"Congrats on the baby-"
"GIVE ME THAT PIN!"

I couldn't help but laugh at how exctied my best friend was for this game. We were only twenty minutes into it, and already, he'd collected about six different pins. He'd even stolen one from his own fiance, showing it to the world like he'd won an award. But, hey, we needed his spunk right now. Jules and I were at the very front of the room. I made her stay seated while I stood, each of us just saying hello to those who had decided to join us. Jack stayed close, snooping on our visitors. They'd walk through the door, get their string and pin, so when they made it over to us to say congrats, they were walking away defeated by Jack.

Poor Cassadee was standing by the door, all the way across the room. She was the one handing out the strings, explaining the rules of the game (which were: You can't say baby, babies, or mention the name of the twins. You'll lose your pin and fight to fight for it back) and trying to show everyone where their gifts go and keep them out of the food until Jules and I had taken our seats at the front table. I had to hand it to her, though, she was doing well with her job. She'd even come in early to hang more decorations. My personal favorite was the giant banner above the gift table, which her and Rian had hand drawn to say Welcome Thing 1 & Thing 2! Cass had, of course, chosen what to write, because she'd loaded up on books for the kids to read as they grew older.

"Okay, guys!" Cass called from her end of the room, heading to the center where everyone could hear her. "It's officially time to start this thing. The soon-to-be parents can go ahead and get their food. Once they're seated, please feel free to form a line and get some for yourself. Once you're all seated, we'll start our second game!"

Everyone nodded to Cass. I smiled down at my new wife, grabbing her hand to help pull her from her seat. Her belly was still growing at a steady rate, but she still had such a small frame everywhere else, she simply looked like she was trying to smuggle a beach ball in her shirt.. Maybe two. Jules placed her hand on her lower back as she stood, waddling with me over to our table. I sat her down first, even though she seemed a little irritated that she hadn't gotten her food, and kissed her cheek.

"I'll bring you back some food. I just want you to relax, okay? You need your energy to get excited over all the adorable baby gifts."

She smiled, shrugging lightly. "I guess you're right. It just frustrates me that I can't do much for myself."

"I know, baby, that's why I'm doing it for you."

She gave my hand a small squeeze before I made my way to the food table. Cass joined me as soon as I grabbed a plate and grabbed one of her own.

"You get yourself something. I'll cover Jules. I figure a little of everything should satisfy her cravings, yeah?"

"Totally," I chuckled, filling my plate. "Thanks for all of this, Cass."

"Don't worry about it. I only hope when I can get Ri to settle down, you guys will do the same."

"You know it."

Cassadee and I made our way back to the table with Jules. I sat down beside her and began to pick at my food. Jules instantly thanked Cass for all the goodies on her plate and began to dig in as well. That was probably one of my favorite things about her pregnancy, watching her eat like a champ and not feel bad about it. She was adorable.

Once everyone else got their food and took a seat, Cass gave me a nod to show that she was about to start the second game.

"Listen up, folks! For this next game, I'm passing out cards," she held them up as she started at the table the band and Micah were seated at. Passing them out, she began to explain what was happening. "Here you'll be able to take bets on the babies. It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise!" She earned a laugh from our guests, Jules and myself. "If you want to bet, write down which baby you think will be delivered first. You may also bet on the birth weights. It's three bucks a bet, but don't worry, you have a choice! When placing your bet, please write down if you want your money to go Jules and Alex, or if you'd like it to go the winner. If you're the winner, you can opt to give the money to the couple, or take it for yourself. However, those who have written down they want their money to go to the new parents, you won't be getting a profit from. And, go!"

"Cass, you just said the b word like a million times," Jack shouted in her direction. "I'm calling you out!"

"I can say the b word, Jack," Cass smirked, looking up from her own betting sheet. "I'm a host. Rules don't apply to me."

Ten minutes later, while I was sharing in small talk with Jules, Cass came to our table. Guest were starting to get up and toss their plates, some of them forming groups of discussion. Cassadee held up the better papers and grinned widely.

"I'll have you know not one person agreed to take the money for themselves. So, here," she handed the money to Jules. "It doesn't matter who wins, but you might want to keep track just to congratulate them."

