"I've Done Twins", chapter 38
Mike went to bed, Leah was sleeping uncomfortably on her back.
"Maybe you should sleep on your side and get the pressure off your back, Hun," Mike suggested. Leah nodded and slowly rolled over.
"Ew, it's all sloshing inside me!" she said. "Aw! Gross!"
"Thanks for that, Leah. I'm gonna sleep easy tonight."
"I won't. I'm so sick, Mikey, I'm gonna die," she moaned. Mike crawled into bed and pulled the covers up on her a little higher.
"Have you taken any pills or something for it?"
"Mike... I'm pregnant. I can't take shit."
"OK, OK, just asking," he sighed. "Night, Leah."
"Night, Micheal," she said formally. "Till next time."
Mike chuckled and kissed her lips. "Love you."
"I love you, too."
Two A.M. That Morning...
"Mike!" Leah hissed urgently, "Mike! Mike! Please wake up!"
Mike rolled over and his eyes slowly opened. He sat up and screwed his nose up.
"Aw, Leah! You wet the bed! That's so gross! Dude, honestly, most people grow out of that when they turn six!"
"I DIDN'T WET THE BED, YOU JERK! MY WATER BROKE!"
"Oh, OK," Mike sleepily, rolled over, with his back facing Leah and shut his eyes. He jumped up again - this time wide awake. "YOUR WHAT?!"
"You cockhead! Get me to the hospital!" she demanded. Mike got up, threw pants and a tank-top on and helped Leah into the car.
"Hurry Mike," Leah moaned. "It hurts."
"Um..." Mike tried to think back to the night he drove crazily to the hospital for Estelle. "Breathe!" He said. He took a hand off the steering wheel and took Leah's hand. Leah squeezed it tightly.
"Ohh! Mike! It huuurts!" She squeezed his hand tighter.
"Oh, God! I know!" He shouted, snatching his hand away. "I think you broke my fucking fingers!"
"I THINK YOU'RE FINGERS ARE THE LEAST OF MY FUCKING WORRIES, MICHEAL!"
"OK, OK," Mike said, "I'm sorry. C'mon, Lee. Just... just... hold up."
At the hospital, Leah was wheeled into the delivery room. Mike quickly called Courtney, because he knew if he didn't - she'd kill him. Courtney squealed and hung up. Mike listened to the 'beep, beep, beep' of a disconnected phone line and hung up with a 'what the fuck?' look.
Mike waited until Courtney came. She came sprinting down the hall, with a still half asleep Billie dragging along behind her. "Where is she?" Courtney demanded.
"In there," Mike murmured, nodding behind him to the room where muffled cries of pain where coming from.
"Get in there!" Billie said, "Dude, she's your fiancée. You should be in there with her."
He shoved Mike inside the room. The cries of pain were louder once the doors were open but muffled when they shut again. They heard another cry once Mike went in.
"AW! GROSS!"
Billie chuckled. "Ah, funny."
"Poor guy," Courtney sighed. "It must be so gross."
"Yeah," Billie nodded. "I was thinking about it the other day when Joey and Jake were over. I remember the first time I saw it... all the blood, the placenta..."
"Billie! Stop! Yuck!" Courtney shoved him away. "Sick."
"Sorry, babe. C'mon, let's go find a vending machine."
Hours later...
"Just one more, Leah!" The doctor shouted.
"You've been saying that for ages - asshole!" Leah snapped. Mike couldn't help but smile. She'd been very bitchy to the doctors. She was always snapping with attitude when she was angry or in pain.
Mike looked at what was going on, needless to say, his face was pale and his hands were shaking like a bitch. "No, Lee! He means it! It's nearly out."
Leah looked over at the door. Billie and Courts were looking through the window. Jokingly, Billie laughed. Leah gave him the finger and did what the doctor ordered.
"YES!" Mike shouted. "IT'S OUT!"
"Congratulations - Leah... and Mike... it's a beautiful little boy..." The doctor smile.
"YES!" Mike screamed. "JACKPOT! YES! YES!"
Leah laughed... or tried to anyway, at Mike and the thought of having a son. The doctor handed Leah her baby. A tear fell from her cheek as she looked at the little baby. Her son. Mike was looking at him, too.
"Thank you so much, Lee," He whispered. "This fucking rules."
Courtney and Billie rushed in. "SHOW ME! SHOW ME!" Courtney demanded. She looked at the baby and instantly said "Aw!" Suddenly her face screwed up. "Ew, what the hell's it covered in?"
"Vag..." Billie started.
