When Camille
told Pearl about her decision to keep the baby and Donovan’s proposal, Pearl
could not have been more relieved. She was disappointed that Camille had been
so quick to turn Donovan down but she knew that trying to convince her
otherwise would be like telling a small child not to touch something. Camille
had to make her own decisions, and mistakes, and come to her own conclusions.
Pearl just hoped that Donovan was patient enough to stick it through Camille’s
stubborn stage.
Excited
about her own baby, Pearl decided to drag Camille to every baby store, toy
store, furniture store, and pediatrician’s office to peruse the latest baby
fads, research the best doctors and start shopping for the nursery.
“Oh
Camille, isn’t this just the cutest thing ever,” Pearl exclaimed, bent over a
rocking horse in the corner of the third baby store they had been in that
afternoon.
“Pearl,
all I know is my back hurts,” Camille moaned, massaging her lower back, hoping
that this was the last store for the day.
That
weekend, Pearl convinced Camille to attend a prenatal yoga session in the park.
This was something that Camille could be a little more excited about. She liked
staying fit and having a baby was no reason to just let your body go.
She was
excited until about 20 minutes in. That was when Camille realized that yoga
while you are pregnant is not the same as regular yoga. With her belly in the
way, how was she supposed to do that
position?
“Pearl,
this is crazy,” she leaned back on her hand, giving up.
“Cam,
just try! It’s good for you and the baby,” Pearl encouraged. Camille was
delighted to see another woman lay back, giving up. Pearl went back to
stretching, reaching her fingers to her toes, keeping her body limber. Camille
just sighed and halfheartedly leaned forward, groaning at the little kick she
felt in her belly. Apparently baby wasn’t so happy about the idea of this
stretching either.
Pearl
did a lot of research on doctors and finally found the perfect obstetrician for
both her and Camille. She went ahead and made their appointments on the same
day so they could share in the joys together. Camille was starting to think
that if Pearl didn’t back off just a little bit with all this
baby/mother/friend bonding crap that she might shoot Pearl herself.
“No one
ever tells you that pregnancy is draining,” Camille sighs.
“I think
pregnancy is wonderful.”
“Yep,
you’re one of those glowy people,” Camille says cynically.
“I hope
I have a little girl so I can dress her in tutus and take her to ballet class
and decorate her nursery in butterflies.” Pearl is rambling on and on.
“So, I
think that I’m going to name my baby Evinrude Harmonious Philmore the Third.”
“Oh,
that’s nice. And she’ll wear a little tiara for her baby pictures. It will be
so preci…wait, what,” Pearl screeched to a halt. “You’re going to name him
what?”
“I just
wanted to see if you were paying attention.”
Back in
the doctor’s office, Camille got a surprise of her own. Evinrude was going to
have a twin. She was shell shocked. Not only did she get accidently
pregnant but now she was having twins. Knowing there was nothing to be
done about it, she headed to Donovan’s house to tell him the news. She just
hoped he wouldn’t try to propose again.
She knew
where he lived but had never been to his house before. When the taxi dropped
her off, she was surprised at the quaint, cottage home. It was nothing like the
bachelor pad she had been expecting. She sighed and knocked on the door,
partially hoping he was out. She didn’t see his motorcycle outside so it was
possible.
No such
luck. He answered the door a few moments later and seemed relieved to see her.
They hadn’t spoken much since she turned down his impromptu proposal.
“Um,
Pearl and I just came from the doctor’s.”
“Is she
here too,” he asked, looking past her.
“No, she
went home. They’re having a boy, by the way.”
“That’s
great news. And us?”
“We’re
having twins.” Again, with the finesse and easing into the news. Subtlety was
not her strong point.
To his
credit, Donovan didn’t pass out or even flinch. Instead, he once again pulled
her close.
“Look, I
know you don’t want to get married and we don’t have to even talk about that.
But, with twins, it’s going to be really hard to take care of yourself and them
and go back to work after they’re born all alone. I think it’d be best for the
babies if you moved in with me. I have plenty of room.”
No
mention of feelings or love, just pure logic. Camille felt herself responding
to his facts. She did want to go back to work once the babies were born. The
idea of caring for two small infants seemed like a daunting task. She looked
around the house, seeing the space and then trying to envision two cribs
fitting in her small home. So deep in thought, she missed the look on Donovan’s
face. Had she been paying attention, she would have realized that the logical argument
he presented had been done with careful precision not to give away his true
feelings. He wanted her there, not logically but emotionally but knew better
than to appeal to her emotional side. He knew what the outcome would be, again.
Finally,
she agreed. They began the process of moving her in. She had little furniture
in her old house; just a box spring and mattress on the floor, a ratty couch,
and worn table so she decided to leave them for whoever the next tenants would
be. Once her clothes were moved in, she and Donovan got some cribs and a
changing table for the nursery. It was strange, living with another person but
when she came home and he was there to massage her shoulders or her feet she
felt perplexingly at peace.
