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POV: Zac
Word count: 4174
September 23, 2016
I was up with both of the kids, who had felt that 4 am was an appropriate time to wake Daddy up. I didn’t let Emily get up, made her remain in bed and took them downstairs. Isabella was just very talkative this morning, telling me about her breakfast and I was quite thrilled she was talking so much, even if the sentences were unconnected and quick.
Riley and Alexander had a very long conversation last weekend for her 4th birthday, it sounded absurd to us adults but totally seem to make sense to them both. Her birthday party had gone very well and she’d gotten dozens of new toys.
Alexander was busy eating his breakfast, but when he was almost done he looked at me.
“Dada, when will we see the baby?”
“Uncle Joshua’s baby?”
He nodded.
“I’m not sure really, she is very young and they are not suppose to travel much. You’ll be with Papa this weekend though, so maybe one day next week?”
“Baby!” Isabella said.
Samantha Isabella was born this past Sunday, they’d not even know what the sex was so it was a welcome surprise to them both. She was perfect in every way and we’d seen her for several hours yesterday. Isabella did very well with the new baby around her, even when Emily or I was holding her. She’s also learned baby and was good at identifying them. So, we were preparing them both for the new arrivals.
“Are you excited for your new brothers?”
“Yes, I want them to play.”
“We want them to play too, but remember for a little while they can’t play like you and Isabella, we have to be careful like with Trevor and Samantha.”
“I know, Mama told me I had to be sweet to them for awhile.”
I smiled at him, Emily had told him that over the week, once we finished breakfast I set them about to play. Ace and Nathaniel were picking them up around 11, that way Emily and I could figure out the rooms and what to do and also get as much as we could bought. Since Alexander was the oldest and the twins needed to be closer to us, we were thinking of moving his room down the hallway and just using his current room, that way we could have them close. Neither of us liked that because he was so use to that room, but having them down the hallway would mean more of a risk of them waking these two up.
Deciding what to do for his room was hard, part of us wanted to maintain the animal theme but while he did like that theme he was more leaning toward Paw Patrol, a cartoon television show, Lego’s or a musically themed room. Alexander had always been fond of music, so we were leaning toward that option more than any others.
Her doctor’s appointment yesterday had gone both good and bad, both boys were fine and no problems but her blood pressure had gone up again and the mean results of her home monitoring had indicated that as well. In addition the level of protein in the urine had risen slightly. So, Sean was taking over tasks at the studio Monday, she would still be there but she wasn’t allowed to do much at all and then it was just watching them. He said to limit stress as much as possible.
Emily didn’t come downstairs until 9, by then they’d been going strong playing for hours and I was ready for a nap myself.
“There weekend bags are packed.”
“Oh god! I completely forgot.”
“Not a problem, there sitting beside the steps but I was afraid to try to come down holding them both.”
“Yeah, I’ll get them. Enough for the weekend?”
“Yes. Ace called me an hour ago and they were about to leave and said they had car seats already for them both, they bought some for their age range since so many are close.”
They arrived on time and the kids were super excited to see Papa and Paw Paw. I think that Ace and Nathaniel were far more excited than they were. Picking them up and swinging them around, they were excellent grandpa’s and I was glad that she’d chosen to get to know them. I was also glad that she was allowing this weekend, because it was rare she agreed, but now that the bad guys in our lives were all dead, maybe she could learn to trust people with them.
We fixed lunch for them all, Emily needed to eat anyway and our overall hope was the kids would nap on the way to their apartment. Otherwise, they were due for epic meltdowns and I wasn’t sure either of them could handle that.
“Are you sure you can handle them?” Emily asked.
“Yes sweetie, I am sure.”
“They could be very ill if they don’t nap going down, be warned.”
“Duly noted.” Ace said.
We took them to the car and helped get them loaded, buckled in and said our byes.
“Bye dada! Bye mama!” Isabella said.
“Bye sweetie, I love you. By little man, love you too.” Emily said.
“Bye princess, love you and bye my drummer boy.” I said.
“Love you.” Alexander said.
“Luv you.” Isabella said.
We both gave them kisses and more byes before Ace eventually said they needed to get going, only then did we move away. Emily didn’t want too but did.
“You look teary eyed.” She said.
“Didn’t think that it would be this nerve wracking.”
“I’m still somewhere between scared and elated…”
“Well, we know Ace and Nathaniel can take care of them, they did Jasmine and Trevor and there even younger.”
