guess who?
hello friends, happy Wednesday!! this work is a birthday present to myself, so before we get into it: spoiler for the title, its a baby.
trigger warnings for:
pregnancy/childbirth (literally as non-graphic as I could possibly make it)
mentioned infertility
mentioned miscarriage
pregnancy complcations
otherwise, please enjoy!
-
Janis sighs heavily as she toes off her shoes. It’s her birthday, but she still had to go to work and had an exceptionally long day teaching angsty middle schoolers. All she really wants is a lot of food and a good cuddle session with her wife, Cady.
Their pets come up to greet her as she takes off her jacket, demanding their daily scratches. Janis obliges, rubbing Elvira’s head and scritching behind Daffodil’s ears. Daffy shakes her head once Janis stands back to flip the light on. Her collar shifts, and Janis suddenly notices the note tied to it.
“Aww, Daffy, a message for me?” Janis coos, bending down again to untie it and petting them both one more time. She’s not sure if her wife is home, since all the lights are off except the one in the kitchen. Maybe this will explain things. She unrolls it and reads,
Happy birthday, my love. First present for you in the bedroom ;) Love, C
“Hmm. Caddy?” Janis calls as she heads that way. She quiets when she opens the door. It turns out Cady is home, she’s just asleep. She’s on top of the covers and wearing one of Janis’ jackets, which is their usual formula for a special night. The jacket is buttoned, which is a bit odd. Cady usually leaves them undone to show off whatever cute lingerie she’s picked. But she’s covered their bed in rose petals, that’s a nice touch.
Janis doesn’t want to wake her up yet, so she changes out of her work clothes in the dark. She hears a sleepy groan come from behind her as she tugs a comfy shirt over her head, turning around to find Cady mid-stretch.
“Hi, lovey,” Cady yawns as she reaches for her. “Happy birthday.”
“Hi, baby,” Janis chuckles affectionately, coming to cuddle her and flipping a light on. “Thanks. How was your day?”
“Good! I got a lot done, and Daffy and I had a nice walk,” Cady replies. “How about you, how was your day?”
“It was fine,” Janis says with a small yawn. “Long.”
“Aww. Would your present make you feel better?” Cady asks, stroking through her hair. Janis perks up a little at the reminder.
“Oh, yeah, what do I get?” She asks excitedly.
“You’ll just have to unwrap it and find out,” Cady purrs, gesturing to herself.
“You just woke up, are you sure-whoa, okay,” Janis replies as Cady starts kissing her hungrily. Janis kisses back for a long moment before she starts working her way down, kissing and nipping at her neck.
She undoes the buttons one by one as she works her way down Cady’s chest, until eventually she feels something other than her soft skin against her lips and pulls back in confusion. It’s another message, painted across Cady’s tummy. The top of whatever it says is just barely peeking out.
Frowning confusedly, Janis undoes the rest of the buttons in one go and pulls the flaps of the jacket apart, revealing the words,
Guess who?
Janis gasps and claps her hands over her mouth, letting out a happy sob. “Are you for real?! We-we’re gonna be mamas?”
Cady gives a watery chuckle, already crying too. “Yeah, Jay, we are. I’m for real. Are you excited?”
“Oh my god!” Janis sobs, pulling her wife upright to hug her tightly. “Of course I’m excited, there’s a baby in you! When did you find out?”
“I’ve known for about two weeks, kind of, but I found out for sure yesterday,” Cady says. “I took a bunch of tests after you went to bed, and they’re all positive.”
“Is that why you were crying? You never told me what was wrong,” Janis says, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Because nothing was wrong,” Cady giggles. “But yeah. I didn’t want to tell you yet, or it would’ve ruined my whole plan.”
“And when you said you got food poisoning last week, that was...” Janis suddenly puts several pieces together.
“Morning sickness,” Cady grins. She leans over to her bedside table and opens the drawer, pulling out a little stick. Janis takes it with shaky hands, staring intently at the Pregnant+ on the small screen. “I’m already showing a little, look.”
Cady turns to the side and pulls the jacket away. She’s right, the slight swell of her belly at the bottom is already a tiny bit bigger.
“Isn’t it early for you to be showing?” Janis asks, looking back and forth between the test and her wife.
“A little, but I’m small,” Cady replies with a shrug. “I’m about five weeks, that’s pretty normal for someone my size, I think.”
Janis reaches tentatively to feel her tummy, but pulls back just before she touches. Cady takes her hand gently and rests it on her lower abdomen.
“There’s a baby there,” Janis mumbles.
“Yeah, there is,” Cady chuckles, drying the leftover tears from Janis’ cheeks. “Our baby. Breathe, sweetheart, you look like you’re gonna pass out.”
“I’m not!” Janis insists. “I’m just... happy. And scared. We... we’re having a kid.”
“Don’t be scared yet, we have time to prepare. Everything’s fine,” Cady comforts. “You’re gonna be such a good mom.”
“So are you,” Janis replies. “When do we get to see them?”
“A couple weeks. There’s not really much to see right now, they probably don’t even have a heartbeat yet,” Cady says. “But soon. Unless... unless something goes wrong again, then we’ll need to go in sooner. But I feel good about this one.”
“I do too. They say third time’s the charm,” Janis replies, rubbing her thumb gently over her belly. She feels as if the weight of the world is resting beneath her hand.
This was their third time trying for a child. The first time, none of their embryos had implanted successfully. The second, Cady miscarried in the third week. They’d spent months mourning their losses each time before they were even willing to try again.
“I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Cady replies, leaning in for a kiss.
“Do you still wanna...” Janis asks, gesturing to the emerald green lingerie Cady still has on.
“Oh yeah,” Cady purrs, pulling Janis back on top of her.
“Cool,” Janis breathes.
————-
Halloween rolls around exactly two weeks later. It’s Janis’ favorite holiday, and this one is made extra special by the fact that she gets to see her child for the first time. She’s distracted through her whole day at work, wanting to be done so she can go home and then to the doctor with her wife.
“Christ, lovey,” Cady jumps as Janis throws the door open. “Hi.”
“Hi, sorry, are you okay?” Janis apologizes frantically, coming to hug her and protectively resting a hand on her tummy.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Cady giggles. “I take it you’re excited?”
“Of course I’m excited, Peanut,” Janis says happily. “We get to see our little peanut, I wanna go!”
“Okay, okay,” Cady laughs. “Our appointment isn’t for two hours, Jellybean, we have time.”
“And the place is forty-five minutes away, it’s late and a holiday so there’s gonna be traffic,” Janis says rapidly. She pauses with a sigh to calm herself. “I just want to make sure they’re okay.”
“I’m sure they’re fine, Jay. I feel fine,” Cady says soothingly. “I feel good, actually.”
“Good,” Janis breathes. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, I’m glad you’re excited,” Cady chuckles. “Let’s go.”
-
Two hours later, Cady is checked in at the doctor and they’re sitting eagerly in the waiting room. Cady is fiddling with Janis’ fingers to distract herself.
“Sarkisian-Heron?” A nurse suddenly calls from the doorway nearby. Janis leaps up happily and holds out a hand for Cady. They follow her back and get Cady prepped, lying her on the uncomfortable table as Janis stands behind her.
The doctor comes in a few minutes after the nurse leaves, knocking on the doorframe as she enters. “Hello, ladies, congratulations!”
“Thank you,” Cady chuckles anxiously. Janis squeezes her hand gently.
“Let’s get right into it, shall we? How have you been feeling, anything you’re concerned about?” The doctor asks, making conversation to distract Cady as she begins the scan. Janis winces slightly at the process.
“I don’t think so,” Cady hums. “I’m exhausted and I’ve been… really sick, but I’m not worried about anything.”
“Sounds typical so far,” the doctor says pensively. “When did you have them implanted?”
“Sometime in September, I’d have to check to know when exactly,” Cady replies. The doctor’s eyebrows suddenly lift high on her forehead, then furrow. “Is something wrong?”
“How many embryos did you have done?” The doctor asks, shifting again slightly and seeming to ignore the question.
“Just the one, this time, that’s all we could do,” Cady sounds more frightened with every word. “Are they okay?”
“They are absolutely fine. You’re having identical twins,” the doctor says.
“What?!” Janis and Cady yelp at the same time. Cady hears Janis fall to her knees behind her, but is in too much shock to even check if she’s okay.
“Twins?” She breathes anxiously.
“Identical?” Janis chokes in about the same tone.
“Mmhmm,” the doctor replies, turning the monitor to face them. There’s two black forms in a sea of grey static. “You’re actually rather lucky, usually the process for determining what type of twins are present is more involved. But since you only had one embryo done, identical twins are the only type feasible for you to have. Your first baby, baby A, is here. And this is baby B up here.”
“Twins,” Cady sobs happily. “Oh my god. And they’re both okay?”
“They’re perfectly fine. Their heartbeats both look strong and their development is on track. You have two healthy babies growing here, congratulations,” the doctor says.
“Janis, look,” Cady sobs again. “Are you okay?”
Janis perks up from the ground, having previously buried her face against Cady’s side where she’s attempting to process everything. She looks up at the monitor to see what Cady’s pointing to.
“We’re having twins,” Janis says as her own tears start pouring down her face. “I’m-I’m fine, Butterfly. Those... those are our babies. No wonder you’re already showing.”
“What does this mean? For us?” Cady asks the doctor, holding Janis’ hand so tightly.
“Well, for you specifically it means you’ll have to be a bit more careful. More frequent scans, take a few extra vitamins, eat more calories daily. Your babies seem to be sharing a placenta, so we’ll need to monitor them for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, but I have no reason to believe that anything should happen.”
“Okay,” Cady breathes anxiously.
“And it does also mean your chances of delivering prematurely are higher, but again, that’s not anything to be concerned about at the moment. Your babies are healthy, and we’ll do everything we can to deliver them when the time is right for them.”
“Okay,” Cady says again, trying not to worry. Janis leans in to kiss her cheek and her fears fade for the time being.
“Can we hear them?” Janis asks shyly. “The heartbeats?”
“Of course,” the doctor says, flicking a switch to turn sound on. A rapid pulsing sound fills the room. “Here’s baby A.”
Cady turns to look at Janis happily, and Janis leans in for a kiss on the lips this time. “That’s our baby, Janis.”
“Baby A,” Janis murmurs back. The doctor shifts and suddenly a second pulsing sound overlaps the first. “And… and baby B.”
“They both sound perfectly healthy,” the doctor says as she presses some buttons to take photos. She prints out copies of a few and hands them to Cady, along with several informational pamphlets. “Congratulations again, ladies.”
She leaves then, leaving Cady and Janis alone to process everything and then leave.
-
Cady drives home when she sees how hard Janis is shaking. Janis doesn’t speak the whole ride home, she just clutches Cady’s hand and stares at the ultrasound photos.
Janis turns to her once they’re home again. “I know this is terrible timing and I don’t want to worry you, but can I please have some alone time?”
“Of course, my love,” Cady replies, popping up on her toes for a quick kiss. “I’m gonna walk Daffy and make sure we have everything for Karen’s party on Friday, I’ll check on you in an hour?”
Janis nods. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Jayjay.”
-
Exactly an hour later, Cady knocks on their bedroom door carrying two mugs of hot chocolate. With a touch of pumpkin spice, since it is Halloween. Janis pokes her head out from under the duvet. She’s spent the entire time staring at the photos.
“Do you want to talk about it now?” Cady asks gently, handing one mug to Janis.
Janis takes it with a sigh. “I’m-I’m terrified, Caddy. We’re having twins, two babies. What if something happens to you, or to them? Or... or what if I can’t take care of them? Or tell them apart? Two kids is gonna be way more work than one, and I don’t know... any of what I need to. I want to be what you need, what they need. I just... I don’t know how.”
Cady takes their mugs gently and pulls her into a hug. “Oh, mpendwa. I’m scared too, you know. I’m small, this pregnancy is risky. You’re right, there is always a chance something could happen. But I’m so, so excited too. Because I’m doing this with you, my love. I’m carrying your babies. We’re doing this together. I have you to help keep me safe and help me raise these babies into great humans.”
Janis doesn’t say anything, just cuddles in closer and rests a gentle hand on Cady’s belly.
“And yeah, two is gonna be more work than one. But we can do it. We’ll learn what we need to and deal with stuff as it happens. Take it one day at a time,” Cady says, nuzzling her nose into Janis’ hair. “For today, we have two healthy little peanuts inside me.”
Janis grins at that. “I love you so much. And them. I’m excited too, I don’t want it to seem like I don’t want them. I get two mini-yous to love on. I’m just… really scared.”
“I love you too, darling,” Cady chuckles. “But you realize they’re more likely to be mini-yous, right? You have more dominant features.”
