Chapter Eleven

Mackenzie’s POV 

            This is it. It’s Friday and I’m meeting Autumn for the first time. This has to go well. She could potentially be my future daughter. Whoa. Overthinking much? Okay, breathe. Everything is going to go as planned. Bryan’s even taking us into the nursery to see the baby animals, which will be so much fun! Uh oh. What if Autumn is scared of the animals? What if a baby animal hurts her. Ade would be so upset with me. No. I can’t allow myself to think this way. Positive outcomes only.

            All of this and so much more are running through my head as I walk up to the apartment door. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but I really want today to go well. Now that Ade and I are officially girlfriends again, I just really want Autumn to like me, because I’m afraid if she doesn’t, Ade won’t want to be my girlfriend anymore. My heart would break.

            I finally make it to the door after what seems like hours, but in reality is only a couple minutes. I knock on the door and hear a little scream and the pitter-patter of little feet walking behind the door. As if the butterflies in my stomach couldn’t get any crazier, Adrianna opens the door and looks absolutely gorgeous. She’s wearing super short, dark jean shorts and a blue, semi-see-through button-up halter top with black converse.

            “Hi, babe!” She laughs as I realize I’m totally checking her out. However, she doesn’t mind and wraps her arms around my waist as my arms instinctively go around her neck. We connect our lips slowly in soft kisses. After about five or six pecks, we separate when there is an adorable giggle coming from our feet. “Baby girl, there’s someone I want you to meet!”

            Adrianna cheerfully picks up her mini me and rocks her a couple times as the smaller brunette giggles some more. The birthday girl was in a white shirt that had a big, pink ‘1’ on the front and a bright pink, blue, and green tutu on. She was so cute, it was unbelievable. I don’t know what her father looks like, but I do know that Autumn looks just like Adrianna from baby pictures I’ve seen of her. I follow them both further into the apartment and after I close and lock the door, I meet them on the couch. Autumn is in Ade’s lap when I sit next to them, but she’s looking at me with wide, curious eyes.

            “Autumn, this is Mackenzie. You remember me telling you all about her. She’s mama’s girlfriend.” Adrianna explains and after a couple seconds Autumn smiles at me and claps her tiny hands together. I breathe out a sigh of relief that she didn’t cry or something, because that thought seriously crossed my mind so many times. She seems so happy though and just keeps looking between the two of us, clapping and giggling.

            “Happy birthday, Autumn! Aren’t you so beautiful in your tutu!”

            Adrianna leans over and kisses my cheek. “I told you she would like you. You had nothing to worry about, honey.” I want to look at her, because I know there is nothing but truth behind her eyes, but I cannot take my eyes off Autumn. She’s so cute and tiny and I cannot believe that I will have two little babies of my own next month.

            Suddenly, Autumn’s face changes back to calm and a little confused and I feel fingertips brushing my cheeks. “What’s wrong? You’re crying.”

            “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just really happy that all this is happening. Autumn is so beautiful and I just can’t believe that I’m going to be able to hold Conner and Anya next month. I guess I just had a little bit of a surreal moment.” At the same time, the twins started kicking up a storm and I quickly, without thinking, grab Ade’s hand to let her feel them. I’m definitely not one of those pregnant women who can’t stand their bellies being touched. I love it. I want to share as much of the experience as people want.

            “Wow. They really are little dancers. They just keep rolling around in there.”

            “Yea, Conner is already head down. His head is down here.” I move her hand and look at Autumn who is just staring at my belly. “But Anya is kind of taking up all the room. She’s weirdly diagonal and so her head is up here.” I take her left hand in my free hand and place it on top of my belly almost directly above her other hand.

            “That is amazing! Do the doctor’s think Anya will turn by next month?”

            “Probably not, but I really hope she does.”

            The two of us just kind of stayed in that position, her feeling the babies’ movements from the outside and my feeling them from the inside, for a couple minutes. After a few minutes of silence, Autumn turned on her mother’s lap and leaned down to place a kiss on my stomach. When she finished her kiss, she just rested her hands on my belly, just like she sees her mom doing.

