75 Godiva Street | Late Morning

[knife_bender]

It had been a long and sleepless, but satisfying, 4 weeks with the twins at home. They were turning a month old on Friday, and Annie and Diego finally decided it was time for them to be introduced to the rest of the world. Diego would miss their little family bubble they had for a month, but he had to admit he was looking forward to talking to adults again.

They had sent texts out to various people inviting them over if they so wished (he was not about to force people to see his children), and ordered a pizza now that they were done with the healthy food Donna had supplied them with. The twins were dressed in cute outfits that they probably wouldn't put up with a couple months from now.

Of course Maggie immediately spit up on her little dress but he figured people were gonna have to get used to that like he had over the last couple weeks.

[Open post, if you think you got a text you did]

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[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer was just finishing up at the gym when the text hit her phone, which elicited an excited "Eeee, babies!" from her and a slight shift in her plans for the day. She rerouted to J,GoB for some cupcakes and T&C for some sparkling juice, and then headed over to the other side of the island to come knocking on the Hargreeves' door.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie was feeling a lot more self-conscious than she would have thought she'd have energy for, honestly. In there, amidst pride over her children and the gentle thrum of so tired, so tired, so tired -- there was also just the tiniest weirdness about how she felt about anyone seeing her a month postpartum.

When she'd been pregnant, she'd been as big as a house, sure, but she'd been sort of cute about it.

Nothing that was happening under Annie's clothes -- a baggy, but spit-up-free sweatshirt and the comfiest pants that were fit for company -- was cute, anymore. It was all so much more like...Paul Verhoven presents The Miracle of Life.

Anyway. Time heals all wounds, or whatever. And the gym would help clean up the rest.

"I feel bad getting all gendered on the kids right away," she noted, adjusting the tiny headband she was completely insistent Maggie wear. "But like right now you can't tell them apart at all."

And, honestly, were she not their mother, Annie wasn't sure whether she might not confuse these babies for other babies around their age as well as each other. All babies looked the same!

[defenderofdesmoines]

It was Annie who answered, appearing first as a smiling face in the cracked door before widening it open to reveal that she had a tiny, pants-wearing baby cuddled against her shoulder.

"Hey," she greeted Summer, her smile so obviously tired that it probably prompted an immediate need for coffee. "Come on in. This is Ben."

Ben, for his part, was looking at Summer with his big brown baby eyes. Or at least, you know, trying. Looking in her direction! Probably real into and interested in that pink blob he couldn't, technically, focus those baby eyes on yet, but you know.

[knife_bender]

"Yeah they literally look exactly alike," Diego said. "Let's just enjoy putting them in whatever we want while we can."

Because those cute bows and teeny socks and shoes are so getting pulled and kicked off once their motor skills developed a little more.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Tiny shoes made excellent things to put in one's mouth, in fact.

"Kind of a bummer we missed newborn Halloween," Annie observed. "But they're probably too young to freak out if we dressed them up and took them to Santa. Most people kind of hate Santa, the first time they sit on his lap."

Some people, of course, were well-behaved men in their late twenties, but the twins would likely pass that milestone earlier than their dad had.

[knife_bender]

"It is a super creepy concept," Diego said. "That I will begrudgingly put up with because of childhood magic."

Religion was a hard no, but Santa he'd put up with.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, I don't think we need to go full Santa surveillance state," Annie acknowledged, wrinkling her nose up a little. At least she'd known for awhile that Santa wasn't real; the threat that Jesus was up in Heaven, caring about who she kissed and what lies she told, had stayed real a lot longer. "But I do like the idea of, like, someone you aren't related to brought you presents, just because you're a cool effing kid."

Maggie got a fond little adjustment to her dress on cool, there. Also, no, Annie wasn't swearing in front of the babies who didn't yet understand language, in case you were curious.

[knife_bender]

"Yeah that would be pretty exciting for a kid," Diego admitted. "But we're not doing that narc elf though."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I kinda think if we're doing our job right, we don't need to outsource the discipline like that, anyway," Annie replied, insanely optimistically. "Like, they should be good just because Mom and Dad said so, not because some elf is gonna tell the guy who brings them presents. Like, we also give presents, guys."

