3 Years

52 - Preparation

They nodded, not sure how else to respond. "Yeah, we got it," Lauren answered.

"How many was it again?" Jayden wondered.

"People?" Nini asked. He nodded. "Um, two. And one of them is close to your all's age."

"By how much?"

"Um..." Nini thought back to that night and how Ricky had said he'd be nine in August. "About five years. So it's like the gap with Aidan."

"Ok, that doesn't seem so bad," Lauren said.

I certainly hope not. "Any more questions?"

They look at each other then back at Nini. "No, I don't think so," Jayden said.

Nini nods, and the three of them stand up. "Well," she sighs, "if that's it for now." She hugs both of them and kisses them on the head. "I love you guys." I hope this goes well.

"Love you too," they said at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other side of town, Ricky and Nia were practically pulling their hair out. Noah was wondering why they were so anxious if they had already met these people before.

"Dad?"

Ricky looked up from his phone. "Yeah, bud?"

"Are you ok?"

"Of course. Why?"

"You seem scared."

"Come here." He pats his knee and picks up Noah. "I'm not scared of meeting with them. It's more that I hope everyone gets along."

"I think it will."

Ricky smiles at his son's optimism. "What makes you think that?"

"We've had pretty good luck so far."

He didn't know what Noah meant by 'we.' "What are you talking about?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. I guess that everything seems to work out."

Ricky smiled and kissed his head. "Yeah, I suppose."

"Do you feel better?" he asked, turning towards his father.

Ricky looked at the floor and clicked his tongue. "I don't know. If you're ok, then I guess I will be too."

"Is Mom ok?"

"Um, I think so." Nia obviously didn't have as much to worry about with this because personally, she didn't have as many people involved. "She always finds a way to get through tough situations."

*Two Days Later*
Ricky was planning how this was going to go; every minuscule detail was trying to be thought of, which was just driving him madder.

He wasn't sure how to explain the whole... three children thing. He knew he was going to have to tell the twins almost the moment they walked through the door since Noah was going to call him dad at some point during the visit. It might look strange to pull the twins away the second someone opens the door, but it'll be better to hear it anyway. He wishes he had mentioned that sooner.

Noah and Nia were getting dressed, but Ricky knew that clothing was the least of his worries.

"What do you think?" Nia asked Ricky. He looked down at their child. Nia had put him in dark jeans and a light blue polo, which was of course nicer than his usual wardrobe.

"Uh, it looks nice but a little too formal for this thing."

"This is a solemn occasion."

"See, that sentence in itself was far too sophisticated."

"Fine, then what would you suggest?"

"Um, keep the jeans but change the shirt. It's just not him."

"I'm right here," Noah finally chimed in.

The parents chuckled. "Yes, yes you are," Nia said.

"What do you want to wear then?" Ricky asked.

"My blue Under Armor shirt," he said simply. "And not jeans."

Ricky bent down to his height. "How about we compromise?"

"How?"

"If you wear these pants, then you can pick the shirt? Deal?"

Noah shrugged. "Sure." Ricky smiled and ruffled his hair. He ran back into his room.

"I didn't agree to this," Nia said once Noah was gone.

"Hey, you have to let children have a little say in some things. Besides, he already said which shirt he was picking, so we shouldn't worry about it being something that would make him look like he just got out of bed."

"He sleeps in that shirt all the time though."

"Yeah, and I slept in the same hoodies I wore to school. It's no big deal as long as there aren't any wrinkles in it."

"Fine."

"I already know what you're wearing."

"And what would that be?" she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"A turtle neck even though it's summer and a jacket as a just-in-case mechanism." Nia squinted her eyes at him, not liking it when he was right.

"And you are going to go in the darkest t-shirt you can find with dark almost black jeans and the same vans that have been around for years," she counters.

"Look at that; we're arguing over things that don't matter. We're a standard married couple now," he said with a faux smile.

"Ugh, this is why I can't handle men." Ricky chuckled at her.

"You've managed to deal with me for how long now? Fifteen years?"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Hey, shouldn't you tell him about... you know?"

Ricky knew what she was getting at. He sighed heavily. "Yeah, probably." Ricky slowly trudged to Noah's room, fearful that he was about to make his day a whole lot harder.

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If you haven't seen it yet, I posted my reaction to a bunch of Olivia's fairly recent interviews (pt 13). This also includes her Jimmy Kimmel appearance and performance.