Chapter 43

Malachai and Amanda sat on the couch in the living room watching television when his phone buzzed.  He pulled it out of his pocket and cursed under his breath.  “God damn it!” he said.

“What’s the matter, baby?” Amanda asked him.

“Mom and Dad need me to pick up my brothers and sisters from school.  I was hoping for a quiet afternoon at home with my girl, but apparently that’s not going to happen.”

“We can go pick up your brothers and sisters, Aaron.”

“You’ve gotten awfully cozy calling me by my middle name.  Who told you?”

“I picked up that your middle name was Aaron the night you and your Dad rescued me from my Aunt and Uncle.  Remember?  Your Dad called you by your middle name to keep you from going to their house and killing them that night?”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” he said with a laugh, stretching before standing.  “So, beautiful, do you want to go on ahead and head out to pick up my siblings?”

She held out a hand to him to receive his assistance, much like she always did.  “Let’s go.  Who are we starting with?”

“Jake and Jordan, then we’ll go get Maddie, then the quads and the other twins.”  He pulled her to her feet and handed her a coat then grabbed his own.

As they headed out of the house hand in hand, she had an interesting thought.  “Just think, ‘Chai, in a few months, I won’t be wearing this jacket again until next winter.”

“I know.  Here soon you won’t be wearing any of the clothes you’re wearing now either.  You’re belly will be too big.”

She laughed.  “Can you believe we’re going to be parents?”

“No, I can’t.  It’s still trying to sink in.  It’s still a little too fresh.  Hell, we just found out yesterday.”

“I bet your Mom and Dad have you going to get your brothers and sisters because they went Hanukkah shopping for everyone.  Your Mom came downstairs after her second appointment this morning and said that she didn’t have any other appointments and that she wanted a nice afternoon out with your Dad.”

“Sounds like something Mom would do.  The only times they get nice afternoons out are around our birthdays and Hanukkah.  They usually go to lunch then go shopping.”

“I wonder if they got anything for their grandchild to be.”

“I don’t know.  The still seemed like they were in shock when they headed to bed last night.”

“I’ll bet one of them had an epiphany and they decided to go house shopping for us or something like that.”

“Knowing my parents the way I do, I bet they’ll want their grandbaby close by, so I don’t think they’ll be going house shopping for us.”

Little did either of them know, but they were both right and wrong at the same time.

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David and Brie came home to an empty house, for which they were thankful.  They could finally go upstairs and hid all of the presents they bought their family.  They’d spend that night wrapping and bagging everything.  Hanukkah started the following week, so they needed to be prepared.  They’d find time to go shopping for each other and to let the kids shop for each other and them over the weekend.

They maneuvered the crib and bassinet into the house and up the stairs.  Then they moved all of the other gifts into the house and stashed it all in their large walk- in closet.  When they emerged, they heard the kids shouting and making noise.  “Time to be Mommy and Daddy again”, Brie said with a laugh.

“Aww, do we HAVE to?” David joked.

“Yeah, we kinda do.  But, just think about it, in four years, we’ll be minus two more.”

“And a year after that we’ll be rid of one more if Maddie goes into Advanced Choir.”

“Has she made a decision on that yet?”

“She keeps flip flopping on what she wants to do.  I told her that her stance on it at the end of the school year is her final answer.”

“What does the school say about it?”

“That she’s a very gifted child and that skipping a grade would be a credit to her.”

“Why am I not surprised about that?”

“Why should you be?”

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“I hate my Language Arts teacher!” Maddie shouted as her parents walked into the kitchen to start helping with homework.

“That’s all she’s been bitching about since I picked her up from school”, Malachai said with a roll of his eyes.

“Madison, what seems to be the problem with this woman THIS time?” David asked as he pulled up a chair to the table next to her.

“We have to do this Christmas Around the World thing and of course, because I’m the ONLY Jewish girl in class, what country do I get?  Israel. ‘You should educate us on Hanukkah.  How does your family celebrate the season?’ the stupid biscuit eater asks.”

