"Tom hates tummy time!" Jules threw her arms in the air with frustration. She was sitting on the rug in the living room, the table pushed back against the wall loaded food and beverages for the Christmas party we'd be hosting. She took advantage of the free space and extra time to work with the twins a little more. Since they were so born early, we wanted to strengthen them up. The doctor had permitted us to give them ten minutes of tummy time twice a day. "Stella does just fine, but the moment Tom's stomach hits the floor, he screams!"

"Calm down, baby," I smiled. Jules had been exhausted recently from all the effort the twins required. The last time she went to the doctor, they infromed her that she was healing properly so she could do a little more, but she still wasn't allowed to stress her body until she was approved at her six-week check-up. We'd been taking turns with them at night. Jules wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to that. "Tom just has a little more spunk then Stella does. He's gonna be the trouble maker, she's gonna be the good girl.. At least, until they're teenagers."

"She'll be just fine as a teen," Jules giggled, making faces at happy little Stella. "Think they'll be anything like us?"

"I hope Stella is exactly like you.. But Tom? Nope, I hope he's better than I was."

"I think you turned out okay."

"Only because I met you."

Juli batted her eye lashes at me in a flirty way, snorting at her own joke. I watched as she carefully lifted Tom off the floor, the baby fussing with every move. She cooed and kissed him until she placed him in the swing, humming a soft tune until the music from the mobile took over. Tom instantly relaxed, peacefully staring at the Christmas tree as he rocked. Stella, on the other hand, had laid down on the pillow Juli had put under her for support. Her fingers were lightly running over the fabric, as if she were comforted by the feeling. I found myself imagining what it must be like to be a newborn. Seeing, feeling, doing everything for the very first time. The world must look like magic through their brand new eyes.

I was pulled from my trance by a knock on the door. I glanced at the clock - Our first guest was right on time. Jules stayed with Stella while I answered the door, Jack and Jasmin smiling brightly through the cold weather. Jasmin had baby Jack in her arms, while Jack was holding gift bags.

"Merry Christmas, bro," Jack spoke, his eyes as bright. "How does it feel to celebrate your first holiday with the twins?"

"About how it must have felt to spend Jack's first one with him," I laughed, moving out of the way so they could get in. I followed them into the living room, where Juli took their bags and placed them under the tree. "Glad you guys came."

"Glad to be here," Jasmin smiled, putting baby Jack's feet firmly on the floor. He was walking pretty good these days, and I found humor in watching him waddle over to Tom's swing and peep in. He smiled a half-toothy grin at the younger baby. Tom looked amused to see another little person who wasn't his twin. "Are we the first ones here?"

"Yeah." Juli lifted Stella off the ground and placed her in Jasmin's eager arms. "We didn't invite everyone. We wanted tonight to be personal, you know?"

"Oh, totally."

We shared in small talk until another knock came, and then another. The room was starting to fill up with people, and gifts, as my mom and dad showed up, then Micah. I greeted my parents' the way Jules greeted Micah, in a warm and loving fashion. It brightened my mood just to see her so happy with her new family. Everyone caught up on the events going on in the other's life, conversing and swooning over all three of the babies in the room.

"Blow a kiss, Jacky!" Jasmin showed off her son and his new talent. Jack pushed his hand to his lips and threw the kiss across the room. "Yay!"

"He is so cute," Juli beamed. "I can't wait for the twins to do that!"

"Don't rush it," Jack warned. "I wish he was still as little as they are. They turn into demons when they get older!"

"You're one to talk," my mother spoke up. "I had to put up with you two and then some!"

"But you love me, mama G!"

"That I do."

Everyone continued to joke and laugh until the clock caught up with us. We decided that, since we'd gone through most of the refreshements and Jack had told all of his best jokes, that we'd better get to the gift giving and put the little ones to bed. Since Micah had come alone, we decided to exchange gifts with him first.

"Open it," Jules pushed, a nervous smile on her lips. "I want to know if you like it or not!"

Micah rose and eyebrow, but nodded. He ripped through the thin paper and pulled his gift out. It was a photo album of pictures Juli had collected of the two of them over the years. So many happy, and not so happy, memories in one place. Micah flipped through the whole thing then pulled Jules into a tight hug. They whispered a few things to each other before he kissed her cheek and sat back down. This meant it was time for us to open our gifts from him. I recieved new guitar strings and a lyric book. The twins each got learning toys, and Juli was given a book of old bedtime stories to read to the twins.

