1/20/14 (:

So, the day before yesterday, at promptly 9 AM, Tangled Fan brought Audrey and Jordan.  She was supposed to bring Natasha, too, but she said that she had strongly refused to come, so she didn't force her. 

That meant that I was nervously prepping all morning long.  The bed got set upright, blankets crammed elsewhere, the wicker chair and box set side-by-side.  I found a little box in the drawer underneath us, which would serve well as a seat for Audrey, and eventually, could be fixed into separate beds for both of them (the box would get flipped upside down, minus the lid, for Audrey, and the upside-down lid for Jordan).  Eugene, who was sick and tired of sitting around, stood on the deck and watched me, leaning against the lamp.  I knew it was killing him that he couldn't help me, but oh well. 

 

When I was just about done, I turned around to see the alarm clock, which had been haphazardly set up on the deck (backwards) by Tangled Fan.  What if Audrey took to playing on it, even if we did our best to keep her off of it? 
I turned to ask Eugene what should be done.
He thought for a moment.  "Yeeahhh...that could be a problem."  He scratched at his chin and licked his lips.  "I don't know what to do with-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, because I impulsively gave the clock a firm kick, tipping it off of the edge with a loud clatter. 

Alarmed, my hubby jumped, almost falling down, and shuddered all over.  Then he looked up at me and started laughing.  "Well, that's one way to do it." 
"Yup!"  I giggled, stepping down to the deck.  "Why don't you go sit down?" 
"Nah, I'm good yet," he reassured me, giving me a grin.
"You're too nervous to sit, right?"  I asked.  That's what I felt like, too. 
"Nailed it," he chuckled, giving me that classic grin of his. 
"Should I...I dunno.  Should I braid my hair?  I don't want to scare them."  I joked. 
He started to say no, but then I tried to pass a hand through my hair.

And got it stuck. 
Big time. 
He froze mid-sentence.  "...Err..maybe you should."
"Uh-huh," I groaned, trying to disentangle my hand.  He automatically reached to help me, carefully pulling my hand away from my hair.  "Thanks," I laughed, my face getting terribly red in my embarassment. 
"Yup," he gave me a gentle smile, and so I turned away to brush and braid my messy hair.  While I worked on that, Pascal, who was probably tired of trying to balance on my shoulder while I buzzed back and forth, plopped down on the wicker chair to sleep. 

When I came back, Eugene promptly swept me into his arms.

Leaning carefully to rest his forehead up against mine, he tightened his arms around me, so I did the same.  I just hoped he didn't lose balance and fall. 

"So...are we ready for this?"  I asked quietly, the butterflies starting up in my stomach.  Okay, fine.  A whole ZOO erupted in my stomach, not just butterflies. 
He gave a nervous grin.  "I guess we'll find out."  he started to reach to give me a kiss, but then we heard the bedroom door open. 

I jerked away from him, not meaning to knock him off balance.  He stumbled forward a step, and I immediately gasped a 'sorry' as I grabbed for him and helped him steady himself - before he fell off of the deck! 
As I heard Tangled Fan approaching, I moved away from my husband, but he promptly reached and pulled me back towards him, and I could tell by his tense arm that he was probably freaking out a little bit on the inside. 

Tangled Fan came and went quickly.  She explained why Natasha wasn't with the other two, and then we both reached out for the girls.
"Now, I'll be back this evening to get Audrey and Jordan.  I figure that you two could use some time to decide a hundred percent, so I'll take them till you decide."
Nodding thankfully, I gave her a quick thank you before she left. 

