Catherine smacked him on the back of the head. He grinned. Matthew took out his phone, holding up a picture of the twins. They were small, tiny in fact, but they sure looked like they were okay. Both of them were crying on the video, tiny hands and feet flying through the air to protest their arrival into the world. Chelsea laughed, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. She hugged the phone to her chest tightly. She couldn’t wait to meet them.
The next morning, she was up before the sun. She sat bouncing excitedly, waiting for the nurse to bring the babies. She wheeled them in inside see-through bassinets. The pink hatted twin was still sleeping, but the boy was wide awake, looking around as he sucked on his fist. She ran her fingers over the soft, black hair on his head.
“He’s beautiful. What should we name him?” She asked Matthew.
“Well, I was thinking we could name the boy Matthew Jr. and the girl Chelsea Jr.”
Chelsea stuck out her tongue. “How about no? I think we should name him Mason and she looks like a Melanie.”
Matthew thought it over. “I like that a lot. Can he still have my name for his middle name?”
Chelsea laughed. “Of course.”
They signed the birth certificates of Melanie Chelsea Rawlins and Mason Matthew Rawlins together. The nurse showed her how to feed them, then left to give them time with their babies. She lifted Mason to her breasts as she cooed.
“Mommy will never say anything bad about you or your sister ever again. I promise.”
Chelsea kissed his forehead, the top of his head, his cheeks. She never felt more love for someone than she did with her babies. In the back of her mind, she knew the reason she’d been so concerned was that she wasn’t sure if she’d be a good mother. She wasn’t sure if she had that mothering instinct that seemed to come so naturally to her mom, but not at all to Matthew’s. In the end, she knew she wouldn’t take back a minute of it.
“Maybe we’ll have one or two more, in a few years.”
Matthew laughed.
The day quickly arrived for them to take the twins home. Chelsea had another bout of anxiety. What if she was only a good mom in the hospital? After all there were doctors, nurses, aides, outside there would be no one but her and Matthew. She voiced those worries to him, but he brushed them aside.
“You’ll be fine. Besides, I don’t think you’ll be by yourself.”
“What about when you go back to work and I’m still on leave?”
“Then we’ll hire somebody like we talked about, okay? Now here, let me help you get dressed.”
Matthew helped her slip into the long, black dress and black flats he’d brought for her. He held up her jacket and zipped it for her before he settled her into a wheelchair before placing Mason on her lap in his car seat. He took Melanie’s seat as the nurse pushed her down the hall. Chelsea pulled the blanket over Mason’s chair before they hit the cool November air. With the nurses help, Matthew loaded first the babies, then Chelsea into the car. The heat was already running, the warmth relaxing as it took away the bite of the cold.
Chelsea’s anxiety didn’t die down as they drove to their new home. All she knew was that Matthew, Sangi and Andrew had helped put together the babies room. That at least made her excited to see the beauty of it. As the city rolled by, Chelsea felt exhaustion crash down on her. She leaned her head against the window, the movement of the car lolling her into an easy, peaceful sleep.
Matthew was gently shaking her shoulder. She slipped an eye open and looked around. He held out a hand to her, smiling to help her out of the car. Chelsea yawned, stretching out slowly so she wouldn’t hurt herself. She took his hand and he helped her into the house. Chelsea could hear a woman’s voice upstairs talking to the babies.
“Sangi’s here?”
Matthew nodded. “She’s going to stay for the night. Then, when I have to go to work, she’ll stay for a few days to help you.”
Chelsea smiled. She felt her anxiety melt away at the thought of her best friend being there when Matthew wasn’t. He helped her up the stairs slowly, her sharp intakes of breath telling him when to slow down or let her rest. He tried to get her to lie down so he could bring her the babies, but she shook her head. She wanted to see the nursery first.
The room had been completely redone while she was away. The walls were painted a sunny yellow, striped with white. Two dressers stood on either side of the room, white with black drawers. A black and white mobile twisted and swayed above each of their bassinets. Melanie’s bassinet was dusty rose colored, white Mason’s was a soft baby blue. There were two white chairs in the nursery, a bookshelf stocked with books, two changing tables and various stuffed animals decorated the room. Chelsea grinned from ear to ear as she inspected every inch of it.
“Oh my God, Matthew. It’s beautiful.”
“I knew you’d like it. We put the black in to help with brain development, at least that’s what Sangi told me. She’s the pediatrician.”
Sangi smiled, proud of her contribution to the lovely room. She rocked Melanie in her arms, the sound of her fussing just beginning. Chelsea hugged her, before she ran a finger over the baby’s cheek softly. The mere touch calmed the fussing baby as she went back to softly gurgling, fist in her mouth.
“Someone’s hungry,” Chelsea said.
“Here, let me help you to the bedroom and you can feed them.”
This time, Chelsea nodded letting Matthew take her from the room. When she entered their bedroom, she could tell that he’d changed a lot in there too. The bed was covered in black sheets and comforter, the wood in the room dark and romantic. There was a large tv up on the wall so she wouldn’t have to move much. He helped her settle into the bed. She sighed as the aches and pains of her body were comforted. Gazing around the room, she fell in love with it.
“Thank you so much honey. I really do love this house.”
“Good, I’m glad,” he said as he kissed her head.