Chapter 9

"Mom!" Izzy streaked into the kitchen where Jeremy and I were already working on getting the turkey hustled into the oven. It was the second turkey. The first had already gone in. There were easily a dozen other dishes prepared. The moms would be down shortly, as it was still early for almost everyone except me, Jeremy, and apparently now Izzy.

She slid to a stop next to me, blonde hair escaping her braid in wisps, her eyes huge and her expression panicked. The last is what had me wiping my hands to meet her intense gaze. Our eldest daughter was something of a perfectionist, didn't always know when to take a break, and could often work herself up into a fit of anxiety trying to do everything.

"Hey," I told her as I crouched. Then she threw her arms around me and I cradled her close. "Shh, what's wrong?" She was actually shaking. "Bad dream?"

I caught Jeremy's eye as I stood, still holding her. I was five months pregnant now, the bump was there with our fourth—and fifth children. We'd announced it to the whole family. But I had the balance down for carrying even my big girl.

He'd wiped his own hands before running a hand over her head. "I'll make you some hot cocoa."

"Thank you," Izzy said in a muffled voice that came out small and a little worried. Leaving Jeremy to the prep, I carried Izzy out of the kitchen and down the hall. The house was huge and we'd made some changes over the years. Other parts, we'd kept the same. Grandpa Ted's study was exactly as it had been, right down to the pool table and the big chairs in front of the fireplace.

Archie had so many memories in this room. So did Eddie. More than once I'd found them here after a meal or a day, just sharing a drink and chuckling. We'd put up Christmas decorations everywhere else, but we kept it light in here. This year, we'd achieved twelve trees. I rather suspected next year, one would end up in here whether we planned for it or not.

Still, I nudged the door closed and carried Izzy over to one of the big armchairs. It was the one Archie favored and it always made me think of him as I sat. There was no fire at the moment, though the wood was set up. The room was more than warm enough, so I settled Izzy on my lap just holding her until she lifted her head.

"I had a bad dream," she admitted, tear tracks on her cheeks a testament to that.

"Bad dreams are no fun," I said and she gave me the most solemn of nods.

"I don't like them."

"Most people don't like them, babycakes. Do you need to talk about it?" I didn't ask if she wanted to because, well, I never wanted to talk about mine. Sometimes, I needed to talk about them. Sometimes she needed it and sometimes she just wanted cuddles.

"I don't know," she said, lower lip jutting out for a moment. "I?—"

Jeremy opened the door quietly, carrying in two nice mugs of hot cocoa. While I was stuck on decaf coffee, I could have hot chocolate and he'd loaded it with whip cream, and candy canes. Oh, he'd broken out the peppermint hot cocoa.

He set the mugs down next to us and I had a feeling my eyes were as large as Izzy's at the moment. "For my two favorite ladies."

"But we're not supposed to ask for the special hot cocoa," Izzy said, the wonder in her voice dazzling.

"You didn't ask," Jeremy told her with so much kindness it squeezed my heart. "Besides, what good is a rule if I can't break it now and again?"

Izzy giggled.

"It'll be our secret," I said and Izzy bobbed her head.

"This is why you two are my favorites." With that, Jeremy slipped out as quietly as he'd come in, leaving Izzy and I to sip our hot cocoa. While there was a lot of prep to do, I didn't want to rush her. Especially because her lower lip was still a bit wobbly and the tears on her face were still damp.

After helping her balance her hot cocoa cup, I took a sip of my own. It was like a chocolate orgasm and I sighed at the breathless bit of peppermint adding its soothing kiss to the bomb of chocolate. The whip cream crowned it all with sweetness.

"You have whip cream on your lip, Mommy," Izzy warned in a too solemn voice.

"Hmm." I licked it off. "I was saving it for later."

That made her laugh all over again. So we sat there in the quiet room, just savoring the hot cocoa and the cuddles. When she finished her whole cup, she curled up with her head on my shoulder. "What if the babies are a girl?"

"Then you're going to have little sisters," I told her. We hadn't told them that we knew one was a girl. Our second little nugget was quite shy apparently. The doctor offered to do a blood test and if our next scan continued to keep the mystery for us, well… then we'd discuss it.

"But if they're boys, then I will have four baby brothers." She didn't sound terribly certain of that fate.

