The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, chapter 12
March 31st, 2020, 11:00 am.
I lay with Joe in my hospital bed, each of us holding one of our newborn children. A boy, and a girl, both unnamed. It was an incredible relief to know that the birth went smoothly. Our son was the first out. Our girl followed soon afterward. Both couldn't leave the hospital for three weeks, because of their size, and spent most of the day in incubators. Their birth weight was the same. They were both four pounds and a single ounce. Quite small, and very pink.
I leaned my head on Joe's shoulder, as I gazed adoringly at our son and daughter. Joe had a smile plastered on his face all morning. We were so relieved when we were told they were both okay.
Our family had not yet seen the babies, but was about to enter the hospital room any minute now to visit the new arrivals.
Our son held my finger with his minuscule fingers, as our daughter lay asleep in Joe's arms.
"Joe, what were you going to ask me before?" I asked, loving every second of looking into our sons brown eyes.
"Oh... I just thought of a name before. I wanted your opinion on it," Joe said.
"Really? What name were you thinking of? Cuz, we still haven't thought of names for our kids. We should think of some before our family comes."
"Right. Well, I was wondering... what do you think of the name Fiona?"
***
*Tre's POV*
I pulled up at the hospital's lot. Claudia, Frankito, Adrienne, Billie Joe and Jakob were in the SUV with me. The doctor's had told us that the birth went smoothly, the babies were okay, but were going to be in incubators for three weeks. They didn't disclose the sex of the babies, so we were about to find out.
"Oh God... I'm so excited," Adrienne said, fidgeting around as I parked the car.
"I know. I can't wait to see my first grandkids. The suspense is killing me," Billie Joe said excitedly as he grasped Adrienne's hand.
We exited the cart, and sped towards the hospital entrance. We couldn't wait another second. We had all been up all night, too overwhelmed with emotion to sleep. We had left the hospital at 5 am, and it was 11:15 now.
I held the hospital door as everyone entered the building. We went over to the elevator and pressed the button. The door opened, and we went in. We pressed the button marked with a 3, the maternity ward.
Once the door opened, we excitedly strode towards the front desk.
"Which room is Sadie Wright and Joseph Armstrong in?" I asked.
"You must be the family. They've been waiting for you," a nurse said. "They're in room 320."
"Thank you," I said, as we walked down the halls, looking for room 320.
"Here it is," Jakob said, knocking on the door.
We heard a muffled, 'It's open!' and we entered the hospital room, excited to see the new additions to the Armstrong/Wright family.
Jakob slowly opened the door, and we all entered. We all let out an 'Aww,' as we walked towards the bed Joe and Sadie laid in with their little babies in their arms.
"Hey guys," Joe said, not looking up from the baby resting on his lap.
"Hi," everyone cooed.
"So, what are their names?" Jakob asked, laughing at the baby in Sadie's arms, who was staring at him with very wide eyes.
Joe looked at Sadie, and she nodded. "Well, Sadie's holding Jonathan-Phillip Armstrong. For short just Jon Phillip. He was the first out. And, I'm holding Fiona April Armstrong."
"A boy and a girl? That's so sweet," Adrienne said.
"You wanna hold them?" Sadie asked.
"Oh I'd love to."
Sadie took her son and placed them in Adrienne's arms. Joe took his daughter and looked up at his Dad.
"Do you want to?"
"Wow. Uh, sure," Billie Joe said, lifting up the baby.
*Billie Joe's POV*
I looked at my newborn granddaughter. I never got a daughter. I had always kind of wanted one. A granddaughter was just as good. And hey, I got a grandson too. Man, I got two grandkids. That's remarkable.
Her eyes opened, to reveal bright green ones, just like mine. Joe and Sadie both have brown eyes, so I would have thought both the babies would too. Only Jonathan got the brown eyes.
She looked up at me with those green eyes and stretched her arm out to touch my face.
"She's got green eyes," I marveled, laughing as she put her hand around my nose.
