Topsy Turvy Kinda Love
calm. He’s going to be just fine. Deep breath in, deep breath out.” She breathes along with me and it seems to be helping. “I need you to calm down for the babies.”“Babies…” My brain still hasn’t wrapped its head around the fact that not only am I having one, but I’m having two. Two tiny babies.
“You and Brooks are going to be just fine.” I shake my head, trying to speak. “You will. Look, he’s waking up now. Just blacked out for a minute. Susan is going to help him into that chair.” I watch as the nurse pulls a chair up to the bed and helps him sit down.
Looking up at me, his brow furrows. “What happened?”
Susan leans over to speak with him face to face. “Brooks, you fainted. I’m going to need you to sit here for a couple minutes and just relax.”
Eyes still on me, he continues, “Did she say twins?”
“Yep, there’s two in there. Way to go, dude. You didn’t just knock me up, you pulled out all the stops.”
He chuckles and I can’t help but laugh.
“So… You want to know the sex today, right?” Dr. Morgan pulls our attention back to the screen.
Brooks speaks up before my mouth even opens. “Yes!”
“Well, if you look right here… baby number one is a little boy.” I look up at Brooks as he looks closer and squints. “Is that his…”
“Yes,” she confirms. “That’s a penis.”
“Look at that, Mia. Takes after his dad in the package department.” I throw him a scowl.
“Brooks, behave,” I admonish. He wiggles his eyebrows at me and winks. This man. I look back at the screen and emotions overwhelm me. What about the other baby?
She moves the wand around again, and baby number two appears. “Looks like baby number two is a little girl. A boy and a girl. How precious.”
Not only am I having one baby, we’re having two. I’ve secretly been hoping for a little boy, and it’s the first time I admit it to myself, but I’m kind of excited for the possibility of a little girl too.
She continues moving the wand over my belly to get a better view of them. Hitting the keys a couple of times as she snaps photos. “You have two perfectly healthy little ones on the way.”
Tears invade my eyes. My blurry eyes find Brooks, and my heart can’t help but beat faster. He wipes under his eyes, the emotions getting to him too. Each time we have another appointment, it seems more real. His dark chocolate eyes burn bright with love as he looks at me. He leans down, kissing my forehead. “You’re doing so great, Mama Mia.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you.” It’s the truth. Had I not decided to give this I try, I probably wouldn’t have Brooks by my side. The thought of that is just agonizingly painful. Our family just doubled in size with one tiny ultrasound. Isn’t it funny how life works?
We’ve started setting up the nursery at this point. I gave up my room because I haven’t slept in it in months. Brooks’ room became our room. The nursery is being done in a theme of wood, black, blue, purple, and grey. I’m painting a mural on the wall across from where the cribs will sit.
Looking over my shoulder from where I’m working on the mural, I spot Brooks leaning against the doorway watching me. He takes up most of the doorway, and I can’t but admire the man who’s captured this crazy heart of mine.
“You get a camera yet?”
“No need.”
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“I’ve got you forever now, it’ll last longer than any photo I could take of you. Plus, there’s no way I could erase you from my mind. You’re perfect.”
“Charmer…”
“Uh huh. Mind if I try?” He nods to the mural.
“What? You want to paint?”
“I’d love to try it.”
“Okay, well, come on over.” I watch as he walks across the room in all his manly glory. How did I get stuck with such a hottie? “Take this…” He grabs the paintbrush from my hand. “Now, paint along this line here.” I point where I want him to start, and he pushes the brush to the wall leaving behind a streak of purple.
“Like this?” He looks to me for approval, and I can’t help but smile. Leaning around him, I watch as he continues to paint strokes onto the wall.
“It’s perfect.”
“You know… you should probably be limited the amount of time you paint these days. I don’t want you or our babies inhaling too many fumes.”
“That’s sweet, Brooks, but do I need to remind you of your stick figure drawing capabilities? Plus, it’s pretty much done anyhow.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “Oh yeah, wanna see about my painting abilities?”
“Brooks…” I warn.
“What? I just want to show you how good I really am…” Not paying enough attention, I miss all the signs of what he’s about to do until I feel the bristles of the brush glide over my left cheek, leaving behind cold, wet paint.
“You did not…”
“Oh, but I did.” He laughs at the look of shock on my face, and I take the minute to grab paint from the easel and smear it across his own face.
His eyes widen as he realizes what I’ve just done. “Oh, now you’re going to get it.”
I giggle and try to run away, but Brooks snatches me into him. Hands pressed softly to my bulging belly. “Got you,” he whispers into my ear as he smears the paint I spread on him just a few minutes ago onto me again. “I’m never letting you go.”
“You better not.” I smile. Yes, I’ve become that hypocritical girl. The one who didn’t believe in love is now head over heels in it. I blame Brooks and his swoony ways. See, I told you… Brainwashing.
We step back and look at what we’ve created. A teepee, grey with black, blue, and purple patterns. Blue for Brooks. Black for me. Purple for