The Game of Life: Have twins!

[_nickstokes_]

The first few days after the twins were brought home, they were perfect little angels. They hardly made a peep, even though they were passed around to each and everyone one of Nick's folks. Most importantly, they slept. To Sara's dismay, they slept most of the day.

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[carolina_stokes]

"Remind me again why we wanted to have more?" Carolina mumbled, not really meaning it, just tired and wishing she could fall back to sleep. With a sigh, she crawled out, not caring that she looked like death warmed over.

Lizzie came in the room, her hair sticking up in fifteen different directions. "Mama, there's something wrong with those babies." She flopped herself down dramatically across the bed. "No babies cry like that."

Caro just chuckled, and slid her feet into Nick's slippers, because hunting up hers was too tiring. "Nicky...let's get them changed, get the bottles, and pile onto the couch, huh? You know Emmie likes the music from 'Fantasia', and Joanne can fix us something to munch on. Lizzie, baby, go get a bunch of comforters and pillows, so that we can all pile up down there."

Nicky was off, and why not? They could lay around the living room and just catch snoozes while they can.

[_nickstokes_]

"Sounds like..." Yawn... "A plan." Nick got out of bed and was surprised when Sara slipped her hand into his. He looked down and smiled. For the very first time ever, she looked like she wouldn't mind going back to sleep.

"C'mon, Sara bear. We're going to take the babies downstairs, so you can go back to bed, okay?" Sara just gave a sleepy little nod and let Nick walk her back to her room.

After quickly tucking Sara back into bed, Nick joined Carolina in the nursery. "Okay, who's being louder this morning?"

[carolina_stokes]

"Your son, strangely enough." Carolina reached for Emmie, because she was closest. Taking her over to the changing table, Caro swiftly and efficiently cleaned her up, and in no time she had a clean diaper and a clean sleeper with little Bambi characters on it.

Bane poked his head in the door, grinning. "Hey guys...Joanne put some fruit, muffins, juice and coffee on the coffee table, and the bottles are warm and ready for feeding. Need anything else?"

"Bane, ask Jo if she'll fix me some of that chai tea I like, the vanilla spice." Carolina tidied up Emmie's crib while cradling the baby in her arm.

[_nickstokes_]

"Hey Jakers...What's wrong, buddy?" Nick picked up his baby boy and brought him to the changing table. A pro at the quick diaper change, Jake's dirty diaper was replaced with a clean one in a flash. "There we go. Much better." Clean and smelling like baby powder, Jake was quieter now, but not by much.

Nick finished putting him in an orange onesie that said Texas Baby on it and then scooped him up, holding him against his chest. He placed a kiss on the top of Jake's head, then walked over to Carolina.

"We'd better get those bottles ASAP, before these two wake up the neighboors."

[carolina_stokes]

"Agreed." Caro leaned up to kiss Nick, softly. She was actually grateful that Dwee slept like a rock, and was not woken up by the twins. Lizzie was already tucked into the smaller of the couches, eyes closed and nearly buried under a comforter.

Carolina eased herself into a corner of the large sofa, carfully balancing Emmie in her arms. Bane handed her one bottle, and a cloth for dribbles. Once she was settled in and the baby was nursing, he handed her a covered mug of chai tea. Then he went to help Nick get settled and turned on the TV and DVD.

"Bane, did you ever think that your job would become like this?" Carolina teased the big, gruff mercenary. Bane just rolled his eyes, as he waited for Nick and Jake to get settled.

[_nickstokes_]

"Thank, Bane." Nick would have loved to get in on the teasing, but getting Jake to stop screaming was top priority at the moment. Nick sat down next to Carolina and cradled Jake in his left arm. The bottle was directed between the baby boy's shaking fists and straight into his open mouth.

Silence.

Phew. Nick sighed out of relief and looked down at his son, whose little mouth was now busy with breakfast. He looked over at Carolina and Emmie and smiled. "Alright, this is good. We'll finish the bottles, then get to a little burping action, and then I'm going to vote for early morning nap. What do you think, Mommy?"

Nick raised a brow, suprised by the word that just came out of his mouth. Mommy? He'd never used that one before. Hmm...

[carolina_stokes]

"Mommy?" Caro shook her head at him, as she took a sip of her spiced chai latte. "Nick, uh, no. Let's not do that with each other, okay? It's creepy." Bane started laughing, and he handed her a muffin. Carolina leaned over and kissed her hubby's cheek. "We're us. Nick and Caro. We have to keep the grownup names for ourselves, or we'll get lost in parentland."