She smiled. “As you told me, they will be fine. We just have to believe that. Although…now that we’re alone…”
The mischievous little smirk told me we weren’t leaving the house today. Her previous side effect of being insanely horny had not skipped this pregnancy at all, it was however not quite as bad and I attributed that to her being more tired this go round. Position wise was different even now, because the bump was way more noticeable than it was before. Yet, sex felt no less satisfying to either of us and being curled up with her in bed without the fear of either child getting into anything was nice.
“You know, I know we need to get things done while we can. But, I really just want a day where I can be lazy as hell.”
“Well, I am sure we can accomplish a lot without them this weekend, there not coming back until Monday. I think we can have a lazy afternoon. It would give us time to talk about what we want to do and have some semblance of a plan.”
“True. I vote we just stay in bed.”
“I second that.”
It’s exactly what we did, staying in bed and talked, watched a movie and got some ideas on what to do with his room. Only Eliza called and it was to tell us that she and Ryan were expecting a girl for their first baby. They talked for roughly thirty minutes and that was all. I think the lazy afternoon did her well, she napped off and on and her blood pressure check came back below normal, which was good. She also seemed to feel a little better.
September 24, 2016 ; Saturday
We both got up early and fixed breakfast first and then we sat down on the sofa to discuss what we needed in terms of baby items, we were basically going through the lists we made yesterday to make sure we didn’t forget anything for Alexander’s new room.
“Are we going to change the paint theme in his current room?”
“I don’t think we need too honestly. I mean it’s suitable for boys or girls and he’s been fine in the room.”
“I was just wondering if he’d be more jealous of being moved if we made no changes to his old room.”
“Well, it would take a lot of time to repaint because those are dark prime colors and it would have to be painted over with heavy coats. Would we have time for that? I don’t know really since you’re the one painting you tell me.”
“Honestly, yeah. Your talking a few primer coats and then design and painting, could take a few weekends or several.”
“I think Alexander will be fine once we show him his new big boy room. It’s going to take some time and maybe if I can let him
help too, it will help him.” She said.
“Maybe. We can see and if he pitches a fit before they arrive we can paint then. So, clothing wise…”
“We still have some of Alexander’s and even the items that were given for her, when people thought she was a he, but season wise there going to be off with her. Much closer with Alexander because October is cooling off here.”
She presented me with an inventory of what we had versus what we could possibly need. It really wasn’t that long of a list,
because again we had a lot of outfits from both Alexander and Isabella, the main thing was under clothes. But, we still had a lot of onesie’s too.
“So, I told everyone not to plan or do a baby shower for you and I. I agreed if they wanted to do just a gathering that was fine, but no actual baby shower. Jessica, Eliza, Amanda, Casey and Robert are all having their firsts and they deserve those moments way more. We’ve had two. I would rather they focus their efforts on them because you and I have a lot of what we need.”
“Well, Mom and Dad I am sure are getting us something, I would image Casey and Robert will.”
“I covered that actually, I told everyone if they wanted to just get something then they are more than welcome, but the main requirement will be diapers and wipes. We can get the bigger stuff and if they don’t want to do diapers, they can do gift cards.”
“No bottles?”
“I have bottles for my pump down along with storage bags and new tubes.”
I blinked, I didn’t think she would breastfeed with twins. “You’re going to breastfeed again? Are you insane?”
“No, it’s what is best for them Zac, I will unless it really is just impossible and if that’s the case then I will purchase bottles and all.
We really don’t need them, we can use the ones for the pump just as well.”
I knew better than to argue and she’d done remarkably well with both Alexander and Isabella, the first couple of weeks I would probably worry myself about her sleeping but once she could pump that would make it easier and I could help. Yet, reality was setting in that at work she wouldn’t have that option.
Emily had found a new bedding set for Alexander that had musical instruments on it. There was keyboards, drums, and a guitar and the colors were brown, light blue, and white. Since I had taken the recreation room over, I let her design whatever she wanted. She wrote down what we needed and we then headed to the store to get what we could. This was good bonding time for us also, giving us this little special time alone to shop without children crying over a toy.
It took most of the morning to finish our shopping and then get home. I sent her to rest while I unloaded the truck, because there wasn’t much she could help with anyway. The new cribs, dressers, and anything for the babies went to the music room for right now. In addition, I left her resting while I cleared the bedroom of furniture, I couldn’t take it to the basement, so the music room it was. I’d have someone come help move it later on. While I did all of that she worked on resting and fixing dinner. After dinner we both came to the bedroom.