And they were also technically Santa, too.

[knife_bender]

"And as someone who did grow up in a surveillance state, it doesn't really stop you from doing bad shit." He clearly did not mind cursing around the babies.

"I feel like I should get spit up towels ready for everyone to put on their shoulders."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie darted a look towards the babies like they were suddenly going to start using the S-word, but nodded all the same. "I mean, I don't plan on making anyone hold them, but people tend to offer."

Annie was, in fact, a champion at Can-I-Hold-Your-Baby? And not even just, you know, professionally!

[knife_bender]

"Everyone's gonna want to hold them," Diego declared. "Look at how cute they are."

Even when covered in regurgitated milk.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"And it's a good day to hold something warm and cuddly, too," Annie observed, peeking out a window like she was hoping for snow. (Because she was -- which was dumb, because it wasn't that cold.) "I don't know how thrilled we're going to be about lugging around a couple of clingy nine month-olds in August."

Probably about as thrilled as Annie had been to be pregnant in the same time frame, honestly.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Awwww," Summer gushed, beaming a little at Annie for a moment before her attention shifted to the baby, "hiiiii, Ben! I'm your aunt Summer, not like, blood-aunt, but I'm one of your mom's besties, so I earned the title. Look at you! Looking less like a weird alien raisin and more like a little tiny human!"

It was a compliment! Really!

"I brought reinforcements, too," she announced, holding up the box of cupcakes and the fancy juice.

[knife_bender]

"Maybe their sweet stroller comes with a/c." He hadn't looked at the instructions all the way through yet.

[knife_bender]

"Hey Summer," Diego greeted. His hand had healed enough that he could actually do a wave and hold a baby at the same time. "We've got pizza. And babies."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"His sister also doesn't look all that much like a raisin anymore," Annie shared proudly, stepping aside and ushering Summer in with her free arm. "And thank you! Here, come in, we can set down our stuff and-or babies and I can, like, hug you. Also, hi, what's new with you? This is my whole life now, I'm so out of the loop."

That gesturing arm was now gesturing to the house as a whole -- the babies, her husband, her ruined body, these however-many square feet that she spent her entire life in, now. It wasn't a complaint so much as a -- like, Annie felt she should be forgiven for not being wholly up on radio or whatever.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I wouldn't be surprised if their sweet stroller comes with, like, total climate control," Annie agreed, already envisioning taking the kids out in it mid-February during a blizzard. She could jog! In her YakTrax!

Annie was deluded on multiple fronts there, probably.

"Which maybe defeats the point of a stroller?" She'd never really put a lot of thought into the point, but it did seem to be to like, expose your baby to the outside world or whatever.

[knife_bender]

"I thought the point of a stroller was to give our arms a break." Or arm, rather. It had been a rough couple weeks when Diego had his hand cast on.

[grenadesandohana]

Of course Steve and Danny would be there, with more onesies for the twins and genuine Kona coffee for the adults who probably really needed Kona coffee.

And there they were, knocking!

[OOC: With added RL SP!]

[hatesparadise]

"I'm already sorry about the onesies," Danny said. Because his idea of diapers had been nixed.

[knife_bender]

They went through clothes like crazy with these kids so the more excuses to put off laundry the better as far as Diego was concerned.

And there he was answering the door, holding a baby with a bow on her head. "Hey, guys. Glad you could make it."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Hiiiii, Diego," Summer gave him a sympathetic smile back with her wave, having presumably set her offerings down by then. "I've got cupcakes and fancy juice. I'll take some pizza, but you can definitely keep the babies."

Hyuk, hyuk.

"How are you doing? Almost a full month already, congrats!"

[defenderofdesmoines]

Yeah he'd really kind of started parenting on Hard Mode, there.

"And our backs, since that's also the point of the cuddly thing," Annie pointed out, miming a baby carrier. "But I think we're both gonna end up with, like, killer biceps no matter what."

Hell yeah, that was an optimistic thought. Come out of the other side of baby-motherhood with Queen Maeve arms.

[knife_bender]

"Yeah managed to keep them alive for almost a full month. Hope to keep the good vibes going," he joked. "I've been doing as well as can be expected with two newborns."

So it was stressful and fun at different intervals.