The
months slowly ticked by. With twins, Camille had been warned by her doctor that
it was likely she would go into labor early. Most twins were early term
pregnancies so she began preparing for her trip to the hospital around her
seventh month. She definitely felt ready to pop. Her feet were swollen, her
back hurt, and she constantly felt the need to pee with two little babies
sitting on her bladder. The end of this pregnancy couldn’t come fast enough.
“What do
you think of the nursery,” Camille asked Pearl. She and Donovan had invited
them over for dinner and she wanted to show her friend the little room they had
set up for the twins.
“It
needs color! It’s very bland Cam.”
“We
decided to wait to see what we’re having. I hightailed it out of there after I
found out there were two babies in here and then Donovan and I decided to be
surprised at the genders of the babies. We wanted to keep the room as neutral
as possible.”
Pearl
wrinkled up her face, knowing she couldn’t stand waiting to find out but
shrugged her shoulders knowing this wasn’t her call. At least Camille was
making decisions with Donovan instead
of for him.
“This is
a really nice rocking chair,” Pearl commented, sitting back.
“Donovan
surprised me with it. I really like it,” Camille admitted. She had been shocked
when he brought it home. Even though they were living together and planning on
raising the twins together, they hadn’t broached the subject of their own
relationship. So a thoughtful gift from him, just because was a much unexpected
but appreciated gift.
The
women went downstairs where Donovan was getting the makings together for a
salad for dinner.
“I can’t
believe how much smaller you are than me. Our due dates are just within a couple
of weeks or so of each other,” Camille observed, feeling little Lowell kick
against his mom’s abdomen.
“Well,
there’s still 7 weeks left. I have time to grow.”
“Are you
sure there is really a baby in there,” Camille joked with her friend, poking
the baby a little.
“Yes,
are you sure you’re just not having triplets instead?” Pearl could dish it out
just as well has Camille.
They sat
at the table and shared some small talk. Pearl dominated the conversation, her
mind still completely focused on babies. Donovan, as always, couldn’t be
separated from his computer. You never know when an idea for a newspaper
article might hit you. Camille really didn’t understand it, at all. Either there
is news to report on or not? Who needs all those fluff and speculation articles
anyway? If the Sun would focus on the real news, not only would the citizens be
informed but they could cut out the 6 or so pages nobody read anyway. She kept
her opinion to herself though. She may have one but she knew better than to
insult Donovan’s job and newspaper.
“Pearl,
you don’t have to do that,” Camille interjected as Pearl began clearing the
dishes.
Joshua
grimaced. “She’s nesting. She can’t help herself. We’re painting and cleaning
and organizing and painting some more. She even painted my toolshed baby blue
and organized all the tools into little baby safe bins with colorful block
shaped labels.”
Donovan
choked back a laugh, trying to be sympathetic with the other man but it was
hard. Pearl was the epitome of a pregnant, obsessed woman and he was glad that
Camille was a little more laid back about it. He didn’t think he could handle a
high maintenance sim like Pearl though Camille was high maintenance in her own
way.
Just as
the night was drawing to a close and everyone was saying goodbye, Camille felt
a sharp twinge in her abdomen and wetness running down her leg.
“Nooo,
not my white jeans,” she moaned as Donovan, Joshua, and Pearl all had mini
heart attacks around her.
“What do
I do,” Donovan was suddenly at a loss, forgetting everything they had gone over
in their birthing classes.
“Get the
keys you idiot. Actually, never mind, I’ll drive myself.” Camille headed out
the door, straight for her police cruiser.
Though
they were five weeks early, Evangeline and Emerson were deemed perfectly
healthy by the delivery doctor. Donovan stood, watching his newborns through
the window in the hospital. They were adorable and he couldn’t wait to get them
home.
Camille
had to admit, after the first few weeks when the twins were home, moving in
with Donovan had probably been one of the smartest decisions she had made.
Evangeline could sleep through just about anything so if Emerson woke up first,
there wasn’t a problem. More often than not though, she was the first awake and
her crying would wake her brother. Having two sets of hands to care for two
babies was really helpful for changings and feedings and just all around care
for the little munchkins.
Not only
was he helpful, Donovan was a fantastic father. When he wasn’t working, he was
spending time with his children. Evangeline was usually in a funk, grumpy and
moody, hard to settle down but when Donovan picked her up, she always became
all smiles. Camille could just sit and watch them for hours.
“Hunter,
Brielyn, how great to see the two of you,” Camille greeted her cousin and
sister when they showed up to bring gifts for the babies.
She had
not seen her family since her visit to Storybrook for Dahlia’s birthday. She
was disappointed that her mother and Dahlia had not come as well but Brielyn
explained that the high school was right at midterms and Dahlia was trying to
get perfect grades so she could get a scholarship to an Azalea League school.
Not that Lyric and Yalena couldn’t afford to send her without the scholarships;
Dahlia just wanted to prove that she could do it on her own. She wasn’t much
different from her father in that respect. He, too, at wanted to carve out his
career in the music industry without the influence of his famous parents.
On their
last day, Camille pulled her big sister aside for a private chat.
“I feel
like a fraud,” she confided.
