Generation 1-Chapter 8

"You're beautiful, Jennifer," my sister told me.

"Do you think he will think that?" I asked.

"Of course he does! He loves you!"

"I'm not so sure," I said walking out of her reach.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, what if he's just doing this because he feels like he has to? I mean, I had his kids. He might think he has to stay with me because of them," I told her.

"Listen, dear, he's not just with you because of the twins," she said.

"Or--what if I get up to the altar and he runs away or something?" I thought, my mind going wild with all the possible situations that might occur.

"He's not going to run."

"Why not?"

"He loves you."

"How do you know that?" I asked her.

"The way he looks at you," she said. I smiled at her. She was right. I was just having cold feet before the wedding, that was normal, right? Everyone got cold feet before a wedding. I took a deep breath. He did love me. Nothing bad was going to happen today.

A woman walked into the dressing room. I didn't recognize her at first, but those eyes . . they were so familiar. "Beautiful she is," the woman said.

My sister looked her over. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but you're not supposed to be in the bride's dressing room," she told the woman. Of course Trisha wouldn't know who this woman was, because she was my adopted parents' daughter. Biologically, Trisha wasn't my sister. I glared at the woman.

"Mom?!"

"Yes, dear?" she answered.

"Mom, as in my birth mother who gave me away?"

"Now, now, it's your big day. We don't need to get into that today," she said. It only made me angrier. 

"No. Let's continue this now. So after like twenty two years you decide to waltz in to see MY wedding?"

"Jennie," my sister scolded.

"Stay OUT of this, Trisha!" I yelled back at my sister.

"Look," my birth mother said, "it was years ago. I was a kid, I couldn't raise a kid on my own."

"Oh, but you were adult enough to go on a screw my dad. Which, by the way, where is he? Is he here too? Neither of you were in my life. Only dumped me off on another family that already had kids of their own to look after."

"Jennifer, please. . . Please stop this. You have to understand. I was a kid once, and you were too, what would you have done in my position?" she asked. Probably the same thing, I thought. "And your good-for-nothing-father is dead. Drug overdose." Oh.

"I-I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I had no idea. ."

"That's okay," she said. "Guess I"ll see you inside." With that, she walked out.

As the tears started to form in my eyes, Trisha came to my side and hugged me. "There, there," she soothed.

"It's just so hard, and not fair. I know where she's coming from, but-" I cut off.

"I know, I know," she agreed.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, Sis," I told her.

"It's okay. I love you! Now let's get out there and show them how a real wedding is done!" she exclaimed. We laughed and gathered up the twins, who were playing at a Blocks table beside us after we had finished getting them ready.

~~~Ryan's POV

"Now, son," my father kept saying, "don't lose this one! She's a keeper!" He offered a wide grin.

"Dad!" I groaned. "How many times do I have to keep telling you? I know she's amazing. That's exactly why I proposed, remember?"

"I'm just saying," he shrugged and walked away. I sighed and finished getting ready. It was about time for our wedding to begin.

~~~Jen's POV

The Flower Girls were absolutely adorable, even though they were out of flowers like halfway up the aisle. Ah, you gotta love them. After throwing out the flowers, they retreated to my mom-or my birth mom, that is.

Since I apparently didn't have a father anymore, Ryan's father volunteered to walk me down the aisle. It felt a little odd having everyone's eyes watching me, as I wasn't used to the attention, but I felt so graceful and beautiful in that moment that it didn't even matter. Plus I felt better knowing I wasn't there for them, I was there for Ryan, and he had his eyes stuck on me too.

Ryan's parents

Charmain, me, Trisha, and Daisy

Me and my Bridesmaids. They look so beautiful in their dresses. If I had not been the one in white, I would have thought they were the ones getting married! Though my sister was my Maid Of Honor, obviously, because she's my sister.

Me and Charmain

Generation 1-Chapter 7

 "Jules!" I called Julie out. She looked up at me and smiled. "You know what today is?"

"No, Mommeyy," she said. I smiled back at her and gently picked her up.

"It's your birthday!" I told her, tickling her. "You're one today!"

"That goes for you too, Baby Girl," Ryan told Layla.

"Are you girls ready?" I asked them.

"YES!" they giggled.

"If you're not ready, the cookie monster will get you!" Ryan said, laughing.

"No, Daddey. The tooktie-monster eats tookties!" Layla told him.

 As it seems, Julie inherited Ryan's hair color, and facial structure. But she also got my eyes. It's so unreal as to how much she looks like the both of us, nearly the perfect blend.

