‹ Prequel: A Night to Last a Lifetime
Status: Complete!
Shattered
Chapter 11
3 Weeks Later
“Jeff. This was a fucking awful idea,” I whispered as I closed the door to our bedroom. “Get them a fucking hotel. Get them out.”
“Tori,” Jeff replied, trying not to laugh. “They’re our families. And it’s Christmas Eve. They aren’t going anywhere.”
“Well get ME a hotel. Good lord Jeff I need some SLEEP!”
“Listen, I know you’re tired. For Gods sakes, I’m tired and I’m not even pregnant. All we have to do is get through dinner and hang out for a bit. Then you can sleep. Look at it this way – enjoy them for a few days and then they’re gone until you have this baby. Okay?”
I sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at him. “I sound ungrateful, don’t I?”
“Well…” he said skeptically.
“I don’t mean to! You know I love Christmas. But do you realize we haven’t had the apartment to ourselves in almost a month?! Between the babies, Gabe, Sophie and now OUR ENTIRE FAMILIES. I’m happy they’re here! But in a few months we’ll never be just us again! I’ll enjoy them until the day after Christmas but then I swear to God Jeff, they have to leave.”
Jeff came over to sit next to me. “That sounds perfect, babe. And hey, it’s only 15 people…”
“Yeah. ONLY 15. Only.”
I rolled my eyes at Jeff’s small smile as I heard his mother call out, “Come on kids! Dinner is ready!”
“That’s our cue,” Jeff said quickly. He stood up and offered me his hand.
“You know. I really didn’t feel this shitty this fast last time,” I said as we left the room.
“Every pregnancy’s different!” he whispered. “Now, Sophie, Gabe, and my mom know. Are we announcing this right now? It’ll probably be the best idea. Easier to explain away why you’re so tired.”
“I guess so. Now is as good a time as any, right?”
“Good time for what?” Jeff’s sister Jillian asked, popping her head up from the couch.
“Uh, well I guess we have an announcement!” Jeff said loudly, grabbing everyone’s attention.
“So, everyone. Well – mostly everyone I guess. Um, merry Christmas! Thank you all for coming out here for the holidays this year! Now seems like the perfect time to let you know – it looks like next Christmas we’ll have a little Skinner baby to add to the mix!” I stumbled out, holding back tears.
The silence in response was deafening.
“Stop every ounce of worry that just started right now!” Jeff called out after a few seconds. “We’ve been to the doctors constantly since we found out three weeks ago and everything is looking healthy and perfect. We’re ready this time and extremely excited about this!”
Everyone seemed to let out their held breaths at once and the whole atmosphere in the room changed quickly. After everyone was finished hugging me and patting Jeff on the back his mother reminded us that dinner was ready to be served.
As we sat down to our spots I glanced around at the gigantic family that I had formed over the past couple of years. I took Jeff’s hand as my father said grace and for the first time in three weeks let myself relax into the Christmas spirit.
The next two days flew by, with everyone overdoing everything to make the twin’s first Christmas something fantastic. By the time I closed the door behind Sophie, Gabe and the babies – the last to
leave – I was ready to sleep for what felt like days.
“That was worth every bit of exhaustion I’m going through,” I said happily as I curled up next to Jeff on the couch.
“You know I love you a lot, right?” he said, looking down at me skeptically.
“Uh, yes? I know babe!”
“Good. Because I got a lot of flak from my dad and yours about the fact that we aren’t married.”
“Oh ignore them. We love each other and we have a life together and we’re in all of this together.
That’s all that matters. Now, can we go to bed?”
“Yes we can. And I am going to marry you, you know. It might not be next year or the year after but it’s going to happen. We’re going to build a family and you’re going to open a daycare and then we’ll get married.”
“Some day.”
“Exactly. Some very good day that’s going to happen.”
“That’s good enough for me,” I said smiling as I pushed myself up off the couch. I held my hand out to him and said, “Now. Can we PLEASE go to bed?”
“Absolutely,” Jeff responded quietly, taking my hand.
“Jeff. This was a fucking awful idea,” I whispered as I closed the door to our bedroom. “Get them a fucking hotel. Get them out.”
