and tell her. She’ll be over the moon.” Oh, she would be, that was for sure.

“Thanks. It’s going to be a whole lot crazier around here.” As if to punctuate my point, Napoleon dashed through the living room, followed closely by Smoky. Our new little kitten was holding her own with the older bruiser. They were already best friends.

“What else is new?”

“True story.”

I
t was my turn for dinner that night, which was a good distraction. I decided to make lasagna, since it had so many steps. I made two pans so we had enough for leftovers, as well as a salad and garlic bread. By the time I was done, most everyone was home, but not my girl or Renee. I’d gone ahead and told everyone the news, showing the sonogram around. Mase handed me a beer and I got a lot of hugs and congratulations and shocked smiles. It made me so happy to know that Taylor and I were surrounded by such amazing people. And, by extension, our kids. Plural.

“Hey, everyone,” Renee said, coming in as I was setting food on the table. I’d been worried they were going to miss dinner so I put some aside for them for later.

Everyone greeted Renee as she sat down next to Paul. Taylor slunk in behind her and everyone cheered.

“Mazel Tov!” Dusty said, raising his soda.

“Seriously, congrats you two,” Paul said as he filled Renee’s plate with food.

“Yeah, thanks. Um, Hunter could I talk to you upstairs for a moment?” I searched her eyes, but she was hiding her emotions from me. She’d gotten better at it lately and it drove me crazy. I very much liked knowing exactly what was on her mind.

“Of course,” I said and led the way upstairs.

I sat down on the bed as she closed the door behind us so there wouldn’t be any eavesdropping.

I was about to ask what she wanted to talk to me about when she grabbed my guitar and sat next to me on the bed.

“You sang this song to me once as an apology, so it’s my turn to sing it to you now.” She smiled slowly and started strumming the guitar.

“Honey Come Home” by The Head and the Heart spilled from her mouth and her fingers and it was so lovely and so sweet that I got a little choked up.

“Please. Just listen. I… I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to figure out how I could show you, and this was all I could come up with. You don’t have to do anything but listen. Just listen.” Megan had given me a look as if she was imagining setting me on fire, but she’d left me alone with Taylor.

I was desperate. I was so desperate. I knew words weren’t enough, but a song could say what I couldn’t. And I was going to show her. God, was I going to show her that I had fucked up and I was going to do whatever I could to make it up to her.

I’d told her everything. About the check and the money and Joe and my parents. I’d been scared shitless, but it had also been freeing. To lay myself open like that for her and have her listen and then agree to go out to dinner with me.

Taylor smiled as she sang, her voice going smoky and deep. It really was beautiful, and not just because it was hers. Someday I was going to get her to duet with me in public. Someday.

The last note of the song wavered and died. Taylor took a breath and rested her arms on the guitar.

“So there you have it. I freaked out and I pushed you away, but I’m okay now. We’re having twins and it’s happening and I’m going to suck it up and try to look on the bright side. Because there are thousands of people who would love to be in our shoes.”

“We can do this.” I said, leaning over and kissing her, the guitar between us.

“We can do this,” she said into my mouth.

W
hen we went down to dinner a few minutes later, everyone cheered when they saw that we were holding hands.

“Did you fuck and make up?” Jos asked.

“Not exactly,” I said. “That part will come later tonight.” That comment earned me a chorus of boos from the table and a smack in the stomach from Taylor.

“Pervert.”

“Perfect.”

“Daddy.”

“Mommy.”

“Seriously, you guys. I’m eating here,” Renee said. Taylor rolled her eyes and we sat down.

“Now you’re eating for three,” Darah said as Taylor filled her plate.

“That is an excellent point,” Taylor said, adding another piece of garlic bread to her already-full plate.

“You happy, baby?” I asked Taylor.

“I’m eating, so yes,” she said, stabbing her fork into her slab of lasagna.

“You know what I mean.”

She cut a piece and stuck it in her mouth, moaning in a way that made my pants tight. Maybe we should have fucked before we came downstairs.

“Yes, I am,” she said after she’d chewed and cut another bite. “Because if we have two girls, you’re going to be completely outnumbered and I would enjoy that a whole lot.” She grinned at me. Oh, she was asking for it.

“And if we have two boys? Then you’re the one who’s going to be out numbered.”

“Touché.” She bumped her leg into mine under the table.

“Oh! So, please don’t give your kids matching names. Like Alyssa and Melissa or something,” Renee said.

“You certainly have an awful lot of opinions about naming our future children,” Taylor said.

“Yeah, well, names are important. They help shape who you are and if they don’t match who you are, it can be a problem.” I understood that, I guess.

“We don’t even know what we’re having yet, so I think the great name debate is going to have to wait,” I said, taking Taylor’s hand under the table. She wrapped her fingers around mine.

“I know that,” Renee said. “But just… think about it.”

“We will. Would anyone else like to put in their two cents about baby names?” Taylor said.

“You know ‘Dustin’ is an excellent name. Full of character. And it could also work for a girl. I’m just saying,” Dusty said, putting his hands up. Jos rolled her eyes at him.

“You are so transparent sometimes.”

Other conversations broke out and I could see factions starting to form.

“They’re going to vote on naming our children, aren’t they?” Taylor said as everyone debated around us.

“Yup. They are. This is going to be a fun.”

“Yeah, for you.”

A
fter a brief and almost violent debate about baby names, we all settled in for homework time. My mind was drifting, so I clicked on a few baby websites, searching for items specifically for twins.

“I’ll get you that one,” Hunter said, startling me. I was on the couch and he’d leaned over the back, right next to my shoulder. I’d been looking at breast pumps.

“It’s like, the Cadillac of pumps,” Hunter said, totally seriously.

“You’ve been looking at breast pumps online.” It wasn’t a question but he nodded.

“Yeah. We’re definitely going to need one, especially with two babies.”

Someone cleared their throat.

“Can we put a moratorium on the breast pump talk while I’m doing homework?” Mase asked.

Hunter shot him a dirty look. “Dude, just you wait.”

Mase shot Darah a terrified look.

“Don’t look at me, I have an IUD. No babies right now, John,” Darah said, kissing Mase on the cheek. He looked slightly mollified, but I decided to put breast pump talk on hold until Hunter and I were alone.