I decided to instead put Bailey in the carrier and just carry Maggie., We managed to get out, thank god John had left the Ladder against the house when he was painting the roof, I scooted down the ladder and walked fast to the corner.I dug around my pockets for some change but realized i left my wallet on my dresser
"Oh No..Mommy Screwed up" I said to Maggie who was asleep on my shoulder, i noticed something in her little hand ..i unclenched her little fist and found she must have grabbed a dollar out of john's pocket when he put her to bed..that little sneak
"Oh you little runt..Mommy is thrilled you pickpocket Daddy but you can't be doing that' I reprimed her but it was useless..I dialed Annie
"Eck (cough) what?" a sleepy voice answered
"Annie?" I asked
"Nikk?" She replied
"Yeah..look we're being robbed..can me and the babies come over and sleep?" I begged
"Sure..come on over..i'll leave the porch light on" Annie said then hung up
We walked the six blocks to Annie's .. After the 3rd block..Maggie started to get heavy, I knew we should have sprung for the double stroller.
"Oh god..i don't know what Daddy feeds you but i'm putting you both on a diet" I said shifting her from one hip to the other
We finally got to Annie's front door, she was standing in the doorway
"Are you alright?"Annie asked taking Maggie from me
"I'm alright..I can't believe we got robbed!" I said maneurving the carrier into the house
"I know! you hear about it on the news but you never imagine it could happen in your own neighborhood" Annie said carrying Maggie into the living room
"yeah..i know" I said taking Bailey out of the stroller
"Are you hungry?" Annie asked putting Maggie on the couch
"No i think I'm just gonna put the kids to bed and crash myself" I said flopping on the couch
Just then the doorbell rang
"Who in the hell is that?" Annie muttered going to the door,"Hey"
"Hey..is she here?" A voice asked..John
"Yeah..in the living room" She directed to us
"Well What happened?What did they get?" I jumped up and started pacing
"Relax,we weren't being robbed.." John said
"Then what was all that banging?" I asked
"It was Noah.." John said sitting down
"Noah?! what the hell did he want?"I asked
"He was looking for his wallet, which he said he handed to you at the christening" John laughed a little
"Why didn't he use the FRONT DOOR??! " I become angry
"Honestly i don't know, i got to the bottom of the stairs, saw he was standing in the kitchen, i hit him over the head with the bat and when he fell, i realized it was him and then had to put him on the couch, and wait until he woke up" John said picking up Bailey, who was asleep ..
"So Ok..here's a really dumb question..how did he get in?" I asked
"He climbed through the downstairs window" John replied
"Oh good" I rolled my eyes
"Come on, We'd better get the kids home to bed" John said picking up Bailey, I followed him by picking up Maggie
"Thanks Hon" I said kissing Annie goodbye
"No problem..See ya later" Annie said shutting the door behind us
We brought the kids home and put them in the nursery then I went to bed while John stayed with Noah, who was asleep in the living room..i knew if i went near him..i'd do bodily harm.
By now it was a few days before my birthday, on the 21st of June ..i was so wrapped up with the kids i nearly forgot until the door rang
"Hello?" I asked looking through the peephole ..a man was standing on the stoop holding flowers
"Flowers for Mrs.Destifino" the guy answered handing me long stemmed red roses
"Oh thank you" I said handing the guy a five out of my pocket
I walked back to where Maggie was playing on the floor
"Look Maggie, Daddy bought me!" I said clapping my hands
"Dada Dada DADA DADA!" Maggie yelled clapping her hands
"That's right Dada.." I said opening the card
To the Birthday girl
Be outside on the 21st at exactly 9:46pm, Don't ask questions..Just put the kids to bed and put on a mini-skirt and high heels
Love John
I smiled..I wonder what he had planned..I put the flowers in a vase and walked back to play with Maggie, Bailey was asleep
on the 21st, it was around 9ish and i was gettting dressed
"Hello?!" Gina called
"Gina?!" I said tying my shirt at the ends
"Yes..your babysitter has arrived!" Gina asked
"I'll be right there" I said looking for my other Manolo heel,"Hey G..is my black Manolo heel in the living?"
