TWINS!

Today is Christine and Jennifer's birthday. They are 19. This is impossible.

I remember the day they were born. I talked a bit about it in a previous posting about Anne, my friend and their birth mother. They were born at 3 p.m.-ish - I'd need to check the birth certificates. Christine beat Jennifer by only a couple of minutes.

I'd come to the house the night before to be with Amanda while Bob took Anne to the hospital. In the morning, Bob came home to get Amanda; Anne had been admitted because she was only 7 months into pregnancy and they were going to try to keep them "in" for as long as they could. I stopped by to visit her when she found out they were going to do another cesarean. Anne was very upset but I had to go to a rehearsal. I left rehearsal just in time to be there as Bob was suiting up. He looked so nervous in his disposable white gown and cap. He had booties over his shoes and he sat in a chair, staring at the floor and tapping his foot - just like a million movies you've watched where the dad is waiting for delivery news. I did feel sorry for him though. When the doctors finally called him in, he was gray. I didn't fully understand - he'd been through this before, but he told me later that a cesarean can be a little unnerving. But then, so can a natural birth. Let's face it - the whole birth process, no matter how its done, looks like it shouldn't be happening. Actually it feels like that too.

In very short order, they were finally born and I was there when they wheeled Anne out of the delivery room on the gurney. She looked exhausted but relieved. She looked up at me and said: "I feel so much better!" No kidding. With two growing babies in her tiny tummy (she was barely over 5 feet) she had started looking like she might explode. Bob took a photo of me at just about that moment. Its a weird picture. Its just of my face. But I kept it because it reminds me of exactly where I was and what was going on.

I was there the day Anne learned it was twins. I was living in a little guest house on their property. They had rented out their home for a year because Bob was on tour with Debbie Reynolds in a production of "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". They had a short break so they came home for a couple of days and we all crammed into my little space. Anne called me at work to ask if I could come home. She was crying because she had just returned from the doctor and the news of twins scared her. I stopped at the store and bought two roses to give her but by the time I got there, she was fine. She said she was ashamed of herself for feeling scared. She decided this was a blessing from God and was now thrilled. Bob seemed absolutely fine as well. Butter wouldn't have melted in his mouth. I remember saying that I thought he would have been nervous or overwhelmed or panicked even about the news. He looked at me and said: "No! We'll be fine. This is great!" That night, Bob and Anne took my bed, I slept on a sleeping bag on the floor and Amanda was in a little port-a-crib. Like camping. We'd all gone to sleep but I was abruptly awaken to the sound of Bob's voice saying: "I'll be ready for this. I've got to get ready for this. OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!!!!!!" I sat up in the dark, jolted and disoriented, and asked with urgency: "Are you alright?!?!?" No answer. He was asleep. Then quietly, in a sleepy voice I heard Anne say: "Yeah. I know. He does this all the time."

They are exactly the same people they were the day they came home from the hospital. Jennifer is impatient and demanding (although she does not agree with this assessment) and Christine is quiet and retiring. And both are beautiful and incredible girls.

Did I mention that they went to Italy this year?? Oh, I was livid. They got on Travelzoo one morning in June and saw a spectacular deal on an 8-day trip to Italy. Never mind that they had never been there. Never mind that they didn't speak a word of any language other than English. Never mind that they needed to buy a car. Never mind that they didn't have 2 nickels to rub together. Never mind that they hadn't done one iota of research. They booked the trip without saying a word and left 4 days later. I couldn't speak, I was so mad. I was mad because I haven't been to Italy yet and it the one place I've always wanted to go. I was mad because I haven't been there yet because I couldn't afford to take all six of us. I was really mad because they had the courage to do what I didn't do at their age - because I was afraid. They are going to do just fine.

It took me several years before I stopped thinking of myself as the "second mom". Now, 19 years later, it doesn't occur to me. Anne had once told me: "You know Valri, you should never have children." Then one night she saw me taking care of Amanda and the next morning she said: "Well, maybe you could have one." Pretty funny. I had a dream not too long ago that Anne showed up from nowhere and wanted her family back. I was so happy to see her but I was not about to turn anyone over to her. They are mine - completely. And I know they feel the same way about me. I know this because they roll their eyes at everything I say to them - just as if I had been the one being wheeled out on the gurney that day in July - only 19 years ago.