Amber's View

"Welcome back!" Rhonda said over the phone. "So how was the honeymoon?"
"It was fantastic! Spain was beautiful."
"Did you even make it out of your hotel room?" Rhonda asked laughing.
"Yes! Well...a couple of times at least," I said laughing too. "So are you ready to give my daughter back?"
"Yeah, Howie and I definitely got some practice in for these two. Your daughter sure has a lot of energy - I think she wore Howie out!"
I laughed again. "Squeaks can definitely do that to you – but she's mine and I love her. We missed her so much while we were gone."
"She missed you too. She ended up crawling into bed with us almost every night – isn't that right Squeakers? Here, say 'hi' to mommy." Rhonda put Arrianna onto the phone.
"Hi," she gurgled into the phone.
"Hi baby," I said.
"Say 'bye' to mommy."
"Bye," she said.
"Rhon, let me grab AJ and we'll be there in about ten minutes to get her."
"Alright, we'll see you then."

"Where's my little girl?" AJ said as we walked into Rhonda's fifteen minutes later. Arrianna stood up from where she was sitting and excitedly ran over to us. "Did you miss mommy and daddy?" AJ asked her picking her up into a hug. Arrianna shook her head yes and reached out for me.
"Thanks again you guys," I said to Rhonda and Howie as I took Arrianna from AJ. "So how are your little ones doing?" I asked patting Rhonda's ever-growing stomach.
"They're fine. Their mother is ready to be her normal size again but other than that everything is good."
"How are you doing Howie? After these last two weeks do you think you're still ready for kids?" I joked.
"Yeah, or did Squeaks here make you change your mind," AJ asked once again taking her from my arms.
"No, I'm fine. I'm ready…it's just that…"
"Just that what?" I asked.
"It's just that he won't stop worrying about me. He doesn't want to leave me for a few weeks to finish up their concert tours." Rhonda said in somewhat of a huff. "He doesn't realize that I'll be just fine and he'll only be gone for two and a half weeks."
"Hey D, I can sympathize I just got back from a honeymoon and I'm going to have to leave my new wife and my little girl at home right away, but you know this is all part of the job. It comes with the territory." AJ said trying to talk some sense into Howie.
"If it makes you feel any better she can come stay with me while your gone," I offered.
"I would make me feel better if you were there," Howie agreed.
"Excuse me, I am in the room!" Rhonda put her hands on her hips and pouted. "I think I'm a big enough girl to stay here by myself."
I could tell AJ was about to comment on the big girl part. "Don't even!" I said slapping him before he could get it out. "Come on Rhon, think of it this way it'll probably be the last time you have some girl time before you have kids keeping you up half of the night."
"I don't know…"
"Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream…"
"Okay!" Rhonda said agreeing to stay with me.
"Why don't you pack something's and you can head back with me tomorrow after dropping the guys off." I suggested.
"That'll be fine, she'll be ready to go," Howie said walking us to the door.
"See ya tomorrow," AJ shouted back as we headed to our car. "In you go Squeak," he said putting her into her car seat. "Now let's go home."
"I couldn't agree with you more."

"Are you okay?" I asked Rhonda as she suddenly stopped in her tracks walking into the kitchen.
"Yeah I'm fine just a small pain is all." I glanced up at the clock and took notice of the time…just in case. "I saw that. There's nothing for you to worry about I've been having them off and on all day."
"You've been having them all day and you didn't say anything?!"
"I didn't say anything because there was no pattern to them, so calm down."
"Fine, but if you have these kids after we convinced Howie to leave…"
"I am not having these babies…ahhhh!" Rhonda said grabbing her stomach.
"No pattern my ass – you're having contractions! Go get in the car, I'll grab your bag and Arrianna."
"I don't have a bag," Rhonda said panicking a little.
"Yes you do – Howie packed one for you." I rushed upstairs to Rhonda's room as she headed out to the car. I picked Arrianna up from where she was sleeping in her crib. "Come on Squeak we've gotta take Aunt Rhonna to the hospital." I found the bag that Howie had packed in case of an emergency, ran back downstairs and grabbed all three sets of keys. "Why aren't you in the car?" I asked as I noticed that Rhonda was still standing in the driveway.
"You didn't tell me which car to get into," she said shrugging.
"I grabbed all the keys so just pick one!" Rhonda thankfully bypassed my Mercedes and climbed into AJ's Tahoe. By the time I drove us to the hospital Rhonda's contractions had stopped.
"I told you that it was nothing."
"And I'm telling you we should still have you checked out."
"Ahhh…okay!" Rhonda said as they suddenly started again.
I grabbed Arrianna out of her car seat and ran over to help Rhonda out of the truck. "Excuse me," I said to the woman behind the desk, "My friend here is in labor." They took Rhonda back into a room and I took a seat and tried to fill out all the forms I could for her the best I could.