"NO!..It's in the Fridge" Gina called...She must have gone in there to get something to drink
"Why would I put it in there?" I said walking into the living room, where she was holding up my heel
"It was in between the baby bottles and Diet Coke" Gina said handing my shoe to me
"Augh..do you know where John is taking me?" I asked
"No he just said to come here at 9 and to make sure your and i quote "J-lo like ass outside before i have to come in there and Flintstone you"
"My husband Fred .." I rolled my eyes
"Yeah..Well it ain't easy being married to Barney either" Gina said..she had a met a guy in college named Jimmy..they didn't have kids yet but were working on it..
"Ok, So Bailey will problably sleep right through the night unless he gets hungry, which he should get half a bottle, Maggie will more than likely wake up in an hour needing a new diaper and a story read.." I said digging through my purse, looking for my keys
"Looking for these?" Gina said picking up my keys off the coffee
" I swear i don't know where my head is sometimes" I said throwning my keys into my purse,"Now what was i saying"
"You were saying Maggie likes Gin and Bailey likes rum in his bottle" Gina said mocking me
"Smart-ass" I said closing the door behind me
I sat on the porch and waited for John to show up, which he did after i sat there for 20 minutes
"Hey Baby" John said kissing me
"Hi Honey" I kissed him,"What's up? where are we going?"
"You'll see" John said mysteriously,"Were the kids asleep when you left?"
"Yeah but i'm worried, lately Bailey's lips have been turning blue" I said flipping the channel on the radio
"Are you sure they're turning blue?" John said turning onto FDR drive and heading into the city
"Yeah, his lips are the color of ice" I said looking out the window
"Call the doctor" John said making a left turn
"I have and i've gotten no answer, I'm really worried" I said as John stopped in front of a Movie theatre,"You brought me to the movies? at 10 o'clock on a Wednesday?"
"Just wait.." John opened the my door, he took my hand and lead me into the movie theatre
We walked through the the theatre and stopped in front of double doors
"Shouldn't we have bought movie tickets?" I asked
"Always the reporter..quit asking so many questions.." John said pushing open the doors
He grabbed me by the hand and lead me down to the first few rows
"Can't we move back a little" I asked
He relented and we moved back, As soon as i planted my ass in the chair, the lights went down, the movie started right up
"Did we miss the previews?" I asked..i hate when i miss the previews
"This kind of movie, there are no previews" John said putting his arm around my shoulder, I still didn't know what was going on
a picture of myself as an infant popped up on the screen
"THIS WOMAN," a voice boomed" WAS BORN ON JUNE 21ST,1985, 24 YEARS LATER, SHE WOULD NEVER KNOW THE IMPACT SHE MADE ON SO MANY LIVES" The screen faded to black and then suddenly John,Maggie and Bailey popped up on the screen each wearing a shirt that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY"
"Vin..is the camera on?" John asked on the screen
"Yeah.." Vin's voice was muffled
"Ok..here goes, Nikki..you always wanted some sort of E! True Hollywood story of your life and well granted none of us are famous or scandelous, we're gonna do a sort of True Hollywood story..so here goes" John said then the screen faded to black and suddenly Stevie Wonders,"You are so beautiful" began to play and the images began to roll, beginning with images of me as a little kid growing up and somehow John got the home videos from my mother, the christmas where i got dress up and went around as a little bride while my little cousin, who was dressed as a ghostbuster went around zapping people
"Nicole!, say hi to Daddy" Stacey's voice said from behind the camera, i was coming up the stairs in the basement
"Do i have to ?" I cringed at my five year old voice
Suddenly Stace started chasing my mother around the kitchen,trying to get her to say something