            “Awe! Autumn, that was so sweet.” Adrianna says and I can see a little tear run down her cheek. She moves her hands off my stomach and hugs her daughter. Honestly, I think I’m still in shock. I wanted Autumn to like me, but that was just totally unexpected. I don’t even think she knows what is all happening, but the sentiment still warms my heart.

            “Those are Mackenzie’s babies. There’s two babies in her tummy just like you were in mama’s.” Adrianna points to the respective stomachs. “Their names are Conner and Anya and you’ll meet them really soon.”

            The little girl leans over and just rests her ear on my stomach. Just then, Anya decides to kick right by her, but Autumn shot into a sitting position and started laughing. After a couple seconds, she rests her ear against me again and Anya kicks again. This continues for a couple minutes until Ade speaks.

            “I think our girls are already getting along.” She whispers in my ear as Autumn looks up at us and laughs.

            “I’m glad, because I have a feeling they’re going to be stuck with each other for a while.”

            “Me too.” We exchange a quick kiss before deciding that we should get going to the zoo.

            “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?”

            “Honestly, I’m fine, Ade. If I suddenly, for no reason that I can foresee right now, feel like I can’t drive anymore, I will let you know.” I laugh as Adrianna finishes strapping Autumn into her car seat and we get ourselves situated.

            We’re about ten minutes into the drive, when Adrianna turns down the music. “So, do you want to have the twins naturally?”

            “Umm, I mean, I’m sure I’ll get an epidural, but I do really want to have them naturally. My doctor hasn’t said that I can’t or shouldn’t, so it’s just a waiting game now. They’re due on July 20th and today’s, what? June 15th? So I have just over a month. My doctor suggested inducing, but I really just want them to decide. When they’re ready to come out, then I’ll be happy.”

            “How small are they really? I know you’ve said they’re small and Mama Rivera freaks out over it a lot, but how small?” She asks a little quieter and more nervous than the first question.

            “They are small.” I clear my throat. “Average weight for twins at 35 weeks is almost five pounds and, when I went in on Wednesday, they said that Conner is good size, only a couple ounces below average. But, umm.. Anya is small. She’s only around three and a half pounds.”

            “But you haven’t had any complications, right?”

            “Oh no! I was just under a lot of stress the first three months of the pregnancy. I almost lost them when I got kicked out again.” I am talking softer, which Adrianna notices, because she quickly grabs my free hand and holds it tight, but I won’t cry. The past is the past. My family isn’t the greatest and I know that. I have the Riveras and now I have Adrianna and the Guerrillas. “I stopped eating for a couple days while I stayed at the beach house. I had the key, so I didn’t have to tell anyone I was there. That was until Mama got suspicious because I wasn’t answering calls. She searched everywhere and when she made it to the beach house, I was so out of it. I hadn’t eaten in three of four days. I was a zombie.”

            “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m sorry you had to go through it and I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you.”

            “It’s okay. It’s in my past. Yea, it sucks, but it’s made me who I am. Plus, I’m pretty sure, if I was still with my family, I wouldn’t be on an amazing birthday date with my hot girlfriend and her adorable daughter.” I turn and smile at her quickly before looking back and turning into the zoo parking lot.

Adrianna’s POV

            “Oh crap! I forgot her stroller.”

            “It’s alright. They have some to rent here. We’ll just get one of those.”

            “Okay, when we get into the zoo can you watch Autumn while I get her one?” Mackenzie looks surprised by my request, but I figured it’s only for a couple minutes. I know they just met, but Autumn won’t have a problem and I want them to get a little bonding time. Even if it’s just for two minutes.

            “Y-yea. Okay. Sure.”

            We finally make our way past the zoo entrance and Mackenzie moves to sit on a bench with Autumn in her lap. I smile at them when I see my daughter instantly start babbling to Kenzie. The blonde’s face lights up and she talks animatedly to Autumn. After a couple minutes, I finally turn away to the stroller rentals.

            When I walk back, Autumn is resting her hands on my girlfriend’s stomach again and talking with a big smile on her face. Mackenzie is laughing and moving Autumn’s hands around, probably letting her feel where the babies are moving.

