Stella was about sixteen weeks along now. It was honestly hard to believe that, in four short weeks, we'd be half way through the pregnancy. Our friends and family had grown more fond of the idea, helping us out in every way they could. Today, my mom and Stella's mom had called us over to the Gaskarth house to go through 'baby-boot-camp.' Which pretty much meant our mother's wanted to make sure we were ready for the dirty stuff. Personally, I wanted us to enroll in a month long baby class, but we'd both been around small chidren and infants enough to know how to do the important things, I think.


"I just want to make sure you can change a poop diaper correctly. You know, if baby gets a rash no one is going to be happy!"


"Mom," I groaned, rolling my eyes to her concern. "I've changed shitty diapers before. I swear, I know what I'm doing."


"Just change the diaper, kids."


In front of Stella and I were two baby dolls. I assumed they came from Noelle, but I didn't question it. They were wearing real diapers, and in those diapers were peanut butter. Groaning, I grabbed a baby wipe and began to clean the baby. In no time, we'd both completed the tast and put a fresh diaper on.


"Boys are a little more tricky than girls," Jules started, smiling at her daughter. "They require a lot of extra clean-up."


This continued for an hour or so, both my mom and Stell's lecturing us on how to care for the baby. They showed us infant CPR, made us bathe the dolls and made sure we were swaddle experts by the time we called it quits. I knew Stella and I were ready for the baby in almost every way. There was only one thing no one else could prepare us for, and that was the emotional side that came with a child.


"Jules, you are not seriously making them play dress up with dolls," Alex walked into the house with my dad trailing behind him. They had beers in their hands and seemed to be having a pretty good day. "Guys, here's what you need to know.. Babies are like, like-"


"-Puppies," my dad answered for him. "You bathe them, feed and snuggle them. End of story."


"Not to mention," Alex started again. "Stella is mostly going to want to do everything by herself. All women do, unless they're depressed. So I think you guys need communication skills more than diaper-the-fake-baby skills. You want to share everything equally."


"Since when did you get so smart?" Juli asked, with a smirk on her face. "I'm honestly amazed right now."


"I've always been smart, babe."


We laughed as my mom and Juli rolled their eyes, and followed them into the kitchen. Stella and I had our hands linked. I couldn't help but smile at how much more her belly was poking out. She wasn't a whale yet, because we weren't that far along in the pregnancy, but there was a definitely a bump there, and I swear it got a little bigger everyday. Then again, so did her boobs, which I enjoyed.


"So when is your next appointment?"


"Next week," Stell smiled at my dad, rubbing her bump. "We get to find out the gender!"


Our mom's squeaked with excitement.


"I want a girl," I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders. "Most dudes want a boy.. But I'd like a little Stella."


"Good luck with that," Alex mumbled, a smile playing on his lips. "Stella was a handful growing up. You won't have any hair left by the time you're my age."


I chuckled, leading Stella to the table so we could sit down with the rest of the family. I knew having a girl would be exhausting. She'd have me wrapped around her finger and she probably would be hard to tame, but I also knew I'd enjoy every minute of it.


"You'll be happy with whatever you get," he grinned, breaking the silence. "I never expected twins, but it just showed me how big my heart could be."


"I don't think she looks big enough to be having twins," Juli remarked, staring down Stella's stomach. "But they do run in the family."


"Maybe Tom and Aubree'll have the twins," Alex snorted, shaking his head. "But I don't expect a grandchild from them for many, many years."


Our parents talked for a while longer, making random comments about all of their children and crazy things have turned out so far. I could just imagine that being us one day, with the rest of the band, talking about our crazy kids and how we want nothing but the best for them. I knew it'd be different for us than it was for them, though. Our kids wouldn't be so close in age. Things would be harder on them when it came to bonding. Nate was far too young to even consider a child, Tom and Aubree weren't even thinking that far ahead.. But I'd been the oldest one of the group my entire life. It came natural to me, just as I knew it would for mine and Stella's child.


"Jack, I'm tired," Stella mumbled, resting her head on my shoulder. "Can we go home now?"


I nodded, kissing her forhead. We bid our farewell to the family and climbed into the van. Starting the engine, I looked over at Stella who was almost asleep in her seat. She was still perfection in my eyes.

Notes

N'awwwe.