"OK, Bill - you can stop now," Leah snapped.
Billie pat Mike's back instead. "Congrats, Mikey, a little son."
He couldn't wipe that smug grin off his face. "Mike?" A nurse said. "We're taking the baby for a wash. Want to come?"
"Do I ever!" Mike said excitedly. Leah, half asleep, smiled. Mike leaned down and kissed her lips. "Unless you want me to stay."
"No, Hun. Go with Ryan."
"Ryan," Mike whispered, and chuckled. "OK."
Once Mike left, the nurses took some tests on Leah, to check she was doing OK before leaving her, Courtney and Billie alone.
"A little boy!" Courtney cooed, hugging her sister. "That's so great, sis!"
Leah smiled. "I know. It's so weird to thing I made that... that little tiny thing..."
'You love him already, huh?" Billie grinned.
"I've loved him ever since I found out about him," Leah laughed softly, trying not to hurt her stomach muscles. "You don't know how many hours I spent talking to my stomach."
"I could imagine," Courtney laughed. "I can't wait until little Ryan comes back. I wanna hold him."
Leah knew she wouldn't get time alone with herself, Ryan and Mike for ages. Everyone would be coming in, holding him, taking pictures, and so on and so forth. Of course, Billie and Courtney were first, until a hysterical Mel ran into the room, demanding that Courtney hand over her grandson. Too afraid to say no, Courtney gave up her gorgeous little nephew.
"Aw, Lee! Love! He's so adorable! I just wanna eat him up."
"CANNIBAL!" Everyone looked up and saw Tre pointing accusingly at Mel.
"DON'T WORRY, MIKE! I'LL SAVE HIM!" Jason shouted from behind Tre.
"What? Boys, it's a figure of speech. I'm not really going to eat him."
"Watching you," Tre mouthed towards her, glaring evilly.
Mike was sitting with Leah on the bed while everyone looked at Ryan. They'd gotten his details down like name, birth-date, weight, length and all that and now, Leah was struggling to keep her eyes open. She was too happy to fall asleep though. She wanted to spend as much time with her son as she could. She and Mike had a healthy little boy. Everything about him was perfect... OK, so he may be already a bit short but he was still healthy.
"Do you wanna go to sleep?" Mike asked, nibbling her earlobe secretively. She nodded.
"I do... but I wanna stay awake, too..."
A nurse soon came to Leah's rescue. "I'm sorry, guys. But Leah and Ryan both need time alone. I'm afraid you'll have to leave."
Everyone came and hugged Leah. "Hey, Little Leah," Tre whispered in her ear. Leah couldn't help but break out in little goose bumps as his warm and somewhat minty breath went on her ear and neck. "Congratulations. I'll teach the kid how to burn a drum set, OK?"
Leah smiled and hugged him. "Thanks Tre. I love ya, buddy."
"I love you, too, buddy-ette. Have fun and rest up, kay?"
"Will do."
Everyone left. Mike looked at Leah with the same stupid grin he had on his face when they announced that the baby was a boy.
"Thank God for that penis," he joked. Leah laughed.
"Geez, Estelle must feel so much love when she's around you."
"Stella knows I love her," Mike protested. Leah smiled and looked down at Ryan, who was awake.
"He's got the brightest blue eyes," Leah said quietly. "He looks exactly like you, Mike."
"Thankfully, he's got your nose," Mike smiled.
"Dude, I've got a Billie Joe nose. It's terrible."
"Better then mine," He grinned. "I look like a crow with it."
"Your nose is gorgeous," Leah smiled, pulling his shirt so he'd bend down, face to face. She kissed him. "Hand me the bottle, would you please?" She said. Mike grabbed Ryan's bottle and handed it to Leah. She chose not to feed Ryan the 'natural' way. She knew she'd probably never get her old figure back but she wasn't going to ruin her chest as well. Ryan was understandably hungry. He downed the milk in one go.
"Jesus Christ, kid. Thank God this is a bottle!" Leah laughed. Mike chuckled.
"Vicious little thing, eh?" He leaned down and gently kissed Ryan's forehead.
"It's so weird. Knowing that I'm a mum. It's so hard to believe that I... I created this little thing."
"Ahem. My name should appear in those credits, too," Mike joked.
"Haha. Co-produced by Mike Dirnt."
"He's so little!" Cooed Jess. "Aw! His little fingers. And the way he grabs your thumb and shoves it in his mouth."
"Yeah, charming, isn't he?" Tre teased. "I'm gonna be wipin' baby germs off me for ages."