            I physically cannot stop smiling. Both my girls are getting along so well and they look so cute together. I knew, deep down, Mackenzie had nothing to worry about with my daughter, but there’s always that nagging thought that Autumn would not take to the new blonde well. I make my way over to the girls silently and quietly listen to their conversation as I put a couple blankets down in the stroller to make it more comfortable.

            “You know, the last time I was here was with your mama. We were seventeen and it was just before.. I moved away. We got to look at all the baby animals that day and your mom got all upset when the baby monkey stole her sunglasses.” The blonde laughs and my smile got a little bigger. “She was so frustrated and adorable.”

            “Lalalalala.” Autumn laughs and turns to me. “Mamamamamama.”

            “Hi, baby girl. Are you ready to go look at all the animals?”

            “I know I am!” Mackenzie says brightly and stands up while holding Autumn. She moves to put her into the stroller, but I try and transfer her to myself first.

            “I can take her Kenz.” The other woman pauses while holding my daughter and all three of us go silent for a couple seconds.

            “Please.” Mackenzie begs. “Please don’t treat me like I’m fragile. I know I told you the truth about the twins, but I can carry her for the thirty seconds it takes to get her into the stroller. I’m babied enough with the family. I don’t want it from you.”

            She moves to finish putting Autumn in the stroller, who instantly sits and waits while Kenzie straps her in. When she stands again, I grab her hand and pull her into a soft kiss. “I’m sorry.”

            “It’s okay. It’s just frustrating sometimes.”

            “I understand.”

            “Alright. Enough dilly-dallying! We’ve got animals to see!” And just like that my Mackenzie is back in her prime. I move to push the stroller and she links her left arm through my right as we make our way towards the first exhibit.

            “Before I forget, we have to be done with lunch and over to the nursery by one o’clock.” Kenz informs me with a little skip in her step and a huge smile on her face.

            “Oh no! Kenzie, I don’t want Autumn around all those gross animals. No.”

            “Please, Ade! Bryan promised me no monkeys this time, just a couple baby cats.”

            “Baby cats? Kenz, they aren’t house cats! They’re wild cats and they’re born to kill.”

            “Baby, please! I have a surprise for Autumn, but it’s in the nursery, so we have to go! I promise nothing will happen to her. Either me or Bryan will hold the animals.” The pout. Damn it!

            “Alright. Fine, but only because it’s Autumn’s birthday. After today though, no more surprise nursery visits.” Mackenzie just laughs and kisses my cheek in response. We both know that it never worked. We always end up back in the nursery.

            After finishing the Discovery Outpost and the Lost Forest, I can tell that Autumn is getting hungry and tired and so is Mackenzie. “Honey, let’s stop for lunch and sit down until it’s time to go to the nursery.”

            She quickly nods in agreement and moves us to walk towards the Treehouse Café. Once we get there, we walk up to the register to order and sit to wait for our number. Once we have our food and are all settled, the conversation picks up again.

            “So, how was your pregnancy? I hope nowhere near as crazy as mine.” Mackenzie laughs softly, but I know she’s just trying to make light of her situation. I can tell she still hurts, because of her family, but she doesn’t want to admit it. The same people who taught her to push her feelings aside for other’s are the ones who did the exact opposite to her.

            “It was smooth sailing. Nick wasn’t really there throughout the pregnancy, but insisted he’d be there at the birth and I refused to let him in the room. So, he waited in the waiting room until he could see her in the nursery. He held her for about five minutes until she started to cry. He put her back in the crib, came to tell me congrats, and walked out of the hospital. I think he’s seen her three times since then.”

            “That’s tough. You don’t really talk about him. I pretty much only know his name.” She tells me softly, her own way of asking for more information.

            “There’s not a whole lot to say. We dated for, like, five months before I got pregnant. We weren’t drunk or anything, we were just stupid and didn’t use protection. He’s an a*s, that wants to be a lawyer, so now he’s over in New York doing this internship or something there. His family doesn’t talk to us, but they send her gifts.”

