Mollywood (35 page)

I opened my mouth to tell him that this was the most wonderful thing anyone had ever done for me, but he continued before I could get a word out. “I will always give you my best, Molly. We’ve never been a traditional couple, God knows we’ve taken a very different path, and it’s been a rough one at times. But I think it made me appreciate you even more, and I realize now that wouldn’t have it any other way. You bursting back into my life is the best thing that has ever happened to me. You mean so much more to me than I could ever put into words.”

Slipping down to the ground, he knelt on one knee and pulled a box from his coat. My heart thudded forcefully as he opened it. Inside was a gorgeous antique style ring that took what little breath I had away.

“Molly, you are the part of me that I have always been missing. Being with you makes every minute of my life better. So I’m asking you now, and I’ll keep asking you until you tell me to go the hell away. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

As he poured out his heart to me, I felt my blood collect in my cheeks. I searched his emerald eyes, so sincere…so eager…and totally fearless. He was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen, and him down on one knee in front of me was all of my secret dreams come true. I nodded, trying to swallow the giant frog in my throat that seemed hell bent on preventing speech.

“Is that a yes?” He smiled, his eyes darting back and forth as he seemed to try to see both of mine at the same time.

“Yes.” I snuffled, throwing my arms around his neck. Warm tears streamed down my cool cheeks. I pulled back to search his eyes, verifying that this was really happening. He locked his determined gaze with mine, and then my lips were on his. His hands were entangled in my hair, and we kissed until I no longer felt the cold. Finally, Joe pulled me away and picked up the ring he’d dropped in our fit of passion. He pulled it out of the box and taking my hand his slid it onto my finger.

I was crushed when it wouldn’t go on past my knuckle.

“Shit.” I felt my face fall, but he just smiled at me tenderly.

“You’re fingers are just swollen. It’ll fit you after.” He kissed me on the tip of my nose and slid the ring onto my pinky.

THE COLD FEBRUARY wind rattled the windows, startling me awake. Spooned up against Molly, I’d instinctively draped a protective arm over her in my sleep, my hand resting on her belly. I’d been dreaming again, but instead of my typical nightmares, I’d dreamed about holding our babies and rocking them to sleep. As if she’d sensed I was awake, she tried to roll over. I edged backward, and made room for her to roll onto her back.

“I’m glad you took out that naval piercing on New Year’s.” I teased, pushing on her outie bellybutton as if it were a squeaky toy. She batted my fingers away with a tired smile, wrinkling her button nose. “One of those two might have come out with a pierced lip or something.”

“It was really starting to pinch.” She replied, and I noticed her eyes looked a little puffier than usual.

Pushing my worry aside, I leaned down to her naval as if it was a microphone. I spoke in my sternest ‘daddy’ voice. “Mornin’ Eva, mornin’ Logan. You two getting along in there?”

While most couples were out at swanky restaurants or showing off new lingerie on Valentine’s Day, we’d spent our evening deciding on names for our children. It didn’t take us long. I’d picked three first and middle name combinations for our daughter and she picked three for our son, we traded notebooks, and whichever name the other liked best was the one that would be on their birth certificates. We ended up with Eva Rose and Logan Alexander, but we agreed not to tell anyone else until they were born. That way if someone didn’t like the names they’d look like an asshole saying anything about it out loud.

At this point in her pregnancy, I didn’t even have to lay a hand on her to tell the twins were moving. She was in her thirty-fifth week, and I could see them shift under her skin like something out of a science fiction movie. Though we still had over a month to go, she was much bigger than Jess had ever been.

Molly cried at the last visit when the nurse informed her she’d gained forty-five pounds. I tried to tell her she should be glad, since the doctor had insisted she gain a minimum of thirty-seven, but she shot me a homicidal look. It was very good news, considering she’d had such trouble keeping anything down in the beginning

I marveled every time we had an ultrasound. Based on the size of the twins, it wasn’t a surprise Molly was so uncomfortable all the time. Jack had been 7 pounds 6 ounces when he was born at eight months, and Dr. Myers was projecting that Logan was already nearly six pounds and Eva was about five. Molly had somehow continued to work part time for the entire month of January and most of February. Just last week I’d finally convinced her to quit working all together.

