December 24, 2013
In a strange way, Spencer’s second Christmas with Zac was both less and more stressful than the first. The threat of a stalker was no longer hanging over their heads, but Zac had been gone on tour for the better part of the fall. They’d had some time together at Thanksgiving, but it hadn’t been enough to satisfy Spencer. Her classes didn’t end until a week before he returned from the European tour, and Spencer had no desire to fly to Europe entirely on her own just to have a little extra time with him. She simply had to wait for the band to return before her Christmas season could begin at all.
Even though Shepherd was spending this Christmas in Alabama with Kate and her family, Zac and Spencer had decided to stay in Tulsa. He had offered to go back to Nashville with her, but after making so many little trips here and there to see him when she could earlier that year, Spencer really just wanted to spend her Christmas break at home.
Home.
Even a year later, it was strange to think of Zac’s apartment in Tulsa as home, but Spencer knew it was. The apartment, the university, his studio, even his parents’ house… all of these places had become comfortable to Spencer. They’d become home.
Christmas at the Hanson family house was every bit as chaotic as it had been the year before, but Spencer was at least in better spirits. She couldn’t help laughing when she and Zac were greeted at the door by Viggo, who then took off running through the house yelling that Uncle Zac and Auntie Spencer had arrived.
“Auntie Spencer?” She mumbled.
“Maybe not yet,” Zac replied, running his index finger over the ring she wore. “But soon.”
“Did someone run away to Vegas for a quickie wedding and forget to tell us?” Natalie asked when Spencer walked into the kitchen.
Spencer laughed. “Oh, no. You know I’m far too much of a drama queen to get married like that. That’s not nearly enough of a production for me.”
“Does that mean you guys have started planning?” Nikki asked, holding out a glass of eggnog.
“Actually, it does,” Spencer replied, accepting the glass and taking a sip. “And I was hoping both of you would be in the wedding.”
Natalie chewed on her lip for a moment. “Well, I hate to say it, but I’ll have to discuss it with Kate. You know how she can be.”
“I think we actually came to an understanding while Zac was on tour, believe it or not,” Spencer said. “But I know you were her friend first and for a lot longer, so it’s definitely weird for me to ask you to be a bridesmaid.”
Natalie leaned against Spencer, making Spencer wonder just how many glasses of eggnog she’d had. “But you also know I would love to be in your wedding. As long as it isn’t going to make things awkward, I am all for it. When do we get to pick out dresses?”
“After new years, maybe?” Spencer offered. “I need to get Abbey and my cousin Reese out here, too, since I know they’re going to be in the wedding. And of course Marci.”
“Marci? Wasn’t she friends with the…” Nikki trailed off and twirled her finger around her head to indicate the crazy one. It was an unspoken rule that they didn’t say Amberly’s name.
“She was,” Spencer replied. “But I trust Marci. I like her. The whole time, she was a good friend to me. She just had no clue what her other friend was capable of.”
“I guess you never expect that sort of thing from someone you call a friend,” Nikki said. “Anyway, you know I’d love to be in the wedding, too. I just hope we don’t have any trouble getting a dress to fit me if I still look like a beached whale by then. Have you picked a date?”
Spencer chuckled. “We’re thinking September, so we’ve got plenty of time to get you a dress. I’m sure you’ll be a skinny minny again by then.”
“I hope so,” she said, running a hand over her stomach. “I think I’m looking forward to drinking that eggnog next year even more than I’m looking forward to fitting in my size fours again.”
Spencer and Natalie both laughed softly at that, and Natalie gave Spencer another nudge. “What about you, hmm? When is Auntie Spencer going to give me a new niece or nephew?”
“Maybe after she actually is Auntie Spencer?” She offered, raising an eyebrow.
The truth was, Spencer didn’t think she was anywhere near ready to have children. It didn’t matter that she would be twenty eight in less than two months. She still felt too young, and she supposed staying in college for so long had a lot to do with that. Being a step-mother, in practice if not legally, was hard enough. Even though Spencer knew having children of her own would be different, she still couldn’t quite picture it.