"He likes you, Tre," Jess said, "You're his Uncie Tre."
Tre sighed and walked into his house. Frankito wasn't there. Ramona wasn't there. The place was empty. He missed coming home and seeing two beautiful kids running towards him with open arms. He missed that constant dependence that baby's had. He smiled to himself. "Weird," He whispered.
"Hm?" Jess asked, pushing past and flopping onto the couch.
"Nothing," Tre said. "Man, it's five a.m. I'm goin' back to bed. You comin'?"
Jess grinned cheekily. Tre knew what she was thinking. "Baby's do bring out the best in people, don't they?"
"They do, indeed."
Tre took her upstairs and they kissed all the way into the bedroom.
Thirty five minutes later, Jess was resting her head on Tre's chest. "Y'know what would be really weird?" She started.
"What?"
"If Courtney or Leah had twins."
"Oh, God!" Tre laughed, "Billie would shoot himself."
"Really? Why?"
"He could hardly handle Joey and Jake when they were babies. Imagine two at the same time. He'd either die from lack of sleep or sex... or shoot himself."
Jess smirked. "What about if I had twins?"
Tre made a pretend gun with his hands, cocked it and imitated it firing. She rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't," Jess said. "You'd love it. Just more little things you could play with..."
"And corrupt."
"Ramona isn't corrupt."
"Yes, that is true. But Frankito's getting there. According to Claudia he 'accidentally' pulled down a Kindy teacher's skirt."
"With the key word being 'accidentally'," Jess playfully slapped his chest. He laughed.
"I did that as a child. And I grew up to be extremely perverted."
"I can just see you being the old guy at a retirement home, pinching nurses asses and taking Viagra instead of normal pills."
"Got me in a nutshell," He grinned. "Nah, 'cause I'll probably be sitting in a retirement home with you. Taking all that Viagra for the sexiest over-60 year old in the damn building."
Jess frowned slightly, and wanting to ask him a question... about whether he honestly thought they'd go that far... but instead just smiled.
"Hopefully," She said. "'Cause I'd like that."
"I'd like that, too."
"Alex? Alex! Stupid phone line. Can you hear me? What? You can't tell the difference between me and Leah?! It's Courtney - ya dip... Geez, OK... sorry... No... no... err, no, we didn't break up... it's about Leah... YES! A little boy! Yeah, he's so cute... you should see him, he's a little Mike... OK... OK... yeah... Bye!"
Courtney put the phone down and grinned. "He's pretty surprised," she said. "Took him a while to reply."
"Yeah, long distance," Billie yawned.
"Well - that and he was mad that I woke him up. Time difference as well."
Billie smiled. "Courtney... I expect breakfast to be on the table by the time I wake up again. Thanks. Night." he kissed for cheek and slouched off into his room. Courtney mock glared as he walked away.
"My arse, buddy," Courtney muttered. The phone rang again, Courtney answered, of course. "Hello? Hayley! I know! Wasn't he just gorgeous...?"
It was another three hours until Billie woke up again. He grinned when he didn't smell eggs, bacon, toast or coffee. "Thanks, Courts," He moaned sleepily. Just as he finished sarcastically thanking her, she came into the room. "Where your ears burning?" Billie asked cheekily. Courtney poked her tongue out.
"No, why?"
"Just thought maybe they were."
"I knew you were talking about me... to no one."
"You decide to come back to bed now?" He asked, opening his arms to her as she crawled in.
"Yes. And if you have an issue with that then the couch is free."
"I don't think so!"
Courtney didn't fall asleep quickly, she chatted insanely about all the things her and Ryan could get up once he was old enough.
"God, Courts, you're gonna scare the kid," Billie laughed. "He's only a day old and you've got his whole life planned out."
"I do not," she said in her defence. "He's my little nephew. And I'm his over-protective, eccentric aunt. He's gonna spend heaps of time with me."
"I feel sorry for the kid. Bad enough he has Mike as a dad, but YOU as an aunt. I think for his first birthday I'll promise to pay for therapy."
Courtney playfully punched his chest. "That's not very nice, Billie Joe. That hurt my feelings."
"OK, I take back what I said about Mike. But I stand by what I said about you, Courtney Jade."
At The Hospital...
Mike couldn't draw his eyes away from Ryan. He was asleep, cradled up in Mike's arms. Leah was also asleep in her bed, exhausted from sleepless nights and... the obvious. "Look at you," Mike cooed. "You're... you're such a daddy's boy."
There was a small knock on the door. "Come in," Mike said. The door opened and Stella stood there, her eyes wide open and she ran to her new little brother.