“Tori,” Jeff replied, trying not to laugh. “They’re our families. And it’s Christmas Eve. They aren’t going anywhere.”
“Well get ME a hotel. Good lord Jeff I need some SLEEP!”
“Listen, I know you’re tired. For Gods sakes, I’m tired and I’m not even pregnant. All we have to do is get through dinner and hang out for a bit. Then you can sleep. Look at it this way – enjoy them for a few days and then they’re gone until you have this baby. Okay?”
I sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at him. “I sound ungrateful, don’t I?”
“Well…” he said skeptically.
“I don’t mean to! You know I love Christmas. But do you realize we haven’t had the apartment to ourselves in almost a month?! Between the babies, Gabe, Sophie and now OUR ENTIRE FAMILIES. I’m happy they’re here! But in a few months we’ll never be just us again! I’ll enjoy them until the day after Christmas but then I swear to God Jeff, they have to leave.”
Jeff came over to sit next to me. “That sounds perfect, babe. And hey, it’s only 15 people…”
“Yeah. ONLY 15. Only.”
I rolled my eyes at Jeff’s small smile as I heard his mother call out, “Come on kids! Dinner is ready!”
“That’s our cue,” Jeff said quickly. He stood up and offered me his hand.
“You know. I really didn’t feel this shitty this fast last time,” I said as we left the room.
“Every pregnancy’s different!” he whispered. “Now, Sophie, Gabe, and my mom know. Are we announcing this right now? It’ll probably be the best idea. Easier to explain away why you’re so tired.”
“I guess so. Now is as good a time as any, right?”
“Good time for what?” Jeff’s sister Jillian asked, popping her head up from the couch.
“Uh, well I guess we have an announcement!” Jeff said loudly, grabbing everyone’s attention.
“So, everyone. Well – mostly everyone I guess. Um, merry Christmas! Thank you all for coming out here for the holidays this year! Now seems like the perfect time to let you know – it looks like next Christmas we’ll have a little Skinner baby to add to the mix!” I stumbled out, holding back tears.
The silence in response was deafening.
“Stop every ounce of worry that just started right now!” Jeff called out after a few seconds. “We’ve been to the doctors constantly since we found out three weeks ago and everything is looking healthy and perfect. We’re ready this time and extremely excited about this!”
Everyone seemed to let out their held breaths at once and the whole atmosphere in the room changed quickly. After everyone was finished hugging me and patting Jeff on the back his mother reminded us that dinner was ready to be served.
As we sat down to our spots I glanced around at the gigantic family that I had formed over the past couple of years. I took Jeff’s hand as my father said grace and for the first time in three weeks let myself relax into the Christmas spirit.
The next two days flew by, with everyone overdoing everything to make the twin’s first Christmas something fantastic. By the time I closed the door behind Sophie, Gabe and the babies – the last to
leave – I was ready to sleep for what felt like days.
“That was worth every bit of exhaustion I’m going through,” I said happily as I curled up next to Jeff on the couch.
“You know I love you a lot, right?” he said, looking down at me skeptically.
“Uh, yes? I know babe!”
“Good. Because I got a lot of flak from my dad and yours about the fact that we aren’t married.”
“Oh ignore them. We love each other and we have a life together and we’re in all of this together.
That’s all that matters. Now, can we go to bed?”
“Yes we can. And I am going to marry you, you know. It might not be next year or the year after but it’s going to happen. We’re going to build a family and you’re going to open a daycare and then we’ll get married.”
“Some day.”
“Exactly. Some very good day that’s going to happen.”
“That’s good enough for me,” I said smiling as I pushed myself up off the couch. I held my hand out to him and said, “Now. Can we PLEASE go to bed?”
“Absolutely,” Jeff responded quietly, taking my hand.
♠ ♠ ♠
Thank you SO much to you readers for sticking with me through this story. Hardest one yet. I've been going through a lot this year and that plus school work has made this story near impossible to complete. But, here it is! Finished product. I hope you're all pleased and I'm already getting to work on my next story which I'm pretty excited about! Completely new idea from any I've done before. Keep your eye out!