“Give her time,” Nikki scolded gently. “She probably just doesn’t want a baby bump in her wedding dress like us.”
Spencer wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to laugh at that, but Natalie did, so she went along with it. At times she felt she was central to the friendship that had sprung up between those two, especially since Nikki had confided the previous Thanksgiving that she often left out. Now Spencer supposed Kate was the odd woman out, and she tried not to blame herself for that. Zac had assured her time and time again that while she might have sped the process up, his marriage was close to ending before she entered the picture.
Speaking of Zac… he entered the room with a huge grin on his face and an even bigger sprig of fake mistletoe dangling from his headband. He flipped his hair back to keep it out of his eyes and glanced around at the three women in the room.
“Well? Who’s it going to be?” He asked, still grinning.
“Ooh, pick me, pick me,” Natalie deadpanned.
“How about…” Zac said, drawing the words out as he took a few strides toward Spencer and planted a kiss on her cheek. “You.”
She smirked. “If you must.”
“Trust me, I must.”
“You know, you could get yourself into trouble with that stuff,” Spencer said, flicking the plastic mistletoe sprig.
“If I did, would that make me a ho, ho, ho?”
Natalie groaned. “Do you think you can stop making awful jokes for one day?”
“Now that would be a Christmas miracle,” Spencer replied.
December 13, 2014
Spencer was home.
The second she and Zac had set foot inside the doors of this house, only the third one they even bothered to visit with their realtor, they knew it was the one. They moved in a few weeks after their honeymoon, during one of the only breaks Zac had from touring that fall, and now that it was nearing Christmas, the house was really starting to feel like a home.
It’s biggest selling point, Spencer had to admit, was the fact that it was set way back from the street in a gated community. There was a huge backyard with a beautiful swimming pool, too, and Zac was already making plans to build a giant tree house and playground for Shepherd next spring. The living room, dining and kitchen were painted earthy greens and browns, which went beautifully with the stone fireplace and bamboo floors. That, plus the secluded location and huge windows in every room, made the house feel like a private little piece of paradise in the woods. The entryway was all stone with some built in modern sculpture that Zac was crazy about and a huge bar. It would be perfect for entertaining, they had both said, but between his touring and Spencer’s hermit-like habits, they hadn’t done much of that yet.
There was also a sunken den with huge windows overlooking the pool. Zac and Spencer had turned it into an office. Bookshelves filled every free spot on the walls and there was just enough space for two desks and a small piano. Spencer didn’t mind a little music while she graded papers; it reminded her of those first few days and weeks spent in the coffee shop with Zac.
The office came second only to the master bedroom as Spencer’s favorite room. It was large, painted a relaxing shade of blue, and had a cozy little corner with a fireplace. The attached bathroom was heaven on earth with granite countertops and a garden style tub. Now that she was finished with the semester, she had developed a habit of taking long relaxing baths and soaking in the beauty of the outdoors through the window that she was glad didn’t overlook any of the neighbors.
There were three more bedrooms, and Shepherd had had his pick of them. The room he’d picked wasn’t the largest, but neither Zac nor Spencer was surprised by his choice. Both the bedroom and the attached bathroom were already painted bright blue, a shade not dissimilar to Zac’s truck. At Shepherd’s request, the room was filled with Star Wars decorations.
Spencer hadn’t decided yet what to do with the other two bedrooms. The smallest one was painted a sort of teal, and she liked that color enough to leave it. The other one, though, was bright purple. That had to go, she decided, and Zac agreed readily. It took a long weekend full of paint and primer, but finally, the garish shade was replaced with a soft, buttery yellow. Zac pointed out that it looked like a nice color for a nursery, and Spencer just rolled her eyes and ignored him.
Spencer still wasn’t sure when she had gone from a free spirit with her nose buried in books to a married woman living in the suburbs. She was certain that all of her studies had completely disabled her biological clock, but it seemed they had only delayed it a while. Children were something she hadn’t ever had any particularly strong feelings about, except for that one incident, but now she was finding herself more and more okay with the idea of becoming a mother, not just a step-mother. That was a change—a big change—and she didn’t really know when that shift in her attitude had taken place. Like her feelings for Zac, she supposed it had just crept up on her over time so gradually that she didn’t even realize it was happening.
