Game Changer (16 page)

I laughed, “Kira, its okay. I would have been mad at you too. But I’m fine now and we can both be happy. Now, why are you two idiots here instead of on your honeymoon?” I asked, glaring at Ethan.

He looked sheepish, “Flights are cheaper on weekdays.”

“Ethan!” I practically shrieked. “Are you freaking kidding me? It’s your wedding! You can’t be such a cheap ass on your wedding!” Aiden started laughing and pushed me back against the bed. I hadn’t realized that I’d sat up.

“Calm down Emm Emm, don’t kill him on the day of his wedding.” He was still chuckling.

“Can I kill him tomorrow?” I asked sweetly, batting my lashes at my boyfriend.

“Of course you can, Honey.” He answered back just as sweetly and pulled me to his side.

We started laughing, temporarily forgetting about Ethan and Kira.

“Uh, guys… pay attention to me!” Kira whined, making us all laugh.

“What?”

“Well nothing, I’m just jealous that you have such a hunky boyfriend.” She sighed. Ethan scoffed and crossed the room, pulled her up so she was standing, bent her backwards, and kissed her.

“Bow chica wow wow!” Aiden hollered as I started clapping.

“See, now don’t you wish you hadn’t been so cheap?” I asked once they separated. Ethan sat and pulled Kira to his lap.

After a bit of small talk, Aiden and I looked at each other, both of us were clearly ready to tell them, “So… would you like to know why I had to come in here today?” I asked.

Kira got a look of horror, “I’m so sorry I didn’t ask sooner!” She practically screamed.

“Don’t worry, I liked the happy talk anyways.” I soothed, “But really, it’s happy news.” I said.

“What’s up?” Ethan asked, keeping a calming hand on his wife.

“It’s twins.” Aiden announced, his smile was brighter than 100 Watt light bulbs.

“What’s twins?” Ethan asked, clearly confused. I started laughing and pointed to my small baby bump.

“I’m having two babies, not one.” I answered.

“Wait, twins… as in you’re having twins?” Kira double checked. Aiden and I nodded.

“Holy shit! Way to go man! Talk about super sperm.” Ethan said, leaning forward to high five Aiden.

Kira rolled her eyes and gave me a high five, “It wasn’t his sperm, it was her kick ass ovaries.” I laughed.

The rest of our time in the hospital went quickly. I was allowed to go home just before visiting time ended. Once we were back home, I went up to look at the empty room that would be my babies’ nursery. My whole idea of what it would look like changed drastically as soon as I found out there would be two.

“We get to pick out two names now.” Aiden said, walking up behind me with a cup of hot chocolate.

I smiled, “I know. I have a lot of them picked out already.” I admitted.

“Do you?” Aiden asked, grinning.

I nodded, “Yep. Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it already.” I said.

He shook his head, “Of course I’ve thought about it. What names do you like?” We started walking to the bedroom.

“Well, I like the names Willy and Charlie for boys, Grace and Rose for girls, and I don’t know what I’d do with one of each.” I said, smiling. I climbed up onto the bed and turned to face Aiden, who crawled up to his side.

“William and Charles, Emm? That’s kind of British. I like Jackson and Colton for boys, Hayden and Payton for girls, then Luke and Leia for a girl and a boy.” I burst out laughing.

“We are not naming our twins after Star Wars.” I smacked his arm.

“Why not? It’s cute.” He laughed.

“So not happening.”

“Okay Emi.” He sighed, cuddling into his pillow.

“Aiden?” I whispered after a few minutes.

“Hmm?” He mumbled.

“I love you so much.” I sighed as I ran my fingers through his hair.

“Love you too baby.” He said before tugging me to his side.

Time seemed to slip through my fingers and before I knew it, I was seeing the month of August on my calendar.

“Aiden!” I wobbled out of the kitchen to the bottom of the staircase and yelled up to him. He was playing some video game up in his ‘man cave’. Aiden had insisted on each of us having our own rooms to hang out in. Mine was the only room downstairs and I filled it with books, art supplies, and very comfy pillows. Aiden’s was full of leather furniture, a huge TV, gaming systems, and a pool table.

“Yeah babe?” He walked to the railing.

“Where’s the ice cream?” I asked, holding my huge baby bump.

“Did you check the freezer?” He asked sarcastically. I glared at him.

“No, asshole. I decided I wanted ice cream and checked everywhere but the fucking freezer.” I snapped.

I watched as he suppressed a grin and came down the steps. He rested his hands on my, now, very wide hips and pecked my nose with his lips. “I’ll go to the store and get some. Would you like to join me?” I thought about it for a minute and nodded, then thanked him.

We got to the grocery store and made our well-traveled way to the freezer section. In the past five months or so, we’d been making almost daily trips here for ice cream. The cashiers knew us by name.

I reached for the handle of the glass freezer door and felt a sharp pain low in my stomach.

“Woah.” I gasped, grabbing the bottom of my bump.

“Another contraction?” Aiden asked, reaching in and grabbing my favorite brand. Lately, I’d been having Braxton Hicks contractions, so it wasn’t quite new.