Next, we were on to my parents'. As with Micah, we made them open theirs first. We had agreed to get my dad somthing valuable that he wasn't likely to break, in this case, a pocket watch. It was made of gold, with the word GRANDFATHER engraved on the front. Inside was a picture of him with the twins, the morning after they were born. He didn't say much, but I could have sworn I saw a tear in his eye. For my mother, Juli and I agreed we both now understood at least a little of the struggle it took to raise a family. We'd gone the extra mile and bought her a diamond necklace. She gushed over it, making Jasmin stare at it for at least five minutes. They thanked us untiil they turned blue in the face.

"Mom," I groaned, pulling out a pack of boxers and socks from the bag she had given me. "You know I'm not a teenager anymore, right?"

"Well, if I don't buy them for you, who will?"

"Touche," I laughed, shoving them back in the bag. "Thank you guys."

"I don't see Juli complaining about hers," my dad chuckled. "Your mother insisted we buy her things that smell nice."

"I do love things that smell nice," Juli smiled. "Thank you."

Juli opened the gifts for the twins. My dad bought them clothes and lotions, but my mom made them personalized baby blankets. Of course Juli's face lit up when she saw them. I knew the first thing she'd do when everyone left is wrap the twins up in them. They'd even made one for baby Jack.

Lastly, we were on to Jack and Jasmin. Juli had picked out Jasmin's gift, girly things of sorts. For baby Jack, we'd bought multiple outfits, shoes, toys and even a jeep for him to ride around on. His face lit up when he saw it, which made me thankful that we'd already put it together. He sat on it with pure amazement, flicking the switch that turned on the radio and clapping when the music sounded.

Juli was given a one-hundred dollar gift certificate to our local spa. Jasmin had insisted that she take a day to go alone, just to make herself feel more like a human and less like a Mommy for a few hours. I, of course, didn't understand what she meant, but the look in Juli's eyes showed me that she did.

The twins were each given a walker, building blocks and sleepers. We were more than thankful for this, since we hadn't even considered buying the big stuff they'd need in the future yet.

This left only Jack and myself. We agreed to open our gifts together, not fully trusting the other on the contents in our gift bags.

"Alex, how did you know?!" Jack cried, laughing like an idiot as he pulled out the blonde blow-up doll. "She's perfect, just perfect!"

"I knew you'd love her, man. Now Jas can have a break from you-"
"Mouth, Alexander!"

"Sorry mom," I snickered. "Guess this means it's my turn."

I winced as I felt around in my bag, pulled out an oversized vibrator and some lube. My face turned red from laughter when I saw the expression on my mom's face. Jack and I couldn't get ahold of ourselves. No one else in the room understood our relationship, but it's probably best that they didn't.

"I thought about getting a strap-on," Jack tried to breathe. "But I didn't know if Jules would go for it!"

"That's why I got you, bay-beh!" My sides were aching by this point. "Okay, I need to breathe."

After a few more minutes of stabbing pains in our sides, we both managed to quit laughing. Everyone else in the room seemed awkward, but I found it to be a perfect end to a perfect night. It was roughly eleven-thirty now, so Jasmin scooped baby Jack up in her arms and carried him out to the car after giving each of us a hug goodbye. Shortly after their departure, everyone else followed.

I sat down on the couch next to Juli, holding her tight in my arms. By this point, Stella and Tom were both sound asleep in the swings.

"You know they're officially three-weeks-old now, right?"

"Crazy how time flies, huh?"

"You're not kidding," Juli sighed, burrying her face in the crook of my neck.

I kissed her forehead, rubbing my thumb on her lower back until I felt her breath become shallow. She'd fallen asleep on me. I smiled, staring around the room at my happy, little family. The only light in the room was coming from the glow of the Christmas tree, making bright colors reflect off the twins. I don't think I'd ever seen them more content than they were in this moment.

Resting my head on Jules, my body began to relax. With my last big of energy, I mumbled my love for her into her hair, slowly drifting away into a sea of dreams.

Notes

I swear the universe was working against me the whole time I tired to write this. Boo! lol. Mucho love<3.