A/N: Surprise chapter in honor of Ice Cream coming out today/tomorrow depending on your time zone. So so so excited for this!
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, the next one will be the last one; the epilogue (but it's really long, at least). Have a great weekend!
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"Hi mom, are you guys nearby?"
"Yeah, we're about ten minutes away. I've got Jennie's parents in our car, and Alice and Hanna are riding with Jisoo and Lisa. How's things going over there?"
"Perfect," Rosie glanced over at her wife who was resting, a small smile on her lips. "It went really well and quite fast."
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
Rosie laughed; they'd all tried to pull it out of her since the baby had been born the night before. "You'll just have to wait and see, mom. You'll know in about ten minutes."
"Figured I'd give it another try," Clare laughed. She and Jennie's mom were both pretty desperate to know. Not that it mattered, they'd love the baby equally either way, but they wanted to know if they had another granddaughter, or their first grandson. "I'll text you when we get there, see you soon."
"Bye, love you." She hung up and sat next to Jennie, gently stroking her cheek. "Jen, babe?"
"Hmm?" Her voice was sleepy, eyes still closed.
"Our families will be here soon; do you want a sandwich or something first?"
"Just some water I think."
"Sure, let me go refill the pitcher with some ice water." Rosie kissed Jennie's cheek before stepping out of the room, giving Jennie some time to properly wake up and orient herself.
"Are you ready for this?" She asked after receiving the text from her mom that they were all downstairs.
"It's now or never. Don't worry, I feel fine. I got to sleep all night, thank you for that by the way."
"Hey, it's the least I could do. How do you wanna do this?"
"I don't want everyone at once, so maybe Hanna first, then one set of grandparents at a time, along with Alice, and then Chu and Lili?"
"I'll let them fight it out who gets to come in first, I'm not getting in the middle of that." She laughed, getting up to go get them. "I'll be right back."
She navigated the hallways, finding the hoard of family and friends downstairs, all anxiously waiting to meet the latest addition to the Park family. "Hey!"
"Mommy!" Hanna hadn't seen her mom for two days and she'd missed her lots, so she ran straight into her mom, tugging on her to pick her up.
"Hi munchkin. Do you wanna go upstairs and see mommy?" Hanna nodded excitedly as Rosie smiled at the rest. "I'm guessing you're about as ready as she is, huh? C'mon, I'll lead you upstairs."
"We can't have everyone in there at once, so we're gonna take Hanna in first, then a set of grandparents at a time, then Alice, Jisoo, and Lisa, ok? So you guys figure out amongst yourselves who goes first." She looked at her parents and Jennie's parents, who seemed just about ready to break down the door, as she said the last part.
"Do you wanna know a secret, bear?" Rosie whispered to Hanna as she closed the door behind her.
"Mhm," she nodded enthusiastically, staring at her mom.
"Mommy didn't just have one baby," she couldn't hide her smile as Jennie came into view. "She had two."
Hanna gasped as she saw her mommy holding two tiny babies in her arms. "Two babies?"
"Mhm, two babies! Do you know what that means?" Hanna shook her head no as she craned her neck to get a better view. "You don't just have one baby sister; you have two baby sisters."
"Like Cara?" Cara was an older girl in Hanna's kindergarten that Hanna adored.
"Just like Cara, except Cara has one younger sister, and then a baby brother, while your baby sisters are the same age."
"Ohhh. Okay. Mommy, hug!" she reached out for Jennie who currently had her hands full.
"One second, cutie, mommy just needs to help me with the babies, ok?" Rosie put Hanna at the end of the bed, helping Jennie put the twins in their bassinets. "C'mere, baby." She opened her arms, smiling as Hanna crawled into her embrace.
"I'm not a baby, mommy. They are." She pointed towards the bassinets.
"You'll always be my baby," she kissed her head. Hanna, who had always been her little girl, suddenly seemed so big now in comparison to her two little sisters. It was weird to think that four years ago, she'd been that tiny.
"Do you want to hold them?" There wasn't a lot of room in the hospital bed, and Jennie still had some wires attached to her that Rosie didn't want to disturb, so she sat down in the chair right next to the bed.
"Can I?"