She put the muffin up so Nick could take a bite, glancing at the twins who were nursing quite stealthily. "I fear that as soon as we get these two asleep, the other two will wake up and want breakfast, Nick. Then what?"

[_nickstokes_]

"I hadn't thought of that. We can make them breakfast, and then after, maybe they're play with each other for a little while or watch that new kiddie show they like?" This was Nick being extremely hopeful. He knew Dwee and Sara were full of energy in the morning and that they loved running around before lunch.

"I guess we could always go for a walk in the park. We can take Emmie and Jake in the stroller." Nick leaned over and kissed Carolina softly. "At least we're going to be exhausted together."

He grinned and took a bite out of the muffin.

[carolina_stokes]

"How about after Sara and Dwee have breakfast, Marco and I take them over to the Gymboree place? You guys know how they love the kid's dance class and the tumbling class. Then we'll stop by Pinkie's for that frozen yogurt stuff. By then, you guys should have gotten some rest." Bane offered, helpfully, as he poured Nick some juice. "By the time we get back, it'll be lunch and nap time."

"Bane, what would we do without you guys?" Caro sighed, leaning into the cushions and taking a bite out of the blueberry muffin. "We really need to interview some nannies, babe. Someone nice."

[_nickstokes_]

Nick thanked Bane for the juice and for offering to take the kids. They were always in good hands when they were hanging out with the guys, and Nick always got a chuckle out of imagining the big men chasing after two toddlers.

"Yeah...someone who the kids would really like." Nick looked down at Jake, who had his eyes shut now and was starting to fall asleep without finishing his bottle. After he moving the bottle around a little, Jake started nursing again. He looked at Carolina, grinning. "Hey, do you think Big Bird is looking for work?"

[carolina_stokes]

"There'd be feathers all over the house." Carolina shifted Emmie to her shoulder for burping, after laying the soft cloth over it. The baby girl turned her head to look at her daddy while Caro rubbed her tiny back. Finally, she smiled a milky smile at Nick before belching like a truck driver after a beer.

"You know, maybe we should hire one of those nannies from that service that does the tv show. They seem very good. You know how Sara works the younger nannies. And Dwee is so hard on the older ones."

[_nickstokes_]

"That's not a bad idea, but you know that Sara is probably going to have her wrapped around her little pinky anyway, right? I swear she could charm anyone into giving her a cookie."

Nick chuckled and then realized Emmie was smiling at him. She'd never done that before. He smiled back, beaming with pride.

"Hey, you're smiling. Hi, sweetie. Carolee, look. She's smiling."

[carolina_stokes]

Carolina grinned and laughed a little. She didn't have the heart to tell him it was probably gas. "Of course she's smiling at her daddy. Emmie is a little daddy's girl, huh, sweetheart?" Carolina shifted her back into the crook of her arm, and popped the bottle back in her mouth to finish.

"I think it's time for Sara to start nursery school. I found an excellent program close to here that has arts, music, crafts and lots of skills that will prepare her for kindergarten. It's only four hours a day, and I think it would be very good for her." Caro took a sip of her chai, sighing at the lovely spices.

[_nickstokes_]

"Sara in nursery school?" Nick had thought about this recently too, and he didn't want to admit that the idea scared him more than just a little.

"You really think she's ready? What if she doesn't like it." Nick actually knew that Sara loved the idea of preschool. She had asked him when she could go when Freddie from next door started back in June.

"Or if the other kids are mean to her. You know...because she's smarter than they are."

[carolina_stokes]

"Honey, Sara needs to have something that is just hers. With the new babies, she needs something that's fun and educational." Carolina knew that Nick loved and adored all of their children, very much. But Sara was his baby girl, and she always would be.

"And don't tell her she's smarter than they are. It's very important that Sara have a good relationship with her peers. Besides, she knows Freddie from next door, and he'll be there, too."

[_nickstokes_]

"Yeah...I know...it's just..." It was just hard to let go and acknowledge she was growing up and that she had things to learn he couldn't teach her at home. After all, he taught her that cows go 'moo' and that hippos blow bubbles. Even with all the reasons he was making up in his mind for why Sara shouldn't start nursery school just yet, he knew Carolina was right.

"I guess four hours in the morning isn't a bad idea. She'd like it, and Dwee would probably like the extra attention. Right?" Nick smiled softly at his beautiful and extremely patient wife, and then put Jake on his shoulder and began patting him on the back. Jake's first burp was small, but the second one was much bigger. His eyes, which were closed before, opened up wide, as if he had surprised himself.