Rhett — 10
“They look great. Their size is good, especially for twins. The surrogate carried them to almost thirty-eight weeks, so it’s not overly surprising. They’ve gained a few ounces, which is what we want to see. Any questions or concerns? Eating okay? Sleeping well?” Dr. Rockwell asked us as she listened to Ash’s chest.
“They’re doing okay, we think,” I replied, looking at Logan. He nodded, so I shrugged and looked back at the doctor. She smiled at us before continuing her examination of our son.
“How often are they eating?”
“About every three hours. We have to wake Ash up though. Abi doesn’t eat as much and wakes up more often,” I told her.
“Okay. Every three hours is good right now, with them being so young, but it’s possible they’ll end up being in the three- to four-hour range. I know it’s easiest if they’re on the same schedule, but it’s not a requirement.”
“We won’t force it. But I will admit that it would be convenient for me if they had the same feeding schedule. Logan is going back to work soon, and it’s going to be just me.” Dr. Rockwell looked at me funny before she looked at Logan.
“I was sure you two had family in the area. Was I mistaken?”
“You’re not. We do have family in the area. We all live spread out on the same ranch, but we’re all busy. They will help if we need it, but in the end, Ash and Abi are ours,” Logan told the doctor, who didn’t look pleased.
“Logan isn’t going to abandon me with the kids. If I need him, he’s going to be on the ranch and can get to me quick enough. But there are things he can’t do from the house.”
“Fair enough. But having newborns is stressful enough. You have twins, so at least double that stress. If you feel overwhelmed at all, don’t be hesitant to ask for help. Everyone needs help at times.”
“I will,” I told her while doing my best to sound convincing. I would ask for help; I learned a couple of years ago that it was okay to do so when needed. I wanted to make sure I gave it my everything first though. Logan knew I needed to do that, and the fact that he trusted me to know when to ask for help was everything.
Once we were finished with the five-day checkup, we left the hospital. I waited at the entrance again while Logan went and got the SUV from the parking lot. I still wasn’t too thrilled with taking the twins out in such cold weather, but that couldn’t be helped when your kids were born on Christmas Eve.
“You know, I was thinking about something while I was waiting on you,” I told Logan once we were back on the road toward Wild Creek.
“Yeah? Want to share?”
“I was thinking that we need to do what my dads did for me growing up. We should always make sure they get separate parties and gifts for their birthday. We can’t combine them with Christmas.”
“We can do that. I’m not sure how, but we can.”
“I know, your family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve.” I looked down at my hands in my lap. I couldn’t very well ask them to change their tradition simply because our kids happened to be born on that day. We’d have to figure something out though.
“Munchkin, look at me.”
I turned my head toward Logan and gave him a strained smile. “Don’t worry about it. Trust me when I say, we can celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day. As we’ve gotten older, my parents as well as Uncle Sam and Aunt Cammie have stopped going skiing. It’s not really something we have to do. It was just something to give us time away from the ranch for a day.”
“Yeah, but you’ll still need that.”
“Maybe. We’re all married now. Starting families. It’s difficult to go skiing with infants and toddlers that can’t or can barely walk. Besides, you know our family. They love a reason to party. And a Christmas Eve birthday party, they’ll be all over it.”
“Okay.” I smiled but wondered why I even bothered bringing it up. The babies were only five days old. We had almost an entire year before they would be having a birthday.
“You okay? Maybe we should have brought Scarlett with us.”
“I’m fine. I promise. I’m just…” I sighed as I looked out the window and tried to put to words what I was feeling. I simply couldn’t quite do it. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was feeling, so I went with that. “I’m not sure what I am. I do know I’m okay. Honestly, I’m probably just tired. After all of the excitement and everything, it’s just an adjustment, that’s all.”
“You sure? If you need something from me…”
“No, I’m good. But I always need something from you. But nothing more than usual.”
“I feel the same, munchkin.”
For the rest of the drive, Logan and I talked mostly about the twins, the ranch, and all of the changes that were happening. My dads had sold their company and bought a house in Jackson, Logan’s parents were moving back to Wild Creek, and if the winter wasn’t too harsh and we didn’t lose a bunch of cows, we’d have a large birth season.