"What's going on?" I asked as Rhonda walked back out into the waiting room about an hour later.
"False labor," she said walking over to the front desk to sign herself out. "They told me to go home the babies aren't ready to be born yet."
"Good!" I sighed. "I didn't want to be the one to tell Howie you were in labor without him."
"You didn't call him yet?"
"I tried but he wasn't at the hotel and his cell phone must be out of range or something. I did leave a message on his voice mail to call me on my cell when he gets the message."
"Maybe it's best that he wasn't in, otherwise he would've been on a plane just for false labor."
"He's still not going to happy about this," I said readjusting Arrianna on my hip and following Rhonda out to the car.
"Well we'll just deal with that later when he calls," she said opening the door.

Rhonda's View

"Are you sure you want me to go up to New York? I can get out of the show," Howie said.
"You're only going to be gone for 24-hours. I think we'll be okay without you," I said as I began to make breakfast.
"I know, but you've been in and out of the hospital the last couple of weeks. I don't want to be out of the state when my babies are born!"
"Honey – we were in there two days ago. The doctors said that it was false labor and that we had a couple of weeks before we needed to worry."
"Yeah but the books say that twins can come as early as six weeks before they are due. You're seven weeks..."
"Yeah seven, not six. Besides, its only going to be for one day. I think I can keep them in until you get back," I said as I winked at Howie and handed him his breakfast.
"Okay, okay. But..."
"No buts! Do I need to remind you that it's a charity event? Besides, Amber's sister is going to be extremely disappointed that she can't show you off to her friends."
"Oh yeah, what time is Amber coming to pick me up?"
"She should be here in about half an hour. Are you finished packing?"
"I better go finish huh?" Howie grabbed his toast and headed upstairs to finish packing.

About twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door.
"Honey – Amber's here!!" I yelled up to Howie. He came downstairs with his bag in his hand and a slightly guilty look on his face. "What did you do?" I asked.
He kissed me and opened the door. "Hey guys! Come on in." Amber, AJ and Nick walked through the door.
"Hey guys – what are you doing here?" I asked.
"Howie just called and asked if Nick and I would stay with you while he was in New York," AJ said.
Amber elbowed him in the stomach. "Has anyone ever told you that you have the biggest mouth in the world?!?"
"Actually yeah," AJ said as he hunched over in pain, "lots of people have told me that."

"Just humor me and let them stay," Howie said. I just glanced up at Howie. I knew he was worried about me but I didn't feel I needed to be babysat by AJ and Nick.
"Okay, they can stay," I said not wanting to upset Howie.
"I'll call you when I get there, and right before the show, and right after the show, and when we're about to leave..." Amber grabbed Howie's bag, gave me and AJ a kiss goodbye and headed out the door.
"Watch out D, she just might leave without you," AJ said. "And don't worry, I'll take good care of your wife and children."
Howie came over to me and kneeled down to talk to my stomach. "Okay family meeting time. I'm going away for a little while. I don't want either of you two giving your mother any trouble. Got it? And don't even think about getting out of there until I get back!" He gave each of the babies a kiss and then gave me a kiss goodbye. "I love you guys," he said and headed off to the car.

