--- A Day Later ---
--- 24th of December, 1962 ---

A day has passed since not only Odette has been proposed, further, her first child was a dream come true for the juvenile singer.

Nevertheless, it has been a week since the Howards have seen Frank and his daughters along with Serena as they paid a visit to the small family.

Even more shortly after the miraculous marriage proposal, the both young adults haven't progressed with their plans for the imminent, remarkable event as they have mentioned their wedding ceremony is due in May, although they haven't detailed the day as well.

At the moment, the middle-aged lady was seating on the kitchen table as her hands were baptized in flour after kneading gently the round shaped floured scones, whereas Kit and Timothy helped her with the preparation of the meals as the scones were in the oven, baking. The both men were utterly focused on slicing fresh vegetables for the salads.

Whilst the horde of older adults resided the kitchen, meanwhile, the love child was upstairs as she received another phone call from her friend, Serena:

"How are ya going to celebrate Christmas, Serena?" The younger woman posed the questilm with ginormous inquisition, vomited in her voice. Meanwhile, her soft as velvet hazelish-brown irises glimpsed at out the large sized window in the corridor, ducking her head as she clung the earpiece against her sensitive, petite ear after tucking some stray glossy chestnut strands behind the ear. 

"By myself." The strawberry-haired lady replied emphatically without any sparks of doubt, vomited in her brief reply. 

"Well, don't you have somebody special on your mind to celebrate Christmas?"

"Not at all! I don't have a particular luck with these guys."

"Oh! I get ya." Odette sighed a sigh of relief as she felt bad for her childhood friend she's going to celebrate Christmas with nobody else than herself, sheding gegrudgingly a tear, gushing down her porcelain, pale as snow cheek. "Well, I'm going to celebrate Christmas with my family and my boyfriend, Kit. Don't ya want to join us and celebrate Christmas every one of us?" She kept on with her utterance, enquiring with immense inquisitiveness, lingering on her tongue. 

"I'm okay with celebrating it all alone. Christmas is being celebrated by families. Not just strangers, intruding somebody's property like," She curtly paused, clearing dramatically, half-heartedly her throat as the love child exhaled sharply, paying utterly attention to Serena as she bit her bottom, plumpish lip. "Hello! May I celebrate Christmas with ya?" In the meantime, she imitated in comical manner the voice as Odette couldn't repress hoarse snigger, tickling her oral caverns. 

"Please, do not kill me with yar jokes, Rena!"

"I'm trying to explain to you it's just impossible whether to invite myself, therefore intruding somebody's property whether yars or Elsa's by celebrating Christmas. It's for the families not for the orphans." The librarian muttered gravely as she heaved a jaded sigh, flaring her brittle lungs as jet fire. 

"Christmas is for everybody for goddamn sake, Rena!" The juvenile singer opted to explain, taking a deep breath. "You can ask kindly anytime Elsa to accept you as you go in Florida to celebrate with her otherwise."

"Oh okay! As you say, Oddie!"

--- *** ---

"J-Jude, why you seem so quiet?" The former man of the cloth posed the question seriously as he left the knife on the cutting board after slicing galore of vegetables and putting them in the salads. 

It has been a quarter an hour after the hive of adults were gathered in the kitchen whether by baking sweets or scrumptious meals, besides cooking as they were all equipped with plain white aprons as an armor against soiling their garments. Violent contractions hit the former sister of the church even when she was utterly focused on the Christmas meals' preparation, collaborating with Odette in checking the oven until the final minutes elapse and to cool the baked sweets such as gingerbread cookies with cocoa. 

"Everything is fine. It's just," Another violent contraction hit her as she instictively lowered her both petite, secure hands to the bump, feeling her knees weak, whimpering in soreful pain as her water broke a handful of moments ago. "Ah! Christ! These contractions. I think my water just broke."

