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The Hale twins were lucky; they only needed to be in the NICU for two weeks. During half of that time Keeley was still in the hospital recovering from giving birth. Aaron refused to leave her side until she came home and pretended he had the flu to get out of work without his father suspecting anything.
The new parents spent a lot of time doing "kangaroo care" or holding the babies with skin-to-skin contact against their chests. The NICU nurses highly recommended it to help the babies' development but it also helped calm Keeley and Aaron down. It was proof that their children were okay.
They got a steady stream of visitors too, starting with Valentina. Keeley gave birth in the hospital she practically lived in so the word got around that her friend was staying in the maternity ward fairly quickly.
NICU babies had stricter visitor rules outside of parents but there were still a few hours a day where people could come by. Robert came by almost every day to see his grandchildren but the rest of the Hales' friends did at least once to see the babies.
No one could agree who they looked like. The babies were so bald that they couldn't even decipher a hair color. Keeley wondered whether they would end up blonde, chocolate brown, or somewhere in between.
Even Gray came by to check up on his niece and nephew. Aaron wasn't terribly happy about it but couldn't exactly turn him away because he showed up out of the blue. He peered at them with vague interest.
"They're so small."
"They were born about a month early, " Aaron pointed out."I don't think they'll even fit into the newborn clothes we bought them."
"They don't sell clothes for preemies?"
"They do but we'll have to go out and find them, " Keeley said with a shrug, accidentally jostling Violet, who she was holding at the time.
Her husband shook his head in disagreement."You need rest. We can order them online."
Which was exactly what they did. Whenever they weren't at the hospital with the babies, Keeley felt like she was going crazy with too much time on her hands. She spent hours looking through preemie clothes online until she found ones she liked.
They day they were finally able to bring their children home she thought her heart might burst with excitement. Each of them was tasked with putting a baby into a car seat and taking them to the car. Getting the seatbelts to cooperate through the tiny slots for them was a bit difficult but they figured it out eventually.
Kaleb cried in the car a bit but Violet slept all the way home. When the elevator opened inside the penthouse Keeley was relieved beyond words. They were home.
"Welcome home, babies, " she said thickly.
Aaron kissed her cheek before helping Violet out of the car seat. They had already bought everything they needed so all they had to do now was take everything out of the guest room closets.
She sat down on the couch and began nursing her son, who was fussing again. It was about the time he was supposed to be fed anyway.
The NICU nurses had told her that with twins it was usually best to supplement breastmilk with bottle feedings because there wasn't always enough for both of them. To keep things consistent, she would have to switch off who got nursed vs bottle fed each time.
Her husband set Violet down and began preparing a bottle for her using the instructions on the formula can. A few minutes later she was happily eating too.
Keeley couldn't help but think that they had a long road ahead of them. They were supposed to be fed every 2-3 hours. That was a whole lot of nursing to do.
But she couldn't be upset about that looking at her children's beautiful faces. They were absolutely perfect in every way. She didn't think it was possible to love someone else this much. She felt like her heart was going to burst every time she saw them.
"Aren't they the most beautiful things you've ever seen?" Aaron asked, voicing her thoughts.
She smiled softly."They sure are."
He was still focusing on Violet when he casually said, "I hope they both end up looking like you."
All this time sweet talking and he still managed to catch her off guard. He had gotten better and better about making her feel all warm and fuzzy inside with his words. It was obvious he was making up for lost time.
Since they ended up together in the end anyway, they really had lost so much time. To schemes, communication issues, and who knows what else. They could have been like this all along.
A twinge of regret went through her. There was no use dwelling on the past. What mattered now was the future of their family. Violet and Kaleb were the most important things now. Keeley would do anything for them, and by extension, for their father.
"Would that really be best though? You're obviously the better looking one between the two of us, " she said lightly.
Aaron turned slightly pink and she took great satisfaction in the fact that she could make him blush now. It didn't happen often, but once in a while she managed to catch him in the act.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not. To be perfectly honest...I hope at least one of them looks like you."
Now it was her turn to blush. She hadn't meant to voice that thought aloud but now it was out. Hopefully he didn't misunderstand her meaning. She wasn't being sentimental or anything; he really was that handsome.
Keeley busied herself burping Kaleb and wouldn't meet his eyes. But she did end up scooting closer to him so their arms were touching once the baby settled down back in her arms and began nodding off.
For some reason she wanted to be near Aaron right now. It had been happening a lot since she got pregnant. He was a rather comforting presence, which was ironic considering how much stress he had caused her in both of their lives.
| ← Ch. 289 | Ch. 291 → |