Amber's View

"Stop that!" I yelled at Howie as I drove us to the airport.
"What?" Howie asked looking at me in confusion.
"Tapping your finger, you're driving me nuts! You need to calm down – Rhonda will be fine, and so will the babies. You're only going to be gone for 24 hours."
"Yeah but what if…I mean they could come at any time…what if they come while I'm not there?"
"Don't worry, they won't, and even on the extremely small chance they do AJ has been through this before." I left off that AJ didn't handle my labor very well – who knows maybe if it wasn't his own kid being born he'd handle it better.
"Yeah I guess so…that reminds me where is Arrianna I thought she was going to come with you and AJ."
I started to laugh "I didn't think Rhon wanted to put up with her, she's discovered the word 'no', so she's staying with her grandma till we get back." I finally got Howie to smile. It wasn't long though before the worried look came back. I reached over and patted his hand, "Don't worry, everything will be fine," I said trying to reassure him as we pulled into the airport.

Rhonda's View

"Okay what do we want to watch?" AJ asked as he plopped down on my couch and reached for the remote control.
I quickly grabbed it before he could. "Howie invited you guys over, not me. I will do whatever I was planning to do and you guys can either sit there quietly and watch me or go to bed. You're choice."
"Damn, you're going to make a good mom," Nick mumbled under his breath.
"Okay then," AJ said, "what do you want to watch?"
"What day is today?" I asked.
"Thursday," Nick and AJ said in unison.
"Well, I don't have a set TV schedule until the evenings so, we can throw in a movie or something. Hey Nick, while you're up, can you get me an ice water? It's kinda warm in here." Nick quickly got me a glass of water and even put a lemon in it for me. "Maybe this won't be so bad," I thought to myself.

I think we were on our third movie when I had to get up and walk around.
"Are you okay?" AJ asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My back's a little sore that's all. Probably from sitting in the same spot for so long." AJ looked over at Nick. "Guys – I'm okay. I swear!"
"Okay – if you say so," Nick said.
"I think I'm going to go upstairs and take a little nap. You guys know where everything is right?" They both nodded. "Good! Then you won't need to wake me up for anything."

Amber's view

The flight was delayed on route so we arrived in New York a bit late. I was never so glad to be on the ground again. Howie had fidgeted the whole way on the plane. I felt like I was sitting next to a little kid who just couldn't keep still. There were even times I threatened to throw him off the plane if he didn't stop.
"Amber!" Terri, my sister, shouted as she ran towards us.
"Terri!" I screamed back hugging her. I introduced Howie to my sister. "I thought we were going to catch a cab and meet up with you before the benefit."
"Change of plans – there is a prospective big donor that wants to meet with Howie here, so I decided to come pick you up and take you there. I figured you wouldn't mind if it ends up that he donates a good amount of money.
"No," Howie said, "I don't mind we need all the support we can get." We headed out to Terri's waiting car and headed off towards the meeting. "Damn!" Howie said as he tried to call home on his cell phone.
"What's wrong?" I asked turning around in my seat to look at him.
"The batteries too low to get through."
"Here we'll recharge it while we're going and it should be fine in an hour or so," I said taking the phone and plugging it in to recharge. Terri glanced back at Howie and gave me a worried look.
The meeting with the donor went well over all. He didn't seem to notice that Howie kept glancing wishfully at his phone and a few times at his watch. When we finally got to the concert venue he headed directly to a payphone. "How much do you think it would cost to call Florida from here?" he asked after not being able to locate his calling card.
"Here let me," I said as I pulled out my calling card and started to dial Rhonda's number.
"Hello?" AJ answered the phone.
"Hey honey, it's me."
"Hey babe, what's up? Did you miss me that much already or are you checking to see if Rhonda's killed us yet?" he asked laughing.
"Both," I said laughing myself. "Actually I made this call so Howie could talk to Rhonda before he drives me and Terri crazy. Where is she?"
"She's upstairs taking a nap. Put D on the phone and I'll go get her." I gave the phone to Howie and explained that AJ was going to wake her up.