"Of course! Here, mommy will help you. First you have to sit up properly," Jennie sat up next to her, guiding Hanna. "Then you have to hold your arms like this." Hanna copied her mommy as Rosie went to pick up one baby. She gently placed her into Hanna's arms, Jennie helping to support the baby's head. "Let me get my phone, I need photos and videos of this."
Rosie pulled out her phone, attaching it to the holder they'd brought so she could film Hanna and the babies first meeting.
"What's her name, mommy?"
"Her name is Lea; do you like it?" Hanna nodded; eyes locked on the tiny little being in her arms.
"Hi baby Lea." She leaned down, placing a kiss on the baby's face, and it was just about enough to make Jennie and Rosie's hearts melt for the nth time. "I love you."
"Baby Lea loves you too, Nana bear."
"Can I give her more kisses?"
"You can give her as many kisses as you want to, but do you want to meet your other sister too?"
"Okay."
"Give her one more kiss then," Hanna leaned down and placed another kiss on her sister's cheek, Rosie getting some cute photos of it, before Jennie gently placed the baby in her lap so Rosie could hand them the other twin.
"What's her name?"
"She's called Ava."
"I love you too, Ava." Jennie and Rosie shared a tender look as Hanna kissed her sister, this was honestly too much for their hearts to take.
"Are you gonna be a good big sister, bear?"
"Uh-huh, just like grammy said auntie Alice was with mommy."
"That's right, auntie Alice was the best big sister, and I know you will be too, bear. Is it ok if we let grammy and grandpa come in now?"
"Okay," Hanna shrugged, as Rosie gently took Ava out of her arms. "But I still wanna sit next to mommy."
"Of course, cutie, you don't have to go anywhere. No one else knows mommy had two babies, so when they come in, we're gonna surprise them. So you have to not say anything, ok?"
"Okay mommy, I like surprises."
They let Hanna have fifteen minutes alone with them before letting anyone else in. Turned out Jennie's parents had won an intense battle of rock, paper, scissor, thus allowing them to go first. "Here we go," Rosie opened the door and the three of them walked in to find Jennie and Hanna on the bed, a small baby in Jennie's arms.
"Hi mom, hi dad." Jennie smiled before looking down at her newborn baby. "This is Lea."
Her mom gasped as tears filled her eyes, "another beautiful granddaughter. Can I hold her?"
"Of course!" Jennie gently handed her over, her father standing behind her mother as they both stared lovingly at the tiny little girl, Jennie and Rosie sharing knowing glances.
"Dad," Jennie spoke up as Rosie moved towards Hanna's side of the bed. "Do you want to hold Ava?"
Both of her parents looked up, eyebrows furrowed for a second, before they saw the other baby now in Rosie's arms, her mom looking between the two in shock. "There's two of them?!"
"Yeah, there's two of them," Rosie laughed as she handed over Ava as well.
"I- wow..." they both stuttered as they stared down at the two sleeping babies, Hanna giggling as well as she snuggled her mommy.
"They're beautiful, sweetie. So, so beautiful."
"I think they're cuter than Logan and Lucas combined." Hanna added, because of course her baby sisters were the cutest babies in the whole world.
"You know what, munchkin? I think you're right." Her grandpa added with a wink.
They cuddled for ten minutes before Clare impatiently texted Rosie, begging to let her in. "Ok guys, I think we need to give my parents some time as well, they're getting impatient out there. Don't worry, you'll get plenty of time with these two when we go home tomorrow."
"Oh, and don't tell them there's two, we wanna surprise all of them."
"Our lips are sealed," her mom gave both babies a kiss on the cheek before handing them back to their moms. "I'll let Clare and Mason in."
"Thanks mom," Jennie smiled down at Lea who was making tiny sounds in her sleep.
"Have no fear, grammy's here." Clare stormed into the room, quickly followed by Mason, as she zoned in on Jennie. "Oh my, she's just precious, isn't she?" They hadn't even noticed Rosie and Ava.
"She's beautiful, just like her big sister. This is baby Lea."
"And this is baby Ava." Rosie moved closer to them, Clare barely sparing her a glance before looking back at Lea, not registering that there were two babies at first.
But Mason did. "Hold up!"
"Wait!" Her mom finally squealed, getting a good look at both of them.
"Grandma, I have two baby sisters!" Hanna laughed at her grandma's funny face, Clare still in complete and utter shock.
"Two babies..."
