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It was Saturday, which for Rudy and Louise meant it was the day of their family dinner with Rudy’s side of the family.
Many years ago Rudy had attended a dinner just like it, but after failing a magic trick and feeling overwhelmed he fled the restaurant and ran until he came across a familiar burger restaurant, one that was owned by his best friend’s family.
He was welcomed with open arms and invited to join them for dinner after he lied to them and told them his family meal had been canceled, but one slip of the tongue had his facade come crashing down. The Belcher family soon called his parents and informed them of his whereabouts, but as Bob looked for his car keys, Louise herself offered to walk him to the restaurant.
It was one of Rudy’s fondest memories. Just the two of them walking together to the restaurant, she even stayed around and helped him with his magic tricks. She made him feel safe, she made him feel seen.
That was when they were nine, now Rudy and Louise were rapidly approaching twenty-eight, and a lot had changed since then.
To begin with, Paul had been upgraded from “That guy who’s dating Mom” to Stepdad and a loving husband to Holly.
Vicki had long since been replaced with the much nicer Cherie, who had really hit it off with Sylvester since attending the middle-aged bowling party, and had been in a committed relationship with him ever since.
And the biggest change of all was between Rudy and Louise, who’d had their wedding almost three years ago, officially cementing themselves as Mr and Mrs Belcher-Stieblitz.
“Are you ready to go Lou?” Rudy asked his wife.
Louise smiled, “Yep, are we going now?” She responded.
“We still have a few minutes before we have to leave, just wanted to make sure that you’re ready.” Rudy clarified, “So, are we telling them about… you know…”
Louise nodded, “It’s about time we told them.” She said, “I mean, they’ll find out sooner or later regardless, so there’s no reason to keep it a secret.”
Rudy respected Louise’s decision, “Believe me, they’re going to be thrilled when they hear the news.” He assured her, “I know I was.”
About half-an-hour later, Louise and Rudy arrived at the restaurant, meeting Sylvester, Paul, Holly and Cherie there.
“Hey guys! Great to see you all.” Louise greeted the group “How have things been?”
Rudy’s family smiled at the sight of the couple. They always looked forward to these meals, it was a great way to catch up with each other. Although many things had changed within the Stieblitz family over the years, the one thing that would already remain fact is that all of them together were family no matter what, and being able to all get together for a meal every now and again would always bring joy.
“Hey Louise, good to see you too.” Paul replied, “things are doing good for me and Holly, how about you two?”
“Same old same old really, the restaurant is doing well, I mean it’s stealing all of Jimmy Pesto’s customers so I’m clearly doing something right.” Louise laughed, “I suppose it’s karma for harassing my dad for all those years.”
The group all laughed at Louise’s joke as a waiter came to seat them at their table.
“Soo, does anyone want a drink?” Sylvester asked, “I’ve heard they’ve got some neat specialty cocktails at this place.”
Everybody at the table ordered a drink, all except for one.
“Nah, I’m good.” Louise said, “I’ll have water or something.”
Sylvester was slightly puzzled by Louise declining his offer, she did after all take after her mother and often enjoyed a glass or two of wine whenever she ate out.
“You sure Louise?” Sylvester asked, “It’s my treat.”
Louise nodded, “Yeah, I’m sure.”
Sylvester was still surprised but respected her decision, he placed the order for their drinks as Rudy looked at Louise knowingly.
The meal went perfectly fine, the group all ate and had conversations about what they had been up to. Sylvester talked about how he had bought a spider plant which had quickly began propagating into many, many more spider plants, he joked that he almost had enough to fill his entire condo with spider plants.
Paul had been working the same as usual, with Louise’s dad, Bob, recently becoming a client of his after a lot of pestering from his whole family, it was working wonders for his back and shoulders, and it didn’t break the bank as he received a family discount.
Both Holly and Cherie mentioned that their jobs were going well and Cherie even mentioned that she had started taking another cooking class recently. Eventually the conversation fell onto Louise and Rudy.
“So what have you two been up to? Besides the restaurant of course.” Cherie asked.
“Well, I recently got a gig as a magician for Wonder Wharf.” Rudy said, “Mr Fischoeder came to us asking for help as one of the carnie’s got arrested for pickpocketing the people who came to see his tricks. He’s paying a pretty good price too.”
