Who's Your Daddy?

Pink, Blue, or Yellow?

"We said we wouldn't find out, Meanie! We all agreed!" When we voted, it was seven to three and we all agreed to majority rules. Changing things up would just create problems. I turned all my attention to Gabriel, sitting in front of me on the bed.

"How am I supposed to shop? Everything is either pink or blue or yellow. How can I be prepared?" Gabriel jumped off the bed and began to pace. "Jesus fuck, Trouble, I want to spend every moment with you and little Gabe or Gabby when it's born, I don't want to be shopping then! I want to be shopping now!" His eyes looked panicked as he jumped back on the bed. "I need to see everything and make sure it's perfect. I've never shopped for anyone more important. Plus I want to stop calling my baby an IT!" Gabriel twisted the second earring in a trio of three colors; blue, pink, and yellow. It was such a big deal for him, being prepared. With how much time he spent over every corner of our home, not to mention the years of making sure we were all dressed impeccably, I knew he was nervous he would get something wrong with our first baby.

"You know, Meanie, you always twist the pink earring. Maybe it's a sign?" In my heart, I hoped I would have a son first, even knowing that all of my guys wanted a tiny girl to spoil. I can't help but wonder if I'd had an older brother, maybe he would've protected me. The ghosts of my father and stepmother tried to rise in the back of my mind, but I was very good at squashing them down. "Okay. Let's call a family meeting. I have an idea." Sometimes compromise is necessary. Gabe needed to know what we were having.

Gabriel's eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning. How could I deny him anything? I love him with all of my heart, all 9 pieces of it. I'm divided equally, yet all of my division loves all of them wholly. I would do anything I could to make his face shine with happiness and hope.

Trying to get up was unreal. The saying goes, "I'm as big as a house!" I'm not as big as a house. I just have a house in my stomach. It makes movement difficult, to say the least. I heaved to the right, hoping I could roll over on my side enough to rise up. "Trouble! Goddamn it, stop right there! You are not supposed to get out of that damn bed; you're only 36 fucking weeks and you've gone into labor twice!" Gabriel fussed. "We will bring the family meeting to you. Just sit tight; I'm all over this." My Meanie jumped up and ran out of the room, a stream of colorful language trailing behind him.

I gazed around the room, cherishing what my beautiful boys did for me. When I was sent home from the hospital the second time, I was put on bed rest with strict instructions to get up only for bathroom breaks. That was two weeks ago and I don't know how I stayed sane during those slow, painful two weeks. A hard kick to my bladder grounded me. There is no other feeling like feeling your child moving inside you. Luke's favorite was the day the baby somehow got his legs positioned downward and kicked me square in the...well, let's just say in a very private bathroom place. I let out a squeal before I could stop myself and was forced to explain why I'd squealed. After he'd laughed himself hoarse, Sean explained to all of us that it was quite possible I would have a bowel movement when delivering our little lady (or little man). I vowed to myself I would do whatever possible to avoid making that kind of mess in front of all nine of my husbands.

When we bought this house, we had a king sized bed put in every bedroom. Even though we try to set a schedule to make sure everyone gets time together, sleeping usually includes two or more of my guys. North and Silas both ordered California king beds for their rooms. I think it was the first time Silas' feet didn't hang off the bed. He spent a good ten minutes just rolling around in his bed when it was delivered.

The last thing I expected when I came home from the second round of preterm labor was our family room to be transformed. There is a full bathroom off the family room, so they put one of our beds right by the bathroom door. Then they put a second bed against that one lengthwise, so we had one extremely long bed. Luckily, one of the attractions of this house was how big the family room is. Even with the two beds taking up an entire wall, there was still room for the entertainment center, a couch, and a slew of bean bags. The other couches were moved to various bedrooms.