"This is also true." I waited her out. When she set her hand against the bump, she bit her lip. "Was the bad dream about the babies?"

I'd been known to have them myself. Especially with Izzy, the dreams hadn't been as bad with Josh or Charlie. Maybe because I'd relaxed? I didn't know. I hadn't had any this time around, but the fact Izzy was worried kept me focused on her.

"Kind of," she admitted. "Are the babies asleep right now?" Her favorite thing to do when I'd been pregnant with Charlie was "talk" to him when he was awake, but she always whispered if she thought he was asleep.

"Maybe." I was twenty-six weeks and I'd been feeling them for a bit now. But not at the moment. Twins meant the bump grew faster than my earlier pregnancies, still, we were doing all right.

"Okay," she said, pitching her voice a little lower. "Do you want boys or girls, Mommy?"

"I want healthy babies," I told her honestly. "Boys or girls or both, I'll love them for being them. Just like I love you and the boys."

"Will you be mad if I kind of want them to be boys?"

"Why would I be mad about that?" I wasn't going to laugh at her or tease her, not yet. Izzy was being so serious. Sometimes, she took after Ian in how hard she would look at something before she decided. If she wanted to ask me this question, then it was important.

"Because maybe you want girls."

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

She shook her head.

"Do you not want a baby sister or two?"

Guilt filled her eyes and I wrapped her up in a hug. "I—in my dream it was a girl and I wasn't special anymore. No one paid any attention to me. Not Daddy or Papa or Dad or Pop." She swallowed hard. "You just played with her and kept calling her your favorite little girl…"

Setting my hot cocoa aside, I curled Izzy to me closer and pressed my lips to the top of her head. "Izzy, baby, there are three things I need you to remember for Mommy."

"Okay," she snuffled the word. My baby was trying to be so brave.

"One," I said, leaning back so she and I could look each other in the eye. "No one can replace my Izzy-belle. No one. You are my baby, you will always be my baby. You are my favorite Izzy ever. Girls or not, I am not going to love you any less. I didn't with Charlie or Josh, did I?"

"But they're boys, Mommy," she told me in all seriousness.

"This is true, we have a lot of boys in this house, so maybe another girl or two will help us keep them on their toes."

That gave her a beat and she looked surprised.

"Two," I continued before she could latch onto that. "Daddy, Papa, Dad, and Pop have so much love in them they could never not find time for you or love for you. They adore you. If I have more girls or even just one, they are going to need you even more."

Confusion filled her eyes. "Because I'm already a girl."

"And the oldest. You helped so much with Charlie. You still do and you help with Josh."

"Oh."

"And three," I pressed onwards and gave her another kiss, "Do you remember how big our family is?"

"It's huge."

"Yeah, you have lots of grandparents, aunts, and even a few uncles…"

"I do," she said slowly.

"That's a lot of love. Don't you think?"

She bit her lip then looked at me sideways before she nodded slowly.

"Besides," I said. "Another girl might save you from all the pink."

Izzy's eyes grew huger if possible. "Wait—you mean that I wouldn't have to wear the pink dresses just because one of the grandmas got them?"

"Nope," I told her. "I mean these little ones might love pink and then we'll have to hose everything down in it."

Her little nose wrinkled.

"He or she, they could both like pink."

At that, Izzy snorted.

"Either way, they are going to be their own little selves and you're going to be the very bestest of big sisters ever." I tickled her a little, cajoling her smile to grow. "Do you know how I know?"

"Josh told you?"

I laughed. "Nope, Charlie. Josh thinks you're a big ol' meanie cause you took the last cookie."

That got me a real laugh out of her and then Izzy hugged me again.

"I love you, Mommy."

"I love you, too, Izzy-belle. Do you feel better?"

She gave it all the appropriate thought before she leaned back and stared up at me. "I think so. It's okay if one of the babies is a girl."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said then leaned down closer to my stomach, "But if you are a girl, you have to be on my side in everything."

Laughter floated out of me again because the babies gave a flutter of movement. One of them was waking up. "You may have to keep reminding her."

"Don't worry, Mom," Izzy told me in all seriousness. "I will."

"Come on, then," I told her. "We need to go help Jeremy with the food."

We had a lot to do.