“Blank walls, wow.”
“Want me to now tell you the design now?”
“Please, I’m kind of wondering what I am doing.”
“So, the base color of the walls will be blue and the trim will be the brown, the closet will also be brown. In the center of the room about a foot and a half tall will be the sheet music, it will not be just straight either, we can let it curve, dip, and even swirl. The lines will be black, but the musical notes will be in brown with some white to highlight. Over his bed there will be a drum set in black, with his name above it. You can put keyboards or guitars anywhere else. They will also be brown with white accents. I can help lay it out and depending on the strength of the paint I might be able to help.”
“They’re bringing them to the studio Monday afternoon.”
“Ok, let me prep in here right quick.”
It didn’t take long to lay down plastic to protect the carpet and she helped some with that but I sent her outside so I could do the base coat. The design wouldn’t smell as strong but the base coat would, because every wall was getting it. In addition, I went ahead and painted the closet and the trim in the room. It was about 10:30 when I got done and I found Emily in bed asleep, a book laying beside her. I moved the book gently and pulled the blanket up over her before I went to clean the paint off and get ready for bed. Yet, when I came to bed she was awake and just curled up beside me.
“What no drag me to bed?”
“Sleepy…early morning..”
I kissed her forehead. “Or will you wake me up at 3 am?”
She smiled. “Maybe 5, not three…that’s way too early.”
I giggled and we settled down, she was back asleep pretty quickly and I found myself just moving my thumb gently over the bump, where neither of them were willing to move. I remembered doing this when I came home, how she let me take comfort in her, regardless. Clearly, we were meant to be together. My eyes slowly closed and then I was asleep.
September 25, 2016
I was up before she was, clearly her body said sleep was needed over sex. But it gave me time to make any last minute touch ups and have the room ready to put down the plans. I made breakfast and had it ready when she woke up.
“Wow, breakfast in bed?” She asked.
“Not often I get too!”
“I know, usually your wrangling two wild children.”
I sat down on the other side and we ate breakfast and then changed into paint clothes or for her it was just an old button up shirt of mine.
“Seriously Emily? You gonna wear just a button up shirt and some panties? We’re never going to get anything done.”
“Seriously, you can focus for one day. I don’t have anything I can wear that’s not nice.”
“It’ll be hard, but I will try.”
She smiled and we first figured out where his bed will go, which was the wall to the left and that’s where I started laying out the drum set design. Emily was awesome when it came to laying out things and especially straight lines but when I looked at her she was doing something with cardboard and tape. Turns out, she’d made a stencil.
“Aren’t you just being a smart ass this morning?”
She laughed. “You think I’m going to stand here all day and draw lines on the wall?”
“No, but that’s cheating.”
“Deal with it.”
It took roughly an hour to get the available wall space to have the design of the musical lines. She then began to hand add the various melody notes. I tried reading them but realized that she wasn’t doing any specific melody or tones, just random ones. Once I got the drum outline done I found places for the guitar to go on the wall to the right of the door, then the keyboard went in the other corner, I did a second different looking guitar between the windows. We took a break for lunch about 1, both of us tired of seeing lines, as she’s moved on to taping and had most of one wall done. We decided to take an hour after lunch and not stare at lines and she indicated she wanted to talk some.
“So, I’ve been thinking.”
“Ok, thinking is good sometimes.”
“I think that what is best for us is for me to step down some at the studio and kind of focus on our family instead of everything under the sun.”
“Shouldn’t we be talking with Taylor and Isaac about this?”
“No, because this isn’t about them Zachary. My stepping down is between you and I, as it would be if I was working anywhere else.”
“But your stepping down also effects them.”
“No it doesn’t. It effects you and I first. I was concerned with three kids, but there is no way in hell I can continue working with two newborns plus them. No matter how I work it in my head, I just can’t do it Zac. This decision is between us first, then you can take it up with them.”
“What do you mean by stepping down?”
“I don’t mean leaving permanently, probably about a year and if they’re ok with touring I’ll go but I’d like to hire someone that could help me when you can’t. Obviously, someone suitable and reliable. But, as far as the studio goes I mean like letting Sean take 90% of what I do and just going in as a manager once a week, sometimes twice. Days where your spending 16 hours recording I can just stay home, where the kids have more to do and it’s easier to feed them and naps.”