"Congratulations," Mason hugged his daughter, before giving Jennie a kiss on the head. "You're gonna be the best big sister, Hanna."
"Uh-huh, mommy and mommy already said so, just like auntie Alice."
"That's right, munchkin." Clare still felt completely and utterly shocked. The last thing she'd expected when flying over was that she'd suddenly have not one, but two new granddaughters. "Did you know all along?"
"Pretty much, we found out around 10 weeks in, and then decided to keep it a secret, for the fun of it." Rosie smiled down at her daughters as she fixed Ava's hat, the baby stirring slightly in her sleep.
"I still can't believe this, but I'm so happy for all of you, they're perfect, just like our little Hanna."
"I'm so glad you got to be here for this, mom, it means a lot that you flew over."
"I'd be so mad if you told me this over the phone, I'd probably faint or tell you you were lying." She laughed, leaning her head on her youngest daughter. "I think we should let the other three see them now, I couldn't tell you who's the most excited of them."
"If you hear a loud squeal, it's just Lisa. Don't worry, we'll protect all the tiny ears."
"I've spent enough time with that girl to not expect anything less from her," Mason laughed, thinking back to the times Lisa would join Rosie on trips back to Melbourne. She truly held the energy of two people, those long legs of hers never staying still.
"And remember, don't tell them when you let them in."
Hanna was, unsurprisingly, getting bored, so Jennie gave her her phone to play with, Rosie giving the twins snuggles and kisses before placing them on Jennie's chest.
"Jen, your mom said the baby was cute, but I want my own unbiased opinion," They heard Lisa's voice before they could even see her, the curtains blocking the view from the door. All three freezing when they rounded the curtain, Jisoo speaking up first.
"Whose baby did you steal?"
"You stole a baby?!" Rosie was almost certain Lisa's eyes would fall out of their sockets.
"Why have one, when you can have two, right?" Jennie grinned, hoping the twins would stay asleep for a little while longer.
"It's twins?" Alice tore her eyes away from the babies to stare at her sister.
"Identical," Rosie laughed, wrapping her arms around her sister.
"Holy shit, no way!!"
"If you weren't holding my god babies right now, I woulda hit you, Jendeuk." Jisoo said, half serious, half teasingly. "To make it up to me you can give me a baby to hold."
"Hey, I wanna hold a baby too!"
"What about me? There's only two of them!"
"Two's more than enough, thank you. But don't worry Lisa, you'll get to hold them too."
"Alice, you can take baby B," Jennie nodded to the tightly swaddled baby on the right side of her chest. "Her name is Ava."
"Hi there, Ava. Everyone was right, you are the cutest little bean, aren't you?" Alice snuggled the newborn, stroking her tiny head.
"And Jisoo, you can borrow baby A, Lea."
"I still think you stole one of them, but it's ok, I already love them so much that I won't tell anyone." She gave her signature smirk to the baby, missing when her own boys were that tiny. "Did you know all along and not tell me?"
"Sorry, we wanted to, but we really wanted to surprise you guys. You have no idea how many times I almost said babies instead of baby."
"To be fair, not even Hanna knew. We couldn't tell her cause she's not the best secret keeper at the moment, so everyone would've known."
"I'm so annoyed you didn't tell me, I thought we were best friends," Lisa glared at Rosie, though there was no malice behind it, "but I'll forgive you because I love you and this is the best surprise ever." Lisa pulled Rosie into a hug, squeezing a little extra just because.
"So, family of five, huh?"
"Don't you dare take one home with you, Alice. We might be sleep deprived, but we'll notice if one's missing."
"Oh no, Jisoo, Lisa, cover me."
"Nuh-uh, I want my god babies here with me."
"Darn, I was really hoping you'd back me up on this one. Since they're identical I was thinking we could pass one off as both."
"But if anyone's gonna steal a baby it's gonna be me, and if we both take one there's no baby left for them and I definitely think they'd notice that."
"Babe, remind me to geotag our babies." Jennie rolled her eyes, tugging on Rosie's arm.
"I'll order some Tiles right now."
"C'mere," Jennie tugged on her arm again, patting the spot next to her on the bed.
"Babe, there's no room and I gotta be careful with you."
Jennie pulled out her signature pout, staring up at her wife with big eyes. "Please? I just want a snuggle."