"It's a..." She looked at him. "What is it?"
"This, Estelle darling is what they call a 'baby'."
She glared at her father. "I know that," she hissed. "I mean is it a girl or boy?"
"It's a boy," Mike grinned.
"Oh," Estelle didn't seem as excited. "Can you put it back and ask for a girl?" She joked. Mike laughed.
"No way, girly. This kid's stayin' out."
"He looks like you," Stella said.
"So I've heard," He smiled. "You wanna hold him?"
"Uh..." She looked a little nervous. "Maybe I should wait until Lee's awake."
Mike raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Well, he's her baby - I dunno if she wants me holding him."
Mike chuckled. "Hero, don't be silly! Of course she'll let you hold him. He's your little brother and you're his big sister."
Estelle smiled and sat down on the couch next to Mike. Mike gently handed the sleeping baby over. Estelle was a fucking natural when she held it. She held her hands in the right position and she gently stroked the little tiny blond hairs on his head.
"This is sorta like you and your sister..." Estelle said. "You had an older sister, too."
A poison arrow shot through Mike's heart. Myla. He hadn't spoken to his adopted sister in ages. She'd changed. He knew Estelle didn't mean to bring that up. How was she to know? Mike just nodded gently.
"Yeah. Like me and Myla."
Ryan's eyes opened and he looked at Estelle. "Look! Daddy!" Estelle said quietly, but excitedly, "He's looking at me."
Ryan yawned. Estelle giggled at his gummy mouth. Mike was so proud of his two kids. He grinned at that. His TWO kids. He had TWO beautiful children who he loved with all his heart.
"Y'know what this means?" He sighed.
"What?" Stella asked.
"Means Daddy's gonna have to go get another tattoo."
Estelle giggled again. "Where?"
"Good question," Mike laughed, looking at his rather packed-up arms. "Not too much space."
"What about just on your wrist?" Stella suggested. "That would be cool."
"But no one would see it," Mike said. "What's the point of getting it if no one will see it...?"
"Or just your inner arm. I mean, it doesn't really matter if people see it or not. Take Billie - he's got a massive tattoo for Jakob's name and only a tiny thingy for Joey's."
"Hmm, yes... that's true..."
"Hmm... shut up..." Leah moaned from her bed. "Cranky un-pregnant woman tryin' to sleep here."
"Sorry, Lee," Estelle said sweetly. Leah shot up and saw Estelle.
"Stella! Why didn't you wake me?" She asked. "Come here!"
Estelle gently handed a kicking Ryan back to Mike and crawled onto Leah's bed. They hugged for a while until Estelle just sat up in the bed with Leah.
"What do you think of Ryan?" Leah asked, playing with a lock of Estelle's brown hair.
"He's so cute. He puts Frankito to shame..."
Mike snorted. "That's not very nice, Hero."
"No offence," she added. "If you had let me finish."
"Well, sor-ry," Mike said snappily, and jokingly. Sometimes she knocked Mike out with her maturity and smarts.
Leah sighed and sat up a little further. Mike stood up and brought Ryan over to her. She kissed Ryan's head and then kissed Mike's lips.
"Ew, guys - I'm right here," Estelle snapped. "Gross!"
"You don't know the meaning of gross," Mike teased, poking her nose. "You should have seen what I had to watch today, Stella."
"No one said you had to," Leah said, smiling up at him. "You chose to."
After half an hour of talking, Ryan was asleep... again. Mike put him back in his little cradle thingy. "I've had just about enough of this whole lying down thing," Leah snapped.
"Whoa, Lee. Don't get up," Mike warned, "I wouldn't if..."
"C'mon, Mikey. What's the worst that'll happen?" She laughed. She sat up, her legs hanging off the bed and stood up. She doubled over instantly. Blood trickled down her leg and into a puddle on the floor.
"Leah!" Mike gasped, running over to her. Leah sat on the bed.
"Oh... did all my guts just drop out?" she moaned. Mike chuckled and kissed her forehead.
"I tried to warn you, dumb ass," He teased.
"Leah, are you gonna die of blood loss?" Estelle asked.
"There's a good chance," Leah giggled. "But I can't stand just sitting around all day. I like to move."
Mike sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "You have to be patient, babe. You can't just expect your body to go back to normal so quickly."
Leah didn't look to happy. "But..."
"No buts," Mike said, "Baby, you're just gonna have to take it easy. You've been through a pretty big thing."
"Stupid baby, huh?" Estelle said from behind them. Leah pulled Estelle over next to her and kissed the top of her head.