“Man,” Janis grumbles jokingly. “Oh well. We’ll just have to wait and find out, I guess.”
Cady reaches to hand her back her drink, taking a sip of her own. “Speaking of finding out, do you want to find out the sexes?”
“If you do,” Janis replies. “It doesn’t really matter to me. And it’s not a guarantee of who we’ll be raising, anyway.”
“I want to wait, I want it to be a surprise,” Cady says. “And you’re right. It always felt kind of creepy to me that people make such a big deal over the genitals of an infant.”
Janis laughs. “It is a little weird. Surprise babies it is.” She takes another drink. “Can I do something?”
“Sure,” Cady says confusedly. Janis suddenly dashes away and comes back with some black washable paint and a brush. She gently tugs up Cady’s shirt and writes,
Guess who? (Times two!)
Cady laughs when she sees it, and goes to stand by a blank wall so Janis can take a picture.
“Smile,” Janis says, pulling a goofy face to make her laugh.
“You’re such a dork, I love you,” Cady giggles. Janis snaps a few photos.
“There,” she says happily, letting Cady come see them. “I love you too.”
Cady smiles contently when she sees the pictures, then clicks the phone off and sets it on the nightstand. “Now comes the fun part of all this, you know?”
“Mm?” Janis hums confusedly, finishing off her delicious beverage.
“Now we have to tell everyone,” Cady says casually, finishing hers too.
“Oh, shit.”
—————
They tell their families on Thanksgiving. Every year both of their families have Thanksgiving dinner in their apartment. Usually Damian and his mom join them, but his mother couldn’t make it this year so he went back to Illinois to be with her.
Cady is very clearly pregnant now, and has to wear one of Janis’ oversized sweaters to hide her belly before they want it to be noticed. Paired with some dark leggings, nobody would ever notice anything about the outfit.
Janis and Cady both make anxious small talk with everyone as they help prepare the meal, and grin excitedly at each other as they go to set the table. They made special name cards for everyone this year. In between Janis and Cady’s spots are two mini plates, with ‘Baby A’ on one place setting, and ‘Baby B’ on the other.
Their dining table isn’t big enough for everyone to sit and have all the food on it at the same time, so they leave everything in the kitchen and call everyone to come grab their plates to load up buffet style.
Their moms seem to notice something’s amiss first, and Janis’ mom gasps when she sees the little plates. She makes a beeline for that side of the table to see what the name tags say, and shrieks excitedly when she reads them. Everyone else rushes to see what she’s looking at.
“Oh my god!” Their moms both nearly-yell excitedly at the same time, running to hug them. Juliana follows quickly, shaking a concerning amount in her excitement.
“I’m gonna be an auntie!” She squeals. “And there’s two!”
Cady smiles widely as Julie hugs her gently and feels her tummy. “You’ll be the best auntie, Jules. I can’t wait to see you with them.”
“Do you know if they’re identical?” Janis’ mom asks. She’s an identical twin herself, Janis’ aunt Alice is her sister. Janis and her cousin, Veronica, both take after them and look nearly identical themselves.
“They are, I’m hoping you can give me some tips,” Cady chuckles. “Daddy, what’s wrong?”
They both look up to see Cady’s dad visibly holding back tears, but they break through as Cady reaches for him.
“Nothing’s wrong, I’m just so happy for you,” he chokes, hugging his daughter tightly. “Twins, holy cow, binti.”
“I know,” Cady chuckles. “I love you. You’ll be a great grandad.”
Everyone crowds around both Cady and Janis in a group hug, sharing their love too.
“Okay, let’s eat. I’m eating for three now, I’m starving,” Cady jokes, taking her plate first and heading into the kitchen.
—————-
On Christmas Eve, Cady is finishing wrapping some final presents on their bed, cuddling Elvira on her lap as she works.
“Caddy?” Janis asks, entering from their living room. Cady checks to make sure anything that’s for Janis is hidden before she says she can come in.
“Yes, my love?” She asks, putting a last ribbon on a present and setting it aside.
“Can I paint on your tummy? I got this app on my phone that says what size the babies are,” Janis asks shyly. “Like, fruits and stuff. I thought it would be a cute way to track until they’re here.”
“Aww, Bluejay, of course,” Cady says as Janis rushes to grab her paints before coming back. “How big are they now?”
“It says they’re the size of peaches,” Janis responds, mixing some pink and a touch of orange together and brushing it over her wife’s belly.
“Aww, how cute,” Cady coos. “Precious little peaches.”
Janis just smiles happily at her, leaning down for a kiss before she adds some green leaves.
Cady just relaxes and enjoys the soothing texture of the paint. “This is nice. Oh, do you have any name ideas, by the way?”
“Not really, yet,” Janis replies. “But I have some rules.”
“Rules? Okay, shoot,” Cady says, looking up at her confusedly.
“The names can’t rhyme. That’s just gonna be annoying as they get older,” Janis says, adding some little details. “And they have to be spelled in a way that makes sense. I’m very tired of explaining that it’s Janis with an S, and I’m sure you’re tired of people calling you Caddy when they first read your name.”
“Yeah. You’re the only one I like calling me Caddy,” Cady grins fondly. “Okay, those are good rules. What if... are you okay with them starting with the same letter?”
“I can live with that,” Janis hums. “What letter?”
“I... no, never mind,” Cady says.
“No, what? I wanna know,” Janis pouts, adding two little happy faces on each peach.
“It’s stupid. But my favorite letter when I was little was L,” Cady mumbles. “I like the way it bends.”
“That’s not stupid, baby, it’s cute. L works for me,” Janis says.
“And I think we should each name one twin,” Cady says. “And then switch for middle names?”
“Sure. Do you have any names picked?” Janis asks, resting everything down on the palette and cuddling her wife while they wait for it to dry.
“Not first names,” Cady says. “But I want one of their middle names to be Rhys. Or Reese with the E’s, if they’re girls.”
“Of course, I love it,” Janis says, leaning down to kiss her.
“What about you, do you have anything?” Cady asks as she kisses her back sweetly.
“Um... since we’re doing L, could we name a boy Luca? After my dad?” Janis asks.
“That’s perfect,” Cady says, sounding choked up. “Luca Rhys. I love it.”
“Why are you crying?” Janis asks worriedly, cuddling her closer.
“I don’t know,” Cady sobs. “We just... we just named one of our babies, maybe. And-and you, I just love you so much!”
Ah. Hormones. “Oh, baby, I love you too. I love all three of you, come here,” Janis says, kissing her temple. “This probably isn’t a great time, but I have middle names picked already too.”
“What did you pick?” Cady sniffles, luckily calming down pretty quickly.
“Damian, if it’s a boy,” Janis says. “I have to. I couldn’t do it as a first name, I can’t handle two of them. But... I owe him so much.”
“I like it,” Cady grins through her tears. “What about for a girl?”
“Juliette. After my mom,” Janis says, wiping her tears away. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from,” Cady sniffles again. “So, Luca Rhys and something Damian, or something Reese and something Juliette. I like it.”
“Good,” Janis chuckles. “The paint should be dry now, do you still want to take your picture?”
“Yeah, might as well,” Cady chuckles. “I want to remember this. Crying because we chose a name and I’m in love with my wife.”
Janis laughs. “Go stand over there, Sunshine.”
Cady does, finally looking down and seeing Janis’ work. “Oh, Jayjay, they’re so cute! The little faces!”
Janis takes a picture then, finding Cady’s candid moments somehow even cuter than her posing. “There, got it.”
“But I didn’t do anything,” Cady says confusedly.
“You didn’t have to,” Janis says lovingly. “Come see.”
Cady starts to, but freezes suddenly as her eyes go wide.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Janis asks frantically.
“Come here, come here,” Cady says excitedly. Janis does, and Cady grabs her hand and rests it against the side of her tummy. Janis is confused until she feels a little pop beneath her.
“Is-is that...” She asks, already starting to cry as well.
“One of them is kicking,” Cady laughs through her tears. “That’s one of our babies.”
“Does it hurt?” Janis asks in wonder, resting her other hand on the other side. At her touch, the other twin sets off and starts kicking too.
“It feels like a tiny little kick, yeah,” Cady chuckles. “Little jolt. But that’s so exciting, Jay. This one must really love you, they only kicked when you came over.”
Janis bends down and peppers kisses all over the top of her belly. “Hello babies. I love you both so, so much. But it’s not nice to kick your mother, she’s doing a lot to get you here. And don’t kick each other, either.”
“You’re such a dork, you’re so cute,” Cady chuckles, threading her fingers through Janis’ short hair.
“I love you so much,” Janis says, leaning up again to kiss Cady’s lips this time.
“I love you too. Merry Christmas, love,” Cady whispers against her.
“Merry Christmas, Peanut.”
—————
They tell all their friends on New Year’s Eve. Every year they have a party to celebrate, and do their holiday gift exchange then as well, since they’re all with their families for the actual holidays.
Cady and Janis stayed in New York this year, so their friends already sort of know something is up. It’s still safe for Cady to travel, but she was uncomfortable doing anything that might strain their babies. Their families did Christmas and Thanksgiving all in one, instead.
The party is at Damian and Aaron’s apartment this year. Damian opens the door to find them both holding large stacks of presents. They got everyone little things individually, and then the baby announcements from both of them.
“Hey, gu-whoa,” Damian greets as he opens the door. “That’s a lot of presents, here.”
He takes about half of each of their stacks and carries them into the living room. Janis takes what’s left of her wife’s and follows after him. There’s a lovely tree and menorah set up, and he helps her arrange everything among all the other presents.
“Oh no wait, keep those separate,” Janis says. He looks at her confusedly but does so, resting all of the most important gifts to the side. “It’s a group thing, they’re all the same, I don’t want them to get mixed up.”
“Ah, okay. How was your lonely Christmas here?” Damian asks, finally able to hug his friends now that all the gifts are in their proper places.
“It was kind of nice, actually, we just watched Christmas movies and cuddled the pets all day,” Janis responds. She hopes he won’t ask her why they had to stay behind. She can’t lie to save her life.
“Living the dream,” Damian says instead, making Janis breathe a sigh of relief. “Caddy, why are you all the way over there?”
Cady’s been watching them and trying to figure out how to hug people without revealing their secret too soon. “Oh, just admiring the view,” she teases, approaching from the side and leaning in very gently. Damian hasn’t noticed anything amiss, somehow. “Are we the first ones here?”
“No, you’re the last, actually,” Damian chuckles. “The Plastics all went to help Aaron in the kitchen.”
As if on cue, Gretchen and Karen follow Aaron out of the kitchen then. The girls both squeal when they see Cady and come to hug her before moving to Janis. Aaron follows suit too.
Regina didn’t come with them, so Cady heads into the kitchen alone to greet her while Janis helps with everything in the living room. Cady finds Regina alone and sipping a glass of champagne.
“Hey, Gina,” she says quietly, pouring herself a flute of the non-alcoholic variety. Regina whirls around with a quiet yelp.
“Oh, Cady. Hi, sorry, I didn’t hear you guys get here or I would’ve gone out with everyone,” she says once she sees it’s just her friend.
“It’s fine,” Cady chuckles as she takes a sip. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just wanted a minute to thank. Reflect on the year, you know?” Regina says quietly.
“I get that,” Cady says meaningfully. She can suddenly see the gears turning in Regina’s brain as she looks her up and down oddly. “What?”
“Nothing! It’s nothing, sorry,” Regina says hastily, taking another drink.
“It’s fine, but really, what is it?” Cady says.
“Are you pregnant?” Regina asks quietly.
Cady chokes on her drink and looks around to make sure nobody else can hear them. “Um, yeah. How could you tell?”
Regina squeals excitedly. “You’re wearing a loose dress and flats when heels would clearly go better with it, you’re not drinking real alcohol even though New Year’s is the only time you drink, you didn’t go home for Christmas, and you keep touching your stomach.”
“Do I?” Cady asks. Upon looking down she notices her hand is, in fact, resting gently on her tummy. “Oh. Oops.”
“Congratulations!” Regina squeals. “Can I do your maternity pictures?”
“God, yes please,” Cady says in relief.
“Yay! Come on, you have to tell everyone else, I need time to fight with Damian about who gets to throw your baby shower,” Regina insists happily, putting her drink back in her hand and pushing her gently towards the living room. Cady pauses to grab one more glass of actual champagne for her wife before she goes.
Janis looks at her as she comes back, checking that she’s okay. Cady nods and comes over to her. “Here, love. Regina knows, but she won’t tell anyone.”
“How did she find out?” Janis asks, furrowing her eyebrows.
