When everyone had stuffed themselves full of pizza, everyone spread out in the livingroom and relaxed. Micky sat behind Elaine, Peter behind Naomi, Mike behind Samantha, and Davy behind Louise and they all sat there talking. Elaine was very uncomfortable from the food she had ate too much of. Elaine massaged her tummy trying to help it stop hurting she was so full. She didn't feel the babies and knew they were asleep probably stuffed to the gills from food as well.
Micky yawned as he closed his eyes. Elaine closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She felt Micky's breathing start to slow down, as her head on his chest went up and down much slower than before. She knew he was tired. He had done so much for her. Pretty soon everyone started to wind down and snoring began.
Naomi looked at Elaine whose head was halfway off Micky's shoulder. "Should I wake her up to move her?" Naomi asked Peter.
"Nah, if it hurts her, she'll wake up and move." Peter said yawning and stretching out his arms and legs.
Snoring came from the back of the room where Sam and Mike were on the couch. Naomi looked over there and they were both passed out cold. Naomi looked over at Davy and Louise and Louise was stretching out her arms and legs while Davy was resting his head back against the pillows on the airbed.
Peter whispered to Naomi that he was staying in Micky's apartment and Naomi yawned saying, "that's nice," and collapsed her head back on his shoulder and fell immediately to sleep. Everyone was full and exhausted.
_________________________
Saturday, Elaine woke up early and started cleaning. Micky's eyes opened when he heard cabinets opening and closing. "What on earth are you doing?" he asked.
"It's Saturday, I do my housecleaning on Saturdays," Elaine said.
"Not anymore you don't. Remember? You are on strict bedrest on weekends." Micky said.
"No, this place is filthy dirty, Micky and I need to get it clean." Elaine said.
Micky looked around and the place was spotless. "I don't see dirt anywhere, Elaine. You need to come over here and rest."
"I'm tired of resting, Micky. I need to clean." Elaine said walking back into the kitchen and taking things out of cabinets.
"We have guests here, Elaine. Don't disturb them," Micky said.
"I need to clean, Micky." Elaine said. "They can still sleep, but I am cleaning."
One of Naomi's eyes opened and she looked at Elaine with the duster in her hand. "Elaine Grace Nelson, put that duster down and lie back down," she said standing up and walking over to her friend taking the duster away.
"I need to clean, Naomi, and give me the duster back." Elaine said walking over to Naomi.
"This place is spotless, Elaine. Me and the girls will help you clean, but later today. You need to rest right now." Naomi said.
"But I'm tired of resting, Naomi. I've been resting for four days." Elaine whined.
"But you've also been having Braxton Hicks contractions, Elaine, and if you push yourself too much, you'll start having pre-term labor and risk losing the babies. Do you want that?" Naomi said.
Micky stood there watching the two. It was like mother and daughter, although they were best friends.
"I'm not going to have pre-term labor, Naomi." Elaine said.
"How do you know?" Naomi asked. "Do you think it was all fun and glory for Micky the other day when you were panting like crazy wanting to have the kids only to find out they were Braxton Hicks? Believe me, it was nervewracking for him too. Look at him. He's an absolute mess worried about you."
Elaine looked at Micky and he stood against the wall with his legs crossed not saying a word. "But I want to clean." Elaine whined.
"We will clean, Elaine, but not right now. Everyone is still asleep and you need to rest." Naomi said. "Now go and lay down on that couch next to Micky, take a few deep breaths, and try to fall back to sleep. I will wake you when it's time to clean."
"Promise?" Elaine asked.
"Yes, I promise, Laney. I will wake you when it's time to clean." Naomi said.
"Okay," Elaine said walking back towards the couch and Micky followed behind her. He mouthed the words, "Thank You" to Naomi and Naomi smiled at him.
Micky got settled again on the couch and Elaine put her head back on his shoulder and he covered them both up with blankets. "Goodnight," he said to her.