            “That’s what Kyle is doing. Well, he’s still in school, but he wants to be a lawyer. He’s still in New York.”

            “How he thinks anyone will hire him after what he did..” I started before Mackenzie cut me off.

            “They will though. He’s from money. Money always supports money.”

            We sit for a couple minutes in silence, except for Autumn who is babbling away as I feed her small bites of her hot dog. This way she doesn’t make too much of a mess. Mackenzie is just staring at us and it takes everything in me not to say anything. I can tell she’s thinking. When she’s ready, she’ll tell me.

            Sure enough, five minutes later, she asks the question on her mind. “Do you really think we can do this?”

            “Of course.”

            “How can you be so sure of your answer? One minute, I think ‘we totally got this,’ the next it’s like ‘what the hell are we thinking?’”

            I switch Autumn to my lap so I can move her high chair out of the way. I move our chair so that we’re right in front of Kenz. I straddle my legs around hers so I can move the chair closer and place Autumn in between us.

            “Mackenzie, look at me.” She immediately abandons watches Autumn and looks up at me with wide eyes. “Do you think we have a shot at being together? I mean, really together, through thick and thin?” She nods. “Then it will work. If we believe in us and we believe in each other, then it will always work out. There’s a reason fate brought us back together right now. It’s not a mistake, it’s not the ‘wrong time.’ This is it. I feel it in my bones, Kenz. We’re meant to be doing all this together.”

            When I finish, I can see the pride and love behind her eyes as she leans in to connect our lips. It’s not deep or long, because of our location. Plus, almost as soon as it starts, Autumn starts to crack up. We disconnect, but rest our foreheads together.

            “I just don’t want to push you into all my drama. Between having a baby, career, and life of your own, then having to add in my life and the twins and figuring out what’s next. It’s a lot. If it’s ever too much, you have to promise to tell me. I’ll be more upset if you’re unhappy and stay.”

            “I promise, but I guarantee you that it won’t happen.” I place a quick peck to her lips before pulling away, smiling when I see a shy smile on her lips. Just then, Autumn leans forward and hugs the blonde’s stomach. It’s not long and when she’s done, she looks up at Mackenzie with a toothy grin, then back at me. She turns and hugs me as well.

            “Thank you, Autumn!”

            “Yes, thank you, baby girl.” We praise as I see my daughter start to twirl her hair. “Uh oh. Someone is getting tired.”

            “How can you tell? She seems awake to me.”

            “She twirls her hair, like this.” I point. “It’s always a sure sign of her getting tired.” I turn Autumn so she’s completely facing me. “You need to stay awake just a little longer, baby girl, so you can see the baby animals!” I tell her cheerfully and she nods her head once, but I can see in her eyes that she won’t be awake for too much longer.

            We collect our things and head out of the café. We make it about half way to the nursery before I see Autumn is passed out in the stroller, hugging her Michael doll tightly.

AGMJAGMJAGMJ

            “Sorry, we couldn’t see the baby cats today.” I frown and quickly glance at Mackenzie, who is currently pouting in the passenger seat. When we got to the nursery, her cousin informed her that one of the babies was sick and that he wasn’t going to let his pregnant cousin and a baby around an animal that is throwing up. “Bryan knows what he’s talking about though, Kenz. You have to trust him. Plus, he said we can come back soon.”

            “I know, I just really wanted to give Autumn her surprise there, plus then Bryan went and ruined it by telling you what it was.” Her pouting really was too adorable right now. She’s so tired and fighting it. She was yawning the whole way back to the car, but refusing to admit that she was tired and sore. I took her keys from her and shooed her to the passenger seat and I know she’s only fighting it now, so she can say ‘I told you I wasn’t tired’ when we get back.

            “Kenz, I appreciate your gift so much! There’s a lot of meaning behind it, but Autumn wouldn’t understand that she had an animal that she can’t see or touch anyway. She’d probably rip the little ‘adoption’ paper anyway.” I laugh.

            “She’s going to love animals! You’re not going to ruin that for her, Adrianna.” She adamantly shakes her head at me. Great, mood swings.