"Does she really? Oh wow... they're just like your's," Claudia said. Frankito and Jakob looked over my shoulder and laughed as the baby continued to swat at my face.
I glanced over at Adrienne, who was still holding Jon Phillip. The little boy had fallen asleep, and you could tell Adrienne was in her glory. She loved being a parent.
"Joe he looks just like you did when you were a baby," Adrienne said, rocking the baby slightly.
"Yeah, but he definitely has bits of Sadie in him. I mean, look at the mouth. That's all Sadie," Joe laughed. Sadie had a small mouth, but big lips. Thus, she had a constant pout on her face. She was such a pretty girl. And Joe had turned out to be quite a handsome guy. Man, these kids are gonna be good looking.
Tre made his was over to Sadie's bedside and kissed her forehead. He pulled up a chair and started to talk with her.
*Sadie's POV*
Dad came over to me and pulled up a seat. "So are you okay? You're not sore at all or anything?"
"Well yeah, my stomach is in a lot of pain, but I'll be fine. I took a pain killer this morning so I'll survive in good health," I laughed, re-tying the elastic around one of my braids.
"So, what are you gonna do while Fiona and Jonathon are confined to the hospital?"
"Uh, well Joe and I'll visit them every day of course. I'll miss not being able to look after them though. I'll be anticipating their homecoming a whole lot," I replied.
"Oh, all right. So, do you need anything at all? A coffee or, something?" Dad said, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Uh, actually I'd really like some soup, and maybe a bagel with cream cheese. There's a deli downstairs right?"
"Yup. Okay then, I'll be right back with lunch," Dad said, getting up and patting my head.
"Thanks so much Dad. I'll pay you back," I said, leaning back it the bed.
"Don't be silly. I'm your Dad," he laughed, leaving the room.
I smiled, and rested my head on Joe's shoulder. He put his arm around me and kissed my cheek.
I watched the family ogle over the little twins. Adrienne handed over Jonathan to Frankito and Jakob, who were arguing about who was gonna be the creepy perverted uncle.
"You know, one of you could be the creepy uncle, and one of you can be the crazy, fun uncle who always has gum," I said, cracking a smile.
"That's true... I have a profound respect for crazy uncle Edgar. He still gives me candy," Frankito said, taking off his sweater while Jakob adjusted the little blue hat that was placed on Jonathan's head.
"Okay. So then you're the fun uncle, and I'm the creepy uncle. Wait, does that mean I have to grow a goatee? Cuz I did that once, and it was itchy. I shaved it off," Jakob said.
"No. You just need a good comb over," I said, noticing Joe was drifting off to sleep. I couldn't blame him. We had been up for ages, and we had only gotten a couple hours of sleep.
"That's true. But it'll be a while till I start balding. All good comb overs are made up of very little hair," said Jakob.
Fiona let out a cry, and Billie Joe turned to me.
"Here, she's probably missing her mum," he said, handing her to me.
"Yeah. Wait, she's probably hungry. She hasn't eaten yet. You guys don't mind if I uh... "
"Huh? Oh, no it's okay. You can feed her. We don't mind," Adrienne said, sitting in the chair my Dad was in before.
"Joe, wake up," I said, shaking Joe's shoulder.
"Huh? Oh... why?"
"The family's here. You can sleep later," I said, unbuttoning the top two buttons on my shirt.
"Fine... I-WHOA. Sadie... what're you doing?" he said, noticing that one of my boobs was very much exposed for all to see. I propped up Fiona and started to feed her, while grabbing a rag and placing it on my chest so it wouldn't be as awkward. Having my Dad walk in while I was breast-feeding would be kind of weird...
"Feeding Fiona. Jeez," I laughed, looking up at Jakob.
"Is Jon still asleep?" I asked Jakob.
"Uh, yup. Wait... not anymore," Jakob said, as the little baby's eyes opened up. Fortunately Jon didn't start crying. He just let out a gurgle. Jakob laughed, and handed the baby over to Frankito. Frankito held Jon so his little head was resting on his shoulder. Jon's small hand grabbed Frankito's collar and pulled at it.
