Blame It (Of Mice & Men)

Parties and Appointments

"Alan we're gonna be late!" I shouted up the stairs. I looked at myself in the mirror and fixed my dress. I had chosen a knee-length cream colored one. My hair was pulled into a curly bun, a few diamond barrettes along the sides. I reapplied some dark red lipstick before slipping on my cream colored heels.

He jogged down and I smiled. He had on a dark grey v-neck, black skinny jeans, and some grey vans. He finished putting on his watch and fixed his wedding band before grabbing his sunglasses and pecking my cheek.

Julia was on the couch watching TV when her babysitter knocked on the door. I opened it and smiled at her. "Thank you so much, Annie," I said, allowing her to step in. "No problem, Mrs. Ashby," she said, grinning. "We'll be back, Julia, okay? I love you!" She shouted an "I love you too" and Alan and I walked out the door.

We had driven to the doctor earlier to finally find out the genders of the babies. That's right.

Genders. Babies.

Alan and I were having triplets. We weren't able to tell during the first sonogram, but the second one showed that we were having more than one baby. Alan almost passed out when the doctor announced it. He'd finally begun to warm up to it though and I think he was pretty excited.

••Flashback••

We walked, well Alan walked and I waddled, into the doctor's office and signed in, sitting down in two open chairs. "Ugh," I sighed as I sat down, resting a hand on my ginormous stomach. "Alan," I whispered. "Hmm?" He asked looking up from his phone. "I can't see my feet," I whispered holding in laughter. Alan chuckled, struggling to keep from bursting out in laughter as they called out my name. Alan helped me stand up and we walked to the ultrasound room.

I had to use a step-stool to get on the bed and I pulled my shirt up to my chest before laying back. My doctor came in and smiled at us. "Hi, April, Alan. You ready to find out what you're having?" he asked, squirting some sanitizer on his hands and rubbing it in. We both nodded and he turned on the machine and the small tv, squirting the gel onto my belly. He picked up the wand and moved it around, showing the babies.

"Okay, this one," he said, pointing to the screen, "is a boy." He moved the wand around a little more. "This one, is also a boy," he said, pointing again. "And this one, is a little girl. Congratulations!" Dr. Mark said, wiping off my stomach. I looked over at Alan and smiled. He stood and helped me sit up, lifting me from the seat and onto the floor. I fixed my shirt and Dr. Mark shook Alan's hand before walking out, leaving us alone. Alan placed his hands on each side of my face, pulling me in for a kiss. "I'm so excited," he said. "Me too," I grinned.

We went to the car and climbed in, Alan reaching for my hand and holding it as we drove. I looked out the window and rolled it down as the August wind flew through my hair. We came to a stoplight and I looked out at the beach. A guy was surfing, almost wiping out as the car started again.

••Flashback Ends••

Austin had invited us to his birthday party and we were already running behind. Alan sped to the hotel, pulling into the parking lot. We got out and Alan handed the keys to the valet boy, reaching for my hand was we walked inside.

"April, Alan! Hey!" I looked over to see Austin waving. We waved back and walked over. "So what'd you find out?" Austin asked, handing Alan a beer. "Two boys and a girl," I smiled. "Aw dude! Congrats! I still can't believe you guys are having triplets," he said, smiling. "Me neither," Alan said, kissing my cheek. I smiled and a voice came over through the music shouting for Austin to come blow out his candles. We all sang happy birthday and cheered. We stayed a little while longer until I began to get tired. We hugged Austin bye and headed home.

We pulled into the driveway and I pulled off my shoes and walked up to the house. Annie opened the door and we walked in. Alan paid her and she went home. I headed to Julia's room and kissed her forehead before going to the bedroom to change. I pulled on a tanktop and laid in the bed, closing my eyes. I heard Alan's jeans drop to the floor and felt the bed dip as he climbed in next to me. "I love you," he murmured into my ear. "I love you too," I whispered before falling into sleep.