"You should go sit down,"Kelly said as she moved into the kitchen. The grandmothers had descended in force just before breakfast. We had already set up a breakfast bar in the bigger dining room with a waffle maker out there that Jake took charge of.

The grandfathers weren't far behind the grandmothers. Siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins drifted in. Thanksgiving had everyone here this year in particular because I was pregnant and everyone wanted to be a part of it.

Christmas, however, was ours. We floated some of the holidays from Fourth of July to Thanksgiving each year. Sometimes we had part of the family, other times not. Jeremy and Eddie were regular attendees for Christmas. Every other year, Ian's parents came up. With the girls all graduated, they were planning a world cruise with Jake's parents and Klara.

So much to do.

"I'm fine," I told Kelly. "I just wanted to check on the last of the desserts so the pies would be hot from the oven." As it was, I also didn't want to sit still too long. We'd been home from the tour for a little over a week. We had another week then we would spend two more weeks on the road.

I had to see Doctor Patterson next week first though. So far so good, except for the swelling in my legs. That had been happening far more quickly this time and it was making riding on the bus a challenge.

"I know you are," she said, raising her arm with a question. I appreciated the fact she never just hugged on me or invaded my space without asking. We'd grown to be very good friends the past few years. She'd been invaluable when Izzy was first born and I second-guessed everything.

I couldn't ask for a better stepmother.

That said, I still wasn't totally used to it. Maybe I never would be. Then, I would never take her for granted either.

"Let us spoil you some," she said, then lowered her voice as Josh raced through the kitchen with Kyle right behind him. The cousins were close. Charlie was too young to be a partner in crime yet. Kyle was not.

"Boys," Jeremy said without even glancing behind him. I swore you could hear the screeching brakes as the kids halted.

"Sorry, Grandpa Jere," the boys said in unison.

He spared them a look and both ducked their heads. "I'll let the infraction go this time. No running in the house."

"Yes, sir."

Then they were nudging each other and hustling out only to start sprinting as soon as they were clear of the door.

"It's a circus," I murmured and Jeremy chuckled.

"Even circuses have ringmasters, Miss Frankie."

A whistle cut through the din beyond and Jake's voice rose. "And I nominate Jake for today."

Jeremy and I grinned, then I looked at Kelly who was still waiting patiently.

"Jeremy—"

"Go," he said, moving over to take charge of the pie I'd been prepping for the oven. It just needed crimping on the edges. "Enjoy some peace and quiet in the old drawing room before the kids notice. Dinner will be in forty-five minutes."

Needless to say the chaos would begin, followed by game night. The guys were in the other room watching a football game, but they were also rotating with the kids.

"Sounds good, thank you, Jeremy." I pressed a kiss to his cheek before I rinsed my hands off and dried them. There was a cup of hot tea waiting, like he'd known I'd be taking a break.

Then again, maybe he'd planned it. Sounded like him.

"Wonderful," Kelly said, wrapping an arm around me as we went out via the dining room and then down the hall to the drawing room. It was the old drawing room because the piano was still here, but we'd been debating what we wanted to do with it.

For now, we had a couple of sofas, the piano, and some guitars. I had a feeling it would eventually become a music room. Maybe.

The upside of it though, was it was quiet. It was a rare, sunny day and though it was cold, it was dry and the kids were outside and in. We'd put the dogs up for a few hours cause this was just too much chaos.

Overstimulated kids were bad enough.

As we stepped into the room, I had to swallow a laugh. Sara, Alicia, Klara, and Carly were already ensconced. Chloe was here along with Becca, but Blake and Trina were missing.

Blake and Trina also had kids, so they were probably wrestling them. Someone had moved some more seating in here, including one of my favorite arm chairs and I settled into it with a sigh.

My back and feet were both annoyed. While I had tea, they all had wine. "I'm suspecting a setup," I teased as I shifted a pillow into a more comfortable spot.

"Yes and no," Alicia said. "But you've been in the kitchen all morning, and you were up early. Sometimes, it's nice to just have a breather."

"That's true."

"Speaking of breathers," Sara said as she sat forward. "We wanted to talk to you before we talked to the boys. The babies are due in May, right?"

"Late April, though Doctor Patterson said twins can and do come early."

