The following 4 months had passed by in a sedate ebb and flow.

The days filled with work, I was happy there among my friends, our friends really.
The nights filled with him and I, marathon sex sessions, laughter, and shenanigans.

True to his word, he had quit smoking and didn't allow anyone visiting us to smoke around me either.
It was a good thing, but as winter had descended on Philly, I felt kinda bad for our visitors, watching them shiver out on the step, just for what was a nasty bad habit.
I can't say I really missed it either, because I had never been a heavy smoker, having smoked 3 to 4 cigarettes a day, maybe.

It was getting close to Thanksgiving and still I hadn't summoned up the courage to call my mom, or just go past there, still terrified of being turned away.
We laid in bed one night, him caressing "The Bean" as we'd dubbed this life inside me, mostly to keep me from getting on restriction for calling the kid "it."
That had happened one time two months ago and lasted 4 days until I figured out why he was so mad.
Whenever I tried to initiate for those few days he would leave the room or tell me to keep my hands to myself, that I needed no distractions and needed to really think on why he had dropped a restriction on my ass.

I was clueless.

Then on the last day of it, I finally figured out why he was so pissed. When another of his brothers, Stephen, had innocently enough commented how well my pregnancy agreed with me, and asked was "IT" kicking me yet.

Several heads turned, including Sam's and everyone said, in almost one voice, "DONT CALL HIM IT!"

"Oh duhhh," I thought to myself, "I should have figured this out days ago!"
"Yes, you should have" snarky inner me responded.
I flipped her the bird.

Later that night, I lay next to him and said, "I know why you're mad, and I'll never call the "little bean" an "IT" again babe ok?"
He raised an eyebrow and said, "took ya long enough, huh?"
I replied that it had, and I apologized by kissing my way down his body until I had what I desired in my hands, and then lovingly went down on him, until he stopped me, pulled me back up his frame, flipped us, entered me and let me know, my apology was officially accepted.

He could have just mentioned why he hated it, and I would have immediately taken it back because it wasn't meant hurtfully.

Strange that something I thought of as nothing, had inspired such ire.

When Stephen had called the bean it, I was annoyed too, and finally got why he was mad.
The bean being called "it" had trivialized he or she, making that comment, made it appear like it was nothing.

My having a baby, and his baby at that, was paramount to him.

I knew that bean was definitely his baby after a routine prenatal appointment when we charted on that little wheelie thingy they used to figure out when I had gotten this way.
It was that first time.
The day we had gotten back, that I had came back to him, we'd made love without a barrier.
It only took that one time.

He was with me at that appointment and when he heard the nurse confirm our conception date, he smirked already knowing all along, that this child I carried was biologically his.

Not that it would've made one lick of difference to his way of thinking, but I was thrilled to know it wasn't what I had feared the worst.

He was beyond thrilled that our baby was due in April, as that was his birth month. We secretly hoped lil bean would come on his birthday.
I would still be pregnant when mine came, which was my real birthday this year, as I happened to be a Leap Year baby.
Oddly enough we had born on the same day of the month, the 29th, just he was in April and me in February.

Anyway, we laid in the bed kicking around baby names and he said he already knew that if we had a boy,
he wanted the name Izayah.
That surprised me, I had been almost sure he'd want the bean named for him, so I asked him why that was.

He was quiet a long while, at least ten minutes went by before he answered me.
He said, "My mom named me for birth father, but I won't name my baby after him.
He cheated on my mom, beat on me, Smythe and her up all the time.
He ran out on us when I was 10, and Smythe was 12.
The man who raised me, Isaiah, that's my Pop.
He's also all the rest of my siblings natural father.
He raised us like we was his, Smythe and I.
When I was 16, for his birthday that year I presented him with official adoption papers, asked him to be my father.
I mean shit, he already was to me.
I was bad as fuck Lil bit, wild and hardheaded.
I kept waiting for him to knock my head off or take a strap to my ass, but he never did.
My momma, as you well know, is feisty, I just knew he was gonna smack her around.
He never put his hands on her unless it was to hug or hold her and when she did something he was mad about he'd leave the house, take me and the boys out fishing or huntin.
He ain't go to bars and come home drunk and meaner than a wounded animal and take the shit out on us.

That dick restriction, I learned from him.
Well of course, I ain't know what 'two weeks' meant back then, all's I knew my momma would staighten her act up reealll quick whenever he said that shit!"
He said that last part with mirth in his tone.
"He showed me the meaning of what it means to be a man.
I have his last name now.
That piece of shit that got my momma pregnant wasn't no kind of a real man or a father to me or my brother!"

I rolled my eyes, thanking whatever powers that be it was too dark for the badboy at my side to see I had.
He hated when I rolled my eyes at him.

I had Isaiah to thank for giving Sam the idea of dick restriction.