"Hey Sadie... why are his ears hairy and his head bald?" Frankito asked.
"Uh, yeah that freaked me out too when I noticed it. I asked the nurse and she said that happens to premature babies, and the hair eventually falls out from their ears. Then some hair on their head will grow," I said, noticing how good Frankito was with Jon.
"Okay good... cuz it wouldn't be very good if this kid grew up with hair on his ears. I can only imagine what school would be like for a kid with furry ears," Frankito laughed, as the nurse who had been checking up on the babies came in. Her name was Selma.
"Oh my. So I see the whole family's here to see these little tykes," she laughed.
"Yup. Selma this is Joe's Dad Billie Joe, his Mom Adrienne, his younger brother Jakob, my brother Frank, and his Mom Claudia. My Dad's just downstairs getting me some food."
"Has it been seven hours yet since the operation?" Selma asked me.
"Actually it's been a little over eight hours. I wanted to be extra careful," I said, putting my other arm around Fiona.
"Alright. Oh it's good one of them is eating. Has the other one eaten yet?"
"No not yet. Will Fiona have to go back in her incubator once she's done?" Joe said.
"Yes, she needs to be in her incubator at least 18 hours a day."
Joe sighed, and scratched his chest. I could tell he was still depressed that the twins were going to be confined to the hospital. I guess we both thought we'd be taking the twins home a few days after they were born. Joe pulling the Hybrid into the driveway, our family waiting for us at the house. We wished that could be how we arrive. But then again, things were hardly ever picturesque in my family. In all honesty, sometimes I like to believe that my perfectly un-picturesque family is better than any other family out there. Sure, the members of my biological family are either six feet under, in jail, or half way across the world in New Zealand, forgetting completely about the family they left behind. But if none of that ever happened, I wouldn't be here with my new family, my two children, a great job better than I could ever imagine, and an amazing husband who loves me to the greatest extent. Life can be summed up in one word.
Phenomenal.
I lay with Joe in my hospital bed, each of us holding one of our newborn children. A boy, and a girl, both unnamed. It was an incredible relief to know that the birth went smoothly. Our son was the first out. Our girl followed soon afterward. Both couldn't leave the hospital for three weeks, because of their size, and spent most of the day in incubators. Their birth weight was the same. They were both four pounds and a single ounce. Quite small, and very pink.
I leaned my head on Joe's shoulder, as I gazed adoringly at our son and daughter. Joe had a smile plastered on his face all morning. We were so relieved when we were told they were both okay.
Our family had not yet seen the babies, but was about to enter the hospital room any minute now to visit the new arrivals.
Our son held my finger with his minuscule fingers, as our daughter lay asleep in Joe's arms.
"Joe, what were you going to ask me before?" I asked, loving every second of looking into our sons brown eyes.
"Oh... I just thought of a name before. I wanted your opinion on it," Joe said.
"Really? What name were you thinking of? Cuz, we still haven't thought of names for our kids. We should think of some before our family comes."
"Right. Well, I was wondering... what do you think of the name Fiona?"
***
*Tre's POV*
I pulled up at the hospital's lot. Claudia, Frankito, Adrienne, Billie Joe and Jakob were in the SUV with me. The doctor's had told us that the birth went smoothly, the babies were okay, but were going to be in incubators for three weeks. They didn't disclose the sex of the babies, so we were about to find out.
"Oh God... I'm so excited," Adrienne said, fidgeting around as I parked the car.
"I know. I can't wait to see my first grandkids. The suspense is killing me," Billie Joe said excitedly as he grasped Adrienne's hand.
We exited the cart, and sped towards the hospital entrance. We couldn't wait another second. We had all been up all night, too overwhelmed with emotion to sleep. We had left the hospital at 5 am, and it was 11:15 now.
I held the hospital door as everyone entered the building. We went over to the elevator and pressed the button. The door opened, and we went in. We pressed the button marked with a 3, the maternity ward.