"Mom, I think the best decision is to take you to the hospital as you did with me!" The brunette clarified, attempting to poise her mother's posture even when their weights vibrantly contrasted as Jude was much heavier, in fact, she was in the last trimester pregnant with twins, whereas Odette just gave a birth to healthy baby girl these days.

"I don't care if I give a birth either in the hospital or there, but it's important the newborns are alright." The older lady rejoinded, pouting her lips as she whimpered in pain as she curled up in a ball on the tiled kitchen flooring, sensing pairs of orbs, goggled directly at her. 

"Rare bird, you can't give a birth to the baby out of the hospital for second time. Don't you ever think for the consequences?" The British aristocrat inquired concerned, crouching down by opting to lug his wife as Kit and Odette joined too, in order to lift her with exquisitely great effort. 

"I don't fucking care!" Her moody swings were the crucial protagonists in her incessantly irritated demeanor especially as a response to the further exclaimations, clutching tightly shut her eyes, sensing the angst and timelessly monstrous pain, cooking and brewing inside her, plaguing each body muscle of her frail skeleton. "It matters more the babies are already there, crowned from where they eventually come." In the meanwhile, the 3 adults lifted the former holy woman after walking away from the kitchen, hasting to lay her on the king-sized bed, located in the married couple's bedroom. 

"There's a huge difference between the babies being born on the patient's bed in the hospital and these ones which were born out of the hospital." The younger man intervened, riposting. 

"I doubt it!" She chugged frustrated as soon as either of the men opened the bedroom's door, laying her on the king-sized bed within seconds without an ado as the both men were responsible for her ultimate encouragment to start the episode with the pushes. "I hope this ends as soon as possible. It's insanely painful!"

"The ounce will leave your lower abdomen extremely soon, mom!" The love child evoked out as she lifted up the hem of her knee length skirt up to her upper thigh, in order to survey the labor, whereas Timothy was on the left side of the bed, whereas Kit on the right one, grasping firmly her elvish, creamy as baby skin hand. "Just tell us whenever you're ready more than anything, okay?" Her soft as velvet, slim fingers brushed lightly her perfectly shaped, drop dead gorgeous knee caps as a glowing, optimistic smile honed up in the corner of her naturally rosy-coloured, luscious lips.

"Okay!" She bobbed humbly her head, nibbling on the silken skin of her upper lip until the incessant contractions flinched her as her facial expression blanched. "I'm sure I'm ready to start with the laboring."

"Are you completely sure?" Odette and Timothy arched elegantly their eyebrows as their temples crinkled, questioning in unison. 

"Definitely! Let's just get started with this." Meantime, the brunette got back to work by supervising her mother's mauve slit, in case if the newborns' heads looms 9 months later after residing her abdomen. 

"Aahhhh! Do you think I'll be able to do this again just like almost 20 years ago, my love?" Bewail lingered on the blonde's tongue as the first push proceed. 

"Of course, my rara avis! I'm absolutely sure, there's no doubt you can't do it." At the moment, his sole free mammoth, smooth hand brushed a couple of stray aureate strands of her perspirating complexion, subsequently tucking them behind her petite ear and peppering the top of her head with an affectionate, embolding kiss to carry on with the laboring process. "Do not lost faith in yourself!"

"But it's not the same like 20 years ago." The elder mother commenced sniffling as bitter dew pooled her brittle eyelids as crystal tears sprung up into them, rolling on her cheeks freely. A second severe push as she writhered her long as towers legs along with her pelvis and torso, joining a choir as the bed springs too. "I think I'm just a bit too old for a baby and how is possible to being impregnated 2 decades after mourning over our sweet angel's disappearance and being unable to stop the nightmare?" Layer of tears stained her complexion as her husband wiped the tumbling tears with the thumb of his hand, shushing to her in honeyed voice.

"Everything is alright. It might be different to give a birth even you're after your forties but your body disagrees with your statement. So," He grasped even firmer her hand after uttering the hemming syllables as he was more focused on the childbirth process rather than on anything else. 