“She’s a therapist? She read me like an open book in thirty seconds flat and asked me point blank, I couldn’t lie,” Cady chuckles. “Get D to do the presents now, I can’t wait anymore.”
“Okay,” Janis replies. “Damie!”
“What?” Damian groans from the couch, where he’s cuddling his boyfriend and finally eating his snacks.
“Can we do presents now pleeeeeeeeease?” Janis begs, trying her hardest to make it seem like she wants to receive her presents and not give them.
“Fine. Who wants to go first?” Damian asks, hauling himself back upright and heading to the pile of presents. Cady and Janis both keep quiet, deciding they should probably go last.
Karen eventually volunteers Gretchen, who looks at her aghast. It turns out she took up crocheting over the past year and made everyone blankets in their favorite colors. They all get different baked goods from Regina, who explains that Gretchen has been teaching her how to cook and bake. Karen gives everyone very expensive face masks that are somehow perfectly catered to their skin types.
Damian and Aaron go next. Damian gives everyone fun socks with different animals on them. Cady’s have lions, Janis’ have turtles, Gretchen’s have cats, Karen’s have mice, and Regina’s have bunnies. From anyone else it would be a lame gift, but Damian is a professional. Aaron handmade each household a wreath for their doors. It’s a little late to use them now, but they promise to next year.
There’s a noticeable energy shift when it comes to Cady and Janis’ gifts. They try their hardest to act natural as they give their individual presents. Cady made little dishes in a pottery class she had done as a special date with Janis, and Janis painted mini portraits of all of them based on photos she had.
Janis then corrals everyone to sit together on the couch, somehow without arousing suspicion. Regina is on one arm and Aaron is on the other, with Gretchen, Karen, and Damian all squished together in the middle.
“This is from both of us but don’t open them yet,” she says as she hands out the packages. Cady is sneakily filming behind her, and turns to grin at her as Janis comes to hug her from behind. “Okay, read the cards first.”
She and Cady had made the cards by hand, decorating them with different cute designs. They all say the same thing, however: ‘Happy Holidays from Janis, Cady, L. & L. Sarkisian-Heron’.
Damian makes it to the end of the message first, and his brows furrow in confusion as he tears into his package. They shoot back up his forehead when he pulls out a t-shirt that says ‘Best gay uncle ever’ and everyone else follows his lead, pulling out matching ones with their respective sexualities and auntie or uncle titles. They watch them all process everything until it finally clicks in their heads.
Janis tries to count how many times Damian shrieks “Oh my god!” in ten seconds, but she loses count after twenty.
“How is this happening?” He demands, wrapping both of them in a tight hug. “Are you adopting or is one of you pregnant?”
“I’m pregnant,” Cady laughs as he takes a step back, adjusting her dress so her bump is revealed. Damian squeals and hugs her again, and everyone else joins in to make it a big group hug.
Regina, as always, breaks away first and heads back after just a couple of minutes. Gretchen follows to make sure she’s okay, holding her girlfriend’s hand as Regina reads through the cards again. Suddenly, she clocks the second initial.
“Guys, wait,” she says, patting Gretchen’s shoulder excitedly a few times. “There’s two initials here. Are you having twins?”
“Yes,” Cady says. Everyone screams and rushes to hug her again. She peeks up at her wife around everyone and grins happily. “They’re identical, the embryo split.”
“Oh my god!” Damian sobs. “I’m gonna be an uncle! To twins! And you guys are gonna be moms! To twins!��
“Aww, Dame, don’t cry,” Cady chuckles. “Your nieces or nephews should be here in May.”
“Oh my god,” he says quietly again. “Shit, guys, happy fucking holidays.”
Everyone laughs at that and scatters slightly, finally letting Janis and Cady breathe. Damian excuses himself to the kitchen to recover. Janis follows as Cady lets everyone feel her bump and answers their questions.
“God, Jan, congratulations,” he sniffs, wiping his nose on a tissue.
“Thanks, Damdam,” Janis chuckles. “You seem more excited than us.”
“I am! I’m so excited, I’m gonna be an uncle,” he says happily.
“Oh, yeah, um. About that,” Janis says. “Caddy and I were hoping you’d be more than their uncle.”
“What do you mean?” He asks confusedly.
“We want you to be their godfather,” Janis says.
“Really?” Damian asks, his eyes brimming with tears again.
“Yeah, of course,” Janis says, handing him another tissue. “Stop crying, you’re gonna make me cry.”
“I’m sorry,” he sniffs. “Of course I’ll be the godfather. God, I can’t wait to meet them. These are gonna be the cutest little dorky babies ever.”
“Hey!” Janis says as she comes to hug him tightly.
“Jan, we called ourselves the art freaks for ten years and Caddy is the biggest math nerd to ever live, you’re gonna be raising dorks in some form or another,” Damian says.
Janis purses her lips, realizing he’s absolutely correct. “I guess you’re right. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m so excited,” he says happily.
“Good,” Janis says, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “I’m gonna go find the mother of my children, I love you.”
“I love you too! All four of you!” He calls after her.
-
The excitement wears off just a touch by the time the countdown begins. Cady and Janis share a sweet kiss as it reaches zero and the fireworks go off around the city.
“Happy New Year, my love,” Cady whispers when they break apart. “It’s the year of babies.”
“The year of babies indeed,” Janis murmurs back.
—————-
They go shopping for baby things the next week. Technically, they’re supposed to be shopping for things they’ll need in their new house, since they’ve decided to move out of their tiny apartment and into a house that has enough room for them to raise two small humans. But, Cady passes by the baby clothes section on the way out and just can’t resist.
Janis follows and is instantly reeling at the sizes of everything. She nearly plows down a mannequin because she’s too busy staring at a little tiny bathing suit.
“Aww, Jayjay, look,” Cady says, weaseling her way around the racks to something she’s spotted. Janis leaves their cart where it is and runs after her. Cady heads to a rack with onesies that say ‘Thing One’ and ‘Thing Two’, patterned like the characters in the book. They have numbers that go all the way up to eight. Janis is suddenly very appreciative of the fact they’re only having twins.
“They’re cute,” Janis says. Cady grabs them in the newborn size. “Will they actually be this little?”
“Probably smaller, actually, we should be looking at preemie stuff too,” Cady says thoughtfully. Smaller? Janis tries to imagine something smaller than the onesies in her hand. It doesn’t quite compute.
“I have more rules,” she says suddenly, leading them back to the cart.
“Okay,” Cady chuckles. “What?”
“If they’re girls, we’re not putting them in those stupid bows that are the size of their faces,” Janis says.
“Agreed,” Cady says. She’s always found those tacky. “But can we do little ones?” She asks as she brushes a hand over a pack of more reasonably sized headbands.
“If you want, Butterfly,” Janis says, grabbing it and plopping it into their cart. “Have you thought any more about names, by the way?”
“Actually, yeah,” Cady says, resting a hand on her belly. “I want to name mine Leo. Boy or girl, I think it works for both.”
Janis grins happily. “I love it, that’s so cute. Leo Damian or Leo Juliette, it’s perfect.”
Cady comes over for a cuddle. “What about you, have you picked a girl name?”
“No,” Janis whines. “I can’t pick one.”
“You will. You’ll pick something perfect,” Cady comforts. “Let’s go home, I’m sleepy.”
“Okay, Peanut. Let’s go nap,” Janis chuckles.
—————
By Cady’s birthday in February, they’re officially in their new house farther upstate. Damian and Aaron helped with most things, since Cady couldn’t really do much. She packed most of their things and moved the lightest stuff, but she spent most of the move napping.
Damian also helped Janis do their nursery. He had begged to help, and Janis was all too happy for the extra hands. He put together all the white wood furniture Cady had picked while Janis painted the walls.
Cady had only gotten to pick their furniture and textiles, the rest is a birthday surprise Janis has been putting together. She painted the walls Cady’s favorite color, a pale yellow, and designed an accent wall for the one opposite the door to the room. She’d spent weeks doing paintings of different safari animals, and found a company who sized them up into big stickers. By the time everything’s pasted up, it looks like a scene straight out of Kenya.
Damian helps her push the cribs against that wall, with a nightstand in between and a lamp on top. The two-in-one dresser and changing table goes against the opposite wall, and Janis puts the bookshelf and the massive rocking chair in the corner next to it. The other corner has all the baskets full of soft toys and teethers they’ve acquired over the last few months.
Damian hangs the grey curtains patterned with little clouds from the curtain rod, while Janis unrolls a big matching rug. Cady had fallen in love with the little cloud pattern, so all the fabric in the room has it. The rug, sheets, changing table, lampshades, everything.
Janis had also come up with a cute way to make homemade mobiles. She and Cady had stitched little clouds and stuffed them, then hung them with fishing line from dowels that Janis had hot glued together. It’s a perfect touch.
She nearly breaks her neck hanging them over the cribs while Damian adds the soft grey baby blankets to the crib railings, and then the room is complete. Janis looks around as she and Damian catch their breaths, and comes to hug him for comfort.
“Damian, my babies are gonna be in those,” she mumbles anxiously, pointing to the cribs. “I’m not ready to be a mom.”
“Well, you’re not, yet, so that’s good,” Damian teases. “You’re gonna be a great mom, Janjan. You half raised Julie, and you’ve got the right instincts. You’ve taken great care of everything and everyone so far; I would bet all the money I’ve ever seen that you’re gonna be the greatest mom in the world. Well, Caddy is first, but you’re, like, a super duper close second.”
Janis whacks him on the arm affectionately. “Thanks, D. How do you always know what to say?”
“I still watch a lot of Drag Race, Rupaul is very wise,” Damian jokes. “And I just know you. Go get your wife, she should see this.”
Janis squeezes him one more time before leaving to go Cady-hunting. She finds her in their bedroom packing their hospital bag.
“Hey, baby,” she says quietly as she comes in. “Why are you packing the bag now?”
“Because we have no way of knowing when our babies are going to be here and I’d rather not have you do it in a panic while I’m in labor or something,” Cady shrugs. “I just wanted to get it out of the way.”
“Ah. That’s a very good idea,” Janis says. “Can you take a break for a second, though? I have another present for you.”
Cady nods eagerly and reaches for Janis to help her up. “Lemme go pee first.”
Janis grins affectionately as she does her cute little waddle towards the bathroom. Her belly is rapidly approaching the size it would be if she was full term with one baby, and their little ones are constantly pressing on her bladder. Cady’s already tired of it.
She covers Cady’s eyes when she comes back and leads her down the hallway towards the nursery. Janis steers them carefully around Daffodil, who’s trotting along beside them to see what they’re up to.
“Okay, ready?” She asks once they’re in the best place to view the whole room. Cady nods happily, so Janis takes her hands away.
Cady immediately starts crying, spinning around to look at everything. “Oh, Janis, this is perfect!” She heads to the far wall to look at the animals. “Did you paint these?”
“Yeah,” Janis says, coming behind her and lifting her tummy to hold the weight for her for a second. Cady gives a relieved sigh and leans back against her. “But they’re stickers, so once they get too old to want animals on their wall we won’t have to paint over the zebras.”
Cady brushes a hand over an elephant tenderly. “They’re so cute, you did such a good job.” She notices Damian in the chair nearby and reaches for him too. “Thank you guys, I love it.”
“You’re welcome, Cads,” Damian says, hugging her gently. “Happy birthday.”
“Thanks,” Cady chuckles, wiping the tears from under her eyes.
“I did one more thing, go look in the closet,” Janis murmurs, kissing Cady’s neck and sending her on her way. Cady coos at what she finds and is suddenly crying again.
Several teeny tiny denim jackets, hand painted by Janis with different designs. Teddy bears, little moons and stars, all sorts of things. “God, Jay, these are so cute. They can match you!”
“That was the idea,” Janis chuckles, instinctively going to comfort her wife. Cady puts the jacket she’s holding back on its hanger and hooks it back into the closet. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Cady sniffles. She tries to hug Janis, but her belly blocks her most of the way. She manages anyway. “Oh, they’re awake now.”
“Can I feel?” Damian asks shyly. The babies haven’t kicked at all any time he’s been around.
“Of course, here,” Cady says, taking his hand and resting it where she’s feeling the most. “That’s your uncle, babies. We’re all so excited to meet you.”
“Oh my god that’s so weird,” he says in awe as the babies kick against his hand. “Cool, but... whoa.”
“It is a little weird,” Cady giggles. “Little aliens. Man, they’re excited.”
“What are they gonna call you guys? Is Janis mother dearest?” Damian asks jokingly, yelping again as another round of little kicks starts.
Cady and Janis look at each other. “I forgot about that, we can’t both be Mom.”
“I forgot too,” Janis says. “I think you should be Mama.”