Once the door opened, we excitedly strode towards the front desk.
"Which room is Sadie Wright and Joseph Armstrong in?" I asked.
"You must be the family. They've been waiting for you," a nurse said. "They're in room 320."
"Thank you," I said, as we walked down the halls, looking for room 320.
"Here it is," Jakob said, knocking on the door.
We heard a muffled, 'It's open!' and we entered the hospital room, excited to see the new additions to the Armstrong/Wright family.
Jakob slowly opened the door, and we all entered. We all let out an 'Aww,' as we walked towards the bed Joe and Sadie laid in with their little babies in their arms.
"Hey guys," Joe said, not looking up from the baby resting on his lap.
"Hi," everyone cooed.
"So, what are their names?" Jakob asked, laughing at the baby in Sadie's arms, who was staring at him with very wide eyes.
Joe looked at Sadie, and she nodded. "Well, Sadie's holding Jonathan-Phillip Armstrong. For short just Jon Phillip. He was the first out. And, I'm holding Fiona April Armstrong."
"A boy and a girl? That's so sweet," Adrienne said.
"You wanna hold them?" Sadie asked.
"Oh I'd love to."
Sadie took her son and placed them in Adrienne's arms. Joe took his daughter and looked up at his Dad.
"Do you want to?"
"Wow. Uh, sure," Billie Joe said, lifting up the baby.
*Billie Joe's POV*
I looked at my newborn granddaughter. I never got a daughter. I had always kind of wanted one. A granddaughter was just as good. And hey, I got a grandson too. Man, I got two grandkids. That's remarkable.
Her eyes opened, to reveal bright green ones, just like mine. Joe and Sadie both have brown eyes, so I would have thought both the babies would too. Only Jonathan got the brown eyes.
She looked up at me with those green eyes and stretched her arm out to touch my face.
"She's got green eyes," I marveled, laughing as she put her hand around my nose.
"Does she really? Oh wow... they're just like your's," Claudia said. Frankito and Jakob looked over my shoulder and laughed as the baby continued to swat at my face.
I glanced over at Adrienne, who was still holding Jon Phillip. The little boy had fallen asleep, and you could tell Adrienne was in her glory. She loved being a parent.
"Joe he looks just like you did when you were a baby," Adrienne said, rocking the baby slightly.
"Yeah, but he definitely has bits of Sadie in him. I mean, look at the mouth. That's all Sadie," Joe laughed. Sadie had a small mouth, but big lips. Thus, she had a constant pout on her face. She was such a pretty girl. And Joe had turned out to be quite a handsome guy. Man, these kids are gonna be good looking.
Tre made his was over to Sadie's bedside and kissed her forehead. He pulled up a chair and started to talk with her.
*Sadie's POV*
Dad came over to me and pulled up a seat. "So are you okay? You're not sore at all or anything?"
"Well yeah, my stomach is in a lot of pain, but I'll be fine. I took a pain killer this morning so I'll survive in good health," I laughed, re-tying the elastic around one of my braids.
"So, what are you gonna do while Fiona and Jonathon are confined to the hospital?"
"Uh, well Joe and I'll visit them every day of course. I'll miss not being able to look after them though. I'll be anticipating their homecoming a whole lot," I replied.
"Oh, all right. So, do you need anything at all? A coffee or, something?" Dad said, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Uh, actually I'd really like some soup, and maybe a bagel with cream cheese. There's a deli downstairs right?"
"Yup. Okay then, I'll be right back with lunch," Dad said, getting up and patting my head.
"Thanks so much Dad. I'll pay you back," I said, leaning back it the bed.
"Don't be silly. I'm your Dad," he laughed, leaving the room.
I smiled, and rested my head on Joe's shoulder. He put his arm around me and kissed my cheek.
I watched the family ogle over the little twins. Adrienne handed over Jonathan to Frankito and Jakob, who were arguing about who was gonna be the creepy perverted uncle.