“Yeah, but this felt different Aiden.” I said, looking up to his eyes.

He looked confused, “What do you mean ‘different’?”

“I’m not su...OH!” I put one hand on the door and bent down a little bit. “I think this is the real thing.” I gasped.

“Okay, let’s head home and time them.” He was so damn calm about it. Of course he would be though, he wasn’t the one who was about to push two watermelons out of a grape sized hole.

“Yeah, okay.” I said trying to remain calm, emphasis on the word ‘try’.

Back at the house, the contractions started coming faster, yet it felt like such a slow process. Five hours later, my water broke. “Aiden, we need to go to the hospital now.” I said, nudging him awake from where he’d dozed off on the couch.

“What? Okay, let’s go.” He was still half asleep and pretty out of it.

“You need to wake up first.” I said calmly, rubbing his shoulders until he started thinking clearly.

The world seemed to make more sense after a couple minutes. “Okay, we need to get you to the hospital.” He said, yawning.

“Okay, Emm. I need you to push now.” The doctor ordered. I took a deep breath and pushed as hard as I could. As much as it hurt, pushing felt right.

“Alright.” He stopped me.

Aiden looked down and looked back up immediately, “I see its head!” he exclaimed.

I would have laughed if it weren’t for the fact that the head could be seen and I was incredibly uncomfortable.

“One more push and baby number one should be out.” The doctor said. I took another deep breath and pushed with everything in me. The sound of a tiny cry brought tears to my eyes. I had about two seconds to breathe before I had to push for the second one. Five minutes later, baby number two was born.

Chapter 24

The babies were placed on my chest, wrapped tightly in their blankets. “What are they?” I asked, sniffling. They were so beautiful.

“This,” Aiden rubbed the head of baby number one, “Is our baby boy.” He announced with pride.

“And this one,” He said softer, “Is our daughter.” He had such a sweet and loving tone when he talked about her.

“One of each?” I asked, looking down at my babies. We’d opted to be surprised, and never found out the sex.

“Yeah baby, one of each.” Aiden kissed my forehead

Shortly after giving birth to the twins, nurses took them away to get the necessary tests done. While they were gone, Aiden and I attempted to pick out names for our babies.

“I hate those names!” I exclaimed, making Aiden laugh. “What’s so wrong with Luke and Leia?” He asked, looking very innocent… he was such a faker.

“Nothing is wrong with them on their own, but I am definitely not naming my children after Star Wars characters.”

“Well, what do you want to name them then?” He asked, settling back on the bed beside me.

“I really want a unisex name for the girl.”

“Like what?” He sounded wary.

I scoffed, “Don’t sound so unsure, you’re the one who said Hayden and Payton for girls.” I elbowed him lightly.

“It’s cute.” He grinned.

“I was thinking of Micah.” I told him, “I’ve always wanted a daughter named Micah.” I bit my lip, wondering how much more I should say.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Aiden asked, after narrowing his eyes at me.

“Well…” I started, and then stopped. I wasn’t too sure what he’d think of the names I’d picked out, but I was in love with them. “I thought that Micah for a girl and Jude for a boy would be cute. And for their full names, it could be Micah Jade and Jude Michael. Jade and Jude are similar, and so are Micah and Michael, so they’d have a cute twin connection, but they’re also good separated.”

“Micah Jade and Jude Michael?” Aiden tested them out. A grin grew on his face, “I like them.”

I smiled, “Do you really?”

He nodded and kissed me lightly. “Micah sounds as sweet as our baby is, and Jude is a unique, yet sturdy name. Why didn’t you mention them before?” He asked.

“I was nervous how you’d feel if I picked out the names by myself.” I admitted.

Aiden laughed and pulled me closer. He was about to speak when we were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Kira and Ethan walked in holding their baby girl, Reese. Reese Emily Smith was born three weeks earlier than her due date and had been here for about a month now. She was starting to get pudgy little cheeks. They gave her the middle name Emily after me. Since I was going to be her god-mother. I was honored, to say the least.

“So, how’d it go?” Kira asked softly, as to not disturb the sleeping baby.

“They’re perfect.” I said with a big smile.

“What exactly are they?” Ethan asked.

“Babies.” I told him sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and I laughed, “We have a boy and a girl. Jude Michael was born five minutes before his sister, Micah Jade.” I said proudly.

Kira awed, “Jude and Micah? That’s so beautiful!”

The nurses opened the door and wheeled in our baby’s that very moment. They looked so precious bundled up in their pink and blue blankets with matching hats. As soon as the carts stopped rolling, Micah began to cry, which made Jude begin.

The nurse grinned and winked at me, “Welcome to parenthood.”

Raising two babies wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. Sure, it wasn’t easy, but I’d walked into it knowing it wasn’t easy to take care of babies.

Surprisingly, out of the two, Jude was the one who loved being held and preferred to sleep on Aiden’s or my chest instead of the crib. Micah enjoyed looking around, and loved to be around new people. At first, I didn’t like it much that she took so well to people coming up and touching her, but I soon realized that it was probably better for her for when she got older.