Layla, on the other hand, had black hair. I honestly have no clue as to where that came from, but I'm guessing it was from a past relative. She inherited Ryan's lovely eye color and more of a mix of our facial structures.

We gave them strawberry cake-flavored baby food, since they cannot yet eat solid foods. But they seemed to be enjoying it. What they didn't know was, they'd have to be eating baby food more often. It was time for the bottles to go! ....I might hold off a little while on taking the pacifiers away from them though. They get cranky when they're tired.

"So what does the most beautiful woman in the world think we should do today?" Ryan asked. I kissed him.

"Oh, I don't know. What does the most handsome man in the world think we should do today?" I countered.

"I think. . . ." he broke off.

"I think," he started again, "marry me?"

"Oh my. Ry ar-"

"Jen, I've had nearly two years to think about this. I want nothing more than this. We've been with each other through thick and thin, and I know I love you. You're the perfect mother, a perfect girlfriend, a perfect roommate, the perfect intelligent woman and I'm pretty darn sure you'll be the perfect wife. Marry me?" I smiled.

"Of course I'll marry you, Ry," I told him.

"Just for you," he said.

 "Oh my! I love it!" I exclaimed. He got to his feet.

 "Hug me?" he asked.

"I love you," I said.

"Very good!" I complimented Layla as she started taking her first steps.

"You'll be walking in no time, Jules," Ryan told our daughter.

 

"Aren't they so adorable?" I asked Ryan from the doorway to the twins' room.

"That they are, love, that they are."

"It's hard to think that just a year ago I gave birth to them, and Layla was so sick.."

"Yes, but she recovered," he said. 

"It was a bumpy road, but eventually she recovered."

"I'm just the happiest man alive. I have a perfect fiancee, and perfect kids," Ryan cooed. I laughed as the twins started crying.

"Sounds like it's bed time!" I said, scooping up Julie in my arms.

Generation 1-Chapter 6

 I was only seven months pregnant when I felt it. A pain like no other, ripping through my body in waves.

I stared down at my body as something trickled down my pant legs. I found it hard to focus on anything, but I knew this wasn't supposed to happen nonetheless. "Ry!" I yelled. My water had broken. I was going into labor.

"What?" I heard him ask.

"HURRY, D***IT!" I screamed back as my face contorted in pain.

"Oh sh**!" he exclaimed as he walked in the room and realized what was happening.

"You'll be okay, Jen," Ryan kept saying as they wheeled me away. "Our baby will be okay. I love you!" I heard his words clearly, although I didn't believe all of them. I knew he loved me, however. It was hard to think that about a year ago we met, and now we were having children.

I looked him hard in the eye before they took me from him and said, "I love you too, Ry."

"Nurse, is the baby going to be okay? Is Jen going to be okay?" Ryan asked her.

"I cannot guarantee anything, sir. In the state Ms. Cliffe is in, we cannot postpone the labor. Unfortunately this also means that the baby will be premature, and there are some consequences to that," she said.

I grunted in pain as I watched them talking in hushed tones. I kept hearing the word 'C-section,' which I didn't like too well. I bit my lip as another contraction came through.

"Dont worry, Ms. Cliffe," one of the nurses said to me as the procedure began.

~~~~

"So how do you feel?" Ryan asked me. I sighed.

"Sore," I replied simply. "Have you heard any word?"

"The nurse says Julie is doing fine. Great, actually," he said smiling. My eyes widened.

"What about Layla?" I asked him.

"Layla?"

"Oh my. They didn't tell you, did they?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"No?"

"Ry... We had twins. Twin girls. Julie and Layla."

Soon after that the nurse rushed in with little Julie in her arms. "Look who wants to see you!" the nurse exclaimed.

Ryan scooched onto the small hospital bed with me, and Julie in between us. I felt a little more comfortable now, knowing Julie was fine and doing good. But I still worried about her.

Ryan's POV

"How is she doing?" I asked one of the nurses that was entering the unit. The nurse's expression turned grim.

"Sir.. She was blue when born. Her body has yet to get used to the oxygen that it has been exposed to so suddenly. She's thin, though that's because the other baby was getting most of the nutrients. We have to keep her on a ventilator indefinitely, until we see an improvement."

"When can I see her?" I asked.

"I don't know," the nurse said before walking away.

"Don't worry Layla," I told her, though I knew she couldn't possibly hear me, "we'll all be a big happy family soon."