I couldn’t help it—I winced when the house came into view and there were several vehicles parked outside it.
“I thought you got the key back?” I asked, giving Logan the stink eye.
“I did. Either they’re in the barn, or they’ve had another key made.”
“What?” I shouted before I remembered the twins were sleeping in the back seat. Were sleeping, being the correct term because when I screeched, I woke one of them up. They were both crying by the time Logan parked the SUV in the stall in the garage. We both quickly got out and opened the back, each releasing a car seat and taking a twin into the house.
I struggled to not growl at Fiona as she came running toward us.
“Oh, the poor dears. What did you do? Here, let me take them,” Fiona said, reaching for Ash.
“Mom, we didn’t do anything. They probably need to be changed and fed,” Logan said from right behind me. I heard the agitation in his voice, but if Fiona did, she chose to ignore it.
“Well, I’m here for that. So are your dad, Cammie, and Sam. Give them to us and go rest. We’ve got it from here.”
I actually did growl while yanking on Ash’s car seat when Fiona tried to pry it out of my hands. I pushed past her and into the house where I was met by the other three. The smiles quickly disappeared when they realized I wasn’t returning it.
“Why are you here? And how did you get in?” Logan asked before I could.
“I used our key. Really, why was the door locked?”
“Because we weren’t home, Mom.” Logan pinched the bridge of his nose before he pushed past his mother and walked over to the counter to set Abi’s seat down. He expertly unclipped her while I did the same for Ash.
“Really, Logan, this house hasn’t ever been locked. I don’t like finding my own door locked when I come home.”
“This isn’t your house anymore, Mom. Remember? You can Dad moved to Texas.”
“Yes, but we’re moving back,” Fiona argued. This wasn’t going to end well, I could already tell.
“Yes, but you said you were staying with Cammie and Sam until you found a place,” I reminded her. I’d move in a heartbeat if she wanted the house. But I didn’t like coming home to find my home occupied. Even if it was family. “Wait. Where’s Scarlett?”
“We let her outside; she was scratching at the door,” Joe told me. With a now-quiet Ash on my shoulder, I went to the back door in the kitchen and sure enough, there she was, rolling around in the snow. She was going to be completely soaked.
“Logan, we’ll need a towel. She’s making puppy angels,” I told him as I turned around and glared at our guests. I should have been nicer; I should have been more cordial, but I was a sleep-deprived new parent. The time for niceties was over.
“Here, give me Abi and I’ll take the twins upstairs and get them changed while you heat up the bottles,” I said to Logan as I held out my open arm. It wasn’t ideal, but the twins were still very small and didn’t move around much. Logan carefully placed her in my open arm, and with one last glare, I turned and made for the stairs. It was wrong of me, and I knew it, but I wasn’t going to deal with them right now. I had twins to take care of, and they were my first priority.
Once I made it to the nursery, I carefully put Ash down in the crib since he’d fallen back asleep. Although Abi was no longer fussy, I had a feeling she’d get there quickly if she didn’t get fed soon. I was snapping her onesie when Logan entered the room with two bottles and Scarlett right behind him. I hadn’t heard any shouting, so that was a plus.
“Has he been changed?” Logan asked as he sat the bottles down by each chair. I shook my head, but when he went to change Ash, I stopped him by handing Abi over.
“Feed her and I’ll get him.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I have to wash my hands anyway, so go ahead.”
Logan nodded before he took Abi from me and then sat in the rocker. He preferred it over the stationary chair, which was fine with me as I loved that big comfy chair.
After I had Ash changed and I’d dealt with the diapers and washed my hands, I sighed as I sat in the chair while feeding our son. I looked at Logan, who appeared to be in heaven as he gently rocked Abi while she drank her formula.
“So, you going to tell me what happened?” I asked, the curiosity getting the better of me.
“Not much to tell, really,” Logan replied without looking at me. I huffed and gave up. He wasn’t in the mood to talk about it, which meant he was pissed. Not a good thing, so hopefully Abi and Ash could put him in a better mood.