Mullet Man

Double the Trouble

"Alright, now the gel might be a little cold-"

"Jesus fuck," Bella jumped when the doctor began to apply the gel to her stomach. "That's worse than sunscreen."

Stan chuckled as the doctor ran the scanner across Bella's stomach and looked at the screen.

"And... there it is," the doctor said, pointing at the screen. "See? There's the head, and- oh! There's a second!"

"Twins," Bella and Stan said together, holding onto each other's hand.

"It appears so," the doctor chuckled. "Congratulations. And it seems that they're both healthy as well. If you want, I could tell you the sexes."

"Yeah, alright," Bella nodded.

"It seems like they're both girls," the doctor revealed.

"Ooh I've always wanted a daughter!" Bella grinned.

"Well now yer getting two," Stan chuckled.

-----

"Twins. Twins, Stan!" Bella squealed in the car. "That's twice the tiny to love!"

"And also twice the work and money," Stan reminded her. "Can we take care of twins?"

"...I don' wanna give either one'a 'em away," Bella said, frowning.

"I don't wanna do that either," Stan agreed.

"My books have been sellin' pretty well," Bella began. "People seem ta really like Mullet Man. And Ah'm workin' on the third... book for that series. I mean, money might be a lil' tight, and I think they'll have ta share a crib, but I think we could do it."

"Heh. I hope so," Stan smiled. He let out a slow breath. "We're havin' twins. At least we can prepare for twins. Ma said they didn't know they were gettin' me and my brother till we were born."

"Can we still have the matchin' names?" Bella asked. "I've always liked that."

"Well matching twin names is a Pines family tradition," Stan chuckled. "Of course we gotta have matching names."

"Yes!" Bella cheered. "Let's see, matching girl names..."

"Stana and Stanelle?" Stan suggested jokingly.

"No."

-----

"Ooooh, I've always wanted ta shop fer baby clothes!" Bella squealed, patting her cheeks quickly. "And now Ah finally can!"

"You're really that excited?" Stan laughed. "Why? They're just clothes."

"Yes but they're tiny and they're adorable," Bella answered. "Now the question is, how do you shop fer baby clothes? How do ya figure out sizes?"

"I think there's a newborn size or something," Stan guessed.

"Oh yeah, here it is," Bella said, walking over to a rack of baby clothes. Stan leaned on the cart as he pushed it over. "Ok, so we need double the clothes. Can we get some matching outfits?"

"Don't see why not," Stan shrugged.

"Yay! Alright, which two colors?" Bella mused. "I don' wanna do just pink and purple, cuz that's too cliche. What other color pairs look good together?"

"I don't know. Black and orange?" Stan suggested.

"We'll save that fer Halloween," Bella said. "I can only think of, pink and black, and pink and blue."

"Red and white?"

"Christmas," Bella said. "Come on, stop listin' Halloween colors! Er, no, holiday colors."

"Fine. How about black and white?" Stan suggested.

"Ooh, yes!" Bella smiled. "Ok, now to now to jus' find... clothes that, have those colors. Oh my gosh, what about... those 'Daddy's Girl' outfits? We can get two'a 'em!"

"Haha, alright," Stan laughed. "That would be cute."

"Ah, I love baby clothes so much!" Bella giggled.

-----

Bella sat at the kitchen table, one leg folded next to her on the bench, and the other on the floor. She was drawing in a notebook, the picture not yet fully formed. The Grateful Dead was playing in the background, and the apartment was free of boxes. Everything had been unpacked a month or two ago. The bookshelves were decorated with books and other decorations, the hardwood floor had a few carpets laid out on it, and there was a crib set up in Bella and Stan's room.

After all, the twins were due any day now.

"I'm home!" Stan spoke up, entering the apartment with several bags of food.

"Yay!" Bella grinned and looked up from her drawing (which was beginning to look like a mermaid) and walked over to her boyfriend. "Did ya get ice cream?"

"Yup," Stan nodded, setting the bags on the floor. "And chips, cookies, strawberries- I've got everything ya wanted."

"Yum yum!" Bella cheered. She grabbed a couple pretzel sticks and sat back down at the table, resuming her drawing.

"Whatcha got going on there?" Stan asked as he put the food away. 

"A mermaid," Bella answered. "Ah'm thinkin' about writing a mermaid book."

"What about Mullet Man?" Stan asked.

"I'm still writin' that one," Bella assured. "Ah've just always, really liked... the ocean."

"Right," Stan chuckled. He soon finished putting all the food away and sat down next to Bella, watching her draw. Bella giggled, drawing a small heart and exclamation point in the corner of the paper.

"Ugh, Ah wish these twins would get out'a my stomach," Bella complained. "Sitting is uncomfortable!" Stan chuckled and Bella looked down in slight shock. "...I should do out-loud wishin' more often."

"Huh?"

"I think my water just broke," Bella revealed.

"Oh. OH!" Stan jumped up in a panic. "Really? Shit! Well come on! Let's get to the hospital!"

"Alright alright," Bella said quickly. Stan helped her up and they hurried out to the car.