"Stacey Marie..get that thing out of my face" My mother said putting her hand on the screen
"Aw Come on,Auntie Leslie" Stacey said
then the camera faded to black again, it was graduation and i was giving my speech, oh my god..i couldn't believe how fat i was..i know the camera adds 10 pounds ..but DAMN
"Oh my god..was i really that fat" I said whispering
"Shh!" John hushed me
You couldn't really hear my voice because the camera angle was so bad but you could hear the tail end, where i said my quote from Gilda Radner. The camera scanned the crowd and i saw john and my family cheering. the screen faded to black andthen suddenly it was our wedding day, there was no sound so all you see is us at the alter and, suddenly Billy Idol's "White Wedding" starts playing, I was so big with Maggie but throughout the ceremony,which i didn't realize up until this point, John had his hand on my belly. then the tape cut away to our reception
"Annie.Do you have a special message for the newlyweds and soon to be parents?" Catie asked holding her hand like a microphone
"Yeah..get all the sleep you can get in now BEFORE the baby comes" Annie said then ran out to the dance floor
"Mrs.L..do you have any messages for Nikki and John?" Catie asked my mom
"Yah..payback's gonna be a bitch" My mother said
"Oh Alright,"Catie laughed, "Nat, we're gonna get some more quotes"
"I'm so happy"-John's mom..while crying
"My Baby is all grown up" My Auntie Pat
"I always knew she'd get pregnant before she was married"- My cousin David..he was always such a bastard
"Eh..kinda like i'm gonna be a grandfather.." My Father
"Well I think their both in for a lot of surprises"- John's Dad said
They interviewed a few more people and then the camera faded to black
the subtitle underneath the screen read "two weeks before baby"
I was sitting in the kitchen, reading a book when John came up to me with the camera
"Hiii Mommy" John said
"Hi Daddy" I said reading
"It's two weeks before the big day..do you have any messages for the baby?" John asked
"Yes..When you come out, i want my body back intact please" I said laughing
"Oh Careful Mommy, the baby can hear you" John said zooming in on my belly,"Can you lift up your shirt so we can see the baby before she comes?"
"I'm not see-through.." I said getting up and lifting up my shirt to reveal my HUGE stomach
"There's my girl!" John said ..then fade to black
The songram of Maggie came on the screen read underneath : "Maggie Elizabeth born December 23rd weighing 6lbs, 9 oz 23 inches long"
Suddenly, We're in the delivery room and i'm screaming my head off
"OH MY GOD!! I NEED MORPHINE!" my face was all red and sweaty
"Come on Nik..you can do it!" John was so encouraging
"Oh SHUT UP!" I yelled..suddenly John moved down to the end of the delivery table and the doctor held up Maggie, who was naked, purple and screaming
"She's here!" The Doctor announced
"Oh my .." John said suddenly turning pale,"She's so beautiful" and then John must have dropped the camera because CRASH! it hit the floor and all you could see was the tile on the hospital floor
the screen faded again and this time I was sitting in the rocking chair with Maggie, giving her a bottle
"Hi Moma" John said zooming in on Maggie's little face
"Hi Daddy" I waved her little hands
"How do you think she likes living here?" John asked
I started to burp the baby and she let out a big one," I think she likes us"
Suddenly the tape fast forward to Maggie's first birthday party, John and I were helping her blow out the candles
"I can't believe she's already one!" John's Aunt said
"I know! and they're having another baby!" My aunt said then kissed Maggie on the head
"So what are you guys hoping for?" Newman asked getting Cake
"A boy" John answered,"Not that i don't love my little princess "
"Oy, i hope this one's a boy" Dina said as the screen faded to black.
Bailey's songram appeared reading " Bailey Jacob April 5th at 7:50 pm weighing 8lbs and was 22inches long"
"Oo wow! another contraction!" I said breathing
"Baby, you are doing so good!" John said cheering me on again..