            I deeply inhale and exhale before responding. “I won’t ruin anything for her, Kenzie.” Talking softly so as to not agitate the blonde anymore. I can see from the corner of my eye that she is rubbing her side too, Anya must be kicking a lot. “I swore to myself that I will raise Autumn to love what she wants, with no judgment. It’s her life.”

            “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get upset, I’m just tired.” A-ha! She admits it. “I’m having stupid Braxton Hicks contractions and Anya keeps kicking too. Anya, please stop!” She talks to her stomach as she rubs the sore spot.

            “Relax, honey. Traffic is a b***h right now anyway. We probably won’t be home for another three hours at this rate. Put the seat back and close your eyes.”

            “Alright, but only for a couple minutes.”

AGMJAGMJAGMJ

            “Where is she?” I whisper worriedly to myself as I look at my phone. The party started fifteen minutes ago and Mackenzie still isn’t here. While most people wouldn’t bat an eyelash, myself and the Riveras are all a little worried. Kenzie is never late, ever. I’ve been texting her, but she hasn’t responded yet.

            “Has she answered you?” Naya asks me as her and Heather walk hand in hand over to the front door. I’m not leaving this spot until I figure out where she is.

            “No. You?” Naya silently shakes her head and I can see the worry behind her eyes. “We need to go fi-” Just then my phone goes off with the familiar ringtone that I’ve, we’ve all, been waiting to hear.

            “Kenzie, are you alright?” Panic evident in my voice. Naya motions for me to put it on speaker, so she can hear.

            “Yea, I’m fine. Sorry, Ade. I just had.. some trouble this morning.”

            “With what? Are you okay?” Naya asks her sister.

            “Naya, you’re there already?” The other brunette and I exchange incredulous looks. How in the world can she actually be so nonchalant right now?

            “Yea, Kenz, imagine everyone’s surprise when I showed up to the party and my perfectly punctual sister is still nowhere in sight! We’re worried sick, Mackenzie! You haven’t answered anyone’s calls or texts. What the hell? Ade and I were about to come look for you.”

            “I’m sorry! I really am. I was just having issues.. with my outfit. I’m leaving the house right now though, so I’ll be there in five minutes.”

            After we hang up, Mama Rivera and my mom come through the foyer with Autumn. I take my daughter and she instantly cuddles into me, making me regret having to wake her up from her morning nap for the party.

            “Was that her?” Yolanda asks us with wide, nervous eyes.

            “Yea.” Naya replies and our mothers let out sighs of relief. “She said she was sorry and that she was having issues with her outfit.” She finished curiously.

            “Something’s up though. You heard her voice.” I tell Naya, glad that we’ve, for the most part, settled our past differences.

            “I know.”

            “What do you mean?” My mamí looks between the three of us, Yolanda joining.

            “She seemed nervous or like tired or.. I don’t know. It wasn’t her though.”

            “I’m going to make some calls. I’ll be right back.” Mama Rivera walks away already dialing numbers on her phone. The other four of us too busy staring at each other to realize that Mackenzie had walked up to the door.

            “I heard there’s a birthday girl here!” She opens the door with a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, but Naya and I silently agree not to comment on anything until we figure out more. As soon as the blonde was through the door and said hello to the other three woman in the foyer, she turns to me.

            Autumn instantly perks up and practically launches herself out of my arms over to Mackenzie who gladly takes her. She obviously doesn’t miss the nervous looks she’s receiving. “Would you all chillax? I’m only holding her for a couple seconds.” She tells us. Lightening her tone much more to talk to the girl in her arms. “Right, Autumn June? Tell them. Say ‘It’s my birthday and I can be held by who I wanna be held by.’”

            With that, the mood in the small room lightens, she puts Autumn down on the ground slowly, and we follow the toddling birthday girl outside to the party.

            “There she is! You know, you had your mother and sister worried sick.” I heard George talking to Mackenzie as he hugs her. She laughs lightly and apologizes, then continues to say hello to everyone else.

