I put on my shoes, sighing quietly as I stood up. The doorbell rang and Frank answered it.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"This is my house, who are you?" Frank asked.

I walked over and looked at the man on the doorstep. He looked down at my stomach, surprise evident on his face.

"Man, we've gotta get going so if you're selling anything we don't want it," Frank said.

"Baby, the Lamaze class starts in fifteen minutes, we're gonna be late and it's already embarrassing enough being the only teenager," I said.

"Yeah, we've gotta get going so you should leave," Frank said.

We walked out and he locked the door behind us. We got into the car and I eyed the man nervously as we drove off.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"I don't know, probably just some dumb guy trying to sell stuff," Frank said.

"He seemed upset that I'm pregnant," I said.

"Yeah, well, fuck him," Frank replied.

We went to the building and I looked around nervously. We went into a room that was bright and colorful where people talked. Frank held my hand and class started. We all sat on the ground in a circle and I bit my lip nervously.

"Alright, why don't we go around introducing ourselves and our family," the instructor said, energetically. "I'm Cara, I have two little boys at home, seven and four, and I have been happily married for ten years."

She turned to the couple next to her.

"I'm Marie and this is my husband, Joe," the girl said. "And I am nineteen weeks pregnant with a little girl, she's our first child."

We went around the circle and in total there were only four other couples, five including us, until it finally got around to us.

"I-I'm Gee," I said nervously. "This is Frank and I am twenty-three weeks pregnant with twin girls. And yeah, obviously this is my first kid."

"How old are you, Gee?" Cara asked.

"Sixteen," I said quietly.

She nodded before carrying on.

"This is just a one day Lamaze class," she said. "We'll be talking about techniques to relax, various labor positions, pain relief options, labor and basic care for your newborn."

Frank wrapped an arm around my waist and I leaned against him.

"Alright, the worst thing you can do is panic," Cara said. "And this goes for both the mother and the father. Everyone just needs to stay calm no matter how scary it is. And yes, it will be very scary no matter how prepared you are."

I looked at Frank and he gently ran his fingers through my red hair.

"Now, the best thing to do is just distract yourself," Cara said. "With my first pregnancy I was in the hospital in labor for about thirteen hours. At my second one I realized to bring things to entertain me because my second labor was about fourteen hours."

I felt myself pale slightly. Fourteen hours?

"I brought a book with me and some magazines," she said. "Many people bring things like movies to watch. Another thing to worry about is your breathing techniques. Some prefer deep, slow breathing from their diaphragm, others prefer short, quick breaths, just enough to fill the chest. It helps calm you down with patterned breathing. But really, bring something to distract you because you'll be there for a while."

"How long does it usually take?" Marie asked.

"On average your first labor will take sixteen hours," Cara said.

"Jesus," Frank mumbled.

I gave his hand a soft squeeze and he smiled.

"When in labor it's is also good to walk around," she said. "It helps to relieve pain as well as speed up the process of labor because the force of gravity will actually help to open your pelvis and move the baby down your birth canal. You might want to lean against something while doing this. Rocking also helps the baby move downwards. Squatting is something else you could do during labor or the delivery itself but that can be difficult to do depending on your size. Birthing balls help, sitting upright, kneeling in a chair, laying on your hands and knees and laying in your side are all ways to help you."

I looked over and smiled when I saw Frank taking notes.

"And now pain options," she said. "Are any of you thinking about having a natural birth?"

Only one person raised their hand. She went on and listed off different medications and their descriptions and I smiled when I saw Frank trying his hardest to spell all the medical terms.

"Another good thing is massages from the partner," she said. "If you're having back contractions then have someone put pressure on your back, it'll help to relieve pain."

I feel as though the lady kept talking and talking and although it was information I needed, I just found it to be extremely boring. Frank, on the other hand, seemed to be extremely fascinated. Cara talked and we walked around and did more hands-on type of things. I felt a bit silly laying down on the ground breathing like I was in labor while Frank practiced coaching me through it.

"This is silly," I said quietly.

"Come on, Baby, this is practice for when you're actually going into labor," he said.

"I know," I said. "It just seems a little bit funny because I'm just sitting here panting."

Frank giggled, giving me a kiss.

"How are you two feeling?" Cara asked as she walked over. "You have any questions for me about labor or after?"

"Uh, I have some," Frank asked, pulling out his notepad. "Um, is there any way that she wouldn't be allowed to have a natural birth?"

"Yes, because she's young and she has multiples there is still a chance to need a cesarean birth," she said. "If there's complications with the babies then you may need a c-section."

"How would that really be different?" Frank asked. "Would it hurt the babies at all?"

"No, the babies would still be fine either way," she said. "But the experience could be different. It's more calm and a bit slower and there's more of a recovery time. And if it's an emergency c-section then you may need to be put completely under anesthetics."

"I-I'll be completely knocked out while my daughters are born?" I asked.

"Possibly if you get there too late," she said. "But other than that the babies will still be just as healthy, it won't hinder that."

"And will using drugs for the pain harm Gee or the babies at all?" Frank asked.

"Well, that's a big argument," Cara said. "It can cause your blood pressure to drop, temporary headaches, you may need to alternate sides continuously, shivering, ear ringing, backaches, nausea, might make pushing harder, it will cause numbness down there for a while, some studies say it may cause babies to have trouble latching, others say the baby may experience respiratory depression, fetal malpositioning and an increase in fetal heart rate variability. These may make it more likely to use forceps, vacuums, c-sections and episiotomies. These cases are all considered to be rare. Most women use epidural during their deliveries and it causes no problems at all."

"This all just sounds bad," I said. "Maybe I shouldn't use drugs."

"But it can also help relieve a substantial amount of pain," she said. "It can help you to stay alert and awake during the birth. It can help you deal with exhaustion, irritability and fatigue. It allows you to get some rest and relax if your labor is prolonged. It can help you stay focused and actually give you more strength to move forward in the pregnancy. It's all really just a matter of opinion, it's a pretty big argument on whether you should have a natural or epidural birth."

"What did you have?" Frank asked.

"My first child was an epidural birth and the second was a natural," she said. "Both experiences were different, of course, all pregnancies are different. But neither were dramatically worse nor better."

"Okay, thank you," Frank said. "I-I think that's all the questions I have."

He scribbled things down into his notebook as she walked off to go talk with someone else.

"You're so supportive and caring and concerned," I said.

Frank smiled, giving me a kiss.

"I just want to make sure that you're okay and that the babies are gonna be okay too," he said. "Because one day we're gonna get married and I want all three of you to be perfectly healthy."

I gave him a soft kiss and I sighed. The class came back together soon and we watched some small videos before Cara talked for a bit and we left. Frank and I stopped for ice cream, eating happily in the corner of the shop.

"I feel like I am fucking huge already," I said. "Part of me is scared to give birth but at the same time I just can't wait for them to be here already."

Frank reached across the table, holding my hand.

"D-do you really think that we're gonna be able to raise both of them and go to school?" I asked. "One baby in high school is hard enough but having to raise twins would be so hard. We'd be staying up all night and spending all of our time taking care of them or at work. Frank, really, I-I'm scared. There's just not really enough time in the day for all of that. I can't spend seven hours a day at school and take care of the girls and work to support them financially and do my school work all in one day."

"We'll be able to make it work," he said.

I smiled, kissing his cheek. We finished eating and the two of us went back home. Frank frowned at the car in front of his house. We went inside and the man who had been at the door was sitting at the kitchen table with Linda.

"Who the hell are you?" Frank asked.

Linda sighed. "Frank, sweetheart, this is your father."