I saw myself pull john forward and tell him we were having a boy and i saw his eyes light up when the doctor handed him Bailey
Suddenly it was two weeks ago when we were bathing the kids in the big bathtub
"Hi Guys" John called
"Dada! DADA!" Maggie yelled hanging on the side of the tub
"Hi Daddy" I said drying off Bailey
"Say Hi Destifino Family" John said putting the camera on the sink and, coming over to us and started waving to the camera
"We love you" We blew kisses to the camera and with that..it was over ..and i was in tears
"That was incredible," I said kissing my wonderful husband \
"There's more" He said rubbing his eyes and taking my hand and leading me back to the car
We drove for a few minutes until we reached the empire state building
"Why are we here?" I asked
"Just hold on" John said leading me to the elevator and pushing the top floor button
We got to the observation deck and set up was a romantic dinner, flowers, candles ..everything
"Oh John this is the best birthday ever" I said kissing him
He pulled out my chair and i sat down
"May I serve you My Dear?" John asked opening two silver serving plates
"Of course" I said then laughed because he put tiny corn dogs onto my plate with fries,"You are too much"
"So Did you like your birthday surprise" John asked eating his corn dog
"I loved it ..how did you ever think of it?" I asked biting into a fry
"it just came to me one night and i thought it would be kinda cute" John said drinking his milkshake
"How did you get those old family videos?" I said crinkling my nose
"Well before your mom sold the big house, remember how we went through it and took stuff to put into storage, well i found the tapes in your Dad's collection and your mom said to take them" John finished his corn dog
"OoOo " i Nodded
"There's one more surprise" John said standing,"May I have this dance"
I smiled and stood up,"Yes, you may but no freaky dancing" I said laughing a little
"I promise" John held up his hand,"Hold on" he walked over to a boom box and turned it on,
the radio started playing,"I could fall in love" which is one of my favorite songs
"Are you happy with our life?" I said ..surprising myself with the question
"Yes ..i 'm so happy that we're married and we have two beautiful children" John said spinning me around
"Me too..but i get worried sometimes" I said
"About what?" He asked dipping me
"about what they'll be like when their adults, wheither they'll be good people or wheither they'll be kind" I said
"I think that's a bit a premature considering they're both under two years old" John pointed out
"Yeah true" I said as the song ended
"I have one tiny little surprise left" John said grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me
"I thought the surprises were over" I said huffing and puffing down the stairs, praying i wouldn't trip over my own shoelaces
"Almost..i think your gonna love this " He started up the jeep
"John..it's nearly 3am..shouldn't we be heading back home?" I said looking at my watch
"Would you relax?..the kids are fine!" John reassured
"Alright..."I said noticing we were headed to Jersey,"Oh my god..your gonna kill me and bury me in Jersey?!!"
"WHAT?!" John took his eyes off the road long enough to look at me like i was nuts,"you watch too many T.V shows"
"Well, why else would you take me to Jersey?" I asked
"I swear, i think you were deprived of oxygen when you gave birth to Bailey" John said making a right turn
" Haha ..real funny" I made a face as we stopped in front of a beach
"Come " John said getting out of the car
I got out of the jeep and walked down to the edge of the beach, where the ocean meets the sand
"Why don't you sit here?" John said
I turned around and realized he'd set up a blanket
"Oh wow.." I said impressed
I sat down in between John's legs and he put his arms around me
"Tell me about the night Maggie was born?" I said looking out at the ocean
"Alright," He whispered, "It was a warm December, way too unusual for December, It was the day before she was actually due, i also remember how nervous and scared we both were because we were still kids ourselves, but When you called and told Vin you were in Labor, all of my fears went out the window, i remember running up Madision Avenue trying to catch a cab with Vin and when we finally got one, i got butterflys in my stomach, We practically flew to Roosevelt hospital, i ran out of the cab before it even stopped" John paused
"You didn't!" I couldn't believe
"Oh I did,i ran up seven flights of stairs to maternity and found Natalie pacing the floor and Annie muttering something about finding my ass, i ran up and they told me where you were..althought i heard you scream all the way down the hall, so i ran into the delivery room and the head nurse was peeling you off the ceiling, and i also remember that once the epidural kicked in, it was like turning the wicked witch into the good witch, you were singing and laughing,when it came time for the baby to come, the nurse said that she wanted lower the epidural and you nearly ripped off her face!" John said laughing
"I didn't!" I said laughing
"You did!, then when the doctor came and checked you, he said it was time and we went to the went into the delivery room, all i think was , damn, i'm gonna have to bang the hell out of her insides for her to ever feel me!" John was practically in tears,he was laughing so hard
"uh no..c'mon be serious!" I shaking my head
"Alright Alright, after what seemed like forever, the baby was finally coming,the doctor asked if i wanted to see her little head, i looked and i nearly passed out but it was like 1,2, 3 and it was like POP!..she was out and they handed her all wrapped up, i just started to cry, i couldn't believe we'd actually created something so beautiful." John said
"Oh John" I said starting to cry
"Wait..i'll be right back" John said getting up and running to the car
"What is he doing?" I said talking to myself
He came running down the beach carrying a large object..