There was no way Rosie could say no to that, it wasn't like she didn't want snuggles too. The only way she could fit was to move Hanna, so she was in her lap, carefully getting into the bed, Jennie essentially attaching herself to her the second she settled in.
"When can you go home?"
"Tomorrow, thankfully. Ava's numbers have been a little bit high, so they're just keeping a bit of an eye on her, but they're like 95% sure we can go home tomorrow."
"Is this why they induced you early? Because there was two of them?"
Jennie nodded, "I've shown symptoms for pre-eclampsia, so they were worried about that, and they shared a placenta, which can be absolutely fine, but unfortunately I had some complications with it, so they decided it was better to deliver pre-term."
"Did it go better than last time?"
"A lot better, thankfully. It took a while for labor to start after they gave me the meds, but the active labor wasn't very long, about three hours. Lea came first, then Ava came two minutes later."
"So you're a big sister too, huh Lea?" Jisoo grinned at the baby in her arms. "You don't look like a big sister."
"She'll probably hold it over Ava's head for years to come." Alice laughed, thinking of all the 'I'm the oldest' twin moments in movies.
"But I'm the oldest." Hanna piped in without even looking up from the game she was playing.
"You'll always be the oldest, bear."
&
Despite Hanna being a good baby, it was still a rough first year with many sleepless nights, more laundry than they'd ever thought possible, and as new parents, worrying about every little cough or sneeze.
But turns out, having twins was a lot harder. Who knew?! It almost made Hanna's first year seem like a walk in the park.
It started out great. They were in a state of pure bliss all of them, Hanna was the epitome of a great big sister, singing to them, giving them kisses and snuggles (under her mothers' supervisions), and throwing less tantrums before. Might've helped that she was absolutely thrilled with the new bike her baby sisters had given her, but Hanna was content, the twins were constantly sleepy and content, and thus – Jennie and Rosie were more than content.
But then the twins turned 8 weeks old and the crying started. Turned out, Ava had colic. And there was absolutely nothing they could do. To begin with they didn't change their routine, adamant on getting the twins on a schedule, but with Ava crying at all sorts of hours of the day, it became impossible. Her cries would wake up Lea, who would get fuzzy, occasionally even waking up Hanna, who obviously needed her sleep as much as everyone else.
It was frustrating to know that it was no one's fault, but also no cure. It would go away by itself; they just didn't know when. Rosie started working from home so she could help out more after Jennie had more than one breakdown, crying on Rosie's shoulder at night after they'd finally gotten all three kids to sleep.
Additionally, Jennie's parents decided to fly back and stay with them for a few weeks to help out any way they could, which mean there were finally more adults than children again.
Evenings were the worst, so they'd alternate taking Ava for walks, car rides, or just carrying her around the house, stroking her back as they tried to soothe her. Jennie and Rosie also started alternating sleeping in the guest room downstairs, in order to separate the twins so Ava's cries wouldn't wake up her sisters.
It stopped when she was 14 weeks old, but those six weeks were hell. Neither Jennie nor Rosie could remember much that had happened during that time. It was hard enough caring for a baby with colic, add on a twin sister and an older sister that deserves all the attention in the world, and the word sleep deprivation gets a whole new meaning.
But they got through it, largely due to a good support system with Jennie's parents, Jisoo and Lisa, and good support and cooperation between Rosie and Jennie. They would truly never wish it on their worst enemy. But as they say; after the storm comes the rainbow, and boy did it.
"Mommy, can Lea taste my food?"
"Sorry munchkin, she's too small to eat big girl food."
"Okay." Hanna shrugged before looking back at her mother. "What about Ava?"
"Well, Ava and Lea are the same age, so she's too small too. So you get to enjoy your snack all by yourself."
"Sorry babies, mommy said no sharing."
"But you can play with them if you want to, they love the new toy you chose for them." Hanna had seen a baby toy while out shopping with Jennie the weekend before and had insisted that the twins utterly needed it. They'd bought it, and to say the twins loved it was an understatement. It made them both laugh the cutest little baby laughs whenever Hanna turned it on. They'd lie on their babygym and stare up at it as it spun around making sound, their little eyes disappearing into crescents as they laughed, reaching out their little grabby hands.
"Their laugh is so funny, mommy."
"You used to laugh like that too."