“That makes you Mommy,” Cady smiles at her. Janis’ eyes well up when she realizes she’ll have two little beings calling her that soon. Mommy.
“I like it,” she sniffs.
“Aww, lovey,” Cady coos. Damian has returned to his very comfortable seat and is genuinely reading through Goodnight Moon for fun by this point. “God, can you two give it a rest for two seconds? I’m trying to hug your mommy.”
Janis laughs at that, brushing a hand over her tummy and kissing her wife. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Jay.”
—————-
They decide to do Cady’s maternity photos in late March. It’s getting to be Cady’s favorite time of year, it’s just starting to warm up and all the flowers are starting to bloom.
Janis comes home from work the day before to find Cady in tears on the couch. She rushes over, afraid something is wrong or she’s in pain. “Butterfly, what happened?”
“I’ve gained so much weight!” Cady wails, sitting up and crawling into Janis’ lap. Janis is confused, Cady has never been particularly insecure about her body, but the hormones have really been getting to her lately.
“Oh, baby,” Janis hushes. “That’s normal. Does your dress for tomorrow still fit?”
“Yeah,” Cady sobs. “But it’s so much, Janis.”
“Angel, it’s normal for you to have gained weight, I promise,” Janis says desperately. “A good eight of those pounds you’ve gained are just our babies, and they also need nutrients and fluids to grow and be healthy. And the rest of those pounds make up my beautiful, lovely, amazing, strong, adorable, kick-ass wife, who I love very much. I won’t hear any complaints about her body.”
Cady cuddles into her closer with a sniffle before she starts sobbing again. “I love you so much. You’re so good to me, I don’t deserve you!”
“Butterfly, shh, please, I hate when you cry,” Janis says, holding her wife as close as she possibly can. “I love you so, so much. I don’t deserve you. Come here.”
“I’m sorry, these hormones,” Cady sniffles. “Daffy lost her favorite ball under the couch yesterday and I cried for two hours.”
Janis chuckles and kisses her cheek. “I think that’s perfectly reasonable. Did she get it back?”
Daffodil comes trotting down the hallway with her favorite toy in her mouth, seeming to know she’s being discussed. Janis takes it from her and throws it back down the hallway, and she scrambles to run after it.
“Crazy dog,” Janis mumbles affectionately. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Cady sniffles. Elvira comes hopping up on them then, bonking her soft head against their intertwined hands for pets. “Hi, Ellie.”
Elvira purrs happily as they scratch behind her ears, her eyes shutting contently. Once they stop, she opens them again and meows indignantly. She looks to see where their hands have gone, and notices Cady’s resting on her belly.
Ellie inches closer, sniffing at her tummy curiously. She brings a gentle paw up and bats at it a few times, so Cady takes her hands away so she can sniff more. Elvira changes her angle and bats gently at it again.
“Can you smell your siblings in there?” Cady giggles. Elvira suddenly looks up at her with wide eyes and a questioning meow, seeming to realize what’s happening. “Yeah, there’s babies in there! I’m surprised you didn’t notice earlier.”
Janis laughs at their kitty’s reaction. “I wonder if Daffy knows.”
“She doesn’t seem to, I’m not sure,” Cady hums. “Daffodil! Come here, puppies!”
Daffy comes trotting back down the hallway, still occupied with her ball. She approaches them on the couch and drops it on Cady’s lap, wagging her tail hopefully.
“Oh, you still want to play?” Cady chuckles. “Come here first, what’s in here?”
She taps carefully on her belly, getting Daffy’s attention. Thinking there’s a treat, the dog sniffs at her belly curiously. She seems suspicious when she realizes there’s no treat, but keeps sniffing. Her tail starts wagging harder when she realizes, and she licks Cady’s tummy excitedly.
“Yeah, there we go, you guys finally put it together,” Cady laughs. “Okay, here you go, go play.”
“Silly things,” Janis tuts affectionately as Ellie heads off to join Daffodil on her adventures.
“I always wonder what they get up to,” Cady says. “Anyway. Have you picked your girl name yet?”
“No,” Janis whines. “Help me, what names were you thinking about before you picked Leo?”
“Lydia,” Cady says. Janis pulls a face.
“That’s pretty, but I hooked up with a Lydia at a party my sophomore year of high school,” she explains.
“Really?” Cady laughs. “Okay, not that then. Um... Leah, but if we’re doing Leo that would be too close. What about Lucy?”
“Lucy is cute, but...”
“It doesn’t feel right, I thought the same thing,” Cady says. “How about Luna?”
Janis thinks about it. “I like Luna a lot, but it still just… I don’t know.”
“I understand, love. Laura and Lily are the only other ones I came up with,” Cady says.
Janis buries her face in her shoulder. “I’ll think about it, I’m running out of time.”
“It’s only March, love, you still have plenty of time,” Cady says. “Don’t stress about it, whatever you pick will be perfect.”
“I’ll think of something before your baby shower,” Janis says confidently. That gives her a little less than a month. “I should get started on dinner, what are you craving today, babe?”
“Noodles,” Cady says instantly. “And cuddles.”
“Noodles it is,” Janis chuckles. “I’ll cuddle you while we eat.”
“Okay,” Cady says happily. “Oh, can you add grapes to mine, please?”
Janis looks at her in confusion. “What?”
“Grapes.”
“No, I heard you,” Janis says. “Why?”
“I dunno, ask them,” Cady shrugs, pointing to her belly.
“Little weirdos,” Janis chuckles lovingly, leaning down to kiss either side of Cady’s tummy.
“I love you,” Cady says quietly.
Janis comes back up to kiss her before she goes. “I love you too, baby.”
————-
Cady wakes up the next day feeling much better. She’s not quite back to herself, but nowhere near as upset as she was yesterday. She checks the clock and finds that it’s only about ten, so she has a few hours before she even has to start getting ready. They’re not even meeting Regina until four.
Janis is still deep asleep, and so are the pets who are resting at their feet. Daffodil is supposed to be part of the shoot, so Janis tried to give her a bath the night before. It just about worked, but they were both totally exhausted by the end of it. Elvira is just always asleep.
Cady heads to the bathroom and also grabs a book from her shelf to read while she waits for her little family to wake up. Janis makes a sort of snuffling sound in her sleep and scoots closer so she’s pressed against Cady’s leg. Cady just strokes through her hair and keeps reading.
About half an hour later, Janis finally wakes up. “G’morning, Butterfly.”
“Good morning, Bluejay,” Cady chuckles back. “How did you sleep?”
“Good,” Janis yawns. “Your leg is comfy.”
“Thanks,” Cady giggles. “What should we have for breakfast?”
“Whatever you want, we have pretty much everything,” Janis responds. “Eggs, pancakes, fruit.”
“Something with fruit sounds nice,” Cady says. “I’ve been craving a lot of sweet stuff.”
“Don’t people say that your cravings say what you’re meant to be having?” Janis asks.
“Yeah, but everything is kind of contradictory,” Cady says. “I’ve heard that if you crave meat and stuff it’s supposed to be a boy, and sweet stuff means it’s a girl. But I’ve also heard the opposite.”
“Huh,” Janis says. “Okay, come on, I’m hungry.”
-
Several hours later, after both breakfast and lunch, it’s time for them to get ready. They’d decided on periwinkle as the color scheme for their photos. Cady has a soft white dress with periwinkle flowers, and Janis has a coverall jumpsuit the same shade. Daffodil looks very dapper in her matching bandana.
“So what do you think they are?” Cady asks as she brushes out Janis’ hair to style it. Janis had done Cady’s hair and makeup, and now it’s her turn to be pampered. Cady’s hair is just in her natural curls down her back, and she has a flower crown to match her dress. Cady applies a few products to bring back Janis’ natural wave and pins small chunks from the front to the back of her head.
“Think what are what?” Janis asks confusedly.
“The babies. Do you think they’re boys or girls? Biologically, anyway.” Cady clarifies.
“Oh,” Janis says. “I don’t know. I think they might be girls.”
“Really? I’ve been feeling like they’re boys lately,” Cady says. “They kick so much.”
“You’re probably right, then, they are inside you,” Janis chuckles. “We don’t have too much longer until we’ll find out.”
“True,” Cady says. “One more full month.”
“Do you think we’re ready?” Janis asks quietly.
“Oh, absolutely not,” Cady answers. “I don’t think we could ever be ready. But I think we can do it anyway.”
Janis tips her head back once Cady finishes her hair, looking up at her face upside-down. “These babies are making you rather poetic.”
Cady laughs and bends down carefully for a kiss. “I’ve just been spending too much time around you. You read poetry for fun.”
“And you do calculus for fun,” Janis retorts. “God, Damian’s right, our kids are gonna be dorks.”
“And we’ll love them anyway,” Cady says. “Come on, we should go soon.”
————-
They meet Regina at the scheduled time in a massive field of tulips. For whatever reason, Gretchen has connections to a tulip farmer, who agreed to let them take their photos in his fields so long as they didn’t trample any.
Regina is taking practice shots of her dog, Nutmeg, when they arrive. Nutmeg is sitting very patiently and even smiling for the camera.
Daffodil gets very excited when she sees her best friend and auntie, and makes a beeline over to them. Nutmeg breaks away too, and they both head trotting back to Regina after a quick meeting.
“Hi, Daffy, how’s my favorite little retriever?” Regina asks, flopping the dog’s ears around.
“Hey, Gina,” Janis calls as they head up after her.
“Hi! Oh, look at you!” Regina says excitedly, coming to hug them and feel Cady’s tummy. “Okay, I was thinking we should get the shots with Daffodil first so she and Nutmeg can go play, if that works for you?”
“Yeah, we should probably get them while she’s still nearly clean,” Janis says. “Daffy, come here!”
Daffodil comes running over to them for her photos, but looks longingly at her friend the whole time. Luckily, she’s quickly released again to go play, having been on her best behavior the whole time and getting her part out of the way quickly. They got several adorable photos of her sniffing and licking Cady’s tummy.
Regina is an excellent photographer. She lets Cady and Janis just do what comes naturally to them and then moves herself to get a good shot, and makes small talk while she works. They almost forget they’re even having photos taken in the first place.
“Cute! Janis, can you go find the dogs? We should get some of Cady solo and then bring you back when golden hour hits,” Regina says, resting her heavy camera against her shoulder.
“Yep,” Janis says as she tugs her shoes back on. “Come find me if you need anything.”
She heads into the small forest nearby to hunt for their puppies, since they’d gone that way a while ago.
Cady is a little less natural at posing when she’s alone, so Regina guides her through some of the basic ones.
“Do this,” Regina says, demonstrating how Cady should hold her belly. “And then think about how cute your little muffins are going to be.”
Cady does what she’s told, the prompt getting a genuine smile out of her. Who will they look more like? What will their personalities be like? What will they sound like?
“Perfect!” Regina says, letting Cady come see a few snapshots. Cady grins happily when she sees the few she’s allowed to.
“These are great,” she says. “Have you three ever thought about kids?”
“We’ve talked about it,” Regina says quietly. “We all agreed that we’re not ready and probably never will be. We’re just excited to be aunties.”
“You guys can babysit these two anytime,” Cady chuckles. “But I understand. I’m not sure I’m ready either.”
“Cady Sarkisian-Heron, you were designed to be a mother,” Regina insists. “You’ve been taking care of all of us since we were in high school. You’re gonna pop out two cute-ass babies and raise them into great humans.”
“You can’t just say stuff like that, I’m so emotional lately,” Cady sniffles.
Janis makes a reappearance then, emerging from the woods followed by two wet dogs shaking themselves off.
“So, it turns out there’s a river in there,” she pants once she reaches them. “They decided to go fishing.”
“Nutmeg! What are your other moms gonna say?” Regina tuts. “I have towels in my car, hang on.”
She passes the camera to Janis and heads towards where they parked. It’s a very expensive, fancy camera, and Janis holds it like she’s been casually handed the Ark of the Covenant. She hasn’t done much in the way of photography since her classes in college, but she decides she can take a few little snaps of her wife. For practice.
“Hey,” she calls to her wife. Cady turns to look at her over her shoulder. Click. “Guess what?”
Cady turns to look at her fully, tilting her head in confusion. “What?”
“I love you,” Janis says. Cady’s face splits into a wide smile. Click.
“I love you too, Jay,” Cady giggles. “Look at you go, little miss photography.” She comes to lean on her wife’s shoulder.
Regina comes back then with the towels, bending down to dry off the dogs. Cady and Janis kiss sweetly above her. “No being cute while I don’t have my camera, stop it immediately.”
The two of them break apart sheepishly, giggling as Nutmeg shakes the rest of the water off her once she’s been toweled dry. Regina dries Daffy as well, and then stands up and takes her camera back.