"What about Faith?" I questioned him, changing the subject going back to our original conversation.
He was quiet for a moment considering it.
He put his arms around me and said, "what about Ahmani, it means faith in Arabic".
He said he did like that name, and it could go on the short list of names we already agreed on.
So far Celeste, Chantal, Deanna, Fiona, Elizabeth, Hailey, Rose, Dayonni and now Ahmani.

All of a sudden I leaped from the bed and raced to the bathroom getting there in time to be violently sick.

Ugh, geuss she hated the name Ahmani!

I was sitting there on the side of the tub weakly just trying to regain my strength
My head ached, I hurt all over, and I knew I had a fever.
Where this had come from I didn't know, I was perfectly fine an hour ago.

Sam came in then, felt my forehead and said loudly, "You're burning up Lil Bit, how come you didn't mention you ain't feel good, you been running around here all day cleaning and cooking when you didn't have to.

I smiled wanly and asked him not to yell at me because my head ached and he said contritely, "sorry baby I'm not even mad, just a little upset and worried.
I'mma call Thornton see if I can take you to the ER, be right back lil bit"

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this but the last time he had gone to see the PO he found he was reassigned which we were both pretty happy about.

He'd also been stepped down a level and only had to call in to report, because of every clean urine analysis and him holding down gainful employment.

The new PO was way easier to get along with, all Sam had to do if we needed something was tell her and she would immediately grant permission, and he would bring documentation proving his whereabouts.

She told him before that they had no issues with him and any time he'd had to go and do something, it was important, be it a doctor's appointment or whatever, and immediately backed up.

He came back in the bathroom, told me we were good to go, and helped me to get dressed, we hopped in the car and went to Methodist Hospital.

Because of my pregnancy I didn't have to wait in the ER.
We went to the L&D floor where I was given an ultrasound and IV fluids.
The nurse put the gel on my belly and placed the wand there, clicking every so often, capturing images of the lil bean.
"Ohhhh" she smiled softly, attention riveted to the screen, " I'll be right back with you, Dr. Patel needs to see this."
I immediately asked, "Everything ok?"
She smiled told us not to worry and a few minutes later Dr. Patel came into the room, wanded my stomach again, smiled broadly at the screen, turned to us and said, "Do you hear that?'

Well I sure did.
It was the baby's heartbeat, to me it sounded a bit like galloping horses.
I could hear it's quick rythm and a smile came to my face.
"Yes, Doc I hear it"
Sam said "what's up, babe?"
He was so focused on the monitor he thought I was calling him Doc!
I laughed lightly and said, 'not you Doc, the actual doctor."
He looked at me and ginned saying, "oh, yeah, right!"

Dr. Patel asked if we wanted more than one child and we both said at the same time, "Yes!"

He spun the monitor and said, "Here's the baby you knew was expected, and THERE'S the baby that, apparently, is quite the surprise!"

We looked at each other, and then at him astonishment written on both our faces.

"TWINS!??" He said in a voice so filled with awe and love, it immediately brought tears to my eyes.

I said, reaching for his hand, "Aw shoot baby, you done did it now! You got me pregnant, and on purpose not to mention, with not one but TWO babies!"

I never saw him looking so sure of himself, or quite as sexy as he did now.
He was on me in a half a second, kissing me deeply, running his hands over my belly, heedless of the gel goop that was still on it.

"Aw, hey babies, daddy loves y'all!"
He said loudly, as if they could hear him.
Then, quite unbelievably, I clearly felt a definite thump!
He looked at me and said, "yeah see that?! They know my voice already!"
Do it again babies!"
Then even though I knew it was impossible, one of them kicked again!

I was in tears from laughing so hard, I seemed that even inside me, they know who the boss is!

Apparently, although it's rare, Baby A who's sightly bigger than Baby B was hiding his brother, or sister.

I was still in shock. I got dressed and found that I also had the flu, which is why I felt so terrible.
I would have to just stay hydrated and eat whatever I could manage to keep down, because antiviral meds could cross the placenta, and I just wouldn't take that risk with the "beanie babies" on board!

Oh, how I wanted my mom!

She didn't know if I was alive or not having cut me off several months prior.

After I dressed, I asked Sam to take me over there, that it was time to see for sure if I was still welcome or not, if we ALL were welcome really.

He only nodded and slung his arm around me still looking a bit shell shocked.

Who could blame him really?
In the space of a few hours he went from having the responsibility of me and bean, to me and TWINS!

We arrived at my mom's early in the morning, it was barely 7 am.

I exited the car after giving him a kiss getting a gentle squeeze and him saying it would all workout how it should, that fate and destiny were hard at work.

I turned the knob, and was shocked to find it was unlocked.

Courage be with me now, I prayed to my higher power, and entered....