"Night," Elaine said in a hurt tone. She loved to clean on Saturdays and it was hard for her not to.
"I promise I will wake you up, Elaine." Naomi said. "But if you keep whining like this, I won't wake you up and you won't get to clean at all today."
"I'll be quiet." Elaine said rolling over onto her left side and taking a deep breath. Naomi looked at Micky and smiled. She knew how to talk to her friend in a way that would help her see the point. He closed his eyes and started to relax. Pretty soon they both fell asleep.
Naomi rolled over onto her side and looked up. Peter was looking right at her. He smiled and kissed her forehead. He was so proud of her for handling Elaine the way that she did. He held her in his arms so tight and then they both fell back asleep.
Two hours later, Elaine crept off the couch and walked into her bedroom and quietly closed the door. She dusted all of her furniture in the bedroom and quietly tried to move her nightstand. However, when the bedroom door flew open and Naomi, Samantha, and Louise walked inside, Elaine fell on the bed screaming, "NO, don't hurt me. Please."
"Ladies!" Naomi said raising her voice. All three of them went up to Elaine and held her down. "Micky, get in here." Naomi yelled. "Look at what she's done while we've been asleep."
Micky walked in the room and saw the furniture halfway moved. "But I did sleep, honestly." Elaine said. "Please let me up, please." Elaine cried out as the girls had her arms and legs pinned down. "This is unfair holding down a pregnant lady," Elaine screamed.
Micky looked at the furniture and picked up the nightstand and asked, "Where you were wanting it moved?"
"Over on the other side of the bed please." Elaine cried out in a whimper.
Micky picked it up and moved it to the other side while the girls held her down.
"What else do you need done in here?" Micky asked.
"I dusted all the furniture and swept the floor." Elaine said.
"What else do you need done in here?" Micky asked again taking a breath.
"Nothing, I've re-arranged all my dresser drawers while sitting in the chair." Elaine said.
"Again, what else do you need done in here?" Micky asked getting more and more irritated at her.
"I need my bathroom cleaned the my closets cleaned. Plus the baby's room needs a good cleaning as well, and we have to set up for the other baby. Plus we need to buy more stuff and re-decorate it again, and I need to buy new clothes for the other baby since we only have clothes for one. I need yet another rocking chair to put in the room and we need to clean the kitchen, livingroom, and dining room plus steamcleaning the carpets, etc..." Elaine cried out. "There's so much to do and so little time."
"Is there a word for all of that," Micky asked Naomi.
"Yes, she's obsessive-compulsive. It comes along as part of her anorexia." Naomi replied. "Plus it could be the nesting phase of the pregnancy as well."
"I'm not obsessive-compulsive." Elaine whined. "I just like a neat and orderly house since it's been shambles for a while now."
"I'm going to either have a nervous breakdown or kill her before the nine months are up." Micky said storming out of the room slamming the door behind him. He was so mad at Elaine he could spit. Micky took the guys with him to take care of the additional stuff for the baby while the girls kept Elaine on the bed giving her little projects to do like folding laundry since they washed all the babies clothes again.
"You have to stop this behavior, Elaine. Micky is highly upset at you." Naomi told her friend.
"I'm sorry, but I can't be still. I'm tired of resting." Elaine said.
"You still have four months to go, Elaine. There is plenty of time to do these things slowly." Samantha said.
"I want to get it done now so I can breathe, Samantha. I don't want to worry about things not being done and then I go into labor." Elaine said folding another onesie.
When the guys returned later that night at 9pm, Elaine got the shock of her life...Micky was not with them.
Samantha looked at the guys and counted and recounted. "Where's Micky?" she asked.
"He got fed up and went back to his apartment. He's not returning for quite a while." Mike said. "We've got the things in the car, but he's not even helping us with any of it. He had to go lie down before he exploded and said things he would regret."