“Biscuit eater?” David said with a laugh.  “Where did you hear that?”

“One of the older ladies that comes to see Mom for massage every two weeks.  She tries not to cuss with us kids around, so she says biscuit eater instead of the other word.”

“You mean, ‘bitch’?”

“Yes, Dad, I mean that word.  You’d smack me in the mouth if I said that word before I was thirteen in front of you.”

“No, Madison Jade, I wouldn’t.  I think you’re exaggerating a little too much on that one.”

“Well, I still don’t want to get in trouble for it, so I’m finding creative ways to express myself.  I called Jimmy Callaway a son of a biscuit eating bulldog.”

Brie and David both did a face palm, and then laughed.  “Fucking gum commercials”, Brie said with a laugh.  After catching her breath from her daughter making her laugh, Brie looked at her daughter.  “Maddie, if you want to know how they really celebrate Hanukkah in Israel, why don’t you ask your Dad to call Uncle Ben?”

Maddie looked at her father with pleading eyes.  “Daddy, will you please?”

He laughed.  “I’ll give him a call tonight.  Hopefully it won’t be too early over there for him to want to take a phone call.”

“You gonna tell him that his favorite niece needs to ask him a few questions?”

“I’ll tell him that one of his nieces needs to talk to him.  I can say that you’re his favorite because I simply don’t know that you are.”

“Come on, Dad.  Last time Uncle Ben visited, what did he say?  ‘Where’s my Maddie?’”

“He also asked where his Jessi, Kayla, Mae- Mae, and Jordan were.”

She snapped her fingers.  “Darn.  I hate it when you’re right.”

“And you just sounded like your mother.”

Maddie let out a shiver.  “Ugh.  I hate it when you say that?”

“I can’t help that you look and sound nothing like me.  You certainly ACT like me, but you have your mother to thank for you looks, sound, and a good portion of your attitude.”

Maddie folded her arms across her chest with a huff.  “And I hate it!”

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After dinner that night while David made the call to his brother in Israel, Amanda helped Brie clean up the kitchen.  As they cleaned, they talked.  “So, what are you hoping for?” Brie asked.

Amanda shrugged.  “I really want a boy, but your son wants a girl.”

Brie laughed.  “Well, I can’t speak for the genetics on his biological father’s side, but I know that David is the oldest of two boys, yet his first born was Jordan.”

“What if you two had had two of the same sex with Jacob and Jordan?”

“I really don’t know, sweetie.  We never really gave it any thought.  We just thought that I was having a really big single, not doubles.  And we found out later that I was supposed to deliver triplets, but baby c died in uterus during the second trimester.  I’d had a fainting spell and landed my ass in the hospital.”

“Tons of fun.”  Amanda paused.  “When you have your kids, did you have a doctor or a midwife?”

“Well, with Malachai, I saw a doctor.  With the Jacob, Jordan, and Maddie, I saw a midwife instead.”

“What about the quads and Jessi and Marc?”

“We had those six through surrogates and both of them saw an OB/GYN.”

“Why?”

“First pregnancy.”

“Would you suggest an OB for a first time mom?”

“I suggest whatever makes you more comfortable, Amanda.  With the quads, we had to take Natalie to an OB because she was a tiny little thing.  We were told that she was only having twin girls.  James and ‘Miah surprised us.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, we scrambled for names.  We named James after my brother Matt.  My brother’s name is Matthew James Cartwright.  James is James Matthew Draiman.”

“That’s pretty cool.  Your brother must have been flattered.”

“He told us we shouldn’t have and blushed a little bit.  I don’t think David noticed it, but I know my brother.”

“What would you and David say if we named the baby after one of you?”

“We’d tell you that you were both insane.  David says that there’s only room in this world for ONE David Michael Draiman, and they don’t even know what to do with the one they’ve got.”

“If we have a boy, I’m going to name it after David just to be a thorn in his side.”

“I wouldn’t if I were you.  You’ll just piss off your father in law.  Not a wise decision that.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m the one that has to deal with it.”