            I do a double take as Naya and Yolanda wave me over to them and make sure Mackenzie is distracted before I head over to them. I look around and see the blonde talking to some friends she hasn’t seen since high school, so I know I have time to sneak away.

            “I tried getting ahold of Heather or Aaron, they wouldn’t answer. I talked to Tyler though and he said, as far as he knows, his parents and sister haven’t tried to contact her.” Mama Rivera informs us after my mom as joins the group.

            “You don’t think they would try do you? After all these months?” I stare down the porch to the grass where Mackenzie is talking with Mychal and Lea, laughing about something that was said.

            “Who knows. I told Heather that if she wanted to talk to Mackenzie again, that she would have to contact me first. It sounds mean, but I didn’t want her to go through her parents flip-flopping again. But they have ways of finding things out. They also know the babies are due soon, so who knows. They could have found her new number somehow.”

            A ringtone goes off and distracts us all for a second. Naya pulls her phone out to read the text. “Lea said that Kenz knows we’re freaking out over something. She said, ‘Kenz knows you all are worried about her, but she doesn’t understand why. She says everything is fine with her, so she wishes that you guys would enjoy the party.’”

            Mama Rivera laughs. “That’s Kenzie. Ever the socialite.”

            The group of us disperse and Naya, Heather, and I make our way to the table where Mychal, Lea, Kenz, Autumn, and all my siblings are sitting. I pull a chair as close to my girlfriend as I can and snake my arm around her waist. Autumn looking at me with bright eyes. I smile at her and boop her nose; she giggles loudly causing the whole table to laugh.

            “So, sis, what’s going on with you two?” Carlos asks.

            “Yes. I believe we all would like to know.” Naya continues.

            At this time, I kind of wish we had smaller families, because between the two sides of siblings and their significant others there are eleven sets of eyes on us waiting so patiently for an answer, but their eyes already telling us that they pretty much know.

            Mackenzie looks to me and we have a silent conversation for just a couple seconds before we both smile and turn towards the group. “We’re dating.. again.” Mackenzie says and the whole table erupts in cheers and congratulatory comments, which alone causes our parents and friends to look, but then Autumn gets scared from the sudden noise and starts crying.

            “Awe! Baby girl, don’t cry.” I go to comfort her, but she quickly wraps her arms around Mackenzie’s stomach and puts her ear against it. Shocking the two of us. I see Mama Rivera and my mother stop in their tracks, most likely to see how the two of us handle the situation, and everyone at our table is silent. The only sound heard by everyone, besides the muffled crying, is kids playing in the pool.

            “Don’t cry, Autumn.” I watch speechlessly, not really knowing what to do myself, as my girlfriend brings my daughter up to her shoulder to whisper into her ear. “They didn’t mean to be so noisy.” Autumn continues to cry. “I know, sometimes loud noises can be scary, but our siblings were just happy for your mama and I.” Kenzie’s soft voice is starting to lull the sobs. “They’re really sorry though. How about we go see what all your mama’s crazy cousins are doing by the swing set?”

            Autumn sits up for a second and smiles at me, tears gone. I smile back at her and lean in to give Mackenzie a kiss. Both of us smile into it, but break apart reluctantly when we hear catcalls. Autumn leans over to give me a kiss and turns and gives Kenz a kiss on the forehead before wiggling off her lap and toddling towards the swing set.

            “Come on, Wendy, let’s go play.” Mychal gets up and offers his hands to his little sister and they follow the birthday girl over to play with her cousins.

            “I swear to God, if it was her family that messed with her today, they’re going to have hell to pay.” Naya states as soon as soon as her siblings were out of earshot, which seemed long considering that Mackenzie was walking slower today, probably sore from the zoo yesterday.

            “Wait, what’s up?” Nicka asks and my brothers instantly move into protective stances.

            “Kenz was late for the party, did you notice that?” Mostly shrugs are received from my side of the family.

            “I did. She’s never late, so I text her, but she just said that she was having a rough morning.” Lilly says and my heart swells with pride for my little sister, because I didn’t even know that she did that.

            “Yea, so we’re just trying to figure out what’s going on. My mom talked to Tyler earlier, but he said that they haven’t talked, that he knows of.”

