The Stoic And The Beast

One Of Each

Alicia's POV

"Hey, babe. You ready to go see our babies?"

"As I'll ever be. I'm so excited!" I squealed.

"Great, let's go meet our babies."

Luke pecked a small kiss on my temple and took my hand. We walked into the hospital happy as two newlyweds on our honeymoon.

"I really hope we get one of each. A boy and a girl. That would be so perfect. Do you agree?" He asked as he squeezed my hand.

"Hrm? Yeah. One of each would be amazing." I smiled lovingly at him.

We checked in at the sixth-floor doctor's office and sat down in the waiting room. There was a coffee table in front of us filled with baby magazines. Luke plucked one from the top of the scattered stack and flipped through the pages.

"There are subscriptions to these things? Should we take a few of these postcards and get them mailed to the house? We could both use some reading material on parenting." He chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess so. There is probably a lot we don't know about raising children. But I'm sure we will do just fine with or without some outsiders advice from some stupid parenting magazine."

"Right. I'm sure it's not that complicated. I just want to be a good dad. So I guess the more prepared I am the better I will feel about it. You know?" He muttered nervously.

"You are going to be a wonderful father. Don't be so worried. There's no rule book to parenting. We will work together and figure it out as we go. Don't stress so much. Okay, babe?"

I placed my hand on Luke's forearm to soothe his nerves. He was bouncing his knee up and down recklessly. Telling me that he was more afraid of his becoming a parent than I initially thought.

"Are you scared?" I asked him.

"No, I'm ready to be a dad. There's a lot to be worried about though. Don't worry, it's just nerves. I'm more excited to be a dad than I am scared. I promise."

He took my hand and pressed it to his lips.

"I love you so much, Alicia. You and the twins are my whole world. Nothing has ever made me happier. I'm ready for this life. With you, and them."

His eyes locked on mine and they glowed green like emeralds in flames.

"I love you too Luke."

I laid my head on his shoulder and smiled. I felt his body relax as we sat back and waited to be called. At some point, I nodded off while Luke read facts out loud about fetuses in utero. I was shaken awake by Luke telling me it was time to go meet the doctor. An assistant leads us to a dark room in the far corner of the building. She pointed to a pair of scrubs resting on a bench table.

"I'm going to ask you a few basic questions to fill out your chart and then I'll leave you to get changed into these." She said brightly.

She asked a ton of questions about my health and family history as well as Luke's. Then as she had said she would, she left us alone in the room for me to get changed.

"Are you ready to meet the babies love? I'm so nervous." Luke said as he helped me dress into the nightgown.

"I'm ready. Luke, are you nervous?" I asked.

"Sort of... not really. I'm more excited than nervous I guess." He answered.

Luke helped me climb up on the bench and placed the pillow behind my head as I laid down. I felt cold and exposed. I found myself staring at a poster on the wall that showed several different images of babies in utero in different stages. It was kind of amazing how they start out so tiny. Resembling nothing that looked like a human being then morphing into a small alien looking blob then into a tiny little person with fingers and toes and hair. Luke notices me studying the poster.