"Yeah, stupid baby."
"Maybe you should sleep on your side and get the pressure off your back, Hun," Mike suggested. Leah nodded and slowly rolled over.
"Ew, it's all sloshing inside me!" she said. "Aw! Gross!"
"Thanks for that, Leah. I'm gonna sleep easy tonight."
"I won't. I'm so sick, Mikey, I'm gonna die," she moaned. Mike crawled into bed and pulled the covers up on her a little higher.
"Have you taken any pills or something for it?"
"Mike... I'm pregnant. I can't take shit."
"OK, OK, just asking," he sighed. "Night, Leah."
"Night, Micheal," she said formally. "Till next time."
Mike chuckled and kissed her lips. "Love you."
"I love you, too."
Two A.M. That Morning...
"Mike!" Leah hissed urgently, "Mike! Mike! Please wake up!"
Mike rolled over and his eyes slowly opened. He sat up and screwed his nose up.
"Aw, Leah! You wet the bed! That's so gross! Dude, honestly, most people grow out of that when they turn six!"
"I DIDN'T WET THE BED, YOU JERK! MY WATER BROKE!"
"Oh, OK," Mike sleepily, rolled over, with his back facing Leah and shut his eyes. He jumped up again - this time wide awake. "YOUR WHAT?!"
"You cockhead! Get me to the hospital!" she demanded. Mike got up, threw pants and a tank-top on and helped Leah into the car.
"Hurry Mike," Leah moaned. "It hurts."
"Um..." Mike tried to think back to the night he drove crazily to the hospital for Estelle. "Breathe!" He said. He took a hand off the steering wheel and took Leah's hand. Leah squeezed it tightly.
"Ohh! Mike! It huuurts!" She squeezed his hand tighter.
"Oh, God! I know!" He shouted, snatching his hand away. "I think you broke my fucking fingers!"
"I THINK YOU'RE FINGERS ARE THE LEAST OF MY FUCKING WORRIES, MICHEAL!"
"OK, OK," Mike said, "I'm sorry. C'mon, Lee. Just... just... hold up."
At the hospital, Leah was wheeled into the delivery room. Mike quickly called Courtney, because he knew if he didn't - she'd kill him. Courtney squealed and hung up. Mike listened to the 'beep, beep, beep' of a disconnected phone line and hung up with a 'what the fuck?' look.
Mike waited until Courtney came. She came sprinting down the hall, with a still half asleep Billie dragging along behind her. "Where is she?" Courtney demanded.
"In there," Mike murmured, nodding behind him to the room where muffled cries of pain where coming from.
"Get in there!" Billie said, "Dude, she's your fiancée. You should be in there with her."
He shoved Mike inside the room. The cries of pain were louder once the doors were open but muffled when they shut again. They heard another cry once Mike went in.
"AW! GROSS!"
Billie chuckled. "Ah, funny."
"Poor guy," Courtney sighed. "It must be so gross."
"Yeah," Billie nodded. "I was thinking about it the other day when Joey and Jake were over. I remember the first time I saw it... all the blood, the placenta..."
"Billie! Stop! Yuck!" Courtney shoved him away. "Sick."
"Sorry, babe. C'mon, let's go find a vending machine."
Hours later...
"Just one more, Leah!" The doctor shouted.
"You've been saying that for ages - asshole!" Leah snapped. Mike couldn't help but smile. She'd been very bitchy to the doctors. She was always snapping with attitude when she was angry or in pain.
Mike looked at what was going on, needless to say, his face was pale and his hands were shaking like a bitch. "No, Lee! He means it! It's nearly out."
Leah looked over at the door. Billie and Courts were looking through the window. Jokingly, Billie laughed. Leah gave him the finger and did what the doctor ordered.
"YES!" Mike shouted. "IT'S OUT!"
"Congratulations - Leah... and Mike... it's a beautiful little boy..." The doctor smile.
"YES!" Mike screamed. "JACKPOT! YES! YES!"
Leah laughed... or tried to anyway, at Mike and the thought of having a son. The doctor handed Leah her baby. A tear fell from her cheek as she looked at the little baby. Her son. Mike was looking at him, too.
"Thank you so much, Lee," He whispered. "This fucking rules."
Courtney and Billie rushed in. "SHOW ME! SHOW ME!" Courtney demanded. She looked at the baby and instantly said "Aw!" Suddenly her face screwed up. "Ew, what the hell's it covered in?"
"Vag..." Billie started.
"OK, Bill - you can stop now," Leah snapped.