Sylvester laughed, “No wonder that guy seems to like you so much, you’re basically his back up everything.” He said.
Holly looked over at her daughter-in-law, she was laughing along with everyone at the table but other than that she hadn’t really said a word.
“Are you ok Louise?” Holly asked, “You’ve been quiet this evening, seems unlike you.”
“Huh? oh uh… yeah.” Louise responded awkwardly, “Yeah I uh… well I did have something to say, I was just waiting for the right moment… Which I guess is right now considering you’re all… looking at me expectantly.”
True to what Louise had said, the whole table had turned to listen in to what she had to say.
“What did you want to say?” Sylvester asked gently.
“Well uh…” Louise stammered slightly as her hands fidgeted, her husband took her hand in his to help soothe her, “I was just gonna say that… we’re gonna need to start booking bigger tables for these meals soon…”
Rudy’s parents and step-parents all looked puzzled.
“What do you mean?” Paul asked.
“These are family dinners right?” Louise asked rhetorically as a smile grew on her face, “Well, the family will be bigger in a few months time.”
Everyone at the table (minus Rudy who obviously already knew) widened their eyes as Louise’s words sunk in.
“Yo- You mean you’re?” Sylvester stuttered in disbelief.
“Yep.” Louise confirmed, “I’m pregnant.”
The whole group was overjoyed, with Sylvester in complete shock that he was going to be a grandfather.
“That’s amazing!” Cherie exclaimed, “How far along are you?”
“Almost fourteen weeks.” Louise explained, “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it sooner but I was kinda… paranoid I guess. Didn’t want to jump the gun and tell everyone only to have the worst happen, you know?”
The whole group nodded, accepting and respecting her decision.
“We got the first scan a little over a week ago.” Rudy explained, “We were going to tell you right away but we figured we would tell you all together, and what better opportunity than our family meal?”
“Gotta admit though, I was kinda nervous when I first found out I was pregnant. Beyond just worrying about something happening to the baby, I was also anxious about what it would be like going through the pregnancy and eventually labor.” Louise said, “I mean, from what I’ve heard it doesn’t sound like the most pleasant experience, but at the same time I was also really excited.”
Holly smiled, “I get what you mean.” She chuckled, “I was paranoid when I was pregnant with Rudy, but at the same time I couldn’t wait to see him. I remember the day I first saw him on my scan, I immediately fell in love.”
Louise could agree with that statement, “Yep, I felt the same way after seeing my scan.” She said, “But at the same time it also made me doubly nervous considering what they found.”
The family’s demeanor immediately changed from jovial to full of concern.
“What was the matter?” They all said almost simultaneously, “Was there a problem with the baby?”
Louise’s eyes widened, “Oh! No no! They didn’t find anything wrong on the scan! Crap I made that sound really bad didn’t I?” She quickly assured them, “It was just a big shock to us because… well…”
[One Week Earlier - Seymour’s Bay General Hospital]
“W-what?” Louise sputtered, her face as pale as a ghost, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S TWO?!?!?”
Both Louise and Rudy were taken back by the sudden news that the doctor had revealed. Louise sat and tried to absorb news whilst Rudy frantically grabbed his inhaler, the shock literally taking his breath away.
“I understand this is shocking news to you Mrs Belcher-Stieblitz, but please try to remain as calm as you can.” The doctor said, “But yes, the ultrasound detected two fetuses. They also seem to share a placenta meaning they are identical twins. But the most important thing is that they both seem to be healthy and developing smoothly.”
Louise felt lightheaded. The news that she was having not one, but two kids both excited and frightened her. She was happy knowing that her future child would have a sibling to be by their side, but a part of her couldn’t stop worrying about something bad happening to one of the twins, or how the birth would go.
Later that day back at their home, Louise was deep in thought.
“Lou? Are you ok?” Rudy asked his wife, taking a seat next to her whilst putting his arm around her, “Are you worried about the twins?”
Louise gave out a dry chuckle. “No, I’m happy… but then at the same time I guess I am kinda worried?” She admits, “I mean what if one of them doesn’t develop properly and we lose it? Or what if we can’t afford to raise two kids at once? And I mean, I was already worried about how painful giving birth would be, now you’re telling me I have to do it twice in a row? What if I can’t handle it?”