            “Well, I think we should just quit worrying about it.” Lilly says seriously. “She’s here now and like Lea said earlier, Kenz knows you guys are freaking out, which will just make her close up more. That’s how she was raised, you guys know that. She always puts other people’s feelings before hers. If you guys are worried, she’ll want to make you all happy before she deals with her own issue.”

            The group of us silently agree to drop it for now. I politely leave the table to go tell my mom and Yolanda of our agreement and then make my way over to the swing set.

            “Hey choochie.” I greet as I sit in the grass next to her, watching Mychal push Autumn on the swing, my daughter having already fallen asleep.

            “Hi bubbles.” Mackenzie says as she leans into my side and rests her head on my shoulder. “She’s so beautiful, Ade. I’m sorry for earlier.”

            “For what?”

            “She didn’t want to go to you when she was crying. I didn’t know exactly what to do, so I just talked to her.”

            I place a kiss on the top of her head. “It was more than okay. You did so good. You’ve always had a way with kids. You’re going to be an awesome mom.”

            “You already are.”

            I place my fingers under her chin to lift her head towards me, when I connect our lips, I smile when she instantly starts to kiss back. Her tongue moving along my bottom lip, I open my mouth and our tongues dance in way that almost always seemed rehearsed. Like they always just know what to do. When Mackenzie suddenly stops kissing and pulls away, I frown.

            “What’s really going on today, Kenz?”

            “Huh? Nothing. N-nothing. I just.. I’m kind of tired today. The babies kept me up last night.” She offers a weak smile and I take it.

            “I’m sorry, do you want to lay down for a little bit or are you hungry? We’re going to eat soon, Autumn’s crashed out for the next couple hours, so I think it’s just a family party now.” I laugh. There’s no presents to open from extended family, since she has a ton of stuff, and so we asked for them to give donations to Sedars-Sinai.

            “I think I might go lay down for a little bit. If that’s okay with you.”

            “Yea. You can go up to my room. I’ll follow actually, because I’m going to lay Autumn down.”

            After I make sure that both Kenzie and Autumn are asleep, I head back to the party. I visit with extended family and everyone eats. The party is completely settled down and everyone’s gone home except our immediate family members. Two hours after they went upstairs, Mackenzie comes down with a bright-eyed, baby brunette. Both their hair and outfits are fixed and non-wrinkled, so I know they’ve both been awake for a while.

            “Hello, my favorite girls.” I greet them and give them both a kiss as Mackenzie silently hands Autumn to me. She sits quietly next to me, her head on my shoulder, as we listen to our parents and siblings laugh and share stories. It’s not until I feel my shoulder getting damp that I turn my attention back to the blonde.

            It’s hard to see in the quickly dimming sunlight, but I have my girlfriend sit up so I can look at her better. She’s not crying, but I can see the pain in her eyes. She’s sweating and shaking and her hands are around her stomach.. where they’ve been for majority of the afternoon.

            I cannot believe I’ve been so blind! I was so worried about her parents and freaking out over all of that stupid crap that I didn’t even see the signs.

            “Mackenzie.” I say softly, but most of the family settle down at hearing her full name. The blonde grabs the hem of her shirt and looks down at it to break eye contact. I quickly hand Autumn to Lilly, which successfully gained everyone else’s attention. I gently guide Kenzie’s chin up for her to look at me and when she does I see the tears in her eyes. “Mackenzie, why didn’t you tell me?”

            She shrugged. “I didn’t want to miss Autumn’s party.”

            I wrap my arms around her and by this time both our mothers are out of their chairs, now knowing what’s going on. Mama Rivera grabs Naya and the family, but before she can say anything, I stand to help my girlfriend out of the chair, and let the rest of the group know.. “We need to go to the hospital. Kenz is in labor.”

Author's Note

Honestly, I'm in such a slump with this story and I haven't been able to write in it for about two years, but it's a goal of mine to finish, because it's the first thing I've ever written. Any constructive reviews could help or anything that would be cool to write about in future chapters. Thanks!