Elaine looked at the guys and the girls. "I told you," Naomi said looking at Elaine. Louise and Sam helped the guys bring things in while Naomi kept Elaine quiet. Elaine had tried to call Micky's number but the phone was off the hook. When Peter arrived back at Micky's around midnight, Micky was sitting in the chair drinking a beer.
"You're not asleep yet?" Peter asked.
"No," Micky replied.
"Want to talk about it?" Peter asked.
"No," Micky replied taking another sip of his beer.
"She's been trying to phone you all night," Peter said.
"Let her," Micky replied taking his drink into the bedroom closing the door.
Peter sat in the recliner and blew out a breath.
~~~~~~
Sunday came and Naomi and the girls took Elaine to Church but Micky did not show up. "Did you try to call there?" Elaine asked Naomi.
"Yes, and the phone is off the hook still." Naomi said. "And Peter's cell phone is shut off along with Micky's."
"This is a nice Church, Elaine." Sam said looking around.
"You want to see my Sunday School class that I used to teach at?" Elaine asked.
"Sure," her friends said. They took the elevator to the basement and Elaine showed them her class. Her friend Charlotte walked over, "Hello there, Elaine."
"Hi Charlotte. How are the classes coming along?" Elaine asked.
"Fine," Charlotte replied. "The kids are asking me about you all the time. They miss you."
"I miss them too." Elaine said.
"How are you feeling?" Charlotte asked.
"Good," Elaine replied. "These are my girlfriends from Massachusetts I told you about. They have moved here."
"Nice to meet you," Charlotte said shaking their hands.
"You too, Charlotte." they said in return.
________________________________
After Church, Elaine told Sam, "Stop the car in this parking lot here."
"No, Elaine. Leave him alone." Sam said. "He'll come back around once he's cooled off."
"What if he doesn't, Sam? Then what?" Elaine asked.
"He will." Sam replied.
"I need to see him, Sam." Elaine said. "Please pull the car over."
Naomi shook her head to Sam and Sam pulled the car over to the parking lot and the four of them got out and went inside the building. Elaine knocked on the apartment door and no one came.
"Micky, it's Elaine. Please open up." she said quietly into the door.
Peter walked to the door and opened it. "He's not here, Elaine. He left first thing this morning and hasn't been back since. I have no idea where he's at."
"I do," Elaine replied. "Sam, you stay here with Peter and the girls, I'm taking the car."
"You sure, Laney?" Sam asked.
"Yes," Elaine replied. "I'll be fine. I know right where he's at."
"Let me go with you, Elaine. Just in case you need help." Naomi said.
"Okay," Elaine replied. The two friends got into the car and Elaine drove to the park. "See, his car is here." Elaine said.
"What does he do here, Elaine?" Naomi asked.
"He runs. It helps his asthma." Elaine said getting out of the car and walked over next to her tree. She undid the folding chair she brought with and sat down since there was no way she could sit on the ground and get up. She waited. Naomi sat in the car looking all around and didn't see anyone.
Pretty soon she saw Micky running back towards his car. He stopped at the tree and looked at Elaine. Elaine said, "I had a feeling you would be here."
"Yeah what of it?" Micky asked in a hurtful tone.
"I'm sorry about yesterday," Elaine said. "I will behave doctor's orders from now on."
"Doesn't matter, Elaine. One day you'll find out when you go into pre-term labor and you end up losing both of our children because of your own stupidness."
"It won't happen, Micky. I promise you." Elaine said.
"Yeah you're really good about promises, aren't you?" Micky said wiping the sweat off his face and walking to his car.
Elaine carried her chair over to his car and said, "I am not going to lose 'our' children, Micky. I will not disobey doctor's orders again. Got it?"
"Maybe if I'm not around you'll learn, Elaine." Micky said. "Because I'm not going to stand by and watch you destroy four lives."
"I said I would never disobey doctor's orders again, Micky." Elaine said adamantly. "I want you to stay with me still."
"What if I said no and that I was going back to teaching drum lessons nightly?"
"Then I would give you blessings," Elaine said. "You shouldn't have gave it up to begin with."