After a couple of pushes, the middle-aged woman panted, incapable of catching her breath as she chewed her lip once again, feeling impotent to resume the laboring process until her daughter encouraged her with the magic words:

"Yar doing a fantastic job, mom! Don't give up for the sake of these adorable twins!" 

"However, I'm trying my best, sweetheart!" Judy stuttered as lisp waxened her words, lingering on her tongue. 

"Oddie is right, Judy! Don't give up for the sake of these twins, because they're a God blessing and the regret is going to be greater than anything else." Kit rubbed with his adroit, long as piano keys fingers her shoulder, kneading the wool fabric of her sweater by embolding the blonde to not give up at all. A benevolent, alleviating smile blossomed on his lips.

Instead of replying, the former woman of the cloth kept on with the pushes as the baby twins' heads were looming gradually from her slit as Odette was supervising, paying utterly attention to their popping heads.

"One more push and," The swarm of adults joined a symphony, floating in the sufficiently expansive bedroom as Jude pushed one more time until the blubbers, mingling altogether, as a result of the successful childbirth.

"Waaaaaaaaaahhhh!" 

"Aww, the angels are finally there!" The juvenile singer whispered in velvety voice, winking gamely, mischievously at her mother by handing the pair of twins to her mother, in fact, to snuggle them. "They're boys as the doctor said. He guessed correctly!"

"I'm going to gather some comfy clothes to swaddle them warm before being cleaned up and issue a birth certificates for them." Kit said.

"Alright, Kit!"

"Aww, look at these cutiepies, rare bird! I'm so proud of you!" Timothy seated on the edge of the bed, caressing gently, delicately his wife and the newborns' heads, attempting to subdue their blubbers as they diminished in the vacuum. Their hearts leaped as the young woman was beyond mesmerized and content her mother successfully gave a birth to the twins. 

"They're undeniably gorgeous, darling!" Husky chuckle zinged her damp lips as the double ounce which ounce encumbered her lower abdomen no longer agonized the middle-aged mother as she cradled into her secure, doting arms the infants, peppering loving kisses on their cheeks and foreheads. "Hi boys! I'm yar mothar. I'm so happy to see you."

"You're damn right, mom! They're for sure the most beautiful babies with Charlotte!"

"Can't agree more, ladies! I'm sure they're the 8th world wonder along with Charlotte and both of you." Euphoric, calm grin flashed upon his face. 

"Awww!" Their both faces flushed at the mention of the heartmelting compliment as they purred in velvety voice as one. "So they will be named Jack and Lucas?"

"Yeah, definitely! They're just perfect names for them." Shortly after the labor, the twins opened suddenly their huge as gemstones eyelids, contemplating elatedly their parents and their much older sister, cooing in low voice as their blubbers no longer levitated in the background.

The first twin baby boy, Jack, had a sparse gilded wavy hair, capping his baby head with a fair skin tone and button nose as his twin sibling which he inherited from his mother as the berry-coloured lips, big chocolate brown orbs and the radiant, childish smile were inherited from his father with the thick eyebrows.

The second twin baby, Lucas, has derived his mother's button nose with her eyebrows, rosy-coloured, hazelish-brown pools, pale as snow skin color altogether, whereas his sparse, straight chestnut hair and the ears were his father's ones. 

"Can I hold them for a while?" Odette asked bashfully.

"Of course, my darling! Is that even a question?" She handed the twins to her eldest child, relishing the very first moments after their first inhaled breath and cries, escaping their lips to hold them.

"Aww, hi, Lucas and Jack! I'm yar sister, Odette! Or rather on shorter Oddie, or Odet!" She pinched playfully, gingerly each of their button noses, giggling girlishly, cheerfully. "I couldn't be more proud of my mothar for giving birth to you, besides being deliriously ecstatic. It's just a miracle to have both of you in this world and as part of our small, nevertheless, loving family."

To be continued...