"I did?!" Hanna turned at stared at Jennie as if she refused to believe that she'd actually been a baby once too.
"Of course you did, you were the cutest little baby. You loved it when mommy tickled your belly, or when auntie Lali made funny faces at you."
"I still laugh when mommy tickles my belly."
"Did I hear something about bellies being tickled?" Rosie came into the living room, beelining for her oldest, lifting her into the air until she was almost upside down, blowing raspberries on her belly.
"Ahhh, mommyyyy" Hanna laughed, arms flailing around. "Nooooo, staaaahp, mommy save me!"
"Sorry, bear, I promised your mom I'd always let her tickle you so I could hear you laugh." Jennie laughed as she watched the two. Rosie was definitely a fun mom.
"You want me to stop, Nana?"
"Yessss," she giggled, squealing as Rosie attacked her again.
"Sorry, no can do. I haven't done this in so long, I have to get all of the raspberries out of my body and into yours." Rosie obviously would've stopped if she genuinely believed that Hanna wanted her to, but she knew that she was secretly enjoying it. Sometimes when she'd stop, Hanna would attach herself to her and say how much she just haaated it when Rosie tickled her and how she absolutely did not want Rosie to do it again. And then Rosie would do it again and Hanna would laugh even harder.
"Give them to Lea or Ava!"
"Aww that's so sweet of you to share with your sisters. Should we see if they like it as much as you do?"
"I think they will. Go try mommy!" Rosie kissed Hanna's head before she put her back on her feet, lying down next to the babygym.
"Ok, here we go. Test run number 1 with baby Lea." She kissed the baby's face before pulling up her shirt, blowing gentle raspberries on it. As expected, Lea laughed even harder, making Hanna and Jennie laugh too. "What do you say, Nana, do you think she liked it?"
"Definitely! Try Ava!" Rosie did the same thing; kissing her a little before blowing a gentle raspberry. Ava laughed, but nowhere near as much as her sisters. "I don't think Ava likes it as much, mommy."
"Hmm, I think you're right. Maybe Ava isn't ticklish?"
"Probably, because if that was me, I would've laughed so much."
"That's alright though, you still make her laugh lots when you make silly faces at her, don't you bear?"
"Uh-huh, Ava loves silly faces, Lea does too." She leaned over them, sticking her tongue out and making funny sounds, both babies giggling at their silly older sister.
Yup, Jennie thought as she watched her family lovingly. After a rainstorm, there's always a rainbow, and her rainbow was the most vibrant one she'd ever seen.
&
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Lea and Ava, happy birthday to youuuuu" They sang in unison, Hanna singing the loudest as they held birthday cakes in front of two very smiley birthday girls in highchairs.
"Blow out their candles, bear." Hanna helped blow out the two '1' candles, hurrying before their little grabby hands could get to the flames. "Good job! You're such a great big helper." Jennie watched as Hanna's chest practically puffed with pride. She'd been so insistent on helping to decorate for the birthday, almost more excited for the twins' first birthday than she was for her own.
"I think Ava likes it, mommy!" She laughed as she watched Ava almost push her entire face into the cake, hands already covered in frosting.
"Good thing that cake is all hers, huh?" Rosie was very happy they'd put a plastic cover under the chairs so their floor wouldn't be covered in cake – they'd definitely learned from experience when it came to the two professional food throwers.
"Mhm, I don't wanna eat her cake, I want the big cake grammy made."
"Me too, that cake was my favorite when I was young."
"Auntie Lali?"
"Yeah cutie?"
"Do you like grammy's cake too?"
"Don't even get her started on that cake, she'll definitely start drooling, much like Lea is right now." Jisoo teased her wife with a wink.
"Psh, don't listen to Auntie Chichu, she doesn't know what she's talking about."
"Really? But I've seen you drool before."
"Here, have some cake," Lisa blushed, cutting Hanna a massive piece. "Go have fun with Logan and Lulu."
"Would you look at that; my daughter exposing you as a drooler." Rosie laughed, looking for any opportunity to make fun of her best friend.
"Can you blame me?! Your MIL makes the best cakes, ok?"
"I know; I've asked Jennie more than once if her mom could please move here and bake for us all the time."
"and?" she answered expectantly. She'd definitely be coming over a lot more if they always had cake like this.
"Unfortunately, no. At least not for the sake of the cake. Maybe for the kids."