Rhonda's View

"Hey Rhon, Howie's on the phone," I heard AJ whisper.
"What? What time is it?"
"It's 7:30. You slept all day." I looked up to see AJ sitting on the side of the bed with the phone in his hand. He looked pretty concerned.
I took the phone and tried to sound awake. "Hey baby! Are you about ready to go on?"
"Are you okay?" Howie asked extremely concerned.
"Yeah – fine. Just a little tired that's all."
"I can get on a plane right now..."
"Howie – do your show," I said now wide awake. "Besides, Amber and her sister need to show you off a little bit. You don't want to disappoint them, do you?"
There was a minute or two of silence. "Okay – but I'm only staying because it's a charity event and I will get on a plane right after it."
"Fine – if you want to come home right away, I can't stop you. But I'm telling you that me and the babies are fine."
There was another moment of silence.
"I love you and I'm just worried about you," Howie said sadly.
"I love you too and I know you're worried. But you can't exactly go out there and sing your heart out if you're worrying about me. So, I will tell you only one more time, we're fine!"

AJ helped me downstairs to where Nick getting dinner ready. "Smells good Nick. What is the special tonight?"
"Well," Nick said looking around at all of the bags, "Howie told me a few things that you were craving the last few weeks so I drove all over the city and I think I got everything."
I peeked into one of the bags. "Yummy...gyros. This will start me off," I said as I grabbed the bag and headed into the living room. I sat on the floor at the coffee table. That was the only place that I seemed to fit comfortably lately. Nick brought me over a water and was helping himself to a pizza. AJ soon sat down next to me with a burger and fries on his plate. "Oh, 'Whose Line is it Anyway' should be coming on. Hand me the remote!" AJ handed me the remote and we settled in for what we thought would be a quiet evening at home.

We were into the second half of "Charmed" when AJ and Nick noticed that I kept looking up at the clock.
"OH MY GOD!!" AJ screamed. "HOW FAR APART ARE THE CONTRACTIONS?"
"They keep changing. It was seven minutes, then four, then eight... I'm sure it's just false labor again."
"WHAT ARE THEY NOW?" AJ shouted.
"Four." AJ and Nick jumped out of their chairs, grabbed their jackets and headed out the door. A few seconds later, Nick came back inside for me.
"Sorry about that. I guess we can't do this without you," Nick laughed. AJ came running back in the house for the car keys.
"You guys – I'm okay! See, the contractions are gone. False labor." They both stood there and watched me for a few minutes. AJ put the keys back on the table but didn't take his coat off. He sat in the chair and stared at me.
"Okay guys – maybe we should go to the hospital," I said in pain. Nick lead me outside as AJ rushed upstairs to get my "hospital bag".
"I am not getting into Howie's corvette while I am in labor," I said arguing with Nick as AJ came running outside past us, "I'd never be able to get out of that thing!"
"Fine, then we'll take your car," Nick said. He began to lead me over to my car.
"I am not risking the chance of having my babies in the back seat of my Lexus!!" Nick just looked at me.
"Fine!! Then we'll take my truck!!" he shouted back at me. We both turned around to look for Nick's truck, which was in the garage.
"Don't worry," AJ said as he ran back into the house. He came running back out with Nick's keys in his hand. "I'll get his truck out of the garage." Nick and I were smart enough to move to safe ground on my porch. AJ came flying out of the garage, came inches away from hitting my Lexus and ended up in the middle of my front lawn.

"It's the first time he's having twins," Nick said as he shrugged his shoulders. AJ came running from the driver's side to help get me into the truck.
"Nick – maybe you should drive," I said as I noticed how much AJ was shaking.
"Yeah – good idea!" Nick said as he jumped over to the driver's seat.
AJ grabbed Nick's car phone. "Hello? Aaron? What are you doing answering Howie's cell phone? ... I did not call you! I'm calling Howie!! He's number three memory – not you!!" Nick grabbed the phone out of AJ's hands.
"Sorry Aaron. We're taking Rhonda to the hospital and AJ doesn't seem to realize that he's using my phone, not his! ...Yeah we'll call you and let you know what happens."

AJ and Nick fought the entire way to the hospital over who was going to call Howie and tell him. AJ finally won and called Howie as Nick and I were at the admittance desk.
"He's on his way," AJ said.
"They are probably going to send me home anyway. See, the contractions are gone again."
"Howie said he had them switch the show around so he went first. Him and Amber are already on a plane back here."