"Thanks so much, Cass," Jules beamed.

"Don't mention it. But I am going to need you to stand up for a moment."

Jules rose an eyebrow but did as she was told. I couldn't help myself, I knew she was getting fed up with me, but I stood up with her anyway and wrapped my arm around her waist. She leaned into my chest a little bit, which surprised me.

"Okay, guys. Now that we're all done eating, it's time to play the next game. If you haven't already noticed, there's a role of toilet paper on your table. Don't worry, we have extra if anyone runs out. What I want you to do is take that roll, pull off how much you think it'd take to get around Juli's belly, and pass it around until everyone is done. When you're doing, come up to Jules and see if yours is a match. If it is, you win a prize!"

One-by-one, people came up to Jules and laughed as they wrapped their paper around her belly. Some had pulled off too much, making Jules roll her eyes at how big they thought she was, while other's came too short. That part made her feel good, I think. They all joked and laughed with her, making the shower even better of an experience. Jules was starting to loosen up and really enjoy herself. This made me happy. The last person to try and guess her belly size was Micah. He kissed her cheek before he wrapped the paper around her belly, and to everyone's surprise, he got it right. Jules beamed, feeling proud of her best friend for knowing her so well.

"Looks like we have a winner!" Cass announced. "Micah, you've won a gif set of men's shower stuff. Thank Rian for picking that out. I wanted to pass out candles," she giggled.

Micah took his seat while Cass pulled mine and Juli's chair to the gifts. She shared in 'girl talk' with Jules for a moment, talking about how excited she was to see all the baby stuff, while I spent a moment talking to Ri about his gift shopping. When Cass thought everyone had a long enough break, she helped Juli sit down and began placing gifts in front of us. She stepped out of the way so everyone could see as we started to pick up gifts. Jules went first, a brightly colored gift back resting on her knee.

She began to pull things out of it, her eyes lighting up with every gift. There were booties for both babies, bath towels and sun glasses. A pink pair for Stella and a blue pair for Tom. She had a little trouble putting the bag back on the ground, though, so from there I began to either hand her gifts or hold them so she could open them. By the time we'd reached the last few gifts, we knew we'd be more than okay. We'd been loaded up on clothes, socks, shoes, bath stuff, creams; you name it, we got it.

I had to stand up and help Jules walk over to the big, wrapped gifts. I eyed each of the name tags: They were all from Jack and Jasmin. I stared at him for a moment but only got a smile in return. Jules seemed excited from their size and began to tear into one. Her mouth fell open when the missing paper revealed a crib set, which included the changing table. I opened the other, which was almost the exact same as the one Juli opened, only a little more girly. The final, large gift, we opened together. Inside the paper were two crib mattresses. Jules began to clap like a giddy little girl, trying her hardest not to jump about. I laughed at her reaction and grabbed her by the hand, dragging her over to where Jack and Jasmin were seated. I pulled Jack into a bro hug while Jules tried to squish Jasmin with her bump.

"Thank you so, so much," Jules giggled. "I feel like we're finally ready for the babies!"

"We know how hard it is, so we figured we'd go the extra mile. You guys deserve it. Alex is my very best friend so I only what what's best for him and his family. We love you guys."

"We love you, too," I smiled. "It means a lot dude."

"And hey, you guys owe me a gift, too." Jack smirked. "I won the b game."

Jules snickered, taking my hand and squeezing it tightly. I think, for the first time in a while, we were both totally at peace. We had nothing more to fret about- The rest of the planning for Stella and Tom would be fun, like decorating and buy anything we wanted for them now that we had the basics out of the way. I wanted everything to be perfect for Jules, so she could have that new mom feeling that would simply make her proud.

"The babies are kicking," Jules looked at me, her big, brown eyes shining bright. "Think they're as happy as we are?"

"Maybe," I pulled her into my arms, kissing her forehead softly. "But I don't think anyone in the world could be as happy as I am, right now, with you."

Notes

I could not be more excited that I was invited to work on this story. My heart explodes with happiness everytime we work on it! <3.