"Argh, darn it. I need more of that cake in my life."
"I hear you like my cake, Lisa?" Jennie's mom snuck up behind them, laughing at how much everyone loved her cake.
"Love isn't a strong enough word. I would die for that cake." Lisa looked dreamily down at her plate, Jisoo rolling her eyes at her silly antics.
"Well we can't have that, now can we. Maybe I'll give Jennie the recipe one day."
"Do not put me in the middle of this, mom! She'll come to my house every day demanding I make it."
"Psh, no I wouldn't."
"You totally would," Rosie smirked.
"...I would."
"No, Lalisa, no. Now excuse me, I have some baby hair I need to try to save." Jennie grimaced as she hurried over to her daughters, trying to pull their hair up in tiny pigtails. They both had a lot more hair than Hanna had at that age, and with their frosting covered hands flailing everywhere, Jennie really didn't want their hair covered in pink and purple frosting.
(Though deep down, she knew her efforts would be fruitless.)
((Even deeper down she was okay with that, she just wanted her babies to be happy.))
"Happy one-year anniversary of surviving twin parenthood," Rosie wrapped her arms around her from behind, kissing her neck gently as their family and friends were busy catching up and enjoying the party.
"God, can you believe it's been a year? Such a cliché, but it's truly flown by. I was going through their closet last weekend and found the outfits we brought them home in...not gonna lie, I cried a little. They were so tiny."
"I miss it too..." Rosie smiled at the little girls, clearly enjoying themselves and the attention they were getting. "It was heaven and hell all at once, but I miss it now. But at the same time; they've grown into their own personalities. Lea won't stop trying to talk, constantly moving around, trying to follow her sister. And Ava just quietly observing everything, big eyes following everyone's movements. I think she's gonna be a late walker and talker, but when she decides to do it, she'll be so good, it's like she's just trying to absorb everyone's knowledge."
"I love them so much, Rosie. My heart feels so full. And I still can't believe how amazing Hanna's been. I really did think she'd have some bouts of jealousy, but she's been so loving and caring with them, always wanting to help out. I don't know what I did to deserve all of this, but I'm so thankful." Jennie leaned into Rosie's embrace, wrapping her arms over Rosie's. "Thank you for being the best wife, I could not have done any of this without you."
"I'd go to the ends of the world for all four of you Jen, I love you so much."
"I love you too, my Rosie Posie." She turned her head, sharing a sweet kiss with her wife, taking a moment for just the two of them. "On that note, I think we should get started on cleaning them up and then presents."
"Psh, they don't need cleaning up, look at them, they're spotless!" Rosie laughed, watching as Lea smeared cake on Ava's arm, talking gibberish while doing it.
"You take Lea, I'll take Ava. Hold her away from your body, I don't want you covered in cake too."
"Got it, boss!" She tactically moved in, picking up the sticky baby with straight arms. "We'll be right back, guys, just need to clean up some cake."
Two quick baths and change of clothes later, they were back in the living room, ready to open birthday presents.
And Hanna was, obviously, more than happy to help with that too. If they'd let Ava and Lea do it themselves, it would've taken five years – they were way more into tasting the paper than anything else.
By the end of it though, were two very spoiled girls who'd gotten way more presents than they needed, a good mix of toys, books, and clothes. But they were also two very sleepy girls, Lea falling asleep before the last present was even opened.
"Sorry about that guys, it's past their nap time. Let us just put them to sleep in their beds, we'll be right back." Ten minutes later they returned, baby monitor in hand, smiling as they watched Hanna, Logan, and Lucas playing outside. Despite it being winter, the weather wasn't too cold, and it was sunny, so Rosie was fine with Hanna just wearing a thin jacket over her long-sleeved dress.
"Soooo," Jennie said, sitting down next to Rosie, tucking her feet under her as Rosie wrapped an arm around her waist. "We sort of have something to tell you guys."
"Oh shit, are you pregnant again?" Alice's eyes widened as she stared at them.
"Damn, Park, you work fast." Lisa winked, making Rosie roll her eyes.
"No no, no one's pregnant, believe me." Jennie glanced at Rosie who gave her a reassuring nod and smile. "We're adopting." Jennie bit her lip as she watched everyone's reactions. The room was dead silent, no one really sure how to react, until Clare suddenly broke into a wide smile.
