Calum
"She has been a pleasure, of course,"
"Calum we had so much fun,"
"I am glad to hear," I said to Ally, hugging her, "I will see you soon, and you, Axel,"
"See ya,"
I took Charlie's bag and put it in the car, then opened her door for her, and got in the drivers seat. She seemed well rested, and well entertained.
"Home we go!"
"Finally,"
"Have you had fun?"
"Yeah. I think Ally is really struggling and feeling lonely, but I helped her out. I know about feeling lonely,"
"That is really nice of you. I think she will have appreciated that a lot,"
"Yeah,"
"Happy birthday, by the way,"
"You remembered?"
"Yeah. I wasn't sure how birthdays feel to you, so I thought we could spend today however you want. People are free to come over, my bank account is free to shop, the kitchen is free to make a birthday cake,"
"I wanna see the babies,"
"Seems like a good way to start,"
Smiling, she looked out the window and watched as we drove to the hospital. Given the lack of conversation about her birthday, I had kind of let it continue that way, thinking perhaps she would eventually talk about it. When she didn't, I knew I didn't want to ignore it, but I gathered it was a weird day.
I had got her a few little gifts, and Sierra had made her a cake ready, but I knew she might just want a day in. For all I knew, this was the worst day of year for her.
When we got to hospital, we got a visitor badge and made our way upstairs; Cleo clearly heard about our arrival, and met us there with a cheesey smile. A couple of days ago, we had a checkup and got the all good, so it was nice to be here to see the babies on her own will.
"Hiya sweetheart!"
"Hi. Please can I hold Amelie?"
"Of course,"
"Happy birthday,"
"Thanks," she said cheerfully, "You remembered?"
"Yeah! Now, Amelie has been upset all morning. We have made sure nothing is wrong, and given her some food, but I think she wants some cuddles from someone she knows,"
"Is she too lonely? Do her and Alexander not cuddle? Do they hate each other?"
"Alexander likes to sleep, she does not,"
As quickly as she could, Charlie walked over to the babies and saw Amelie was crying, which immediately upset her too. I helped her sit down and put a pillow down so she could hold her, then they put Amelie in her arms and she went silent.
"She knows it's you,"
"No she doesn't,"
"She does. Do you have a tank top on underneath?"
"Yeah,"
"Take your sweatshirt off so she can feel your skin, and she might even finally get some sleep,"
I took Amelie and waited for her to change, then helped her rest back on Charlie, smiling. It was really good to see them have a bond.
"She is really beautiful,"
"She is. You did that!"
"I love you so much," she said quietly, "You are so brave. I think you should try cuddling your brother more and sleeping, but I will let you sleep on me for a bit right now,"
Amelie made a little noise and stretched, then shut her eyes and got cosy. As we sat in silence like that, Alexander started to wake up wondering where his sister was, so I cuddled him for a bit, both of them falling asleep.
Then, Charlie fell asleep, so I put Alexander back down to make sure Amelie stayed safe without having to wake either of them up because they clearly needed each other for a bit of tranquility. It was good to see. We all wanted Charlie to have a good bond with them, and I wanted her to feel comfortable holding the babies.
"Oh, hey,"
"Fancy seeing you here,"
"Well, they are my babies too," Maddox smiled, "That is adorable,"
"It was her birthday wish,"
"We have some gifts, let us know when we came drop them off. Not baby related at all,"
"Thank you. She seems very pleased people know it is her birthday, so I reckon pizza night is on,"
"Awesome. We haven't heard much from her but felt like we should give her some space,"
"Yeah, I think she needed that. She had a sleepover with Ally last night which seemed to brighten her mood,"
Carefully, Maddox held Alexander's tiny hands as he slept, smiling at him. I couldn't believe how grown up she was, nor Gabi. Mid twenties. I would never believe it. They were slowly building their life together and it was so beautiful to see them both with kids of their own. I think over the years, having Ally and Axel become family had been a real learning curve for Gabi, and I knew she was full of gratitude that she got to help Charlie and the babies be in the situation comfortable to them. Maddox too.
After a little bit, Charlie woke up, flinching when she saw Maddox. Her hold round Amelie tightened a little bit, and she kissed her forehead, booping noses.
"I didn't mean to fall asleep,"
"That's okay, she had a good nap too. She liked having some cuddles," I said.
"I think she will like Alex again now," she said, smiling.
"It's Alexander,"
"Oh,"
"Or it's Alex," Gabi said, smiling as she appeared behind Maddox, "Although, I think Xander is cooler,"
"Yeah, it kind of is," Charlie said, "Can someone put her back in to cuddle with Xander,"
Gabi did, then she gave Charlie a hug and kiss, cupping her chin.
"Happy birthday,"
"You knew?"
"Am I not meant to know?" she said, looking at me.
"I didn't know everyone would care so much,"
"Of course we care. Hey, you and the twins can have joint birthday parties,"
"I hardly think a kids party will be Charlie's cup of tea,"
"Well obviously they get their own bouncy castle party but we can do joint family ones, Mads,"
"It's okay," Charlie said quietly, "Calum, can we go?"
"Yeah, come on,"
I kissed Gabi's cheek goodbye, and squeezed Maddox's shoulder, then led Charlie back out to the car. I was a little disheartened with how she had been shut down a couple of times, but tried to appreciate that Maddox was worried about bonding with the babies too.
I decided to just get us home for a bit, and Charlie went straight to her bed. I made sure to tuck her in, and set her up with tv, but she wanted some alone time and that was understandable. In the meantime, I took a shower, and also appreciated having my own bed back. Quietly, I wrapped some gifts for her, and wrote her a card, but then my phone rang from Gabi so I picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hi. Is Charlie around? She won't pick up,"
"No. She is sleeping,"
"Oh, right. Sorry about earlier,"
"Not an apology for me,"
"I know. It is not one coming from me either,"
"Look, Charlie is more than aware that these babies are not hers anymore and she could do without being criticised for petty things. That is all. I hope you had a nice time with them today,"
"Are you mad at me?"
"No, just frustrated with it all. Sorry,"
"Okay...I love you,"
"I love you too. Now, I need to go and make sure today stays really special, so possibly see you later. If not, I hope you have a good night,"