"They do," Kelly said as she took a seat on the corner of one of the sofas. "So, we plan for the idea they come early and that means if they do, they do and if they don't—you five don't miss out."

"Miss out?" I had a sneaking suspicion we were about to have our older kids stolen. Or at least usurped. It would hardly be the first time.

"I was talking to Eddie," Carly said, recrossing her legs. "He told me that Archie isn't as eager to babymoon because of the possible complications and the tour."

"Then Carly called me." Alicia set her empty wine glass down and waved off Becca when she would have refilled it. "Now, you know we're planning the cruise. It leaves right after the New Year. It's eight weeks, but we'll be home by the first of March."

I took a sip of tea rather than comment beyond my nod.

"Which is when I suggested we call Kelly," Klara joined in. "Then we got Carly back on the line…"

"And basically called us," Becca said, her eyes practically sparkled as she saluted me with her wine glass. "Blake, Trina, and I are little tied up but Mom was planning to visit me in March and then head to Blake's to play Grandma. That said… we came up with a plan."

I was not smiling but it was almost impossible.

"I'll come and stay for January," Carly said. "If you kids don't mind. Trina's doing just fine with her baby and she's not that far away at the moment if she needs me. But I can help out with errands and school stuff along with Jeremy. That will give you and the boys more time when you're home."

"Then I'll come up in February," Kelly said. "With work, Becca and Chloe can't take the extra time…"

"But I have weekends," Chloe said. "Graduate school is way easier than regular lectures. A lot of my work is research. So, I can do that just as easily here. But basically, I'm available for weekend drop-ins whenever you need a break or just want company."

I chewed the inside of my lip as we circled back to Alicia. "Sara, Klara, and I will be back in March as I said earlier. The five of us, granddads too of course, will come and the five of you can take a break together. Even if you just find a place in the city. Even if Archie is worried about the babymoon, if all of you are together it will make it easier."

"It also puts them closer for when the twins come." The last came from Becca. "Since all the grandparents have a bet, they want to see who wins."

"Rebecca," Alicia scolded but the girl was absolutely unrepentant.

"Hey, you guys were the ones who said it."

"It's also about helping Eddie too… He was so gracious when Charlie was on the way and kept flying me up to surprise you kids."

He had done that.

"Your dad is worried about you," Kelly added, putting the final bow on top of their proposal. "He says you've been more tired this time around and you're exhausted every single time he talks to you."

"I agreed with all of them, Miss Frankie," Jeremy said as he joined us and brought me a fresh cup of tea. Which was lovely cause I'd finished mine. "You are a fantastic mother, a devoted wife, and a consummate professional, but all of you are going in too many directions. You have the support of family."

"This really was a setup," I said, exchanging teacups with Jeremy.

"The most well meaning of setups. Mr. Archie, Mr. Coop, Mr. Jake, and Mr. Bubba will be hard pressed to tell you no and they need this too." Jeremy sealed the deal and I smiled.

"Well, when you put it like that…"

"Excellent," Kelly said and she wasn't the only one blowing out a relieved breath.

"Am I really that terrifying to talk to?" I had to know ‘cause they were all looking much more comfortable.

"Not at all," Alicia told me even as Carly scoffed a little. "But you've spent most of your life being the one who does stuff for others and it's never easy for you to accept help. We want you to know that you have five mothers to lean on whenever you want or need it."

Tears burned in my eyes, but I kept the waterworks dialed back. "I do know I have all of you. I love that. I love that my kids have you in their lives too."

I knew the loneliness. I knew it all too well. I never wanted that for my kids.

From the other room the music suddenly spiked and I wasn't the only one groaning. The chicken dance and then I had to bite my lower lip. "Who do we think lost the bet?"

Klara tilted her head. "The grandfathers."

A laugh from Joseph cut through the music and the kids were cheering. Sara gave my shoulder a squeeze as she drifted out to see the fun.

She wasn't alone, Alicia and Becca followed with Carly right behind them. Chloe made a face and pulled out her phone. I didn't blame her. Klara was in no hurry either.

Jeremy chuckled as he closed the door on his way out. Every year, there was a bet on the football game and whoever lost had to do a dare.

Apparently, the chicken dance was this year.

Hopefully someone videoed it.