Billie pat Mike's back instead. "Congrats, Mikey, a little son."
He couldn't wipe that smug grin off his face. "Mike?" A nurse said. "We're taking the baby for a wash. Want to come?"
"Do I ever!" Mike said excitedly. Leah, half asleep, smiled. Mike leaned down and kissed her lips. "Unless you want me to stay."
"No, Hun. Go with Ryan."
"Ryan," Mike whispered, and chuckled. "OK."
Once Mike left, the nurses took some tests on Leah, to check she was doing OK before leaving her, Courtney and Billie alone.
"A little boy!" Courtney cooed, hugging her sister. "That's so great, sis!"
Leah smiled. "I know. It's so weird to thing I made that... that little tiny thing..."
'You love him already, huh?" Billie grinned.
"I've loved him ever since I found out about him," Leah laughed softly, trying not to hurt her stomach muscles. "You don't know how many hours I spent talking to my stomach."
"I could imagine," Courtney laughed. "I can't wait until little Ryan comes back. I wanna hold him."
Leah knew she wouldn't get time alone with herself, Ryan and Mike for ages. Everyone would be coming in, holding him, taking pictures, and so on and so forth. Of course, Billie and Courtney were first, until a hysterical Mel ran into the room, demanding that Courtney hand over her grandson. Too afraid to say no, Courtney gave up her gorgeous little nephew.
"Aw, Lee! Love! He's so adorable! I just wanna eat him up."
"CANNIBAL!" Everyone looked up and saw Tre pointing accusingly at Mel.
"DON'T WORRY, MIKE! I'LL SAVE HIM!" Jason shouted from behind Tre.
"What? Boys, it's a figure of speech. I'm not really going to eat him."
"Watching you," Tre mouthed towards her, glaring evilly.
Mike was sitting with Leah on the bed while everyone looked at Ryan. They'd gotten his details down like name, birth-date, weight, length and all that and now, Leah was struggling to keep her eyes open. She was too happy to fall asleep though. She wanted to spend as much time with her son as she could. She and Mike had a healthy little boy. Everything about him was perfect... OK, so he may be already a bit short but he was still healthy.
"Do you wanna go to sleep?" Mike asked, nibbling her earlobe secretively. She nodded.
"I do... but I wanna stay awake, too..."
A nurse soon came to Leah's rescue. "I'm sorry, guys. But Leah and Ryan both need time alone. I'm afraid you'll have to leave."
Everyone came and hugged Leah. "Hey, Little Leah," Tre whispered in her ear. Leah couldn't help but break out in little goose bumps as his warm and somewhat minty breath went on her ear and neck. "Congratulations. I'll teach the kid how to burn a drum set, OK?"
Leah smiled and hugged him. "Thanks Tre. I love ya, buddy."
"I love you, too, buddy-ette. Have fun and rest up, kay?"
"Will do."
Everyone left. Mike looked at Leah with the same stupid grin he had on his face when they announced that the baby was a boy.
"Thank God for that penis," he joked. Leah laughed.
"Geez, Estelle must feel so much love when she's around you."
"Stella knows I love her," Mike protested. Leah smiled and looked down at Ryan, who was awake.
"He's got the brightest blue eyes," Leah said quietly. "He looks exactly like you, Mike."
"Thankfully, he's got your nose," Mike smiled.
"Dude, I've got a Billie Joe nose. It's terrible."
"Better then mine," He grinned. "I look like a crow with it."
"Your nose is gorgeous," Leah smiled, pulling his shirt so he'd bend down, face to face. She kissed him. "Hand me the bottle, would you please?" She said. Mike grabbed Ryan's bottle and handed it to Leah. She chose not to feed Ryan the 'natural' way. She knew she'd probably never get her old figure back but she wasn't going to ruin her chest as well. Ryan was understandably hungry. He downed the milk in one go.
"Jesus Christ, kid. Thank God this is a bottle!" Leah laughed. Mike chuckled.
"Vicious little thing, eh?" He leaned down and gently kissed Ryan's forehead.
"It's so weird. Knowing that I'm a mum. It's so hard to believe that I... I created this little thing."
"Ahem. My name should appear in those credits, too," Mike joked.
"Haha. Co-produced by Mike Dirnt."
"He's so little!" Cooed Jess. "Aw! His little fingers. And the way he grabs your thumb and shoves it in his mouth."
"Yeah, charming, isn't he?" Tre teased. "I'm gonna be wipin' baby germs off me for ages."
"He likes you, Tre," Jess said, "You're his Uncie Tre."