“Okay, just a few more of you two now that the sun is starting to go down, and then Gretch and K and I want to take you to dinner?” She says, stretching her spine out.
“Ooh, yay,” Cady says happily. She needs to sit, so Janis leads them to a bench she found while she was hunting for their dogs. It has several hills behind it that are absolutely covered in natural wildflowers, which Cady loves.
They get several with Cady and Janis leaning their heads together, grinning happily at the camera. Then Cady rests her head in Janis’ lap, and Regina gets a few candid shots of the two of them talking while Janis plays with her hair.
“I think we’re done here,” Regina says, looking through a few of the shots she’s gotten. “I’ll edit them a bit and get them to you in a couple weeks or so.”
“Thanks Reggie,” Janis says as they both hug her. She tenses slightly at the affections and huffs indignantly at the name, but does return the hug. “Do not call me that. But you’re so welcome.”
————-
Cady and Janis both spend a majority of the month of April in tears. Cady cries because she’s in a great deal of pain. Her body is shifting in ways it wasn’t really designed to, and she can’t take any painkillers that actually work because they might hurt the twins. Janis cries because she can’t stand seeing her wife in so much pain.
“Butterfly, can I do anything to help you?” Janis asks desperately as her wife lies weeping in her lap, where she’s been for most of the day.
“The heating pad? And rub my back?” Cady sniffles. “I just want to be held, mostly.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Janis says, tucking Cady in carefully with their favorite blankets and running off to the kitchen. Cady can hear the microwave whirring as she heats up the pad.
Janis comes back carrying their heating pad and a mug of Cady’s favorite tea, with the perfect amount of milk and sugar. She hands it to Cady as she sits up, then wraps the heating pad around her shoulders and pulls her close.
“I’m sorry you’re hurting so much, baby,” Janis says softly, rubbing her lower back gently.
“It’ll be worth it,” Cady sniffles. Janis thinks she might be feeling better, but her lower lip starts trembling and she bursts into sobs anew. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“Oh, Peanut, it’s okay,” Janis comforts. Cady’s been nesting, stressed about making sure everything is clean and soft for their babies to come home to. Janis forgot to unload the dishwasher and Cady snapped a little. “I get it. There’s a lot happening to you right now, I know you didn’t mean it.”
“I’m still sorry. I didn’t mean it and I shouldn’t have done it,” Cady sniffles. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Kitkat. I love you so much,” Janis says. “Baby, be honest with me, can you handle having your baby shower tomorrow? I can call D and have them move it to another day.”
“I’ll be okay,” Cady sniffs again. “We don’t know how much longer we have until the babies come, and I miss everyone. I’m excited.”
“I’m excited too, Sunshine. We get a whole day just to celebrate you,” Janis says, working her way up to massage her shoulders.
“And you,” Cady insists. “You’ve done so much for us the entire time I’ve been pregnant. I couldn’t have done this without you. I can’t wait to see you be a mommy.”
“I can wait a little longer,” Janis jokes. “I’m still terrified. But I’m so excited to meet them.”
“I am too. I love you so much, Jay.”
“I love you too, Sunshine.”
-
They spend the rest of the evening cuddling, and Janis eventually falls asleep halfway through a movie. Cady cuddles her as close as she can around her very large tummy and plays with her hair.
She almost jumps out of her skin when Janis suddenly sits bolt upright. “Layla.” Is the first thing out of her mouth.
“What?” Cady chuckles affectionately.
“Layla,” Janis repeats. “I wanna call mine Layla if they’re girls.”
“That’s beautiful, my love. Layla Reese,” Cady says. “I told you you’d pick something perfect.”
“Luca and Leo or Layla and Leo,” Janis says. She leans down to kiss each side of Cady’s belly. “That’s you two. You have your names now. Mama and I can’t wait to meet you.”
Cady smiles contently down at her. They’d decided earlier that baby A would be either Luca or Layla, and baby B would be Leo. “Leo’s up here,” she says, guiding Janis’ hand to where they were in their last ultrasound. “And Luca or Layla is over here.” Janis kisses each spot several times.
“I love you so much, little ones,” Janis whispers. “I can’t wait to finally hold you.” Luca or Layla suddenly kicks against her cheek. “Hey, don’t kick me!”
“They know your voice,” Cady giggles. “They only kick when you talk to them, whenever I try they won’t do anything.”
“You’re their mama, you’re gonna be their favorite parent for, like, a minimum of five years,” Janis says. Leo kicks in agreement. “See?”
“I love you, loser,” Cady giggles.
“I love you too, dork,” Janis retaliates.
————-
Janis is awoken the next morning by Damian entering their house in a flurry, with far too much energy for ten in the morning. She pads down the stairs in her pajamas to shut him up.
“Damian, shush, Caddy’s still asleep,” Janis says.
“Oh, oops,” Damian whispers. “How is she?”
“She’s fine. She’s having a rough go of it lately, she’s in a lot of pain, but she’s managing really well,” Janis responds as she’s wrapped in a hug.
“Poor thing. Those babies need to come out soon and give her a break,” Damian says, adjusting his ‘best gay uncle ever’ shirt.
Janis chuckles. “We need them to stay in a little longer, it’s still way too early.”
“When is she due again?” Damian asks as he picks his box of decorations back up.
“June, technically, but it’s dangerous if they get too big, so she’ll be induced sometime in May if they don’t come on their own by then,” Janis says.
“Wow, only a month? Shit,” Damian says. “I’m so ready to cuddle these babies.”
“I am too,” Janis chuckles. “I’m terrified, but I just want to meet them. Where’s your boy toy, by the way?”
“He’s coming later, and Reggie said she’d be here in about ten minutes,” Damian says. “We wanted to make sure we have enough time to set up.”
“Nice,” Janis says. “Can I do anything?”
“Absolutely not, this is your day,” Damian says, batting her hands away from his precious box of treasures. “Go get your wife.”
Janis heads back to her bedroom obediently to wake up her wife. Cady looks so much more peaceful when she’s asleep, Janis really doesn’t want to disturb her. She lets her stay asleep for a while longer before she decides to kiss her awake.
“Wake up, Butterfly. It’s your day,” Janis purrs softly.
Cady yawns and rubs at her eyes like a cat. “Jayjay? Timessit?”
“About ten thirty,” Janis responds, looking at the clock. Apparently she’d let her wife sleep in a little longer than she’d thought. Even asleep, Cady is easy to lose track of time with.
“Ten thirty? Why didn’t you wake me up earlier, it’s so late!” Cady says with much more energy, trying to roll herself out of bed.
“Because there’s two humans growing inside you and you need to rest,” Janis responds, grabbing her hands to help her up. “Everything’s fine. Damian’s downstairs getting everything ready and Reggie will be here to help him in a few minutes. There’s nothing you need to worry about today.”
“Okay,” Cady breathes, calming herself down. “Do we have snuggle time?”
“I made sure of it,” Janis says. “But you should eat first. Babies need calories.”
“Okay,” Cady says, sounding much less frazzled. She follows her wife down to the kitchen, but stops to greet Damian in the living room. “Hi, Dame.”
Damian turns around from where he’s hanging a banner up. “Hey, Cads! How are you?”
“Exhausted,” Cady responds with a yawn. “But this looks great!”
“Thanks,” Damian says. “Go get your wife, I got this.”
Janis makes them some quick eggs and toast with fruit on the side. Cady gets a lot of extra fruit. Regina shows up in the middle of their breakfast, also having several boxes of activities and decorations.
“Hey, Gina,” Cady greets from her spot on the couch.
“Hey, Cady,” Regina responds, trying to catch her breath as she rests down a heavy box. “Christ.”
“You guys got a lot of stuff,” Janis comments around a mouthful of egg. “We didn’t invite that many people.”
“Damian went absolutely ape shit at Party City last week,” Regina says. “Wants to give you guys a rager before you have too many babies to party anymore.”
“Hell yeah,” Damian cheers as he comes down from his stepladder to check that his banner is even.
“Oh, Christ,” Janis groans. She’d let the two of them run wild, she just hopes they didn’t blow too much of her money.
“Sounds fun,” Cady cheers. “Let’s go get dressed.”
Janis kisses her cheek and takes their empty plates into the kitchen before following her wife back upstairs. The color scheme for the party overall is yellow and green, since Janis and Cady didn’t want to buy too much into the whole blue and pink thing. However, the invitations did say to wear pink or blue depending on what you think the babies are, which they both think is cute.
Cady wears the same dress she wore for her maternity photos, since it’s soft and light, and the flowers are close enough to blue. Janis still doesn’t have much in the way of pink clothing, but she borrowed a pink button down from Damian to go over her black ensemble.
Once their hair and teeth are brushed and some makeup is applied, they head downstairs. Regina and Damian made a lot of progress while they were getting ready. Streamers are hanging from the walls, the tables are decorated, and Regina is even stuffing a piñata.
“Reggie?” Janis asks. “Why the fresh hell did you buy a baby shaped piñata?”
“It was the only baby-related one they had!” Regina insists. “I know it’s bad.”
Cady laughs so hard at the idea of whacking a cardboard baby with sticks that she nearly falls over, Janis has to grab her.
“That’s great, I love it,” Cady giggles, wiping tears of laughter from under her eyes. “This all looks so good!”
Damian comes in from their backyard, where he’s been decorating and setting up the outdoor activities. “Why, thank you!”
They finish a few minutes later and take the two of them on a short tour before the guests come. Cady starts giggling at the games they’ve come up with. They’ve changed ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ to something along the lines of ‘get the spoon in the baby’s mouth’, with velcro spoons to attach to a large cartoon baby.
Janis gets a chuckle out of a water balloon toss, called ‘don’t break the water’. There’s also a few calmer things, like decorating play-doh babies or leaving a message on a poster with one of the maternity photos in the center.
“Also, if you’re okay with it, I thought it would be fun to try some old wives’ tales since you’re not doing a gender reveal,” Regina says once they’ve seen everything. “Just the normal ones like the ring test and stuff, not the ones with, like, your pee or anything.”
Cady laughs. “Yeah, that sounds fun. This is amazing, thank you guys.”
-
Janis and Cady greet all their guests, which is mostly just their old friends from high school and college who could make it to New York, and any family who could make the trip.
Cady is surprised when her cousin Emma comes in, Janis decided to surprise her. Emma brought her wife Alyssa, and their son James.
“Oh my god, hi!” Cady says happily, hugging both of them as tight as she can. They still live in Indiana and haven’t been able to visit for a few years. “Hi James!”
James is a little over a year old, and just waves as he cuddles shyly into Alyssa’s shoulder. Janis looks at him for a moment. Soon she’ll have her own babies to cuddle like that.
It turns out Cady had a similar surprise, since Janis’ cousin Veronica enters soon after, flanked by all three of her girlfriends. Janis remembers that one is technically her wife, but she can’t remember which Heather married who.
“Vera!” She calls happily, running to hug her cousin. “You didn’t tell me you were coming!”
“I told Cady,” Veronica says. “And obviously I’m coming, my favorite cousin is having a baby!”
“Two, actually,” Janis says.
“Shit, dude,” Veronica responds. “I forgot about that. Congratulations!”
“Thanks,” Janis chuckles. Veronica hugs her back for a second and then leads her girlfriends to check out the party. “This is bad.”
“What’s bad?” Cady asks worriedly.
“I can’t tell the Heathers apart,” Janis says anxiously, chewing a thumbnail. “I memorized the colors they wear, but now two are in pink and the other is in blue.”
“Oh,” Cady chuckles. “Well, you’re in luck, I memorized the hair in case of something like this. Chandler is the one Veronica married, she’s got red hair, and she’s the other one in blue. McNamara is blonde and she’s one of the ones in pink, and then Duke has dark hair and she’s the other pink one.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Butterfly,” Janis chuckles. “I think that’s everyone.”
Cady closes the door and pokes out a hand, which Janis takes with a squeeze and a kiss to her knuckles. They head into the party hand in hand.
—————
Several hours later, the party is over and Cady is sound asleep against her wife, surrounded by all sorts of adorable gifts. Janis wishes she had the strength to carry her up to bed, but carrying three people is too much even for her.
Regina and Damian are both spending the night in the guest rooms, so Cady and Janis don’t have to worry about taking down any of the decorations. Janis hugs both goodnight and then wakes her wife, leading her up the stairs to bed.
They had a good day.
—————-
The next day is very bad.
Cady wakes Janis up around nine in tears. “Baby, what’s the matter?” Janis asks in concern.
“Something’s not right, Jay,” Cady sobs. “I can tell. They haven’t kicked since last night. They-they always kick in the mornings, something’s wrong.”
