As November rolled around, the trees in the neighborhood transformed into a picturesque riot of yellow, orange, and red. With the changing of the leaves came the crisp autumn weather. This type of weather was perfect for walking, though at 39 weeks it was more appropriate to say Lili was waddling. 

Only 1 more week to go, and her boys would finally arrive. It would be ironic if they were December babies, for her birthday was in December as well. It would be even more ironic if they happened to arrive on the 5th, for that was when her own sister Daisy's twins, Gerbera and Sunflower, were born. 2 sets of twins, who happened to be cousins, sharing the same birthday. 

She was elated to meet them, though she was a tad bit anxious about going into labor. Sure, it wasn't her first time but every pregnancy was different, and when you're having multiples there's more room for surprises! 

The changes brought on by her pregnancy and the impending doom of screaming babies reverberated through the house. 

Ludwig, out of genuine interest and slight boredom, documented Lili's pregnancy as if she was some specimen in the wild. He made notes on how her body changed (especially her restricted mobility), cravings, and emotional changes. She found it a little strange, but she didn't think anything of it. Many people were fascinated by pregnancy. That is, until it got weird. He asked to feel her bump, which wasn't terribly out of place. Ever since it became noticeable, people touched it, some without even asking as if carrying tiny humans automatically made her free real estate. But then he'd asked if he could try her breast milk when she started making it, claiming he was curious about how different it was from regular milk. She'd reminded him that breast milk had lactose in it, but he made it clear it was a price he was willing to pay. It made her uncomfortable, and she sternly told him so and that had been the end of it.

Roy seemed excited to have babies around, probably because as a ghost he didn't get tired so he didn't have to worry about being woken up in the middle of the night by crying. Lili was just glad to know that, as a single mother, that she had someone else she could depend on for help.

And Beethoven….well he was just irritated that her protruding tummy was taking up the space in her lap, leaving no room for him. She made sure to give him his pets and snacks to help him get through this trying time. 

It was a chilly night and Lili was sitting on the living room couch, bundled up comfortably under a soft blanket while she watched reruns of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. She'd been feeling a little crampy all day (what else was new?), so she'd put a warm message pad on her pelvis as well. 

Ludwig tried watching it with her but he quickly got bored with all the crying and talking about people he had no clue about. It was also too inappropriate for his personal tastes, so he quietly played Minecraft on his Switch instead. 

His ears picked up a low groaning sound. "Is it time yet?" 

"No," She sighed for the umpteenth time. "It's just a little back pain, nothing new. It kinda hurts when I change positions, that's all." 

"Okay…." He said but didn't take his eyes off of her. 

"I'm serious! I think I would know whether I was going into labor or not." 

"Whatever you say….speaking of labor, I was wondering if we would be able to be in the room while you're giving birth?" 

"Maybe...why?" 

"Because, I wanted to take a photo of the fetuses emerging from the womb. For your little scrapbook thing. I could call it, The First Breath." He said dramatically, "This is, like, a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, to witness such a natural, yet elusive event. I must be present so I can experience it for myself." 

"Well if that's all...then no. You're not taking a picture of my vagina while I'm pushing out 2 watermelons. You're so weird..." She replied, slowly shaking her head judgmentally.

"I can't believe there's only a week left, I don't know if I can wait that long!" Roy exclaimed anxiously.

"Well there's nothing else you really can do. And you might as well enjoy it while it lasts, because once those pups come sliding out, you can kiss your sanity and peace of mind goodbye." Ludwig answered cynically.

"Oh come on, don't be like that. We're all in this together, aren't we? It's the least we can do with all Lils has done for us." 

"Speak for yourself. Those things won't be my responsibility, I'm not the one who couldn't keep my legs closed." He clapped back. 

"You seemed so excited before…" Roy trailed off. 

"I was interested in the pregnancy, but raising 2 boys to adulthood is a whole different matter. That's a lot of time and money sacrificed and it might not even be worth it." 

"I'm...gonna go get some more pickles." Lili announced as she stood up and walked to the kitchen. 

"See now look at what you've done! You've made Lili all sad. This time is already stressful for her as it is without you pilin' on! Not cool, man." Roy scolded him. 

Ludwig simply returned to his game, saying nothing. 

 From the kitchen, she could hear Roy continue to scold his brother but she tried her best to drown them both out. She'd never really considered that Ludwig could be a potential threat to her children, but it was certainly possible--He was a vampire, after all. She wondered if he'd ever killed a child before. Perhaps that's what could've happened to Matera Shariee, the daughter he never talks about. 