Rudy pulled Louise in close for a hug.
“Louise, you’re the toughest woman I know, if anyone can handle this it’s you.” Rudy said gently, “And besides, you have me! Anything that happens, we face it together as a team.”
Louise smiled and hugged Rudy tight.
“You always know how to cheer me up, don’t you?” She chuckled, “You’re going to be a great dad, I know it.”
Rudy kissed his wife on the top of her head. “And you’ll be a perfect mother, Louise.”
“YOU’RE HAVING TWINS?!?!” Everyone at the table exclaimed.
“Yep, guess the world decided having one kid wasn’t enough of a challenge for me and gave me twins to test me.” Louise said, “Either that or hanging out with Andy and Ollie so much when I was younger infected me with a twin curse or something. Either way, I accept the challenge!”
Tears started to appear in Sylvester’s eyes, “I’m gonna be a double grandpa!” He said overjoyed.
“Have you thought of any names yet?” Cherie said, “I know it’s a little early, but it couldn’t hurt to be prepared right.”
“Well, kind of.” Louise replied, “I mean, we had this whole plan that if we had a girl I would name it and if it was a boy Rudy would name it. But the fact that we’re having identical twins kind of screwed that up.”
“I don’t really have any girl names in mind.” Rudy explained, “So if we have two girls, well, I’m not sure what we would do.”
“Well, what names did you think of?” Holly asked.
“If I had a girl I had always planned to call her either Lily or Alice. After my grandmother and great grandmother respectively.” Louise answered, “Rudy wanted to call it Brian if it was a boy.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Paul said.
“I mean, if we end up with two girls, I quite like the name Alice too.” Rudy admitted while glancing over at his dad, who seemed to be getting worked up, “Uhh, You alright Dad?”
Sylvester sniffled as he took his glasses off and wiped away a tear, “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m great actually.” He assured the couple, “I just can’t believe I’m going to be a grandpa.”
“Well, you still have quite a few more months to prepare yourself.” Louise chuckled.
“So, are we the first people you’ve told or have you told anyone else?” Holly asked.
“We told Louise’s family yesterday.” Rudy explained, “And made them swear to keep it a secret from you until we told you ourselves.”
“It was… a very loud evening.” Louise said, “I didn’t even know my dad could squeal that loud, any higher and he would’ve been a dog whistle.”
Louise’s comment made the whole group laugh.
“Well, I hope you know to take it easy while you’re pregnant Louise.” Cherie said thoughtfully, “I know you always work your hardest at the restaurant, but just know that if you ever need a break or a day off, we’ll all understand.”
Louise nodded, “Way ahead of you Cherie.” She said, “Both Dad and Zeke have offered to take over temporarily while I’m pregnant. But I’ll still hang in there for as long as I can.”
Cherie smiled, “Wouldn’t expect anything less from you Louise.” She said.
The family continued to enjoy their meal, chatting about Louise’s pregnancy along with any other topics that crossed their mind. Eventually the time came for everyone to go home, and everyone said their goodbyes, looking forward to the additional two guests they would have with them in the future.
Later that evening, Louise was laid down in her bed while her husband was brushing his teeth. Louise gently placed a hand onto the slight bump on her belly, she had been told that carrying twins would result in the bump not only being visible sooner, but also much bigger than it would be with a regular pregnancy. The thought of having kids of her own both scared and excited her, she just hoped that she could be the best Mom possible for them when they were born.
Rudy walked out the bathroom, seeing his wife feeling her developing baby bump.
“Are they kicking already?” Rudy asked.
Louise laughed, “Nah it’s too early for that.” She said, “I’m just thinking about what it will be like when they’re finally born.”
Rudy laid down next to his wife, putting his hand over hers.
“Well, I’m sure our lives will be a lot busier.” He chuckled.
Louise chuckled back. “You know, I never thought I would end up having kids when I was younger.” She admitted, “But you know, I’m actually looking forward to it. I just hope I can be a good Mom for them.”
Rudy smiled, “I already told you, you’re gonna be a great Mom Louise.” He said gently, “And don’t forget, I’ll be right by your side the whole time.”
The couple gently snuggled up to each other, being mindful of the bump which held their future children. Parenthood would be a brand new challenge unlike anything they had ever faced before. But as long as they were together, they knew that everything would be ok.