Micky looked at her one last time and then drove off leaving her standing there at the curb holding the folding chair. Elaine took a breath and walked over to the car. Naomi was in tears just watching it all.
Elaine sat in the car and breathed for a few minutes holding back her tears. She then drove to her apartment and went inside closing the door. "Elaine?" Naomi asked following her friend into the bedroom.
"It's time for me to rest, Naomi. You go and get the girls and wake me up later tonight for dinner." Elaine said.
"You going to be okay?" she asked her friend.
"Yes, he's doing this to me as a lesson. I know what he is doing. I must play his game." Elaine replied.
"Okay," Naomi said walking over to get the girls.
The week went by and Micky stayed away. Elaine went to work and went to bed after she had dinner and took her medication. She was not worrying about anything else. She prayed to God about the situation and let him handle it. The girls were moved into their apartments.
Friday night Elaine was just putting on her bathrobe when there was a knock on the door. She made her way to the door and opened it. Micky stood in the doorway with his suitcases.
"Come inside," Elaine said to him opening the door more. "I was just going to sleep now, but you can stay up as long as you want. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," he said lying down on the couch and stretching out. It was only 6 pm in the evening. He turned on the TV on silent and closed his eyes. He prayed about the situation and the anger he felt in his heart at her.
That next morning, Micky woke up and went to the bathroom. He checked in on Elaine and she was snoring away. He looked at her bedroom and it was decorated nicely. He knew the girls had helped her because, even though he wasn't talking to Elaine, directly, Peter kept him updated through Naomi.
He closed the door gently and went to look at the nursery. It was beautiful still. They had gotten everything looking much nicer and there was two of everything, bassinets, rockers, sets of clothes. Even the closet was divided in half with labels on everything....Baby A and Baby B. Micky looked inside the dressers and saw they were labeled as well. Baby A and Baby B. Everything was neatly organized and in order. He had heard that Elaine sat in the rocking chair and did everything herself. The doctor had given her the okay to do mild housework as long as she wasn't bending over deeply.
He smiled at how beautiful everything was. He couldn't believe that she was still having twins. It was an utter blessing from God and he knew that. He shut off the light in the nursery and went back to the couch to lie down. He went back to sleep.
That afternoon when Micky woke up, he found Elaine in the kitchen getting a drink. He looked at her and asked, "You okay?"
"Yes, just thirsty." Elaine replied. "I'm going back into my room to rest. I only got up to get a drink and use the restroom."
"Okay," Micky said.
"When the girls arrive, let them in please. They went pillow shopping for me and found some maternity pillows for me to use while sleeping."
"Okay," Micky replied.
"Thanks," Elaine said.
"You're welcome," Micky replied.
Elaine went back in her room and closed the door. Micky sat there staring at the bedroom door. All he wanted to do was hold her in his arms, but he couldn't do it. He needed her to realize what she had done, and that was the hardest lesson in the world for him to teach her.
When the girls arrived, Micky let them inside. Naomi gave Micky a hug and asked, "How are you holding up?"
"Okay," Micky replied. "It's getting hard now that's it has been almost two weeks since I've held her or touched the babies for that matter. I want to so badly."
The girls showed him the maternity pillows and Elaine screamed for joy when she got to lie down on one. "Oooh this is so comfortable. I love it! Thank you ladies!" she yelled holding her arms up giving them hugs.
"You're welcome. You won't have to worry about your back anymore." Naomi said.
"No, not at all. Ooh this is beautiful. Thank you so much." Elaine said.
"You're welcome, Laney. Get some rest." Samantha said.
"Yes, I most definitely will." Elaine replied covering back up with her covers and cuddling with her maternity body pillow. "Ahhhh," she said sinking her head into it.
The girls went out into the livingroom and sat down besides a lying down Micky. "How long will you do this to her?" Sam asked. "She realizes what you are doing to her."
"I know," Micky replied.
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
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