Her Bundles Of Joy

It was amazing how time flew by. To Nicole, it felt like it was just yesterday that she’d first held her babies in her arms. She loved the twins very much, but she wouldn’t rewind time if given the opportunity to do so. They were heavy sleepers now, but when they first arrived home, the children were rather loud and it was like they’d silently agreed to cry all night long sometimes. Nicole and Evan had absolutely no experience whatsoever with children, and they’d had no outside support from parents or anything, so the couple had had to learn how to care of their children by themselves. While she was pregnant, Nicole had attended some classes for soon-to-be moms, but the lessons she took hadn’t prepared her for what parenthood was actually like. In class, everything was quite simple, but in real life things weren’t as black and white as she’d been taught. Her children slept all day and cried all night, Desiree didn’t want breast milk while Devon didn’t want to let go of her boobs, their immune system was a bit compromised as they were born before they were supposed to, so the kids used to get sick quite often, it was a nightmare. Nicole and Evan loved their children more than they loved themselves and they wouldn’t trade parenthood for anything, but, God, were they glad when those days were over. The thought of going through all of that again gave Nicole goosebumps, even if another child was never brought up in any of their conversations. The dancer was also really glad that Evan was the father of her children. That guy never failed to amaze her, always proving he was the perfect man. He stood by her side every step of the way, never once failing at his duties as a father. Evan worked from home during the first six months of their children’s lives, helping Nicole with everything related to the children. He wasn’t like some other guys who slept all night and the mother had to deal with the newborn all by herself. Evan gladly shared the responsibilities that came with being parents, and for that she was more than happy. The experience of raising their two babies with no help only brought the couple closer together, reaffirming their love for each other with every obstacle they came across during this beautiful and crazy journey of building a family.

To be fair, they did have some help. Nicole was extremely grateful for having amazing friends like Brandi and Leon. Despite not having experience with children, the two were wonderful with Desiree and Devon, not to mention that they were more than eager to learn what children enjoyed so they could make the twins happy. Nicole and Leon agreed to ask Brandi and Leon to be the kids’ godparents, and they happily accepted the offer. The pair started spending lots of time together, taking the kids to the park, to the movies, to the shopping mall. It was quite a shock for Nicole when they had a group dinner at her apartment and she caught Brandi and Leon kissing in the hallway. The couple confessed they’d gotten pretty close over their outings with the twins, and also after private meetings for lunch and dinner, and ended up falling in love. Brandi told her they kept it a secret because they didn’t want to get everyone involved in their relationship only to realize they were better off as friends. Of course, that didn’t happen as they were still together even after three years and very much in love. Nicole was immensely happy for her friends. Happy that Leon, who was such an incredible person, had finally moved on from her and found the love he deserved with her best friend. Happy for Brandi, who had spent years in search of love but always ended up meeting the wrong guys. Nicole simply loved the way fate worked itself out.

On the other hand, a person who was not very lucky was Danielle. Nicole hadn’t heard from the Latina in years, until one day George called her to say that he’d divorced Danielle and she was going back to Argentina. Even if their friendship had ended in the worst terms, Nicole still felt a weight on her heart hearing that her former friend’s marriage had ended. It was sad to know that Danielle’s life had taken a turn for the worse, but Nicole figured she had it coming. After all, she’d envied the person who was supposed to be her best friend, she became controlling and obsessive in her marriage, turned into a bad teacher…Maybe now Danielle had learned her lesson and would try to be a better person.

Speaking of being a better person, Nicole still felt giddy knowing that her mother would be landing in New York in a few days. Mrs. Amelia Carter had finally realized how wrong she’d been cutting her daughter off completely and basically abandoning her only child only because her husband told her to.

One beautiful Sunday morning, while her husband was performing his duties as a pastor at the church, Amelia, who had secretly bought a cellphone, dialed Nicole’s number and prayed to God it was still the same. Luckily, Nicole had always hoped that day would come and kept the same number from when she still lived in Ohio. The dancer could still remember how her heart was pounding as she spoke to her mother for the first time in almost eight years. Amelia begged for her daughter’s forgiveness, and, of course, Nicole forgave her mother faster than one could blink. The truth was that the dancer never held a grudge against her mother. She knew Anthony Carter was one of those misogynistic men who controlled their wives and daughters, she’d lived under his roof her for 21 years, after all. Amelia explained how she’d finally packed up her stuff and left Nicole’s father. The dancer was surprised at her mother’s boldness, it made her heart swell with pride. She learned that her mother was living with a woman from church who gladly took her in. Nicole wouldn’t forgive herself if she allowed her mother to live in such situation, so she asked her mom to come live with her in New York. Amelia was reluctant to accept the offer, but in the end Nicole managed to convince her that it was for the best. Luckily, Evan was more than okay with Nicole’s mom moving in with them. An extra helping hand with the kids, he’d told Nicole, proving yet again that he was the perfect man indeed. Nicole couldn’t wait to have her mother back. She was dying to introduce her children to their only grandparent (although Evan’s uncle, Mr. Desmond, and his wife had been playing the role of grandparents all these years).

“Babe…”

Nicole’s thoughts were interrupted by Evan’s deep voice whispering in her ear. She realized that the blond man was hugging her from behind, his little friend poking her backside, letting her know he was still in the mood to continue what they’d been about to do in the bedroom earlier that morning.

“Where did you go?” Evan chuckled.