(1720 words)
Chapter 27 –
"Do we have to?" Bray-Lynne complained as Devon helped her put her shoes on.
"Christmas is in literally one week and we have done no shopping. And besides stretching your legs is good for you, the doctor said so." Devon scolded his wife. For the past month she has been laying around and only getting up when she needed to use the bathroom and to take a bath. Other than that she didn't want to move. She was sleeping all the time and Devon was starting to get concerned.
So at the doctor's advice he was making his very pregnant wife get up and do some Christmas shopping with him.
No he wouldn't make her walk a long distance and for hours on end, but it would be good for her to get up and do some walking so she doesn't develop a blood clot in her legs.
"Fine whatever." Bray- Lynne snapped.
Devon wanted to laugh at her mood swings, but he knew if he did it would only set her off so he kept his mouth shut and just helped her get ready.
Once they were ready Devon helped her down the stairs and to the car, it was raining outside so he made sure they both had an umbrella.
Devon made it to the first store in no time, all the while Bray-Lynne complained about each and every bump, car and the rain hitting the car.
"Love, please." Devon said to her as he parked the car.
He got out and walked over to help her out. It only took a few minutes before they were inside the rather large shopping center.
"So what are we looking for?" Bray asked. She knew she was being a little too much, and was thankful Devon didn't question her. He just stuck by her side and helped her through even her toughest days.
She was also glad he made her get out of bed because seeing all the Christmas decorations made her feel happy and warm on the inside.
"Let's try and find something for Rose and Daisy, they made us a list." Devon laughed as he pulled out two pages of notebook paper with messy handwriting on them.
"Of course they did. You know I've never been able to get them anything on those lists." Bray said, taking the list from Devon and reading over everything the girls wanted.
"Well maybe this year we can get them everything and more." Devon said, smiling at her.
"You're amazing." Bray said before grabbing his head and pulling it down to give him a quick kiss.
"But only for you." Devon said, kissing his wife back and then heading off to the toy store.
The two spent hours shopping, Devon had made sure they took regular breaks and that Bray was staying hydrated. He also made sure she ate twice before they headed home.
"How in the hell did you two fit all this in that small ass car of yours?" Blue asked as he helped Devon carry all the things they had bought into the house and up to the bedroom where Bray had ordered.
She was excited to wrap all the gifts, because wrapping was something she loved to do during the holiday season.
"How much stuff did you two buy?" Karma asked as she watched Blue and Devon packing the bags up the stairs.
Bray was resting on the sofa, with her feet up on the table and her hand rubbing soft circles around her belly.
Karma watched in awe as one of the babies kicked out and Bray's belly moved. You could see the movement and that alone was amazing. She could also see the smile that lit up Bray's face as she watched her babies move.
"We bought as much as we wanted to." Devon said, answering his sister's question.
"Yeah like the entire store." Karma commented back.
"Are you going to help me wrap it all?" Bray asked Karma as she got up and wobbled over to the stairs.
"Of course I am." Karma said as she went over to help Bray up the stairs.
"So how are you feeling today?" Karma asked.
"I feel like a whale." Bray chuckled before stepping on the last step.
"I bet you do." Karma said before chuckling as well.
"Man it's like every time I walk up these steps it seems as though more stairs appear." Bray said.
"You think it might be best to take a room down stairs?" Karma asked.
"If they get any bigger, then I'm not going to be able to get up these stairs at all." Bray said finally making it to her room.
"You okay?" Devon asked as he watched his wife.
"Yeah I just need to pee." Bray said as she rushed to the bathroom. Her bladder was out of control these days.
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"How the hell did you get all that wrapped?" Devon asked as he walked into the bedroom. Bray was on the bed with wrapped presents all around her.
"You have been busy and so have I." Bray said, smiling at her husband.
"I can see that." Devon chuckled.
Devon walked over to the closet stripping from his clothes and getting into a pair of night pants.