I frowned, I didn’t like the idea of them being home more, because I liked being able to head up-stairs and visit whenever I could, I liked knowing she was there with me.
“Then why did we do a playroom?”
“I don’t have to stay home, I can still come in most days just not like every single day, every single week.”
“Well, you didn’t solve the problem of having help, you’d be alone here with four kids. You can’t call for me or them, if we’re not
here.”
“I can come in most days like I do now, just I can’t be working. I’ll be there if needed, but my days will mostly be watching our four children and maybe Casey’s also if they are both there.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
“Yes. I’ve thought about it for months really and if it was just one then maybe I could just give Sean extra stuff and still be fine,
but with two of them I can’t. I just won’t be mentally able to do everything. I can still review, handle inventory with help and little things but not every day items.”
I knew Taylor and Isaac would be a bit miffed because of the change but really, her health and the children’s were more important and she had a point, four kids was going to be more demanding.
“I think that your right, it would be far easier if your there but not working than if your there and one of them got hurt because you’re being pulled in ten directions.”
“Sean has been amazing with everything. He hired very nice employees and he handled everything we’ve needed. You guys can test him when I am out on leave.”
“I think that would work greatly.”
“I guess we should get busy with the room.”
“Or other things…”
She tilted her head and smiled. “We need to finish as much as we can before they return.”
I sighed. “Fine.”
We went back up but she stopped half-way up the steps and just stood there.
“Ems?”
“One of them kicked me kind of hard.”
I moved up and placed my hands on her growing belly, sure enough I could feel movements, much easier than with either of the other two, active little boys. After another hour I was ready to paint, but she wasn’t done taping.
“I’m near the windows and I can open them for extra ventilation. I should be okay. I avoided the other rooms because there is a
single window.”
She opened both windows and I began to paint, the paint really wasn’t that strong and I even brought in a fan to make sure. I really didn’t think we’d get even this much done, but we were flying though getting things painted. My wife, couldn’t resist a brush either and she was working on the notes, she did have a steadier hand that me and could get next to the black with no issues. I couldn’t deny watching her in just my shirt and panties was hard as hell though!
“Did I ever tell you the moment after I came home when I knew something was up and maybe I was more in love with you than him, despite what he said?”
“You mentioned anniversary night as one of the pivotal moments.”
I giggled. “You were the reason for all those late night hard-on though, that you felt but didn’t do anything about.”
She turned and looked at me. “I kind of figured I was, but how is that a moment?”
I finished the line and looked at her. “I was painting and it was when Alexander messed up our bed, you came in with just a white shirt that was barely covering anything. That was the beginning of the downfall. I tried to ignore it but couldn’t.”
She smiled at me. “See, I knew that would work pretty well. You’ve always fallen with just shirts.”
“So evil!”
She went back to painting and about 15 minutes passed. “I started to actually make some move on you, but I was afraid too. I didn’t want you to overreact, so I just tried whatever the hell I could to get you to make the first move. Didn’t expect to be put against a wall.”
“Don’t tempt me now, there all mostly wet in some form.”
She laughed but I could tell she was getting a bit tired. She wasn’t moving as fast, but even when she sat down at the window I kept painting.
“Do we have any idea what we want for names?” She asked.
“Not really.”
“You know we need names for these little ones right?”
“We can call them baby A and baby B.”
“Zac, come on now.”
I finished the last line and looked at her. “I was actually scrolling through names the other day and came across Sage.”
“The herb?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s a name too. I kind of like it.”
“Okay.”
“I’m not sure what names to use, I liked Matthew but not really.”
“We have to consider names early this time.”
“Well, we can’t do anything in here until all this dries a while, how about dinner and some rest and depending on how you feel
we can check and do more.”
“Ok.”
We headed down and I fixed dinner, let her rest with her feet elevated a bit ands since we did have to work the next day I suggested the couch again, I sat down at her feet and just rubbed them.
“That is dangerous.” She said.
I smiled. “Hey, I helped with them but I don’t get to do much until there here.”
“I know. Pretty sure you helped with them all.”
“Not according to Maddi, I did not help with Isabella.”
She giggled. “We know you did.”
It was a quiet evening where she enjoyed her foot massage and dozed on the couch, until we went to bed. We decided it wasn’t
worth wearing her out to finish when it wasn’t much left and maybe I could get Alexander to help a bit.
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