Mullet Man

They Grow Up So Fast

"Congratulations, it's a girl!"

"Alright, halfway done, hon," Stan said, rubbing Bella's hand.

"Ah fuck, Ah gotta do that again," Bella groaned. "AHH!"

"And here comes the second one," the doctor said.

"Fuck," Bella grunted. "Fuck fuck fuck, ow!"

"Might want to censor yourself, Ms. McCreary, or else your baby's gonna come out swearing like a sailor," the doctor joked nervously.

"Shut the fuck up and deliver the damn baby!"

"Right, yes," the doctor cleared his throat. "Alright, I can see the baby."

Seven minutes later, the second twin was born. The nurses cleaned up both of the babies and wrapped them in blankets before handing them over to Bella.

"Stan. Stan, look. They're ours," Bella murmured, looking at her daughters. "We made these."

"Haha, yeah," Stan chuckled. "We sure did."

"...Which one's the older one?" Bella asked.

"The one on your left," the doctor supplied.

"That one's Marcella," Bella said. "And the younger one is Ella."

Stan nodded, pulling a chair over to sit beside Bella. The woman laughed lightly and sniffed, rubbing at her eyes.

"I'm a mommy," she said softly as tears ran down her face. "I'm a mommy." Stan chuckled. "Stan, do ya wanna hold one?"

"What? Uh, I-I don't-"

"Come on, yer the dad," Bella grinned. "Ya gotta hold one."

"A-Alright," Stan gulped. He slowly took Ella from her mom's arm, holding her close. "Heh. H-hey there, kiddo. I'm your dad."

Ella's eyes fluttered opened and she looked up at Stan. Stan felt his breath hitch when the girl made a gurgling noise. He let out a sob.

"She's so tiny," he murmured.

"Stan, are you crying?" Bella asked, amused.

"Maybe," Stan mumbled, wiping at his eyes. "Is that so wrong? I just became a dad."

"I'm not sayin' it's wrong," Bella laughed. "I'm cryin' too, look."

Stan chuckled, grinning back down at Ella. She yawned and closed her eyes, falling asleep.

-----

"Ngah!"

"Hi sweetie," Bella grinned, looking down at the younger twin. Ella and Marcella were about eleven months old, and had been growing quickly. Ella could already walk, although her sister was still stuck in the crawling phase. Ella leaned on the bench, one hand placed on the seat and the other gripped around a stuffed dog.

"Do ya got yer puppy?" Bella chuckled, moving to sit on the floor. Ella giggled and stood away from the bench, waving the stuffed dog around by its ear. Gibberish yelling was heard from the other side of the room and Bella looked over to see Marcella sitting by Stan, her hands gripping his jeans.

"Gah!" Ella waved at her twin, who waved back with a stuffed cat. Marcella began crawling over, whining.

"You'd probably be able to get over there quicker if you walked," Stan chuckled. Marcella ignored him as she reached the other two, sitting up. The two sisters giggled and babbled to each other.

"Hey Stan, why don' ya get some lunch fer them?" Bella said, standing up. "An' then it's nap time."

"Alright," Stan said, standing up as well and going over to the kitchen area.

"Ya ready fer lunch, girls?" Bella smiled.

"Na!" Ella denied, wobbling over to the couch. Marcella made a noise of agreement and looked over at Ella. The older twin, who was standing and gripping the table bench, slowly moved to let go and walk over to the couch as well.

"Oh! Stan! Marcella's walking!" Bella exclaimed, beaming.

"Really?" Stan peered around the table, seeing the girl walk towards her sister and hold onto the couch. "Haha! Alright!"

Marcella giggled and bounced where she stood, smiling at her parents.

-----

Knock knock knock.

"Fiddleford!" Bella grinned as she opened the door. "Hey dude!"

She hugged her best friend, who tightly hugged her back.

"Howdy, Bella," he greeted. "It's always been too long whenever Ah see ya."

"I know," Bella huffed. She smiled down at Tate. "Hi Tate!"

"Aunty Bella!" Tate cheered, jumping over and hugging her leg.

"Hey Fiddlenerd," Stan greeted from the couch.

"Howdy, Stanley," Fiddleford waved. "Where're the birthday girls?"

"They're nappin' right now," Bella answered. "Cake's after they wake up."

"Cake? I wan' cake!" Tate jumped excitedly.

"Not yet, Tater-tot," Fiddleford said. "Later. Why don' ya go say hi ta Uncle Stan?"

"Ok," Tate ran over to the couch and jumped up, hugging Stan. "Hi Uncle Stan!"

"Hey kiddo," Stan chuckled, ruffling the hat on Tate's head.

"So what's up with you, Fidds?" Bella asked, sitting beside Stan.

"Oh, y'know, the usual," Fiddleford shrugged, pulling paper and crayons out of his backpack. "Workin' on my portable computer, takin' care'a Tate. Here ya go, Tater-tot." He handed the crayons and paper to the boy, who happily starting drawing on the coffee table. "How abou' y'all? How's raisin' the twins comin' along?"

"Oh, Ella and Marcella are adorable!" Bella smiled. "Marcella started walking last month. And they've both grown so much since ya last va- visited."

"It's definitely gotten a lot easier, too," Stan spoke. They three of them continued to talk while Tate drew, and soon it was time for Ella and Marcella to get up from their nap.

"Here they are," Bella said, holding the younger twin. Stan was carrying Marcella, who rubbed at her eyes.

"Fi!" Ella exclaimed, reaching towards Fiddleford. "Fi!"

"Yeah, it's Uncle Fidds," Bella giggled. Fiddleford smiled and walked over, taking the baby into his own arms.

"Howdy, little lady," Fiddleford said. Ella giggled and reached for his glasses. "Ah ah, no. Ah need those."

"She does the same thin' with me," Bella said as Stan set Marcella in her high chair. "I dunno what it is with... babies and glasses."

"Ah guess they just find 'em fascinatin'," Fiddleford shrugged, setting Ella in the other high chair.

"Tate, ya ready fer cake?" Bella asked.

"Yeah!" Tate exclaimed, running over to the table and climbing onto the bench.

"Birthday girls get their slices first," Stan said, carrying the cake over and setting it on the table. Him and Bella each cut away a slice and set them in front of Ella and Marcella. Ella instantly grabbed at the cake and started eating it.

"I wan' some!" Tate spoke up.

"Alright, here ya go," Bella said, cutting off a slice and passing it over to Tate. Eventually they all had a slice of cake and were eating.

"Ah've also got presents fer the girls once we're done," Fiddleford said.

"Awesome," Bella smiled. "Man, it's hard ta believe they're already a year old. Feels like jus' yesterday they were born."

"Yeah, a year went by pretty quickly," Stan agreed.

"That's how it is," Fiddleford chuckled. "One moment they fit in yer arm, the next they're runnin' circles 'round ya."