When she left, I hefted Jordan up into a more comfortable position in my arms, and Eugene looked down at Audrey, who he held. 
Audrey stared up at Eugene, a look of wonder on her face.  "Are you gonna be my dad?"  She asked him, giving him an adorable little smile, full of hopefulness and innocence. 
He gave her a huge smile.  "I'm hoping so." 
She abruptly twisted around in his arms to look at me. "You, too?!" 
I bit back my instant thought of 'I'm not going to be your DAD,', which she likely wouldn't understand, and instead tried to respond in a more kid-friendly manner.  "We're planning on it." 
"Jordan, too, right?  She can't be alone!" 
"Jordan, too," I answered patiently, giving her a smile. 
She gave me a HUGE grin before turning her attention back to Eugene.  She fairly interrogated him, but he took it in stride. 
And as for Jordan, she just gave me a wide-eyed stare.  I hoped she remembered me from yesterday, and wouldn't freak out or cry or anything!  Luckily, after she silently studied me for a couple of minutes, the most charming little smile split across her features, and this weird feeling came over me - a feeling of simple adoration.  I also couldn't believe how good it felt to hold Jordan in my arms!  I
 looked up at Eugene and Audrey, and saw a look of complete and utter kindness and love as he listened to Audrey chatter on and on. 
I touched his arm to get his attention, nodding my head towards the shelf, and he set his hand on my shoulder, following me into the shelf.  I went slow so his joints wouldn't give out on him.  I plopped down on the box beside the wicker chair, and he scooped Pascal out of his seat, sitting down himself; Audrey still in his other arm. 
Time to meet Pascal, I take it.
Please don't stick your tongue in Audrey's ear.  Please don't stick your tongue in Audrey's ear.  Please don't.... I thought to myself, watching the three of them. 
Pascal balanced on his one hand, Audrey on his lap opposite Pascal, he looked down at the girl.  "This is Pascal.  Isn't he neat?" 
She took a quick look at Pascal. 
Her eyes widened. 
And then she shrieked.  "NO!" She cried, twisting to bury her face in his shirt.  She shuddered all over. 
"Hey, it's okay!  He won't hurt you.  He's a good chameleon-" Pascal did the wrong thing, scurrying over to plop himself on Audrey's shoulder.  Eugene's voice was drowned out by Audrey's fearful screaming and yelling of 'get it off, get it off!'. 
He quickly scooped Pascal up, reaching to set him on my own shoulder.  Audrey's screaming got Jordan worked up, and she started wailing. 
"Honey, look.  Look!  He's gone.  He won't hurt you!  Audrey!  He's off of you!"  I tried to say over her. 

Marvelous start to parenthood.
Eugene looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. 
Maybe I was about to have a breakdown, too!
Let's wait to introduce the kid to the chameleon till they come to stay, they said.  It'd be fun, they said.  It won't mentally scar them, they said.  They won't make your eardrums bleed with their screams, they said. 

Finally, I got an idea.  If she was so close to her baby sister, this could work.  Unless Jordan was terrified of my reptile, too. 
I set Pascal down on Jordan's little lap, hoping he would distract her from crying.
He did. 
Thank goodness.  She started giggling, even!
"Hey, Audrey, sweetheart.  Look at Jordan, honey!"  I told her.  "Look at Jordan!"
She peeked over her shoulder, her little lip trembling, and she almost started freaking out at the sight of him again, but then she saw - and heard - Jordan belly-laughing at Pascal.
"He's not so scary, is he?"  Eugene asked her. 
"I...I guess not.  But don't let him near me.  He might bite!" 
"He doesn't bite," I laughed.  "He won't hurt you - he's been one of my best friends for, like, ever, and he's never hurt me." 
"O-okay," she told me, but she still gave him a cautious expression for a minute.

After that, our day went relatively smoothly.  Eugene was an absolutely adorable natural with both the girls.  I'm not sure how well of a job I did as my first motherhood experience, though.  xD 
All too soon, Tangled Fan came back to get the girls at around eleven.  (She had apparently decided to wait till she came back to go to bed...) So when she came back to get the currently-sleeping girls, we were both exhausted.  But at the same time, I was wired.  I felt a tweak of remorse when Tangled Fan took the girls, but I knew they'd be back.  Sometime.  Tangled Fan said she'd keep them until we decided, and also once she'd found some smaller blankets and stuff that could be used for them.

Once Tangled Fan left, I fumbled around till I got the bed ready, and then I felt my way over to the wicker chair, Pascal still on my shoulder.  It was PITCH black on our shelf, now that I'd kicked the alarm clock off the deck...and Tangled Fan didn't put it back up :P  When I'd found the chair in the darkness, my eyes adjusting to the dark again (since Tangled Fan had turned her light on and then, of course, back off), Eugene reached to take my hand in his.  I helped him to his feet, and when he was steady, I gave him a smile (even though he probably couldn't see it.)
"So...you're going to be a perfect natural dad, absolutely."  I told him, my heart squeezing as I thought of him dotingly playing with Audrey.  I knew by the way that Audrey looked up at him that he probably meant world to her.
He pulled his hand away from mine, instead pulling me into him and then planting a dazzling kiss on my lips.  When the kiss ended, I could hear him smile as he told me how he couldn't wait to full-out adopt the girls. 

"Me, too!"  I told him.  "Did you..I dunno.  Did it just feel..right, when we had the girls?  I just was wondering, cause I just, I dunno.  Felt all warm and fuzzy when I was holding Jordan."  I stumbled over my question awkwardly, not sure how to explain or say it.
He laughed.  "Yes.  And that's just what the humans probably call your 'motherly instinct' kicking in." 
"Oh," I said, not quite sure what to make of it.  He nuzzled my hair a second or two before plopping a kiss into it, and then he led me to bed. 
When I hit the bed, my mind reminded me how tired I was...but also, how much I wanted to talk...hm.  Time to choose between sleep and talking while everything was fresh in my mind. 

Eugene answered that question for me when he decided to talk about Audrey and Pascal...so we talked until I don't know when - and I think I fell asleep mid-sentence.  xD