No Matter What

Our Big Announcement

The next day was Friday, and that night, Dad and I found ourselves sitting in the Midnights' living room. It was my first time there since they'd made all the changes to the house, and Dad's first time there ever. It was weird seeing the dining room converted into Connor's bedroom because he couldn't use the stairs anymore.

Connor had his family invite us both over for dinner, but Dad didn't get off work until almost seven that night. He said he had a lot of stuff to catch up on back at the office. I wished he could stop working late all the time. But if he didn't take care of his office, who would? He was the only doctor there.

Christy made us popcorn and trail mix instead. I found myself picking out the raisins and anything near them, putting them all into my dad's bowl. He liked raisins, for some reason. Normally we liked hanging out with his family, but tonight they sensed the tension.

Connor was with me the entire time as we sat in the living room, making small talk while his brothers sat on their phones. It started getting late, and Connor changed the conversation.

"So, uh...the reason I asked us all to hang out tonight isn't actually to hang out. It's because Ayla and I have some news for you all," he said, putting his arm around me. His brothers instantly looked up from their phones. His parents' faces had a plethora of different emotions. I pulled the ultrasound pictures out of my magenta void and handed it to him. "Ayla and I are expecting...twins!"

"For real?" Ben asked, sitting up.

"You're kidding," said Ian.

I nodded, lowering my head in shame. I felt like such a failure. I wanted to open my mouth to speak, but it felt impossible to say anything at all.

"But the doctor's said...they said this wasn't possible," said Christy.

"I know," Connor said. "I know you're both probably hella disappointed, and I know you're young, but we can handle this. We may need a little help, though."

"We'll do whatever we can, if that's your decision," Matt said.

I nudged Connor. "The r-risk," I mumbled under my breath.

"Oh, yeah. The twins are identical, which is great. But there's been some complications."

"They're monochorionic-monoamniotic. They share everything. They have a fifty-percent survival rate," I said, way too bluntly. "Connor doesn't like it when I say that."

"Because I want to believe that they will," he said, taking my hand.

"You two have a lot on your plate right now. Being eighteen and pregnant, let alone with twins, and ones that are high-risk—and it's been a tough few years for you both," said Christy. "We'll all see what we can do to help."

Our parents talked about finding ways to help financially, even if it was small. Matt offered me a job at the office he managed. It was totally out of nowhere and I had no clue how to react. Dad wanted me to keep helping him at the office, but with a pregnant teen daughter, it would definitely tarnish his reputation as the best dentist in town. It was great because I didn't like working there anyway. Too much noise, too many people, too much of Annie bossing me around because "she knew everything."

"I...don't really know what to say...I'm not really going to be much help," I said.

"Sure you will! We have plenty of easy, sit-down things you can do," Matt said. "Instead of hiring an intern, we can have you there instead. You can do a few hours a week after school."

"But I think the car will be an issue," I said, looking at my dad.

"Last time I checked, I may or may not have something up my sleeve for Hanukkah," he said.

Dad, I asked for maternity clothes, not a car! But I wasn't going to say a word. A car would literally change my life.

We kept sitting and unpacking all of our ideas. Connor went on and on about the garage sale, all while I watched Matt cringing in his armchair, terrified of having to sell his precious record collection.
With a few more things fleshed-out, Dad and I left at midnight. The car ride home was quiet. I was busy obsessing about MoMo twins. I couldn't seem to escape the idea of not knowing what was going to happen to them. I just wanted to know whether they were going to live or die. I hated the idea of "maybe".

"I wasn't kidding about the car," my dad said, taking me out of my trance.

"You kind of ruined the surprise though," I said.

"Since when do you like surprises? You hate surprises!"

"Not good ones!"

"Fair enough," he said. "You want to just talk about next week?"

"Uh-huh," I said.

We started talking about what we were doing on each night and with who. I was excited to see all my little cousins, my aunts, my uncles, and my grandparents. And then it hit me: my family. My whole entire family was going to find out this week that I was a pregnant teen. My grandparents were Orthodox and believed in not even touching your partner before you were married. I'd been sleeping with Connor throughout our entire relationship.

This was definitely going to be a Hanukkah I'd never forget...and neither would anyone else. Thankfully there were still a few days for me to sit and stew about it.