It didn’t take long for the Draiman family to get home and fall back into their normal routine. Though they were all still feeling the loss of Matt, they all realized that they had to move on.
When Amanda was five months pregnant, she and Malachai went to her doctor’s appointment. Dr. Jefferies asked if they wanted to find out the sex- or sexes- of the twins she carried. “Hell yes, I do!” Amanda shouted. “I’m not going into this shit blind. I’ve been talking to my mother in law about her experience when she was pregnant with her first set of twins. She didn’t know she was even HAVING twins let alone that she was having a boy AND a girl. I want to know.”
“Mandy, baby, why so adamant?” Malachai asked with a laugh.
“Because I’ve talked to your Mom about her horror story with Jake and Jordan. I don’t want to have the same surprises.”
“You’re not going to. We already know you’re having twins, honey.”
“But are we having two boys? Two girls? One of each? I need to know so that we can be prepared. Your parents would agree with me and you know it.” She looked at the doctor. “Go get the ultrasound machine and let’s get this over with, shall we?”
Dr. Jeffries laughed. “I’ll have a nurse bring it right in. I’m going to go have the usual blood work ordered and I’ll be right back.” He stood and left the room.
Malachai looked at his Mandy. “Why so adamant, Mandy?”
“Because your parents told me the hell it was getting things for Jacob and Jordan when they were born. I don’t want to go through the same thing.”
He nodded. “Ok. I understand. So, we’re going to find out what we’re having and then what?”
“I have orders from your parents to report to them as soon as we get home so that they can go buy clothes.”
“Uncle Danny and Aunt Nikki already bought us some clothes.”
“But they’re all neutral and just for infants. Your parents plan on stocking us up for a few years.”
“If I know my parents the way I think I do, they’ll probably buy us an entire store worth of clothes.”
Malachai had no idea just how true that statement was.
--------------
Dr. Jeffries and his nurse finally came back in after the blood was drawn. His nurse pushed the new smaller version of the ultrasound machine into the room. The procedure was explained again to Amanda. She looked at the Doctor. “Just squirt that cold ass gel on my stomach and tell me what the sex of my children is going to be. Spare me the nonsense, doctor. It’s an insult to my intelligence.”
Dr. Jefferies just stared at the young woman on his exam table. “As you like.” He squirted the gel on her stomach and spread it around with the wand. When he finally found the position of Baby A, he spotted a little something between its legs. “It looks like we have one boy”, he said and looked for the position of Baby B. The little something that was between the first one’s legs was missing. “And we have a girl.” He looked at Malachai and Amanda. “You’re going to be the proud Mama and Daddy of one of each.”
Amanda started crying. “A boy AND a girl, Malachai. We’re having a boy AND a girl.”
Malachai smiled and laughed happily. “I know, baby.”
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When they walked into the house, the first thing Malachai did was call for his parents. He didn’t get a response. He walked through the downstairs of the house and they were nowhere to be found. Finally, he spotted the note on the coffee table. “Malachai and Amanda, We’re upstairs. Dad’s getting a massage at the moment and we should be back down shortly. We look forward to hearing what our grandchildren are. Love Mom.” Malachai couldn’t help but smile. “Leave it to my father to get a massage the day I find out what the sexes of my children are”, he said with a laugh.
“Dad’s getting a rub down right now?” Mandy asked him.
“Yeah. He’s getting a fucking massage.” He looked at the note to see if his mother had put a time on it. It said that the massage had started almost an hour before they left. “It’s almost time for them to come back down. Dad never gets more than an hour massage. Mom’s offered him a Hot Stone before and he flat out refused. He said, ‘An hour of your time is all I need to relax. Anyway, I don’t want to have to deal with the sweating I’m going to be going through the rest of the day after that shit.’ Mom laughed and told him he’d only be sweating during the massage. ‘I don’t care’, he said. ‘I don’t want a Hot Stone massage. Just give me what you always give me and I’m a happy mother fucker’.”
“Your Dad must LOVE getting massages.”
“Mom’s corrected a lot of problems he’s had sneak up on him over the years. She’s helped him breathe better and more efficiently so that he can sing. She’s a fucking miracle worker, though she’ll deny it.”
“At least she’s humble.”
“Who’s humble?” Brie asked as she walked down the stairs.
“You, Mom”, Malachai said.
“I’m not being humble when I say that I don’t work miracles with massage. All I’m doing is facilitating health. Now, what’s the news? Are we buying for boys or girls?”
“Let’s wait on Dad to get down here and we’ll tell the both of you at the same time”, Amanda said.
Brie shrugged. “Ok. I’m just warning you, though. After I change the sheets on my table and change my clothes, your father and I are going out to go buy clothes for those babies.”
“Of that, I had no doubt, Mom. I just don’t want you buying the store.”
“We might not buy the store, but we might buy it OUT.”
--------------
David finally made his way down the stairs. After grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, he made his way back into the living room and took a seat on the couch. “Ok, so, what’s the news?” he asked Amanda and Malachai.
“You don’t mess around do you, Dad? Just cut right to the chase”, Malachai said with a chuckle.
“Nope, I don’t mess around. If I want information, I get it. That’s the way it goes, son. Now, stop fucking around and give me the information I want.”
“One of each”, Amanda said. “We’re having a boy and a girl.”
“Looks like we’re buying out the little boutique downtown”, he said to Brie with a laugh.
“Looks like. I just hope that snot nosed little bitch that owns the place doesn’t decide to get snotty. I’ve heard they’re in financial trouble down there. She may have to either declare bankruptcy or sell.”
“We could take care of that little problem for her, baby”, he said with a laugh.
“Let’s not unless she gets shitty with us. I for one don’t relish taking a person’s livelihood from them if rumors are wrong.”
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David and Brie were true to their word. Right after she’d changed the sheets on her massage table and changed her clothes, the two of them were out the door and off to Downtown. They walked into Expectations with the intention of getting clothes for the grandchildren they were expecting to arrive in four months. The due date was around the quad’s birthday in the late summer. “Well, hello there, Mr. and Mrs. Draiman. What can I do for you guys today?” the little girl who owned it, Britney, asked when they walked in the door.
“We want everything”, Brie said with a bright smile.
“I’m sorry?”
“Did she stutter?” David asked her.
“I wanted to be sure I heard her right. Did she say you guys wanted to buy EVERYTHING?”
“You heard me correctly”, Brie said.
“You can’t just walk in here and…”
“DO NOT presume to tell me what we can and cannot do”, David said in a stern voice. “Maybe I should just go get my lawyer and BUY this mother fucker out from under you. How does THAT sound?”
Brie had already pulled out her phone and dialed Abe’s number as David spoke. “Hi, Abe. It’s Brie. How ya doing, baby? Listen, we need you to come down to Expectations downtown. David wants to make an acquisition. Alright, we’ll see you in a few, honey, thanks a ton. Bye.” She hung up and put the phone in her pocket.
“You’re both serious?”
“Serious as a heart attack”, Brie said. “We know about the financial trouble you’re in down here. You can sell to us and pretty much keep working here as a manager OR you can declare bankruptcy and we’ll still own everything in the store. Your choice.”
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