Amber's view

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Howie said making gestures as if to move the plane himself.
"Howie dear, sit back in your seat and breathe," I said trying unsuccessfully to calm him down. "We'll get there in time, she just went into labor a little bit ago – you know what they say about first deliveries and all."
Howie shot me a look "I believe yours wasn't!"
"Yeah…well…It was AJ's."
"I can't believe I went to New York, I should have been home, I should be there for her right now instead of Nick and AJ. Ms…Ms…" Howie shouted trying to get a stewardess' attention.
"Can I help you?" she asked coming over to see what was wrong – this was the third time she had been over.
"Are we almost there yet?"
The stewardess gave him a sympathetic look and said, "Almost."

Rhonda's View

"Okay the babies are definitely coming," the doctor said.
"But two days ago you told me I had a couple of weeks!" I shouted at him.
"Well apparently you babies want to see the world a little bit early."
I began to cry thinking that Howie wasn't going to get here in time. "He's going to kill me! He didn't want to go to New York and I made him and now he's going to miss our babies being born and...oh my god someone give me drugs!!" I grabbed onto Nick who was the unfortunate person standing closest to me.
"Just breath," AJ said as he took a few steps back. "The contraction is almost over." A few seconds later it was over. I let go of my grip on Nick only slightly enough for him to be able to breath again.

Amber's View

"Lady's and gentleman there is a going to be a slight delay in landing we will circle the runway once and then we are cleared to land. Thank you for your patience."

I looked at Howie and though he was going to explode. All I knew was that this plane had better land soon or I was not going to be responsible for what happened.

Rhonda's View

"Would someone change the fuckin' radio station? How the hell am I suppose to focus when Bette Mitler is singing??" I screamed. Nick someone managed to get away from my grip and he ran out the door.
AJ looked at me terrified. He was the only one in the room with me. The phone rang and he quickly jumped up to get it. "Welcome to Rhonda's delivery room, this is AJ. How can I help you?"
"Hey D! Where are you at?" I tried to reach for the phone but AJ was just out of my reach with his back towards me. "Yeah – you better get here as quick as you can. I don't know how much more abuse poor Nick can take." AJ finally turned around and saw that I wanted the telephone, and I wanted it right now. "Oh, here's your wife...and D...HURRY!!"

I snatched the phone out of AJ's hand.
"I told you I shouldn't have gone to New York!" Howie said as I put the phone to my ear.
"Honey – now is not the time to play the 'I was right and you were wrong' game with me. They have yet to bring me drugs and I'm not too happy about that!"
"I sorry baby – they just announced we're over Atlanta, so just keep breathing until I get there." Howie's phone began to get static. "Honey...you're breaking up...Shit!" I heard Howie say right before the phone went dead.

Nick came running back into the hospital room with a portable radio. "Here, maybe this will help calm you down a little bit." He turned on Metallica's S&M.
"Much better than Bette," I said. Nick came back over next to the bed and handed me his shirt sleeve.
"In case you need it again," he said.
"You're a hell of a lot more daring than I am!" AJ exclaimed as he sat down in a chair about 5 feet away from the bed.

The doctors finally came in and gave me some drugs. I was so much happier. AJ actually moved next to my bed for awhile.
"Don't worry," AJ said, "Howie's going to make it here."
I tried to relax a bit and hoped that AJ was right.

Amber's View

Once the plane had finally landed Howie grabbed my hand and started running towards an exit leaving our bags unclaimed. I slightly wondered how I always ended up pregnant and running through an airport. Howie was about to open the driver's door to the car when I took the keys from him.
"What are you doing?" he asked angrily.
"I want to get there in one piece – I'm driving." He obviously realized I had a point because he ran over to the passenger's side without a word. I started up the car and we made it to the hospital in record time. As soon as the car was parked Howie grabbed my hand and we were off and running again.

"Can I help you?" the front desk receptionist asked us.
"Yes, we're having a baby, actually we're having twins," Howie said impatiently.
The receptionist looked me up and down and I immediately realized Howie's mistake. "No, no, no – I'm not having a baby…well I am, but not his…" the receptionist really looked confused now. I took a deep breath and started again. "This is Howard Dourogh, his wife Rhonda was admitted awhile ago. She's having twins."

"Oh!" the receptionist said finally understanding. She looked through her database "She's in room 512."