Tre sighed and walked into his house. Frankito wasn't there. Ramona wasn't there. The place was empty. He missed coming home and seeing two beautiful kids running towards him with open arms. He missed that constant dependence that baby's had. He smiled to himself. "Weird," He whispered.
"Hm?" Jess asked, pushing past and flopping onto the couch.
"Nothing," Tre said. "Man, it's five a.m. I'm goin' back to bed. You comin'?"
Jess grinned cheekily. Tre knew what she was thinking. "Baby's do bring out the best in people, don't they?"
"They do, indeed."
Tre took her upstairs and they kissed all the way into the bedroom.
Thirty five minutes later, Jess was resting her head on Tre's chest. "Y'know what would be really weird?" She started.
"What?"
"If Courtney or Leah had twins."
"Oh, God!" Tre laughed, "Billie would shoot himself."
"Really? Why?"
"He could hardly handle Joey and Jake when they were babies. Imagine two at the same time. He'd either die from lack of sleep or sex... or shoot himself."
Jess smirked. "What about if I had twins?"
Tre made a pretend gun with his hands, cocked it and imitated it firing. She rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't," Jess said. "You'd love it. Just more little things you could play with..."
"And corrupt."
"Ramona isn't corrupt."
"Yes, that is true. But Frankito's getting there. According to Claudia he 'accidentally' pulled down a Kindy teacher's skirt."
"With the key word being 'accidentally'," Jess playfully slapped his chest. He laughed.
"I did that as a child. And I grew up to be extremely perverted."
"I can just see you being the old guy at a retirement home, pinching nurses asses and taking Viagra instead of normal pills."
"Got me in a nutshell," He grinned. "Nah, 'cause I'll probably be sitting in a retirement home with you. Taking all that Viagra for the sexiest over-60 year old in the damn building."
Jess frowned slightly, and wanting to ask him a question... about whether he honestly thought they'd go that far... but instead just smiled.
"Hopefully," She said. "'Cause I'd like that."
"I'd like that, too."
"Alex? Alex! Stupid phone line. Can you hear me? What? You can't tell the difference between me and Leah?! It's Courtney - ya dip... Geez, OK... sorry... No... no... err, no, we didn't break up... it's about Leah... YES! A little boy! Yeah, he's so cute... you should see him, he's a little Mike... OK... OK... yeah... Bye!"
Courtney put the phone down and grinned. "He's pretty surprised," she said. "Took him a while to reply."
"Yeah, long distance," Billie yawned.
"Well - that and he was mad that I woke him up. Time difference as well."
Billie smiled. "Courtney... I expect breakfast to be on the table by the time I wake up again. Thanks. Night." he kissed for cheek and slouched off into his room. Courtney mock glared as he walked away.
"My arse, buddy," Courtney muttered. The phone rang again, Courtney answered, of course. "Hello? Hayley! I know! Wasn't he just gorgeous...?"
It was another three hours until Billie woke up again. He grinned when he didn't smell eggs, bacon, toast or coffee. "Thanks, Courts," He moaned sleepily. Just as he finished sarcastically thanking her, she came into the room. "Where your ears burning?" Billie asked cheekily. Courtney poked her tongue out.
"No, why?"
"Just thought maybe they were."
"I knew you were talking about me... to no one."
"You decide to come back to bed now?" He asked, opening his arms to her as she crawled in.
"Yes. And if you have an issue with that then the couch is free."
"I don't think so!"
Courtney didn't fall asleep quickly, she chatted insanely about all the things her and Ryan could get up once he was old enough.
"God, Courts, you're gonna scare the kid," Billie laughed. "He's only a day old and you've got his whole life planned out."
"I do not," she said in her defence. "He's my little nephew. And I'm his over-protective, eccentric aunt. He's gonna spend heaps of time with me."
"I feel sorry for the kid. Bad enough he has Mike as a dad, but YOU as an aunt. I think for his first birthday I'll promise to pay for therapy."
Courtney playfully punched his chest. "That's not very nice, Billie Joe. That hurt my feelings."
"OK, I take back what I said about Mike. But I stand by what I said about you, Courtney Jade."
At The Hospital...
Mike couldn't draw his eyes away from Ryan. He was asleep, cradled up in Mike's arms. Leah was also asleep in her bed, exhausted from sleepless nights and... the obvious. "Look at you," Mike cooed. "You're... you're such a daddy's boy."
There was a small knock on the door. "Come in," Mike said. The door opened and Stella stood there, her eyes wide open and she ran to her new little brother.
"It's a..." She looked at him. "What is it?"