"How is it, I am seven months pregnant, I look like a whale and you still look just as good as the day I met you?" Bray said as she watched her husband strip.
"You still look amazing, baby." Devon said, walking over to his wife.
He removed all the presents and placed them in the corner of the room before getting into bed and wrapping his arms around his wife's body. He placed one hand on her belly so he could feel as each baby move around.
"I can't wait to hold them." Devon whispered.
"Me either." Bray mumbled. She placed her hand over Devon's and closed her eyes imagining what it would be like to just hold their babies.
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"Merry Christmas!" Lilly gushed happily as she entered her son's home. She was amazed at how much Devon had done in the short amount of time he had to set everything up.
"Merry Christmas mom." Devon said, giving his mom a tight hug.
"Merry Christmas son." Devon's dad Johnny said following his wife into the warm house.
"It's really coming down out there isn't it?" Devon asked as he took a quick peek out the opened door before closing it and following everyone to the kitchen.
Devon smiled as he watched his wife shove a spoonful of potato salad in her mouth. She was always hungry and she wasn't ashamed of it either. If she was hungry she would eat no matter where they were.
"How are my grand babies?" Lilly asked, walking over to Bray- Lynne and putting a hand on her enlarged belly.
"They seem to be pretty active these days." Lilly commented as she felt them moving around.
"Tell me about it. Do you realize how hard it is to sleep when two people don't want to?" Bray asked.
"Oh sweet heart, believe me, these DiCaprio babies always make the last few months hard." Lilly said, smiling.
"Well that doesn't encourage me." Bray said with a pouty face.
Lilly just laughed and then went over to help Beth get the pies out of the oven.
"Can we please open presents now?" Rose said, pulling on Bray-Lynne's shirt as she used one of her puppy dog faces.
"In just a minute sweetheart." Bray said to the child.
Bray- Lynne looked over and watched as Karma and Blue had a heated conversation in private and smiled. She wanted it to work out for the two.
She then looked over to her husband who was having a good laugh with his dad and then over to Silvia and Ronny as they had a drink of spiced eggnog together.
She looked away from them and then over to the table where Lilly was helping Jack and Beth set up for Christmas dinner.
She could also hear Rose had joined her sister Daisy in the Living room and was playing with their new toys Beth and Jack had gotten.
Bray-Lynne couldn't believe this was the Christmas she was having. Last year she had spent it alone while Beth and Jack spent it with their families.
This year she was surrounded by people she loved and they loved her back.
She smiled as she felt one of her babies move again.
"I can't wait for next year." She whispered as she rubbed soft circles along her belly.
"You look stunning my dear." Devon said walking over to his wife and wrapping his arms around her.
"Thank you and you don't look so bad either my love." Bray said, turning around and placing a kiss on her husband's lips.
"Come on, it's time to open presents." Devon said, sounding like a child.
Bray- Lynne joined everyone in the Living Room where the Christmas tree was and where tons of presents lay under the tree and spanned out along the wall around it.
"Okay first things first, this is for you." Devon said, grabbing a bag from all the rest and handing it over to his wife.
Bray smiled but opened the bag, inside laid a small white box. She picked the box up and Devon took the bag away so she wouldn't have to worry about holding it and she opened the small box.
She nearly lost her breath.
"Is this mine?" She asked, tears welling up in her ears.
"It took a while to get it fixed, but after four months I got it back and decided to just wait for today." Devon said, taking the box from his wife and grabbing the ring that had once been cut from her finger and once again sliding it on to her ring finger joining it with her wedding band.
"Thank you." Bray whispered, reaching forward, placing another kiss on Devon's lips.
"Anything for you my love." Devon whispered back.
"Okay enough with all the lovey dovey shit. Let's open presents." Karma said breaking the pair up and causing everyone else to laugh.
After that everyone opened all the presents and then sat around the dining room table telling jokes and making memories to last a lifetime.