Her headaches were just too frequent and her blood pressure had crept up higher each time we’d been in. At the last visit, they’d found protein in her urine, and Dr. Myers sent her for a non-stress test. Her labs work looked good and the non-stress test looked okay but they sent us home with a jug to collect her urine for twenty-four hours. Molly joked about how glamorous she felt and her remark about the bright jug by the toilet was something snarky about orange being the new black. The babies seemed fine, but the doctor gave Molly a steroid shot to help the babies’ lungs to develop. She also put her on a blood pressure pill to manage her elevated pressure, which I religiously reminded her to take every day. Molly called it nagging.

I pressed the doctor on what we needed to do, but Dr. Myers seemed to be under the impression that her preeclampsia was mild. She said if Molly was serious about taking it easy, she wouldn’t have to be hospitalized or need bed rest.

Her twenty four hours urine result came back borderline, so the doctor said she could continue to stay at home. She would repeat the tests in a couple of day at her next visit. The doc was recommending modified bed rest just to be safe. Only up to eat, shower and use the restroom. It was driving Molly crazy.

The cherry on top at our latest visit was, when the doctor announced that Molly was already two centimeters dilated. Dr. Myers recommended we stop having intercourse. Not surprising, this added to her mood. Baby girl was especially grumpy.

“Do I have to get out of bed today?” Molly asked with a groan, and I assumed the question was rhetorical.

“You’ve got about ten women and two gays coming over to shower you with presents today, so rise and shine. At least they’re having it here. You just have to get dressed and go look pretty. They’ll do everything else.”

‘How am I supposed to look pretty when I’m the size of the Michelin Man? It’s too damn early.” She grumbled hissing at the sun like a vampire. She tried to sit up and sort of collapsed on the bed like a slug. “Can you hand me my glasses?”

I’d had a wonderful time harassing her about the thick black glasses. We’d been together for over a year and I’d never seen her in them once. She normally wore contacts, but since her vision had been a little blurry, the eye doctor suggested a slightly stronger prescription. He said the change wasn’t uncommon in pregnancy, and should resolve itself after she delivered. She made a lovely nerd, and I called her ‘four eyes’ as often as I could work it into casual conversation.

I was toasting bagels when I heard her coming down the hall in flip flops.

“Flip flops? It’s barely March, little girl. You’re toes are gonna freeze right off.”

“I can’t fit my feet in anythin’ else.” She said, still sounding unusually drowsy. ‘I’ve got cankles.”

I chuckled at her and handed her the bottle of blood pressure pills. She took one and the glass of juice I handed her, I noticed her hands were puffy and white when she gripped the glass, and when I caught a glimpse of her feet, I nearly dropped the pill bottle.

“Baby…I said, looking down at her feet that seemed to have almost doubled in size. ‘I think we need to go to the doctor.”

“No…I just need to put my feet up.” She replied, hoisting her legs onto the chair next to me. I took off her flip flips and snagged her slippers from the closet. They fit on her ballooned feet, but barely.

“Warmer?” I asked.

She nodded, her big blue eyes shining with gratitude. “Yes. Thanks, baby.”

A few hours later when Betty turned up on my doorstep, I was still concerned about leaving. But once she arrived, a deluge of estrogen hit my house and I started to feel unwelcome. Or overly welcome, when Molly’s slutty cousins arrived.

When Dan turned up with no less than seven gift bags, he started trading snarky barbs with Molly’s high school friend Jay. Evidently they were vying for Queen of the Hill, but this development seemed to amuse Molly, so I figured it was a good time to make myself scarce. Besides, Robin was a nurse and most of these women had given birth more than once. Molly would be in good hands with the collection of hens in the house, I assured myself.

Against my better judgment, I’d let Mac and Mason talk me into going out. Considering our last attempt at a field trip, you’d think I’d have pondered this suggestion a bit more carefully. I went into the kitchen to retrieve my keys, and Betty and Granny were putting chocolate bars into diapers and heating them in the microwave. It was the last thing I expected to see, and I almost forgot what I’d gone into the kitchen for in the first place. Returning to Molly, who was propped up on the couch in the living room, I told her what I’d seen.

“Take me with you!” she whispered urgently, clutching her abdomen near her ribs on the right.

“What’s wrong?” I frowned.

“One of the babies is kicking me in the ribs.” She replied.

“Maybe I should just have them all go home,” I whispered back. “We could go back to bed.”

Tamryn interrupted us by swatting me on the shoulder. “Get your butt out the door, Joe. We girls need some time without you menfolk around.”

“You heard her, Joe.” Molly’s sassy friend Lisa agreed, handing a beer to each of the slut sisters.

Mason came over to where I stood beside the couch and steered me out the door. We ran face first into the neighbor lady, who held a giant basket that looked like it had been hosed down with pink and blue.