"This, Estelle darling is what they call a 'baby'."
She glared at her father. "I know that," she hissed. "I mean is it a girl or boy?"
"It's a boy," Mike grinned.
"Oh," Estelle didn't seem as excited. "Can you put it back and ask for a girl?" She joked. Mike laughed.
"No way, girly. This kid's stayin' out."
"He looks like you," Stella said.
"So I've heard," He smiled. "You wanna hold him?"
"Uh..." She looked a little nervous. "Maybe I should wait until Lee's awake."
Mike raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Well, he's her baby - I dunno if she wants me holding him."
Mike chuckled. "Hero, don't be silly! Of course she'll let you hold him. He's your little brother and you're his big sister."
Estelle smiled and sat down on the couch next to Mike. Mike gently handed the sleeping baby over. Estelle was a fucking natural when she held it. She held her hands in the right position and she gently stroked the little tiny blond hairs on his head.
"This is sorta like you and your sister..." Estelle said. "You had an older sister, too."
A poison arrow shot through Mike's heart. Myla. He hadn't spoken to his adopted sister in ages. She'd changed. He knew Estelle didn't mean to bring that up. How was she to know? Mike just nodded gently.
"Yeah. Like me and Myla."
Ryan's eyes opened and he looked at Estelle. "Look! Daddy!" Estelle said quietly, but excitedly, "He's looking at me."
Ryan yawned. Estelle giggled at his gummy mouth. Mike was so proud of his two kids. He grinned at that. His TWO kids. He had TWO beautiful children who he loved with all his heart.
"Y'know what this means?" He sighed.
"What?" Stella asked.
"Means Daddy's gonna have to go get another tattoo."
Estelle giggled again. "Where?"
"Good question," Mike laughed, looking at his rather packed-up arms. "Not too much space."
"What about just on your wrist?" Stella suggested. "That would be cool."
"But no one would see it," Mike said. "What's the point of getting it if no one will see it...?"
"Or just your inner arm. I mean, it doesn't really matter if people see it or not. Take Billie - he's got a massive tattoo for Jakob's name and only a tiny thingy for Joey's."
"Hmm, yes... that's true..."
"Hmm... shut up..." Leah moaned from her bed. "Cranky un-pregnant woman tryin' to sleep here."
"Sorry, Lee," Estelle said sweetly. Leah shot up and saw Estelle.
"Stella! Why didn't you wake me?" She asked. "Come here!"
Estelle gently handed a kicking Ryan back to Mike and crawled onto Leah's bed. They hugged for a while until Estelle just sat up in the bed with Leah.
"What do you think of Ryan?" Leah asked, playing with a lock of Estelle's brown hair.
"He's so cute. He puts Frankito to shame..."
Mike snorted. "That's not very nice, Hero."
"No offence," she added. "If you had let me finish."
"Well, sor-ry," Mike said snappily, and jokingly. Sometimes she knocked Mike out with her maturity and smarts.
Leah sighed and sat up a little further. Mike stood up and brought Ryan over to her. She kissed Ryan's head and then kissed Mike's lips.
"Ew, guys - I'm right here," Estelle snapped. "Gross!"
"You don't know the meaning of gross," Mike teased, poking her nose. "You should have seen what I had to watch today, Stella."
"No one said you had to," Leah said, smiling up at him. "You chose to."
After half an hour of talking, Ryan was asleep... again. Mike put him back in his little cradle thingy. "I've had just about enough of this whole lying down thing," Leah snapped.
"Whoa, Lee. Don't get up," Mike warned, "I wouldn't if..."
"C'mon, Mikey. What's the worst that'll happen?" She laughed. She sat up, her legs hanging off the bed and stood up. She doubled over instantly. Blood trickled down her leg and into a puddle on the floor.
"Leah!" Mike gasped, running over to her. Leah sat on the bed.
"Oh... did all my guts just drop out?" she moaned. Mike chuckled and kissed her forehead.
"I tried to warn you, dumb ass," He teased.
"Leah, are you gonna die of blood loss?" Estelle asked.
"There's a good chance," Leah giggled. "But I can't stand just sitting around all day. I like to move."
Mike sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "You have to be patient, babe. You can't just expect your body to go back to normal so quickly."
Leah didn't look to happy. "But..."
"No buts," Mike said, "Baby, you're just gonna have to take it easy. You've been through a pretty big thing."
"Stupid baby, huh?" Estelle said from behind them. Leah pulled Estelle over next to her and kissed the top of her head.
"Yeah, stupid baby."