“Hey, I’m sure everything’s fine,” Janis soothes, trying to hide her own panic. “I’ll call the doctor and see if we can get you in for a scan.”
“Okay,” Cady sniffles.
-
The doctor tells them to come in right away for an emergency ultrasound, which doesn’t make them feel any better. Cady is desperately holding back tears and clinging to Janis’ hand like a lifeline.
The doctor’s brow quickly furrows as the babies come into view, and Janis almost collapses in worry. Something isactually wrong.
“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” the doctor says in that tone of voice. “You’ve developed twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, from what I can see here it seems to be about a stage three.”
“How-how bad is that? What does that mean?” Janis asks shakily, trying to comfort her wife and herself at the same time.
“Before I explain, I don’t want you to panic too much. There are steps we can take, you have a good chance of having two healthy babies,” the doctor prefaces. That’s never good.
“But?” Janis chokes.
“But, stage three means that one or both of your babies’ hearts are affected,” the doctor says apologetically. She flips the monitor at an angle so they can all see. It’s obvious just looking that something isn’t right. “Here. TTTS just means that the twins aren’t sharing blood vessels evenly. Baby A has too much blood and fluids, things like that, going to them, and B isn’t getting enough.”
“But are they okay?” Cady cries desperately. “Are my babies alive?”
“Yes,” the doctor responds calmingly. Cady gives a sob of hope and clings somehow tighter to Janis. “But I am worried. Baby B’s heart is very weak. If we don’t take action soon you run the risk of losing them both. I’m going to send you for a corrective procedure right away.”
“Procedure? Like… surgery?” Janis asks, her face blanching. How did everything turn around like this?
“Nothing terribly invasive. Just a laser to sever some of the shared vessels, she won’t even have to be opened up,” the doctor says, taking a few pictures and ending the scan. “It’s not without its risks, but it really is your best bet here.”
“What are the risks?” Janis demands.
“Jay,” Cady says gently. Janis looks at her and takes a deep breath.
“Sorry.” Janis apologizes.
“It’s perfectly understandable. Giving news like this is the worst part of my job, I get all sorts of reactions,” the doctor says calmly. “To your wife, there is almost no risk. However, there is a chance that it will be too traumatic for the babies and you’ll lose them both.”
“No,” Cady sobs desperately. “They have to- I need them to be okay.”
“The chances of that are very low,” the doctor comforts. “With the surgery, your chances of both being born healthy is about seventy-five percent. If we do nothing, their chances of survival drop to about ten percent.”
Cady dissolves into broken sobs behind Janis, who is hollowly trying to process all the information she’s been bombarded with over the last few minutes.
“I don’t care about the risks to me, just save them,” Cady weeps. Janis pulls her up and cradles her so tightly, letting her own tears drip onto Cady’s hair as her wife cries into her shoulder. The doctor leaves with a quiet apology to send off the referral, leaving them alone to process. “Janis, I-I-I can’t lose them. They have to be okay, I can’t-I need them to be okay.”
“They will be,” Janis says with false confidence. “We-we’ll get you the surgery, everything’s gonna be fine.”
They both know there’s always a chance something will go wrong, but for now they need to believe that everything will be okay.
—————
The next day, Cady is prepped and readied for the surgery. Janis can only be there in the beginning, as she’s put under anesthesia. Cady is crying and clinging to her desperately. Janis knows she can’t do anything. She’s never felt more tortured.
“I love you so much, it’s gonna be okay,” she murmurs, kissing Cady’s forehead as she’s wheeled away. She’s absolutely terrified herself. Janis spent the night before frantically researching TTTS and was horrified to discover they were only two stages away from their worst nightmare. The fifth and final stage is the death of one or both babies.
Janis heads back to the waiting room, past where all their friends and family are waiting for news, and out the door into the parking lot. Everyone looks at each other in concern, but Damian is the one to get up and follow her.
He doesn’t say anything, just follows after her while still maintaining a bit of distance. Eventually she reaches a sort of garden area and turns around to him with tears streaming down her face.
Damian reaches for her, but Janis just starts pacing, letting out choked sobs every time she pivots. Damian finds a bench and lets her get it out.
“It’s not supposed to be like this!” Janis screams eventually, startling some exhausted looking medical student walking by, along with a few birds. “Everything was supposed to be okay this time! Why-why is it not okay?”
She hunches over with the force of her cries, and Damian rushes to wrap her in a hug. Janis clings to him desperately and sobs into his shoulder.
“It’s not-it’s not fair,” she weeps quietly. “It’s not fair.”
“You’re right, it’s not fair,” Damian says gently. “You’ve both been through too much already, this isn’t fair. But it’s gonna be okay. One way or another. We’re all here for you.”
Janis doesn’t respond, she just bursts into another round of sobs. She continues weeping desperately until she tires herself out after a while, so Damian hands over some tissues.
“You ready to go back in?” He asks quietly as she blows her nose. She nods hollowly.
“I should. I need to be there for news,” she whispers.
“If you’re not ready that’s okay,” Damian says. “Someone would text us if they heard anything, and we have time before she wakes up. We can wait here if you need more time.”
“No, I-I need to be there for her,” Janis mumbles. “I’m fine.”
They both know damn well that nothing is fine here, but Damian nods and leads her back to the waiting room.
-
After what feels like an eternity, the surgeon comes out with an intern that Janis doesn’t recognize. The intern calls for the ‘father’ of the Sarkisian-Heron babies, and Janis dashes over.
“Is she okay? Did they make it? Where is she?” She asks desperately.
“Father only,” the intern snaps.
“She’s my wife! My wife just had surgery because our babies might be dying, I don’t have time to deal with your petty, homophobic bitch ass. Where the hell is my wife?” Janis calls.
The surgeon steps up with a weak grin then, gesturing for Janis to follow her. “Everything went exactly as planned, there were no complications. Your wife and children are completely fine.”
Janis gives a heavy, shaky sigh of relief, feeling like the drama of the last day or so is escaping her chest. She’s led back to where Cady is resting, going to sit by her wife’s sleeping form and taking her hand gently.
“She should wake shortly,” the surgeon says quietly. “And my apologies for Sarah’s behavior. I would also like to thank you, I’ve been waiting for someone to call her out so I can report her ass to HR.”
Janis gives a weak grin, the closest to a smile she’s come in more than twenty-four hours. She looks back down to her wife and kisses her knuckles gently. “Happily. Thank you, for-for saving them. And her.”
“Just doing my job,” the surgeon replies. “We’ll be back to check on everything in a few minutes.”
Janis nods and the doctor leaves. Cady stirs a few moments later, her eyelids fluttering before she finally opens them with a good bit of effort.
“Are they okay?” She whispers, squeezing Janis’ hand lightly.
Janis nods and brushes tears from her own face. “Yeah, baby, they’re okay. The doctor said everything went perfectly, there were no complications. Our babies are both fine.”
“Thank goodness,” Cady says with tears brimming in her eyes. “I couldn’t handle losing either of them now.”
“I couldn’t either, Peanut,” Janis says quietly. “But they’re okay, we don’t even have to think about that now.”
“I love you,” Cady whispers.
“I love you too, Sunshine.”
——————
Cady is officially cleared to go home six days later, and is to be on strict bed rest until the babies are born. She’s taken an emergency medical leave from work which will stretch into her maternity leave.
But, in typical Cady fashion, she didn’t want to leave her work, even temporarily, without a goodbye. She wrote notes during her very long stay in the hospital, to all of her students as well as the substitute professor who would be taking over for her in her absence. Janis and Damian delivered them and cleaned her office out for her while Cady relaxed at home.
Janis, on the other hand, still has to go to work until her ‘paternity’ leave kicks in.
“Jayjay, it’s gonna be okay,” Cady comforts a nearby panicking Janis. “Everything is good now, I’m gonna be fine. And Damian offered to come keep me company, I’m not going to be alone.”
“But what if you go into labor and I’m not there? Or something else happens?” Janis asks worriedly.
“Jellybean, I’m not even having braxton-hicks contractions yet, these babies aren’t coming for a while,” Cady chuckles. “But you won’t be far, I’ll call you right away if something happens.”
“Okay,” Janis mutters, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Go teach those kids,” Cady replies, shooing her out the door from bed after a quick kiss.
Cady has a lovely day watching musicals with Damian and cuddling their pets. Janis texts periodically to make sure everything is okay.
And it is.
-
They keep this system all throughout May. Their families have long since left back to Illinois, but at least one of their friends spends the day at their house with Cady so she doesn’t get lonely, and to keep her safe if anything happens.
Until, in a beautiful fit of irony, Cady goes into labor on Mother’s day.
She and Janis had a lazy Sunday, celebrating their last Mother’s day with just the two of them with a long snuggle session and waffles for dinner.
Cady started feeling off at around six in the evening, but played it off as being uncomfortable due to the fact that she’s a small, heavily pregnant woman. Janis pampers her with lots of loving kisses and nice back rubs. Cady tries to focus on them instead of the bursts of pain popping up periodically.
She’s concerned when they don’t stop. Janis heads to bed around eleven, but Cady stays behind an extra few minutes to grab a snack. She’s Googled the difference between phantom and real contractions, and learned that phantom ones tend to go away after eating something.
So, Cady has some veggies and lets Daffodil out for a late-night frolic through the backyard. She’s finished her carrots by the time the puppy comes back to paw at the door. The contractions don’t seem to have stopped. Uh oh.
Daffodil leads her up the stairs to bed, so Cady follows and lies down next to her wife. Maybe sleep will help. Elvira is already there, and nuzzles in between both of them while Daffy takes her usual place on the ground beside them.
-
Cady is woken up no more than a half-hour later by a much more severe pain. On instinct, she reaches for Janis’ hand to squeeze.
“Ow,” Janis groans tiredly. “Whassamatter?”
“I’m in labor,” Cady says quietly, the realization finally hitting. Janis nearly clonks their heads together as she sits bolt upright.
“Are you serious?” She asks, rubbing her eyes.
“Yeah,” Cady says, trying to hold back anxious tears.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Does it hurt?” Janis asks in concern, stroking a hand over Cady’s cheek.
“No,” Cady whimpers. “Well, yeah. But… I’m scared, Jay.”
“Of what? Everything’s gonna be fine, we’ll take care of you,” Janis says gently.
“They’re not ready, Janis,” Cady sobs. “I’m only thirty-four weeks, it’s too early. They’re gonna be too small, they’re not… they’re not gonna be healthy.”
“Oh, Peanut,” Janis frowns. “They’re gonna be fine, I promise. They might be a little small, yeah, and they might need some stuff to help them out for a while. But it’ll be better for them to be out, they’ll be easier to monitor and help, and it’ll be easier to make sure all of you are healthy.”
“But what if they don’t look like you?” Cady wails suddenly.
“Then they’ll look like you, and they’ll be perfect,” Janis comforts. “Shh, angel, please. Everything’s gonna be fine.”
Cady sniffles and leans into her shoulder. She winces and scrambles for Janis’ hand again when another contraction hits.
“How long have you been having contractions, baby?” Janis asks, wincing but not complaining at the series of pops her knuckles give.
Cady looks at the clock, it’s just a few minutes past midnight. “Six hours,” she says sheepishly.
“You what? Butterfly,” Janis demands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know at first, they weren’t that bad,” Cady replies as Janis goes to put clothes on. It’s just leggings and a sweatshirt, but is slightly more presentable than her pajamas.
“Okay, tell me when your next one starts,” Janis says, holding her hand gently and bringing up a timer on her phone. Cady does, and they time the next few. They’re long and getting closer together. “I think it’s baby day, Cads, we should go to the hospital.”
“Okay,” Cady sniffs again. “God, I can’t wait to not be pregnant anymore.”
Janis laughs as she hands Cady some clothes to change into and grabs their bag. “I don’t blame you, Peanut. You’re almost in the clear.”
Cady changes clothes carefully and takes Janis’ hand to be pulled up. “Baby time.”
“I can’t wait,” Janis says, kissing her sweetly before they head to the car.
Cady texts their families on the way so they can plan out their travels, and then texts her friends to let them know as well.
spacecadet: Hey, turns out it’s labor day! We’ll keep you guys updated :D
damecupboard: AAAAAH NO WAY
ilikemouses: but it’s mother’s day???
georgewashington: She means the babies are coming, honey.
ilikemouses: oh
ilikemouses: oh!! yay! 📷📷📷📷📷📷
fetchen: yay!! we’ll go get daffy in the morning!!
a-aron: and dame and i will get ellie. good luck guys!!
“Okay, everyone knows. Our parents found a flight for tomorrow morning, somehow, and Julie’s already in town for work,” Cady says.
