Chapter 6:
When I woke up, the first thing I did was put my hand in my belly out of habit but, obviously, it was flat. I turned my head around after I remembered I was in the hospital because I wanted to see if my babies were there and healthy. But what I saw, was the guy that called the ambulance when he saw me in the hallway.
"Hey, you're awake! How are you feeling?" He said with the biggest smile I have ever seen.
"I feel skinny again, haven't felt like that in over 8 months." I replied truthfully. He smiled wider, if that were even possible, and laughed lowly.
"That's good." An awkward silence filled the air and after 2 minutes, I guess, he spoke up again. "My name's Jake since I'm sure you were wondering."
"Yeah, I kind of was. Oh, my name's Amanda, by the way." I told him with a smile. I realized that he was very cute. No! Stop it, you shouldn't be thinking that! He could do to me the same thing James did. That single thought almost brought tears to my eyes but I held them back and Jake didn't seem to notice.
"The babies are fine and healthy. Just thought you needed to know that." He told me.
"You don't know what a relief that is for me." I said with a relieved sigh. Thank god that weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
"Aren't you giving them up for adoption?" He asked with a confused expression.
"Who said I was giving them up for adoption?"
"No one!" He rushed to say, "I just assumed that, since you're so young, you would put them up for adoption."
"No, I'm keeping them." I said in a barely audible whisper. I knew he had heard me but didn't know what to say. After about 6 minutes of silence, he spoke up.
"What are you thinking of naming them?"
"Well, I was thinking of Perseus, Percy for short." I said in a hushed tone looking down at my hands and playing with my fingers.
"Perseus, like, in Greek mythology?" He asked.
"Yes."
"What were you thinking for the girl?" He tried getting me to speak but I just shrugged and replied with an "I don't know". He suggested a few Greek mythological names but I just shook my head because I didn't like them.
"How about Calypso?" He asked. I liked that name, very much, actually.
"That's a very beautiful name." I replied with a low voice. His smiled grew wide, he never stopped smiling but it did grow smaller when I stopped speaking.
"There you go! Now you know what to name them both." He told me and I just managed a weak smile. He looked at his watch and stood up. "It's getting late, I better go but it was nice meeting you, Amanda." He smiled widely and waved a little.
"It was nice meeting you too." I whispered but he didn't hear me. He left the room and I was left there alone for a few minutes until mom and Taylor came in. I explained them who he was and why was he here so long. I told them the babies' names and they loved both of them. They said they were very pretty and original.
They asked me if something was wrong but I just told them I had a lot on my mind, which was true and they understood perfectly.
(-)
After 3 days in the hospital, they let me and the babies go home. Jake came every to check how I was doing. Even when they let me go home, he still came after school every day. And even when I barely spoke to him, he still came and talked to me. He was super sweet and nice but I thought the same thing about James and look where I ended up, with twins at the age of 13.
Mom and Taylor have been like a miracle for me when it comes to Perseus and Calypso. Taking care of one baby is a lot of hard work but 2 babies is extremely hard, if it weren't for them I would've dropped dead a long time ago.
"Amanda?" I heard mom call out to me from the kitchen. I got up from the bed and went over to the kitchen to see what mom needed.
"What's wrong, mom?" I asked her.
"The principal called and said that you needed to start going to school again next week, but don't worry, I'll take care of the babies while you're at school." She said giving me a reassuring smile. I hugged her and thanked her several times for all she had done to help me.
I wanted to go back to school but, at the same time, I didn't because it meant I wasn't going to be with Perseus and Calypso all day. But it had to be done if I wanted to graduate from high school and see if I could go to college. It has always been my dream, a dream that seem very unlikely to happen now given the circumstances but I'll try anyways, I needed to give the best I could to my babies, so like I said, it has to be done.
Jake came around half an hour later than Taylor. I was putting Calypso and Perseus on the crib when he came in. He sat down on my bed quietly and waited for me. I had forgotten he was there so I sang a lullaby to my babies like I did every single time I put them to sleep.
After the song ended I got scared the hell out of me.
"You have a beautiful voice, Amanda." Jake said and, since I forgot he was there, I got scared.
"Oh, god, you scared me! I forgot you were even there." I said with a hand on my chest. My heart was beating a 100 miles per hour, of course I'm exaggerating, just bluffing a bit.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. I… I've got to go, I'll see you later." He said and got out of the bedroom. I knew he was going to say something else but chose against it. I didn't what but I soon forgot about that.