As she reached up into the cabinet for the pickle jar, she felt her cramps become stronger. She felt like she had to poop, so she stopped what she was doing and went to the toilet. A little fluid came out but no fecal matter, and she still felt like she had to poop. She suspected it could've been labor, but she didn't want to sound a false alarm. As she remained on the toilet, the fluid continued to flow slowly but steadily. Perhaps those cramps she'd been having were really contractions!

"Okay, don't panic and stay calm." She instructed herself. She placed a sanitary pad in her underwear to catch the fluid that wouldn't stop flowing. She decided to stay quiet about it in the meantime and secretly time her contractions just to make sure. When she reentered the living room, it seemed as if everyone was staring at her. Did they know? 

She maintained composure and sat back down in her spot on the couch. Later that night, she began to breathe heavily as her contractions began to increase in frequency and intensity. 

"Is it time?" Roy asked. 

"Y-yeah, it is." 

"Ha! I called it!" Ludwig exclaimed triumphantly. 

"Shut up n' go make yourself useful. Fetch the hospital bag." Roy ordered. 

"Fine!" He said before heading upstairs. Lili was grateful she'd gotten all this done beforehand. She knew she was supposed to double check and make sure everything was there, but she really didn't feel like doing something tedious at this particular moment. 

"What do you wanna do now? Wait a few more hours or--"

"I want….to go to the hospital right now. I need that epidural."

Roy helped Lili climb into the car. Ludwig eventually walked out the door, hospital bag in tow. 

"Don't forget to lock the door!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, right, sorry~" He chirped as if he wasn't sorry at all, "Now, what was the combination again…."

"LUDWIG!" She groaned in agony, "JUST GET THE HELL IN THIS CAR!" 

When he finally got in and put on his seatbelt, she locked the door via the security app on her smartphone. She breathed quickly through another contraction. Then she rang up the hospital to tell them she was coming. 

Roy quickly stepped on the gas, pulling the car towards Rosie Birth Center. Everyone was silent aside from Lili's groans and desperate prompts for Roy to drive faster. Ludwig wanted to ask how much pain she was really in, but he thought it best not to poke the bear at that moment. She was biting down so hard on her seatbelt strap he thought she'd chew it off. 

Roy pulled up to the hospital and quickly hopped out of the car. He went to the passenger side and helped Lili out of the car, into the building, and to the front desk.  After she was all checked in, they were taken to the room where she would give birth. They turned over the hospital bag, and that was the last they saw of her. 

Ludwig and Roy made themselves comfortable in the waiting room. They'd brought their own "hospital bags" with things to do while they waited. Ludwig continued playing Minecraft on his Switch while Roy floated around the room anxiously. 

"You really need to chill out." Ludwig told him. 

"I can't help it. Multiple babies means more room for complications! I'm just so worried for her! But also...I'm just so excited to meet the little ankle-biters! I want to squish their chubby little cheeks!" He cooed. 

Ludwig simply shook his head slowly in disapproval. 

"Look Lud, we're probably gonna have to be father figures in these kiddies' lives. They're gonna need us to be good, strong role models of what men should be. You know, studies have shown that kids without fathers generally do worse in life than those with. They're more likely to commit suicide, go to jail, be homeless, and all that jazz. Both sexes need fathers but I think boys need them a tad bit more, so that someone can teach them how to be a good man. And they're gonna need someone to talk to when the whole puberty phase rolls around." 

"First of all, Imma need you to cite some sources for those 'studies'. Secondly, we had a father and we're still messed up! Sometimes, I wonder if we would've just been better off without one…"

"Sure, not every father is a good father but bad fathers serve as potential learning opportunities! Now we know what not to do when we have kids because we know how their abuse made us feel." Roy replied. 

"I.  know you've had multiple fathers, Ludwig a-and...I know you remember your birth parents, can you really, truly, tell me that all of them were shit?" Roy quizzed. 

Ludwig stared back at him silently. At first it appeared as if he was thinking, but then he seemed to drift off in thought. He began to feel warm and his face and hair felt damp. Even though he knew the sensations weren't real, they sure felt like they were. 

"You good, buddy?" 

He shook his head, snapping out of the complex flashback. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." He lied before getting up and heading to the bathroom to splash freezing cold water on his face. He returned and sat back down without saying anything more. 

Hours passed, but Ludwig was so stuck in his game that he hardly noticed. Roy eventually calmed down and played some video games as well. At some point, they decided to check out and head home for a while. Ludwig fixed something for him and Beethoven to eat. They all tried to chill as they waited for news of the arrival.