“Oh, is she? She didn’t tell me,” Janis says, turning into the hospital parking lot. “God, she’s gonna lose her shit when she meets them.”
“Just make sure she’s sitting before you let her hold them,” Cady chuckles affectionately.
“That’s a good plan,” Janis says. “Let’s go get you some drugs.”
“Yay,” Cady says weakly, following her to the doors.
-
Since they’re not an ambulance and it’s after hours, the doors are locked. Janis pushes a buzzer she finds, and jumps a little when a voice buzzes out from the speakers, asking what they need.
“Um… we’d like to come have our babies, please,” Janis says, not knowing how else to respond. Cady bursts out laughing behind her as the doors click and then swing open.
“You’re so cute, oh my god,” she giggles. “Oh, I shouldn’t laugh, ow.”
A small team lead them to where they need to be and help get Cady hooked up to all the monitors and finally pumped full of painkillers. She pulls a face when she has to don a hospital gown, and it only deepens when she finds out she can’t take it off until the babies are born to keep everything sanitary.
She and Janis are left alone once everything is sorted and instructed to try and get some sleep. Cady settles in and looks over to the monitors, watching her babies’ heartbeats pinging steadily.
Janis lies on her uncomfortable cot in the corner, and they both try to sleep.
-
By three in the morning, it’s clear sleep is not coming easily for either of them.
“Jayjay? Are you awake?” Cady pipes up.
“Yeah,” Janis yawns. “What’s the matter?”
“I can’t sleep,” Cady grumbles. “Will you stay with me?”
Janis rolls out of her spot and comes over to her. She knows she’s really not supposed to, but neither of them are used to trying to sleep apart. She shifts all the wires and tubes carefully and lies on her side, while Cady inches herself over to the other side of her bed.
“They’ll probably be here in the morning,” Cady whispers, resting a hand on her belly for what could very well be the last time.
Janis nods against her shoulder and links their fingers together on top of her wife’s stomach. “I can’t wait to meet them. And hold them.”
Cady leans her head against her wife’s. “And I can’t wait to see you hold them. I love you.”
“I love you so much,” Janis responds. “You’re doing such a good job. I can’t believe you’re my wife.”
“Thanks,” Cady chuckles. “I’m so lucky to have you. Goodnight, Jay.”
“Goodnight, Butterfly.”
————-
They manage to sleep until about nine the next morning, when Cady wakes up with a pained gasp.
“What is it?” Janis asks frantically. The monitor shows that the babies’ vitals are still fine, but the one that tracks Cady’s contractions has suddenly gotten a massive spike. “Oh. Breathe, baby, you can do it. I’m here, you got this.”
“Shuck,” Cady breathes when it comes to a blessed end. “They’re gonna be here soon. Like, really soon. Ow.”
Sure enough, the doctor comes in to check Cady out, having been alerted by the large spike. A nurse gives her another smaller round of pain medication in the meantime. “I’d say we have about an hour,” the doctor says.
“Only one?” Janis squeaks in fright. “I’m not ready.”
“Oh, you’re not ready?” Cady teases. “Come here.”
Janis comes to lean into her wife, ironically needing comfort herself now. “What if they don’t like me?”
Cady laughs. “Janis, you’re their mommy. They’re gonna love you. They already do, they know your voice. They’ll learn your touch and your smell and what you look like. They’re gonna love you.”
“I should be comforting you,” Janis whines.
“It’s okay, my love. I get it,” Cady says softly. “But yeah, I could use you right now.”
Janis takes a deep breath and calms herself. She’s had seven months to prepare. She gets to meet her kids today. Cady needs her.
“Okay,” she breathes, her voice still a couple octaves higher than normal. “I’m okay, we got this.”
“Yes, we do,” Cady chuckles. “Panic later, I need you.”
“Oh, I definitely will,” Janis whispers to herself, coming to give Cady hands to squeeze and lots of moral support.
Cady’s water breaks after another fifteen minutes, and it’s officially go time.
————-
At exactly ten in the morning on May 14, 2029, their first baby enters the world. The second twin follows three minutes later, and Cady collapses back against the bed with a final pained cry.
“Are they okay?” She asks weakly as two loud cries split the air. Janis brushes a hand over her cheek and leans down to kiss her forehead.
“They’re perfect, baby, you did it. Look,” she sobs happily. Cady tips her head up to see the doctors holding two tiny, squirming babies. “Those are our daughters.”
“Girls?” Cady whispers with a sob of her own. She reaches out for them and brushes a gentle hand over each small head.
“Mmhmm. Two beautiful baby girls,” Janis replies happily. She gets to cut the cords, and her hands are shaking so hard she can barely manage it. Cady reaches out again, wanting to hold her babies, but they’re whisked away before she can make contact.
“No,” she cries desperately, trying to sit up to get them back.
“Baby, hey, it’s okay,” Janis hushes gently, resting her back down. “They just need to be checked out and then you’ll get them back, I promise. They’re right over there.”
“Go get them,” Cady pleads as the doctors get to work patching her up. “Please, Jay, go make sure they’re okay. I’m fine.”
“Okay,” Janis says, kissing her forehead one last time before she heads to see her children. The older one, Layla, is being weighed and measured while Leo is cleaned up. Janis looks on in wonder as her babies cry. She can’t totally see their features, but they clearly got her dark hair, and a lot of it.
Leo’s lungs are slightly weak when they evaluate her, so she’s quickly fitted for breathing tubes. They both get hooked up to monitors to make sure they’re absolutely safe, then are put into their first diapers and tiny little hats, and are finally tucked back into Cady’s hospital gown for skin-to-skin contact.
“Oh, hi,” Cady breathes happily when she has her babies back. She kisses each of their foreheads gently. “I’m your mama. Welcome to the world, little ones.”
Janis smiles through her tears and leans down to kiss Cady’s temple. The twins quiet once they’re back with Cady and can hear her heartbeat again.
“God, Jay, they’re so tiny,” Cady whispers.
“They’re perfect, baby,” Janis replies. “You did such a good job.”
Cady doesn’t say anything, just leans her head against Janis’ and looks down at the babies resting on her chest. She can’t really tell whose features they have from this angle, but she smiles when she sees the tufts of dark hair peeking out from under the soft beanies.
Suddenly, she feels tears soak into her shoulder again and hears Janis sniffle quietly.
“What’s the matter?” Cady asks quietly, concerned for her wife.
“I love them so much,” Janis sobs quietly. “They’re here now, and I can… touch them, and hold them, and-and see them. They’re so beautiful.”
“Aww, Jay,” Cady coos. “You girls haven’t even been here for fifteen minutes and you’re already making Mommy cry.”
Janis gives a watery chuckle and reaches to brush a tender finger over each baby’s soft cheek. “Their skin is so soft.”
“They’re… fresh babies,” Cady surmises as an explanation. Janis laughs again. “Don’t laugh at me, I still have baby brain.”
“Sorry,” Janis chuckles. “I love you so much. I’m so proud of you.”
Cady turns her head for a kiss and smiles happily as Janis presses their foreheads together afterwards. “I love you, Jay. I’m so lucky I get to have these little squishies with you.”
Janis tries to hold back more tears and kisses her wife again. They continue sharing ‘I love you’s and cooing over their daughters as Janis tenderly cleans the sweat from Cady’s face and brushes out her hair, then re-ties her ponytail and helps get her out of her hellacious hospital gown and into the comfy pajamas she’d packed.
“Much better,” Cady sighs happily when she’s back in familiar fabric and not covered in sweat. “We should let everyone know they’re here, where’s your phone?”
Janis grabs it from its forgotten place on her bed and comes to take a picture of her wife and daughters. Cady smiles happily and holds the babies up slightly so they’re visible.
Janis makes sure nothing important can be seen and sends it along to their families, and then a different message to their friends.
gaylien: Sent a picture: y’all have some mcfucking NIECES
reginald: Janis, really? Your wife just gave birth and that’s how you let us know? Congratulations, though, guys. They’re adorable.
gaylien: nobody here has gotten any decent sleep in a solid 24 hours can you blame me
damecupboard: Oh my god they’re so precious!!! Good job Caddy!
fetchen: aaaaahhhhhh yay!!!!!!! congratulations!!!
ilikemouses: yay babies!!! congrats guys! 📷📷
a-aron: congratulations! they’re so cute!!
damecupboard: Jan what are their names
reginald: Oh, yeah, we want deets!
gaylien: layla is the bigger one on caddy’s left and leo is the little one with the breathing tubes
gaylien: i’ll give you guys more pics and info later, i’m gonna go back to my family
damecupboard: Wow Janis used a comma
Janis laughs and comes back to Cady’s side to show her the text thread. Cady smiles at everyone’s reactions and laughs when she reads the last message.
“You girls already have so many people who love you,” she says softly, carefully adjusting Leo’s nose tubes.
“So many,” Janis agrees quietly, still in awe at the beings they’ve brought into the world.
“Do you wanna hold them now? It’s been long enough,” Cady asks. Janis nods and goes to grab the soft baby blankets on a counter nearby to swaddle them with. Cady hands Layla over first, and Janis wraps her up expertly. She practiced on Elvira, so she’s a total pro by now. Cady takes her little burrito back and hands over Leo for her turn.
Janis hands her back once she’s been carefully swaddled, still a little anxious about holding them. Cady cradles both in her left arm and looks down at their faces. Janis leans in next to her and looks as well, trying to puzzle out their features.
“They look just like you,” Cady says happily. “Your hair, your face shape, your lips.”
“But your nose,” Janis replies as Cady runs a tender finger down the bridge of Leo’s. “And your ears.”
Cady is about to repeat the brushing motion on Layla’s tiny nose when the baby suddenly gives an adorable sneeze and both sets of eyes fly open in surprise.
“Oh my goodness, bless you,” Cady giggles. “Oh, Jay, look.”
Janis does, looking down to see two pairs of wide crystal blue eyes blinking up at them curiously. She grins excitedly and gives an involuntary squeal.
“Your eyes,” she says happily. Cady leans up for a kiss before gesturing for Janis to hold her arms out. Janis does, and Cady rests Layla carefully in her right and Leo in her left. Janis feels tears start pouring down her face again as she holds her babies for the first time. “Hi, sweethearts. I’m your mommy. God, look at you. I love you so much.”
Layla yawns suddenly, showing off her tiny pink tongue. Janis giggles and carefully brings her up for a forehead kiss.
“Am I that boring already?” She asks as the baby drifts off in her hold. “Looks like it.”
“That one’s still looking at you,” Cady chuckles, pointing to Leo. Sure enough, when Janis looks, her smaller daughter is still awake and looking around the room curiously. Janis brings her up for a kiss too.
“My little bumblebee,” Janis says happily.
“Bumblebee?” Cady chuckles affectionately.
“She was baby B. So now she’s baby bee. Baby bumblebee,” Janis explains. Cady grins widely and gives a coo when she hears it.
“You’re so cute,” she says. “What about Layla?”
Janis looks back to her other daughter to see what name suits her. “Ladybug.”
“Perfect,” Cady murmurs happily, watching her little family. Janis notices her stifle a yawn and watches her eyes start fluttering slowly.
“You should rest, Butterfly,” Janis says quietly. “You’ve already done a lot today.”
“I don’t wanna miss anything,” Cady says. “You’re so good with them already.”
“They’ll still be here when you wake up,” Janis replies. “We get plenty of time with them, now.”
Cady nods with a smile and shuts her eyes, drifting off quickly after her morning of hard work. Janis is left with the babies in her arms. Carefully, she stands up and hooks her fingers around all the monitors and devices the twins are hooked up to, and wheels everything over to the chair in the corner.
Layla wakes again at all the commotion, so by the time Janis is settled she has both twins awake and blinking heavily at her. She shifts Leo over so they’re both in the same arm again to see both at the same time.
“Hello, sweet girls,” she murmurs softly so she doesn’t wake Cady up. “I love you so much. You’re so incredible already. I’m so excited to see who you turn out to be.”
She takes the moment of them being awake and relatively calm to see if there’s any differences in their features. Janis can tell they’re almost perfectly identical, but there do seem to be a few key things.
For one, to Janis’ delight, they got Cady’s freckles. Just a few, speckled over their cheeks and noses. And, their freckles are in different places. Leo has one just on the tip of her nose, and Layla has one almost perfectly beneath her left pupil.
Leo also seems to have longer hair, and Janis grins when she spies the slightest hint of a curl to it. It’s too early to tell, yet, but she hopes they have curly hair like Cady’s.
And then there’s the eyes. Janis still smiles involuntarily whenever she sees them. They’re almost exactly the shade of Cady’s eyes, a perfect reflection of their mother’s. Layla’s are a tiny bit wider and closer together than Leo’s, but Janis can tell that’s not going to be particularly noticeable to anyone who isn’t staring intently at their faces the way she is.