"You know, one of you could be the creepy uncle, and one of you can be the crazy, fun uncle who always has gum," I said, cracking a smile.
"That's true... I have a profound respect for crazy uncle Edgar. He still gives me candy," Frankito said, taking off his sweater while Jakob adjusted the little blue hat that was placed on Jonathan's head.
"Okay. So then you're the fun uncle, and I'm the creepy uncle. Wait, does that mean I have to grow a goatee? Cuz I did that once, and it was itchy. I shaved it off," Jakob said.
"No. You just need a good comb over," I said, noticing Joe was drifting off to sleep. I couldn't blame him. We had been up for ages, and we had only gotten a couple hours of sleep.
"That's true. But it'll be a while till I start balding. All good comb overs are made up of very little hair," said Jakob.
Fiona let out a cry, and Billie Joe turned to me.
"Here, she's probably missing her mum," he said, handing her to me.
"Yeah. Wait, she's probably hungry. She hasn't eaten yet. You guys don't mind if I uh... "
"Huh? Oh, no it's okay. You can feed her. We don't mind," Adrienne said, sitting in the chair my Dad was in before.
"Joe, wake up," I said, shaking Joe's shoulder.
"Huh? Oh... why?"
"The family's here. You can sleep later," I said, unbuttoning the top two buttons on my shirt.
"Fine... I-WHOA. Sadie... what're you doing?" he said, noticing that one of my boobs was very much exposed for all to see. I propped up Fiona and started to feed her, while grabbing a rag and placing it on my chest so it wouldn't be as awkward. Having my Dad walk in while I was breast-feeding would be kind of weird...
"Feeding Fiona. Jeez," I laughed, looking up at Jakob.
"Is Jon still asleep?" I asked Jakob.
"Uh, yup. Wait... not anymore," Jakob said, as the little baby's eyes opened up. Fortunately Jon didn't start crying. He just let out a gurgle. Jakob laughed, and handed the baby over to Frankito. Frankito held Jon so his little head was resting on his shoulder. Jon's small hand grabbed Frankito's collar and pulled at it.
"Hey Sadie... why are his ears hairy and his head bald?" Frankito asked.
"Uh, yeah that freaked me out too when I noticed it. I asked the nurse and she said that happens to premature babies, and the hair eventually falls out from their ears. Then some hair on their head will grow," I said, noticing how good Frankito was with Jon.
"Okay good... cuz it wouldn't be very good if this kid grew up with hair on his ears. I can only imagine what school would be like for a kid with furry ears," Frankito laughed, as the nurse who had been checking up on the babies came in. Her name was Selma.
"Oh my. So I see the whole family's here to see these little tykes," she laughed.
"Yup. Selma this is Joe's Dad Billie Joe, his Mom Adrienne, his younger brother Jakob, my brother Frank, and his Mom Claudia. My Dad's just downstairs getting me some food."
"Has it been seven hours yet since the operation?" Selma asked me.
"Actually it's been a little over eight hours. I wanted to be extra careful," I said, putting my other arm around Fiona.
"Alright. Oh it's good one of them is eating. Has the other one eaten yet?"
"No not yet. Will Fiona have to go back in her incubator once she's done?" Joe said.
"Yes, she needs to be in her incubator at least 18 hours a day."
Joe sighed, and scratched his chest. I could tell he was still depressed that the twins were going to be confined to the hospital. I guess we both thought we'd be taking the twins home a few days after they were born. Joe pulling the Hybrid into the driveway, our family waiting for us at the house. We wished that could be how we arrive. But then again, things were hardly ever picturesque in my family. In all honesty, sometimes I like to believe that my perfectly un-picturesque family is better than any other family out there. Sure, the members of my biological family are either six feet under, in jail, or half way across the world in New Zealand, forgetting completely about the family they left behind. But if none of that ever happened, I wouldn't be here with my new family, my two children, a great job better than I could ever imagine, and an amazing husband who loves me to the greatest extent. Life can be summed up in one word.
Phenomenal.