"That's great! Tell us more!" Rosie and Jennie collectively letting out a sigh of relief.
"We've been talking about it since before we had Hanna," Rosie began, absentmindedly stroking Jennie's arm. "But decided against it at that time, instead choosing to come back to it before we got pregnant with the twins. We were really serious about it then, and we spent a long time talking to our caseworker about our options about adopting a baby, or a slightly older child and all of that. But then the IUI suddenly took, and Jennie became pregnant, so we paused it all, but still kept in touch with our caseworker semi-frequently.
"About eight months ago she contacted us, asking if we were willing to take in someone from an emergency case, but due to the twins being so young and having just finished Ava's colic, we unfortunately had to say no. Our case worker contacted us again about three months ago; the foster family they'd ended up with were unable to continue due to a sudden change in their family life, so they could stay on as foster parents until they found a new one, but not long term.
"Our caseworker asked if we'd reconsider and we talked about it, a lot. It was obviously not an easy decision to make, Ava and Lea are still so young, we already have three children, work's busy and all that. But then we also looked at it on the other side; we have more than enough room for another child, financially we're more than fine, Hanna's already been so good with the twins, and there's a child out there who has no one, how could we say no to that?
"So we said yes. It's a little girl. Her name is Olivia, she's four years old, so she's a year younger than Hanna. Her mom passed away in an accident, and she has no other family, thus she ended up in the system." Jennie squeezed Rosie's hand as a sign of comfort and support. They'd heard all about Olivia's background, and Jennie knew how hard it was for Rosie to hear that this little girl had lost everything in the blink of an eye. Not that it was any easier for herself, but Rosie had taken it especially hard.
"We've been meeting her regularly since then," Jennie took over for Rosie, giving her some time to gather herself. "She's such a sweet child, a bit quiet, but that's to be expected. But she's also funny, and kind, and she gets along great with Hanna, and she's so fascinated by the twins. We've met her both alone and with the kids, and we agreed with the caseworker that she'd move here after the twins turned one, to make things a little bit easier. She's coming next week. I know this is really big news, and we're really sorry we didn't tell you anything earlier, but we just needed to be 100 percent sure that this was the right thing for us to do.
"It's not going to be easy for her. It's been less than a year since she lost her mom, and now she has to move again, but we're gonna do our best to help her heal and feel loved, because she really deserves it. We'll be her foster parents for a little bit to begin with, before we can officially adopt her. Since there are no remaining relatives, it won't be a problem adopting her. And we hope you will all welcome her in the same way you've welcomed Hanna, Lea, and Ava."
"Sweetie, of course we will. I'm so proud of you for deciding to do this, and I can't wait to meet my new granddaughter." Jennie started crying when her mother hugged her. She'd expected them to be supporting, but for her mom to call Olivia her granddaughter right off the bat meant a lot, and she hoped Olivia would feel the same love. Ever since the first meeting, Jennie had fallen completely in love with her, and any doubt about whether or not they could do it had simply evaporated into thin air. Thankfully, Rosie had felt the same way. Even Hanna had asked, after only having met her two times, when Olivia would come to live with them.
"Oh, and a heads up, Olivia's mom was European, so she's blue eyed and blonde, not that it matters, just wanted to let you know that looks nothing like us, and that's ok."
"You need to send all the photos of her so we can put her on the fridge, do you hear me Roseanne?"
"Yes, mom," Rosie laughed through her tears as her mom and dad pulled her into a hug, Alice joining in as well.
"Damn, guys, you really went from a family of three to six in a year, huh? Don't get any ideas, Lisa." Jisoo eyed her wife as she hugged her best friends.
"But bab-"
"No! No more cats!"
"And here I was thinking Jisoo was talking about kids, I should've known better."
"You ready for her to come home?" Rosie whispered as she wrapped her arms around her wife, Jennie's head resting on her chest.
"I've been waiting for this since the moment we met her. I kinda wanna go get her right now."
"Me too...but we gotta wait just a little bit longer. In the meanwhile, we can decorate her bedroom just like she wants it."
"She's into princesses, right?"
"Loooooves princesses."
"I think she'll like what you've got planned then. I love you, Rosie. Thank you for doing this with me."
"I love you too, Nini." Rosie kissed her head gently, holding her tighter. "So much."