Layla suddenly starts fussing slightly, trying to move in her swaddle and giving a quiet cry.
“What’s the matter, Ladybug? Oh, shh, you’re okay,” Janis says quietly, bouncing both babies slightly. Leo seems fine and content to be along for the ride. “I know, it’s different out here, huh? We all have a lot to get used to.”
Layla appears to realize that this is one of the voices she’s been hearing all this time and goes quiet after a few minutes.
“There we go,” Janis says contently when she stops fussing. “Maybe I can do this after all.”
She brushes down each of their noses gently the way Cady did, and watches their eyes gradually flutter shut as she continues. Eventually, she has two sleeping babies in her arms, and stares at them contently as they rest.
-
Without totally realizing it, Janis winds up cradling her daughters for four and a half hours straight. Every once in a while one baby wakes up and fusses at her, but she hushes and rocks and cuddles them until they drift off again.
Until they both kick off at once. Janis rocks and bounces them both, but they won’t go quiet again.
Trying not to wake Cady unless she absolutely has to, Janis stands and heads to the window, continuing her efforts.
“Shh, angels,” she hushes, bouncing both gently. “Mommy’s got you. Look out here, this is called rain. A lot of people don’t like it, but I do. It reminds me of your mama.” The babies quiet a little as she speaks, so she decides to keep going. “Your mama taught me how nice rain can be. She taught me how to dance in it, and showed me how peaceful it can be. You two and Mama are the only sunshine I need.”
Janis whirls around when she hears a sob come from behind her, finding Cady awake and crying gently.
“I love you so much,” Cady weeps, reaching for her family. Janis comes back to her side and hands over Leo, making it easier for her to bend down for a kiss.
“I love you too, Sunshine,” Janis murmurs against her lips. “So much. Did you have a nice rest?”
“I did, thank you,” Cady says with a sniffle. “Did you sleep at all?”
“No,” Janis says sheepishly. “I couldn’t stop looking at them, I just held them the whole time.”
Cady smiles at her contently. “That’s adorable. But you need to sleep too, we’re not going to get much for a long time.”
“I know,” Janis says. “But they’re so cute, I just… I don’t want to let them go.”
Cady reaches for her again, so Janis bends down for more kisses. Cady eventually scoots herself over again, inviting Janis to crawl in next to her.
“They already sound different,” Janis murmurs happily as she looks down at the babies resting in each of their arms.
“Do they?” Cady chuckles, leaning against her.
“Mmhmm. Leo’s cry is higher and more squeaky,” Janis says. “Layla’s is lower pitched.”
“How cute,” Cady hums. “Our little family.”
—————
They stay that way for a long while, through the first feeding, during which they learn that neither baby will eat properly. Janis and Cady just roll with the hits as they come. This is nothing compared to what they’ve already been through.
An hour or so after that, a voice rings out through a speaker on the wall. Janis perks up when she hears Damian’s name, and he enters with Aaron just a couple minutes after Cady lets them know they can come in.
Janis looks up from Leo’s tiny face when he enters and, for the first time, rests her down in her cot. Damian catches her when Janis flies into his embrace.
“Damian, I have babies. I have daughters,” she mumbles into his chest. “And they’re-they’re so perfect.”
“Congratulations, Jan,” he says back.
Janis steps back after clinging to him for a moment and heads to pick her baby back up. Cady reaches an arm for a hug from her friends, leaving the other resting over Layla, who’s sleeping on her chest.
“Gorgeous, how are you?” Damian asks, bending to hug her gently.
“Physically, woof,” Cady chuckles before she looks down at the baby resting on her. “But I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.”
“Aww,” Damian coos. “And who’s this little angel?”
“This is Layla,” Cady says contently. “She’s the older one, and the bigger one. Layla Reese Sarkisian-Heron. And Janis has Leo. Leo Juliette Sarkisian-Heron.”
Damian coos over the little one excitedly. “She’s so cute.”
“Do you wanna hold her?” Cady asks.
“Can I?” Damian asks anxiously.
“Of course,” Cady laughs. “I need to do skin-to-skin with Leo anyway. Just wash your hands. Jayjay, can you swaddle her for them?”
Janis gives Leo to Cady and gently takes Layla, kissing her little cheek and wrapping her in her blanket again. Damian and Aaron both wash their hands thoroughly and sit on the bench under the window. Damian reaches out, so Janis rests Layla gently in his arms. His eyes suddenly go very wide.
“What’s wrong?” Janis asks with a slight chuckle. The monitors stay stable, so she knows the baby is fine.
“Nothing, sorry,” Damian breathes. “I just realized that this is, like, a person. That you made. You guys made this person.”
“That we did,” Janis laughs. Layla’s eyes flutter open slowly at all the new voices. “That’s your Uncle Damian holding you, Ladybug. What do you think of that?”
Layla pokes her little tongue out at him, making everyone laugh. “That’s about right. They look so much like you, Janjan.”
“They really do,” Aaron agrees. “I think it’s the hair.”
Janis heads back to her wife and other baby a few feet away, curling protectively around them. “They’re healthy and they got Caddy’s eyes, that’s all I care about.”
Leo wakes too, blinking at her against Cady’s chest. Janis rests her head next to her, so her nose is almost touching the baby’s. Cady giggles and brushes her hands over both of their heads.
“You are one of the most precious things in my life,” Janis informs the baby seriously. “You’re so small, but you run my whole life now.”
“Five pounds of raw power,” Cady chuckles. “And cute chubby cheeks.”
Janis kisses one of said chubby cheeks and then pulls back to rest against Cady’s shoulder, but Leo lets starts to cry when she does. Janis rests her face back down and she goes quiet again.
“I told you they’d like you,” Cady whispers. “She wants to see her mommy.”
Janis just grins slightly. “Maybe one will be a mommy’s girl.”
“I think so,” Cady says. “But they both love you. We all do.”
“I love you too,” Janis says, tipping her head up to see Cady.
Leo drifts off again after a few minutes, so Janis gives Cady a quick kiss and heads back to Damian and Aaron.
“Oh, are we the first ones to visit, by the way?” Aaron asks suddenly, sitting up from where he’s been leaning against Damian’s shoulder.
“Yep,” Cady confirms with a kiss to Leo’s forehead. “The Plastics had work and our families aren’t in town yet.”
“Yes!” Damian cheers quietly. Janis looks at him in confusion. “We’re the first to meet them. And we got them presents, so we get to give them their first ever presents. After they’ve been born, anyway.”
“You got them gifts?” Janis asks quietly. “Aww.”
Damian carefully hands Layla to Aaron and grabs a bag that Janis had somehow missed. He pulls out a stuffed giraffe and a stuffed elephant from himself, and pacifiers with matching miniature stuffed animals on the end from Aaron.
“Aww,” Cady coos from the bed. “How sweet. They’ll match their room, too. Their first stuffed animals.”
Janis takes the giraffe over to Leo and Cady, deciding that should be hers since she was technically a quarter-inch taller than Layla. Layla is more than a pound heavier, so she gets the elephants.
“So cute,” Cady says happily, resting the giraffe next to her on the bed. Another voice suddenly rings out through the speaker on the wall, letting them know the Plastics have arrived. Cady calls them in, and they come parading through the door with even more presents.
Regina pouts when she sees Damian and Aaron, realizing they beat them there. She hands Janis a gift card and ties a balloon to Cady’s bed rail, explaining that she didn’t know what to get in terms of an actual present, so they have a thousand dollars to spend on whatever they might need for the twins. Janis chases her around the room to try and give it back, making everyone else laugh, but Regina refuses to take it.
Gretchen gives them even more handmade blankets, this time teeny tiny and pastel rainbow patterned. Karen brought a whole cheesecake.
“Oh my god, thank you,” Cady laughs at both gifts. “Oh, these blankets are so soft! Look what Auntie Gretchen made you, Bumblebee!”
Janis takes Leo and wraps her loosely in the new, impossibly soft blanket. She smiles as the baby brings her hands up and squishes her own cheeks in her sleep. Cady takes the cheesecake and a fork and just goes to town. Nobody judges.
“Can I hold one?” Karen asks shyly. “They’re so cute! Baby emoji, confetti emoji.”
“Thank you,” Cady chuckles around a mouthful of her delicious dessert. “And of course you can hold them, just wash your hands.”
Karen does, and Gretchen and Regina follow rather more apprehensively. Karen sits by Damian on the bench, and he hands over Layla. Janis gives him Leo to meet instead, and Gretchen and Regina sit on either side of their girlfriend to peek at the babies.
Karen proves to be a natural with babies, cradling Layla perfectly and being careful of all her monitors. Gretchen and Regina are a bit less natural. Gretchen tenses quickly when Damian passes Leo over carefully, but relaxes once she has a solid grip on her and is positive the baby is okay.
After a while, she hands her to Regina, who also immediately tenses. But Regina doesn’t relax.
“Damn, Reg, you were less tense in the spinal halo,” Janis jokes from where she’s cuddling her wife. “She’s only five pounds, she can’t hurt you.”
“But I can hurt her,” Regina mumbles anxiously. “And I really don’t want to.”
Karen helps adjust Leo so she’s resting more comfortably, and rubs a spot on Regina’s back that always helps her calm down. Very gradually, Regina loosens up and holds the baby like a normal human would.
“What are you looking at, you little punk?” She coos when Leo wakes up and stares at her.
“She wants to see her Aunt Reggie,” Janis says. Regina snaps her head up.
“They are not calling me Aunt Reggie,” she insists. Janis pouts at Cady, who chuckles quietly and nods at her. Janis grins victoriously. “God, you look like Janis.”
“Everyone keeps saying that,” Janis says. “But it’s not all me, they got Cady’s eyes, and nose, and ears. And size.”
“Hey!” Cady says, flicking her gently. “I’m not that small. And the doctors said they’re a good size for preemies.”
“I was kidding, Butterfly,” Janis says, leaning in for a kiss. “All three of you are perfect.”
————-
Cady and Janis continue watching as their friends coo over their daughters. Janis takes a long moment to watch Regina and Aaron in particular. She never thought she would have kids, and certainly never would’ve thought that Regina George would be one of the first people to meet them. And, in another universe, she and Aaron might be in each other’s places. Janis is very glad she lives in this one.
Everyone stays as long as they can, but eventually do have to leave to get back to their own responsibilities. They’re left alone until their own families arrive. Janis stands by the door and waits, catching her sister as she comes barreling in, being trailed by their parents. “Hands washed and sit down, then you can have one.”
Juliana listens immediately, quickly but carefully cleaning her hands and running to sit on the bench. Janis gives her Layla, since Leo is a little more delicate. She trusts her sister, but still wants to be careful.
“So precious,” Julie says quietly, calming down quickly for her own standards. “I’m gonna buy you guys so much candy.”
“No,” Janis says immediately.
“Legos?” Julie compromises.
“Sure,” Janis agrees.
“And puppies, and then I’m just gonna leave them,” Julie chuckles. Their mom sits down by her and peeks at the baby’s face.
Janis hands Leo to Cady’s dad, who instinctively starts rocking her gently. He tears up quickly as he looks at his granddaughter.
“What are their names?” Cady’s mom asks quietly, running a tender hand over Leo’s head.
“Julie has Layla Reese,” Cady says, watching her parents both start crying quietly as they hear the middle name. “And you guys have Leo Juliette.”
Janis’ mom also tears up when she hears Leo’s middle name. Julie hands her Layla, and she takes her with a sniffle.
“Nice job, binti,” Cady’s dad says quietly. “Proud of you.”
“Thanks, Daddy,” Cady chuckles thickly, wiping her own tears away. She’s still quite hormonal, and watching everyone cry was too much for her.
“I can’t decide who they look more like,” Janis’ mom says. “So much of my Janny, but then those eyes. All Cady when they’re open.”
“Ha,” Janis says. “They’re not all me. My mom says so.”
“You’re such a child,” Cady laughs, kissing her tenderly. “I love you.”
“I love you so much,” Janis murmurs back against her lips. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Cady asks in confusion.
“For them,” Janis says thickly. “For doing this. Giving us a family. I love them so much it hurts.”
“We were a family before,” Cady says. “Now it’s just… bigger. More love.”
“More love indeed,” Janis agrees.
I didn’t think I could love you more.
-
LOL PRANKED ITS TWO BABIES
anyway. I hope you enjoyed! I know babies aren't everybody's thing, but if y'all would like to see more of Leo and Layla please let me know and I will absolutely do more.
request status is still paused, but I am hoping to reopen them in a couple weeks.
thanks for reading!
lots of love,
ezzy
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