“Aiden, Jude needs his diaper changed again before we leave.” I called out through the baby monitor. Aiden was still getting dressed for our first night out since the babies were born, and I knew he would be able to hear me. I was almost ready, other than putting on my dress, and was currently trying to get the babies ready to go to our babysitters. One of our neighbors had two daughters, one eighteen and the other seventeen, who were amazing with the babies.

Aiden came around the corner, looking amazing in black dress pants, a navy blue dress shirt, and a white tie. “You look great.” I told him, leaning up for a kiss.

He grinned and winked, kissing me, then turned his attention to his ‘two little rascals’ as he liked to call them. The babies were in love with Aiden. There was never a time when Aiden couldn’t get a smile out of either of them, which was sometimes difficult with Jude. Don’t get me wrong, Jude was a happy baby, but sometimes he got this intense look; almost like he was taking the whole world in.

While he was busy changing diapers, I went and put on my dress. It was a strapless and black, tight until under the bust where it started to poof out. The dress was about mid-thigh length. I matched it with shimmery black heels, a pearl necklace, and black jewel earrings that had diamonds around them; they’d been my 20th birthday present from Aiden. I let my hair flow in its natural waves.

“Alright, you ready?” I asked Aiden.

He took a moment to move an appreciative glance down my body. I rolled my eyes; at only six months after giving birth, I still felt too large. I walked over to Jude, who was already getting his daddy’s dark hair, with my side of the family’s curls. Micah was taking longer to grow hers, but so far it was blonde with a light wave.

“Come to Momma.” I said as I pulled him from Aiden’s arm.

He rested against my side easily. Jude was definitely a momma’s boy, whereas Micah was a daddy’s girl. For some reason, both of our children loved being carried down the stairs, it sent them into giggles every time. Sometimes, when they were being fussy, one of us would quickly take them down the stairs and they’d instantly be better.

I let Aiden bring the babies over to the neighbors, Julie and Jenny. It wasn’t safe for me to carry a baby while in such high heels. I got teary eyed as I said goodbye. Even if it was only for a few hours, it was still hard to have them out of my sight. About five minutes later, Aiden was climbing into the truck.

“How’d it go?” I asked.

“They’re fine Emm, don’t worry.” Aiden rubbed a supportive hand against my knee. I took a deep breath and nodded.

“Right. Plus, we both have our cell phones on us and the girls have the number of the restaurant.” I said, trying to sound calm.

“Enjoy tonight.” He said softly. I grinned and nodded, “I’ll do my best.”

Aiden pulled into the parking lot at one of the nicer restaurants in town. We held hands as we walked inside. “Hey, that looks a lot like my parents car,” I said, thinking it was cool that somebody had the same car was here. They even had the same stupid car antenna decoration as my parents did.

“What are the chances?” Aiden asked, amused.

Inside, the maître d’ asked for our names.

“We have a reservation under Swift.” Aiden said, sending the guy a pointed look.

I sent a confused face towards Aiden before the man said “ah, right this way sir.”

We were guided to a far corner of the restaurant, where there were double doors. He opened the door and Aiden let me go through first.

“Thank you.” I said before stepping into the room.

What I saw made me gasp. My entire family was there, along with Aiden’s side.

“What on earth?” I whispered, before turning to look at Aiden.

He was down on one knee with a beautiful diamond ring in his hand. “Oh my god.” I cried, covering my mouth with my hands.

My eyes were already watering and he hadn’t even said anything yet. Now it made sense that my parents’ car was in the lot.

“Emily Smith, I love you so much. Sometimes it feels like I’ve been in love with you forever, even though we only met a year ago. You’re the mother of my babies and I want you, more than anything, to be my wife. I want to wake up with you every morning, and go to bed with you by my side every single night for the rest of our lives. Please marry me.” A tear fell from his cheek as he finished his proposal.

I was sobbing…

I could only nod as I tried to hold back my tears. Aiden stood up, smiling, and kissed me. The kiss was long and deep. When we finally pulled apart, Aiden slipped the ring onto my left ring finger, and then rested his forehead against mine. “I love you.” He whispered.

“I love you too,” I cried.

Our families surrounded us, giving us congratulations and good wishes. It sent me into a whole new round of tears. I smacked Kira’s arm when she came up to hug me. “You knew?” I asked, sniffling.

She nodded, smiling a huge smile.

“He told us about it a month ago, but I wasn’t allowed to say anything. Do you have any idea how hard that was?” She asked, hitting me this time. We laughed and hugged it out.

I felt a finger tap my right shoulder. I turned to see Aiden standing there, smiling. “Baby, may I have this dance?” He asked.

I grinned and nodded, taking his hand and letting him lead me to the dance floor. The song ‘Marry Me by Train’ started playing and I looked over at the band. My jaw dropped.

“Is that…?” I looked at Aiden, expecting him to shake his head. Instead he was nodding.

“I called in a favor.” he said as if it were no big deal.

“You had a favor, so they got you Train?” I gasped. He laughed and pulled me closer to his chest.

“I’m a man of mystery, baby,” he said, sounding completely cocky.

I chuckled, “Oh yeah Aiden, you’re a mystery.”