With that change had come a distinct joy in nesting and playing the role of housewife. She still couldn’t cook to save her life, despite all the cookbooks and gadgets she and Zac had received as wedding gifts. But she found that most of her free time was spent cleaning, organizing and decorating, and she didn’t mind that at all. It was almost… fun.
In fact, it was a good quality to have, with the holidays approaching so quickly. Zac was obsessed with Christmas, perhaps excessively so, but Spencer thought it was cute. During a day off from working in the studio on special Christmas gifts for the fans, he and Shepherd had taken on the task of decorating the house. While Spencer sorted through ornaments and lights inside, father and son were outside stringing lights around the windows and trees.
Deciding that they probably needed a break, Spencer whipped up a few cups of instant cocoa and carried them outside. She laughed at the sight of Zac and Shepherd running circles around a tree to wrap it—and each other—in multicolored lights.
“Anyone ready for a break?”
They answered at the same time—a yes from Zac and a no from Shepherd—and Spencer laughed even more. After untangling himself from the lights, Zac joined Spencer on the small front porch and gratefully accepted one of the steaming cups of cocoa. While Shepherd continued to run around the yard trailing Christmas lights behind him, the two of them sat on the porch and enjoyed their drinks.
“How can he possibly have that much energy?” Spencer asked.
Zac chuckled. “I’d say he gets it from his father, but I’m exhausted. Must be old age catching up to me.”
“Must be,” Spencer replied, smirking. She eyed Zac for a moment, trying to decide if it was the right time to mention something that had been on her mind for a few weeks. Finally, she sat down her cup and said, “Hey, Zac?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t suppose you’re too old to maybe, oh I don’t know, keep up with another little mini-Zac? Or mini-me?”
Zac blinked a few times, and Spencer thought she could actually see the wheels in his head turning as they attempted to process her words. Finally, he gave her a huge grin. “You mean… you’re… we’re gonna… baby?”
Spencer laughed loudly. “Very eloquently put. Yes, Zac. I’m pregnant. I took a test last week, now I’m just waiting to get in to see my doctor.”
“But you’re really pregnant?”
She nodded. “I really am.”
Zac gave her another huge smile and reached over to grasp her hand. “Best Christmas present ever.”
December 25, 2015
Spencer sat her coffee—decaf, since it was technically early Christmas morning—on the end table and stared down at Zac. He was cross-legged on the floor, attempting to assemble some needlessly complicated baby swings.
“You do realize the girls are too young to grasp all the effort you’ve gone to here?” Spencer asked. “They don’t even know what Christmas is.”
“Well, how do you suppose they’re going to learn what it is?” Zac asked around the allen wrench in his mouth.
“At this rate, their first Christmas memories will be of you cussing and throwing tools,” Spencer teased.
Zac rolled his eyes and resumed his attempts to assemble what Spencer thought was really a far too complicated, space age piece of baby technology. Even now, a year after she’d told Zac they were expecting, Spencer felt like she was on a steep learning curve where babies and all the things they needed were concerned.
At their first ultrasound, she and Zac had learned that they were actually expecting twins. Although he didn’t voice it, Spencer wondered if Zac was thinking this was somehow the universe evening the score. After six years, they rarely talked about how they met and the things that transpired not long after. It was a part of their story, but it was water under the bridge. Now, it seemed, their story was growing and expanding exponentially.
“There,” Zac nearly shouted, sitting back on his heels with a satisfied grin on his face.
“Did you slay the beast?” Spencer asked.
“I did. And I think the swings are the last ones that require assembly,” he said, climbing up onto the couch next to Spencer.
“Does that mean it’s bedtime?” She asked hopefully.
Just as Zac opened his mouth to answer her, the baby monitor she’d carried out after putting the twins to bed crackled to life and a whimpering cry could be heard. Like clockwork, it was soon joined by a second distressed voice. Spencer groaned and collapsed against Zac.