Rhonda's View

About an hour and a half later, later the drugs started to wear off a bit. "Okay, I need more drugs!" I yelled.
The doctors came in and told me that it was too close now and I couldn't have any more drugs. I wasn't happy at all. Unfortunately for AJ he was in reach when the next contraction came. I had Nick in one hand and AJ in the other.

The doctors and nurses came into the room. "You're fully dilated. Are you ready to start pushing on the next contraction?"
"No!! My husband isn't here yet!" I screamed.
"Well, it doesn't look like your babies want to wait any longer," the doctor said. Just then Howie and Amber came running into the room, both completely out of breath.
"Am I too late?" Howie gasped.
"No the fun part is just beginning. Here you can take my place," Nick said as he tried to squirm out of my grasp. I wouldn't let him go. Howie pushed AJ out of the way and took my other hand. "I'm so sorry I'm late baby, can you forgive me?" I just screamed because of the pain. "Was that a yes or no?"
"If you shut up I'll forgive you for being late!"
AJ somehow got behind me and brushed my hair out of my face. "Don't worry – it will all be over soon." Amber tried to pull AJ away but he wouldn't leave.

"Okay we're going to push on three," the doctor said. "Ready?"
"One, Two, Three," the guys all said in unison. I got a round of "good job's" and "way to go's" from AJ, Nick and Howie. Poor Amber gave up on trying to get them out of there. She left the room.

Amber's View

I gave up trying to get Nick and AJ out of the delivery room and decided to leave – I had seen the miracle of birth close up and didn't need to view it again – yet. I walked down the hallway to where the phones were located and decided to call everyone and let them know what was going on.

After I had explained for the fourth or fifth time what had happened I realized just how tired I was and went in search of a seat. My back was killing me so I was thrilled when I found one outside of Rhonda's room. I plopped down into it, leaned back, closed my eyes, and began to wait.

Rhonda's View

After what seemed like an eternity in hell, the first baby came out. "It's a boy!" the doctor shouted. "Come here Dad and cut the cord." Howie reluctantly went over to cut the umbilical cord. The nurses took the baby from the doctor to clean him up. He cried for a few minutes and stopped.

"What's wrong with him? Why isn't he crying?" I asked.
"He's just yawning," one of the nurses said slightly confused.
"Well," AJ said, "he is Howie's kid and Howie never cried as a kid." We all laughed and realized that AJ had a point. The nurses brought our son over to us. He was so tiny!
"Go ahead and take him," I said to Howie.
"Don't you want to hold him first?" he asked.
"I've been carrying him around for how long? You hold him for a change!" I laughed. Howie took him in his arms. He sat down in the chair and just kept running his finger along the side of his face.
"Okay," the doctor interrupted our happy moment, "baby number two wants to join in on the fun."
Howie handed the baby back to the nurses and took my hand again. "Are you ready to do this again?" he asked.
"No, but I don't really have much of a choice now do I?"

Our daughter was born a lot quicker than our son. AJ and Nick were giving each other high-fives for a job well done when Amber came into the room. "I heard some crying and well, I wanted to make sure it wasn't AJ," Amber laughed. "Come on you two. Let's leave mommy and daddy alone with the babies." Nick and AJ followed her out the door but promised that they would be back soon.

AJ, Nick and Amber came back into the room with what I could only imagine was every balloon and stuffed animal from the hospital gift shop. They spent a few minutes looking around for places to put them.
"So, do we have names for these little ones yet?" Amber asked as she sat on the end of the bed.
Howie and I looked at each other. "You tell them," I said to him.
"Okay guys. I want you to meet our son Jacob Alexander..."
"YES!!!" AJ shouted, "I got a baby named after me!!" We all laughed at him as he did a dance of joy.
"And this little one over here is Nicole Caroline."
Nick just looked up at AJ and smirked. "Yeah, but its only a middle name! I got a first name!"
"Thanks a lot Rhon," Amber said, "I'm going to have to listen to them bicker all the way home!"
"Well here, hold a baby for awhile. Maybe you'll forget about that!" I handed her Jacob and she played with his tiny hands.
"You know babe," AJ said to Amber, "you look really good holding a boy." He winked at her and bent down. "Psst, grow a penis!" he whispered to her belly.