Chapter 172: Say Their Names
Wednesday, August 23rd — 20 weeks, 0 days
Today marks the beginning of my sixth month of pregnancy. Generally, this is considered the halfway point of a pregnancy.
However, since I’m expecting twins, I’ve been told they’ll likely come early. My C-section is already scheduled for December 18th (36 weeks and 2 days), so in my case, I’ve technically already passed the halfway mark.
At the last prenatal checkup, the doctor said both babies are most likely girls, so I decided to give them names.
One of them, of course, will be named Alicia.
The other one is going to be Alisa.
Since both my name and Alicia’s start with “Ali,” I didn’t want just one of them to feel left out, so I picked a name that would match.
Alisa, Alicia, and me—Alice. I personally really like how the three of us go “Sa, Shi, Su” in order, like a syllable progression.
Yuna joked, “Then the next ones would have to be Arise and Ariso… that’s kind of tricky,” but there’s no “next” planned, so that’s not happening.
Both babies weigh over 200 grams now. It seems the smaller one is Alicia. Compared to Alisa, she’s growing a little more slowly, which has me a bit concerned.
Oh, and since yesterday, Hisui and Souta have come over to visit our new apartment.
Right now, we’ve just finished lunch and are all studying together in the living room.
Yuna’s working on her summer homework, and I’m doing self-study for topics we’ll be learning in the second semester.
Hisui and Souta are both studying for entrance exams. Apparently, they’re both planning to go on to university.
Hisui is aiming for a national university within the city and says she isn’t considering schools outside the area. She’s even declared that she’ll become capable of supporting me financially within four years—which is incredibly reassuring.
Souta, on the other hand, plans to inherit his family’s shrine and told me he’ll be going to a university with a Shinto studies program outside the prefecture. The thought of being apart for four years makes me a little lonely, but I guess it can’t be helped.
They're the same age as me, yet they’ve already got such solid plans for the future. It's impressive...
Me? I’ve just been winging it all this time and relying on others.
I do want to earn my own living, at least enough to support myself… but maybe after the babies get a little older...
“Oh, she moved.”
I felt a strong, swirling sensation from inside my belly.
“Really? Can I try touching?”
“Go ahead, go ahead.”
I turned my now noticeably round belly toward Hisui and lifted both my loose top and undershirt.
“Umm… around here…”
I rubbed the area where I’d felt the movement and pointed it out. Hisui cautiously reached out and touched my belly.
“Hello, Alisa.”
She could probably already sense the soul growing inside. Without hesitation, Hisui called her by name.
“…Wow, she’s really moving.”
Maybe hearing her name made her happy? Alisa squirmed around. That must have triggered something, because Alicia started squirming too—it’s actually kind of painful.
“Alicia seems healthy too… they’re both small, but they’ve got strong souls.”
Hisui’s hand moved over to gently stroke the side where Alicia was.
“Hello, I’m Hisui. I’m your other mom.”
“…Wait, you’re not her mom.”
Souta immediately shot down the comment.
“Me and Alice are family. That means Alice’s daughters are my daughters too.”
“I don’t get how that makes any sense.”
“Obviously, that means they’re my daughters too!”
Yuna jumped in proudly, wearing a smug expression.
…Hmm. If they have this many moms, won’t the girls get confused?
“Hey, can I touch too?”
“Of course not.”
“Why are you the one answering!?”
“Because you’ve been eyeing the pregnant belly with a dirty look this whole time… disgusting.”
“I haven’t been looking at it like that!!”
“Oh, I don’t mind, really. It’s fine.”
“Why are you jumping in like I was getting turned on, Alice!?”
Well, it is you, Souta...
“Just go ahead and touch it already, Souta. Here.”
“Y-Yeah.”
“…It can’t be helped.”
Hisui reluctantly pulled her hand away, though obediently. This time, Souta reached out to touch my belly.
Guiding his hesitant hand, I said, “Around here, okay?” His face flushed red as he touched it.
“Alisa, Alicia. It’s Daddy.”
There was a gentle squirming response.
“Really, they’re moving… that’s amazing…”
“It really is.”
Having two babies growing inside me feels almost unbelievable. It truly is a miracle of the human body.
“I hope they’re born safely.”
“Yeah.”
So far, the pregnancy has been mostly smooth. Sometimes my belly tightens sharply, which is a bit worrying. That’s called Braxton Hicks contractions—my uterus tightening. It’s not good if it keeps happening, but it seems to be something all pregnant women experience regularly, so maybe it’s nothing to overly stress about.
At night, the three of us sleep side-by-side in a row.
“Being like this feels like a rehearsal for the future.”
“Huh…?”
“Me, Alice, Yuna, and the children… I was thinking about how soon we might all sleep together like this as a family.”
“Well… Souta’s not with us though…”
“There’s no way she’s sleeping with that beast. Alice, you shouldn’t share a bed with him! Besides, he’s going out of the prefecture, right? Honestly, even if he never comes back, it won’t be a problem with us around.”
“…Hey, I can hear that you know!”
From the living room next to our bedroom came Souta’s protesting voice.
“Tch.”
“Well, well, Souta-nii and Hisui-nee, play nice. No fighting in front of the kids.”
“Can’t be helped.”
“Hey, I’m just being left out here! This isn’t fair!”
“Souta, be quiet a bit. The babies might wake up.”
There was a gentle bubbling movement from inside my belly.
“S-Sorry…”
Lately, it’s been common for them to start moving around this time of night.
Honestly, I wish they’d stay quiet at night so I could sleep better. I’ve been waking up frequently anyway because of needing to pee often.
Thanks to that, I’m a bit sleep-deprived lately and find myself napping during the day.
Well, I don’t have school, so it’s not a big problem, but my body feels sluggish and tired.
Still, spending time together like this really makes me feel like we’re a family, and it makes me look forward to the future.
Thursday, August 24 — 20 weeks, 1 day
Before noon, I felt strong tightening and dull pain in my belly. When I went to the bathroom, there was more bleeding than on the heaviest day of my period.
My mother called the hospital and explained the situation. They told us to come in immediately, so she drove me there.
We arrived, and I was seen right away.
The diagnosis was threatened miscarriage, and I was immediately admitted to the hospital for emergency care.
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