"Hallo?" Ludwig answered when his phone rang. 

"Well?" Roy prompted as he watched Ludwig silently listen to the voice on the other end. 

"Your beloved babies are finally here…..she also wants us to pick her up a sandwich from Subway."  

      *****

When they entered Lili's postpartum recovery room, Subway sandwiches in tow, she was in bed, nursing the new arrivals. Immediately, for a reason Ludwig couldn't understand, Roy began to get all emotional. 

"Did you bring my sandwich?" She asked impatiently.

"Obviously. We're not totally useless, Lili. You should have more faith in us." Ludwig replied. 

"Whatever," She replied, "Just give me my sandwich." 

She swaddled the babies and returned them to their hospital bassinets. One of the babies had a crochet orange fruit hat and the other had a crochet  blueberry hat. In the NHS hospitals of the Fruit Kingdom, all newborn babies were given little fruit themed hats. In different cities, some hats were more popular than others because of the city name.

Ludwig set the plastic bag on Lili's bed and she dug into it herself. 

He stared at the babies as they laid there. "They're so….tiny." 

"And precious!" Roy added. 

Lili chuckled."Roy, Ludwig, I'd like to introduce you to the newest additions to our household: Jacob and Joseph Dessert."

Jacob and Joseph? Why'd she name them that? She could've taken the opportunity to name them Jacob and Esau! Even though they weren't identical, they were still twins! She missed a valuable naming opportunity here! Lewdwig ranted. 

"Why did you name them Jacob and Joseph?" Ludwig asked. 

"Because they both start with J." 

"But...why? Your name doesn't even start with a J." 

"Because: why not?" 

"Well, since you seem to be interested in religious names, you could've named them Jacob and Esau, actual fraternal twins in the Bible." He told her.

"Firstly, I didn't name his Esau because I love my baby. That's a gross name. Secondly, why do you even know that? You've never struck me as a Christian. I've never seen you pick up a Bible or say a prayer."

"I'm not a Christian, nor have I ever been. I was raised Catholic though. And even though I no longer practice, technically--according to the Church--I still am a Catholic because I was baptized as such, making me a member for life." He informed her.

"Aww smol Ludwig….anyway, that sounds pretty sus." 

"I know, right? There is actually an official way to leave by writing a letter to your Church telling them you're officially leaving, but I don't have time for all that. I don’t really care anyway." 

"You say you were raised that way….that was so long ago, I can't believe you remember that. Especially something as simple as a small Bible story." Lili replied.

"Well, ever since I was diagnosed with PTSD months ago, the therapist and I have been trying out EMDR, since it's more tailored to my diagnosis. Because we've been digging up more shit, some of the memories have begun to return. And by the way, back in the day--"

"Oh my God, oh my God, if I die." She sang in a deep voice. 

"Um...what?"

"Nothing, nothing. Please, continue." She prompted, giggling. 

"Anyways…all I was going to say was religion was very important back then, not like it is now. So I had stuff like that ingrained in me. Well, more like shoved down my throat--"

"It hardly matters what the names are, they're still so adorable~!" He cooed, poking one of the babies cheeks. His cold, transparent finger passed through the little one's face, causing him to sneeze. 

"Awwwwwwwwwww. Which of these cuties came out first?" Roy asked.

"Jacob, the one with the orange hat." 

"Why did you give them John's last name?" 

"I mean, why not? I have no ill will towards John. He's their father and he's the one who's going to be paying child support so it just felt right to give them his last name." She replied, finally digging into half of her long-awaited sandwich.

She moaned with content. "Ah yeah...that's some good stuff right there…"

She wolfed the sandwich down in small bites. 

"Yeah, that hit the spot. I missed tuna and deli meats...finally it's all over. Though I am gonna miss not having my cycle for 9 months...I just can't wait to go home." 

Ludwig and Roy settled into the birthing suite, where they would remain with Lili and the babies for the next 2 days. Medical personnel came in and out practically every 3 minutes to check up on them. Lili knew she was supposed to be eating healthy, but it was a little hard when all she was craving was buttery, greasy junk food. And she didn't have the stomach for the hospital crap. To compromise, she had Ludwig and Roy pick up "healthy" Subway sandwiches for practically every meal. Ludwig finally took a nice picture of Lili with the babies and added it to the twins' baby photo albums. 

Finally, after 2 long days in the hospital, it was finally time to head home.