“Why?”
“We don’t
love each other. We’re leaving together for convenience.”
“You’re
living together because you want the best for your children.”
“But
what happens when the twins are old enough to understand that their mommy and
daddy aren’t together for the right reasons?”
“Who is
to say what the right reasons are? You and Donovan care about each other and
you both love Evangeline and Emerson.”
“What if
we get tired of making it work for the kids? And we split up and find other
people? I’ll be just like mom.”
“Mom was
trying to find a way to make herself happy. She made mistakes along the way
but, I’m sure if you asked her, she’d tell you that it was all worth it, for
each of her kids.”
Camille
had nothing to say to her sister. Maybe she was right. Even though her mom had
spent a lot of their childhood with Lyric, Camille and Brielyn had still been
teased because their mom was a tramp. It rankled. However, maybe she had done
her best. It was a lot to consider. And Donovan was a better father to the
twins than Glen had ever been to Brielyn or Ace to Camille. That was certainly
worth something.
Though
the twins were only a few months old, Camille decided it was time to go back to
work. She loved her children, more than she had thought possible but some women
just weren’t the stay at home type. She was one of them. Even so, her first day
back at work started out a bit stressful. Evangeline was in a horrible mood and
refused to take her bottle. Her mood passed to her brother and he cried because
she cried. Donovan was doing everything he could to take care of them so
Camille could get ready for work but she was starting to feel that leaving
would be the worst decision she could make.
“I’ve
got this,” he told her. “They’ll be fine.”
“They’re
so fussy. Maybe I shouldn’t be going back to work. A good mom wouldn’t,” she agonized
over her choices.
“Stop
talking,” Donovan said, smiling as he said it, reminding her of her rejection
of his proposal. “You’re a great mom. In fact, I wouldn’t want anyone else to
be the mother of my children. Go, have a good day back and when the day is
over, you’ll feel much better about it. Trust me.”
She
leaned into his hand as it reached out to brush against her cheek and she felt
a glimmer of something she couldn’t really identify. She did trust him,
especially with Eve and Em, and so she went to work, feeling much better about
her decision.
When she
got home that night, both the kids were in much better moods; all gurgly and
happy. She and Donovan had been sleeping in the same bed ever since she had
moved but but they still hadn’t talked about their relationship. She felt that
he knew this was a cohabitation of convenience, he felt like he was walking on
eggshells and didn’t want to jeopardize the tenuous relationship they had. That
night though, Camille crossed the invisible line in their bed and snuggled
close to him in the night. His support and dedication was slowly causing a
shift in her heart that she was yet aware of.
“Hey
Cam, I’ve got to work today at the office. Saturday’s the biggest day for the
paper,” Donovan explained while tugging on his jeans.
“I’m
aware,” she smirked at him. They’d been through this routine quite a few times
already. Donovan never failed to remind her and make sure they’d all be okay at
home without him.
This
time though, she surprised him when she threw on one of his shirts and followed
him on to the porch. As he turned to say goodbye, she stepped in to him,
wrapping her arms around him. He followed suit, as natural with this stance as
if they had been doing it all along.
“Have a
good day at work,” she called, kissing him goodbye.
She
waved from the porch, hoping he would be careful on his motorcycle for the
twins’ sakes. Maybe hers too. She still hadn’t decided exactly how she felt
yet.
“Hi, I’m
Dahlia,” a young girl shook his hand on the porch one early morning. “I’m
looking for Camille.”
Camille
didn’t talk much about her past. Donovan still didn’t know quite what had
brought her to St. Claire and, as a journalist, the whispers of a story really
itched at him to try and figure it out. He respected her privacy though and
stayed at arm’s length. Whatever had brought her here had brought her to him
and brought him their two beautiful babies.
“Cam,
someone’s here to see you,” he said, inviting the teenager inside.
“Dahlia!
I’m so glad to see you! What are you doing here?”
“It’s
summer time. I know the twins’ birthdays are coming up and I wanted to meet
them and be here to celebrate with my niece and nephew.”
Dahlia
was more than welcome to stay with them. They didn’t have a spare bed but,
being a teenager; she didn’t mind and took up residence on the couch in the
living room. Knowing that her mother and Lyric, Lyric especially, had allowed
Dahlia to come unaccompanied and stay with Camille was an unspoken and much
appreciated peace offering. Camille felt that she could finally be proud of
where she had come in life and stop feeling like she had to prove that she was
a good person.
Having
her sister there also meant that Donovan and Camille were able to get out to
see a movie together. Nothing romantic or anything they hadn’t done before;
just something to go and have a good time and relax for a little while. Dahlia
loved being an aunt.
Before
anyone knew it, it was almost time for the twin’s birthdays. Camille couldn’t
believe her babies would so very soon be toddlers. Of course, Pearl wanted to
discuss birthday party preparations so Camille packed up Emerson and Evangeline
and headed over to the Panems’ house to see Pearl and baby Lowell. Soon he
would be having a party of his own.
There had been so many changes in her life so far and there would be many more before it was all over.