"What did you do?" I asked
"Just wait" He said looking at his watch
I was curious..but waited ..
"John, what is?" I stopped talking because he put his hand over my mouth
"Just wait" He said
So we waited and waited and waited and did i mention we WAITED..finally the sun was coming up, i must have fallen asleep because the next thing i knew was john shaking me
"Nikki you gotta wake up" John said
"Wha?" I said cracking open my eyes
"It's dawn..c'mon wake up so i can give you once last surprise"John said
"You are too much" I said smiling
"Remember the silver bracelet you lost when we moved to new york?" He asked
"Yeah..it was my favorite.why?" I asked
"Well remember how hard you cried?" He asked
"Yes,i cried for a week..why?" this was getting irrating
"Here ya go" he handed me a box with a pink ribbon, i tore into that thing like a kid on christmas morning and found my bracelet!
"Oh my god..you found it?!" I said hugging him
"Yah, i found it in a box in the basement, i had the clasp fix and added three more heart charms it, One for each of us.." He said then reached over and opened a big bottle of root beer
"Root beer?" I said laughing
"Champagne is too expensive" He said pouring us each a class
"mm good" I said drinkng
"Hold on" he practically ripped the cup out of my mouth
I started choking and he had to whack me on the back
"A toast" he said when i finally stopped coughing,"To my beautiful wife on her 24th birthay..happy birthday baby"
"Oh thank you..this has been the most amazing birthday ever .." I said crying and kissing John, We sat on the beach a little bit longer then we got home into to feed our kids breakfeast
I had gotten to think about it while sitting on the beach, John was always doing such wonderful things for me, I needed to do something for him ..that didn't involve childbirth..but what? ..i needed help so i called on the people i knew could fix it..
"Alright I've called you here because i need your help" I said running into the restaurant
"Oh lord.." Blake rolled his eyes
"Your not pregnant again are you?" Annie asked
"No I'm not pregnant .."
"Then why are we meeting in the Village when you live in Brooklyn" Stevanne asked
" Ideas to surprise John" I said with a mouth ful of bread,"oh so good"
"Ah ..i gotcha" Gina said nodding
"Why don't you get tickets to Marilyn Manson?"Catie suggested
"Because i would be up for at least two weeks with nightmares after looking at that GUY!" I said rolling my eyes
"She's got a point..why don't you guys go on vacation?" Brennan suggested
"But what do i do with the babies?" I said sipping my water
"Let Stacey take care of them, how many times has she dumped Ali on you?" Annie pointed out
"True ..but where do we go?" I asked stealing a chip off Catie's plate
"Hey!..i got it, why don't you use the cabin?" Catie said slapping my hand
"Your cabin in Maine? are you sure?" I asked
"Sure...I trust ya" Catie said
the next day i made all the arrangements for our trip, it was so hard because i was trying to keep it a surprise but i was bursting to tell him, i packed up our suitcases and waited for him to come home.
Stacey came and got Bailey and Maggie early so i was alone in the house trying not to burst wondering when the hell he was coming home..
I was reading when he finally came home
"Hello?!" He called
"Hi Honey..where the hell have you been?"I said going to the door
"I was stuck in traffic..what's with the suitcases in the hallway" John said going into the living room,
"I'm leaving" I said with a straight face
"What?" He turned white
"Haha..i'm kidding i'm taking you to maine"I said laughing
"That's not funny..you scared the hell out me"John said sitting on the steps
"I'm sorry..i thought it was funny" I said
"it wasn't..so why are we going to maine?" John asked
"It's a surprise!" I said dragging him to the car
"Whoa..?"John said
I started to put a blindfold on him
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