He chuckled softly. “If you’ll clean up a little of this mess, I’ll go check on them.”
“I should have known you’d con me into cleaning up your mess,” Spencer replied, scowling. “But fine, go on. I’ll be there in a sec.”
Zac gave Spencer a quick kiss, then snatched up the baby monitor and walked down the hallway toward the twins’ bedroom. After a moment, Spencer peeled herself off the couch and began quickly picking up the trash and tools Zac had left scattered around the living room. It didn’t take her long to clear out the clutter and arrange the gifts around the tree. Once that was done, she dumped her coffee into the sink and headed down the hallway to see how Zac and the girls were doing.
When Spencer walked into the nursery, she found Zac sitting down in the rocking chair with a baby curled up in the crook of each arm.
“Oh, here,” Spencer said, holding out her hands. “Let me take one.”
“You can have Rosie, since she started this mess,” Zac said, sitting forward so Spencer could ease her out of his grasp.
“Did you hear that?” Spencer asked, rocking the nearly sleeping Rosie gently in her arms. “Daddy just ratted you out.”
Zac chuckled. “Well, it’s true. I’m sure she was crying first, because she had the dirty diaper. And that set Pru off, so I had to rock her a little once I changed Rosie. So then, of course, Rosie felt left out…”
“Of course,” Spencer replied, laughing softly. “It’s a good thing there’s two of us. If they were triplets, we’d really be outnumbered.”
Zac groaned. “I don’t even want to think about that.”
Spencer laughed, but she felt the same way. Although they hadn’t discussed it yet, she felt that their family was complete now. Zac, the two girls and Shepherd on weekends was all she needed in her life.
After a few more minutes, both girls had drifted off, so Zac and Spencer carefully tucked them back into their cribs.
“Think it’ll last?” Spencer asked, joining Zac at Prudence’s crib.
“If we’re lucky,” he replied. “They’re really not so bad, are they? I mean, they’ve got that fiery redhead temper already—three guesses who they got that from—but they’re alright.”
Spencer rolled her eyes at that. Zac loved to joke about how the girls had, in spite of genetic odds, both been born with full heads of bright red hair. At four months old, that hair was long enough to curl around the ends like Zac’s, and they both had brown eyes like mother and father.
They had named the oldest of the two Rosemary, combining both of Spencer’s grandmother’s names. Her middle name, Dallas, came from a character in one of Spencer’s favorite books, set in her not-so-new hometown of Tulsa. To make it fair, Zac chose Lily from one of his favorite books, and they both agreed on Prudence even though it had no particular meaning for them.
They were lucky that the band was recording that fall so Zac had a lot of time at home with the babies. He sang to them constantly—new songs he’d written and a variety of older ones. He often sang Cracklin’ Rosie to Rosemary, thus giving her a nickname. To even things out, he sang Dear Prudence to the younger twin, and Pru seemed to stick, suiting her more than Lily had.
“As far as twins go, I suppose,” Spencer finally replied. “They’re pretty easy most of the time. It’s going to suck when I’m back at work next semester, though. At least we found a good nanny.”
Zac leaned heavily against Spencer. “Do you have to go back to work already?”
“Yes, I do,” she replied, firmly. “I’m lucky they let me go on sabbatical this semester, and I’ve still been doing research in between feedings and diaper changes. And I already told you, I’m not going to quit work. I went to school for too damn long and spent too much blood, sweat, tears and money on that degree to just be a housewife. You know that’s not me.”
“I know, I know,” Zac replied. “And I wouldn’t want that to be you. I’m a pretty big fan of you just the way you are.”
“I would hope so, since you did marry me, after all,” Spencer replied, chuckling.
“Yeah, well, I just thought you’d look good in white,” Zac replied, smirking. Nudging Spencer toward the door, he added, “Come on, Santa wants some milk and cookies before bed.”
“Oh, does he?” Spencer asked.
“Mhm,” Zac said. “And maybe a different sort of Christmas treat after that…”