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River chewed the inside of her lower lip as she patiently waited for his reaction. She watched him intently as his expression morphed from confusion to wonder to shock to anger to helplessness.

He looked up at her, his eyes narrowed, a frown etched upon his beautiful face.

He turned the stick around, pointing at the two red lines she had stared at all day today.

He shook his head, refusing to believe what was in front of him in plain sight. "You cannot be pregnant!" He growled.

River sighed as she leaned back on the couch, her fingers combing her wild dark brown curls.

"And yet here I am." River closed her eyes, hearing his heavy footsteps hurry towards her.

"Johnson, how the hell are you so calm about this?"

River blinked her eyes open, studying her very best friend, sweat beading his forehead and lips quivering. It was safe to say that he was more a nervous wreck about this situation than she was right now.

She reached for his hands and rubbed circles on the back of them, tugging at them to make him crouch down in front of her.

"Because I am happy." River blew out a breath. "I know this comes with a lot and I mean a lot of repercussions, but I think that the joy and excitement I feel about this whole situation just outweighs them all." A smile tugged at her lips as she finished.

Surely, she was in a pickle here.

She had four problems at hand now.

First and foremost. River didn't know who the father was, as ridiculous as that sounded. She knew that it was the man she had slept with almost two months ago, and that made her roughly seven weeks pregnant. She hadn't slept with anyone within a three-month span before him and none after him.

But the problem was, neither did she know his name nor did she remember his face, because he had disappeared in the morning after before she had woken up.

The only thing she did remember were his caramel eyes because he looked at her with so much intensity that she could not take her eyes away from him. Everything else was just a vague memory. It was as if his stare was engraved into her mind.

And River was a forgetful drunk. Not something she was ever proud of, but this had now put her in a situation where she couldn't let him in on a fact that he had a right to know and where her child would have to grow up not knowing who his or her biological father is. And that made River feel a teeny tiny bit uneasy and guilty.

Her second problem was breaking this out to Sebastian, her best friend and house mate. She had told him now. Mission accomplished?

But she still hadn't told him about the first problem.

Third, telling her family.

Her father died of lung cancer when she was twenty-two so it was just her, her mom and grandmother now.

While Lilith Johnson was a chilled-out lady and would absolutely lose her mind with happiness when she hears about her great-grandchild, her mother Susan Johnson was not going to take it well. The criminal lawyer was cold-hearted to the world but she went ballistic over every small aspect of her daughter's life. River had a messed up past and Susan had always blamed herself for it. And she had promised her husband that she will protect and love her daughter on the behalf of the both of them at all cost. Now she was going to blame herself. But for what?

Fourth problem, River was doing her residency now. She didn't know how her head, Dr. Philomena Rose, was going to take this news. Surely, she could drop it now and pick it up again later. She knew she couldn't work now because her first trimester looked quite promising, what with her not being able to keep even water down. She didn't think a twenty-five-hour shift was the brightest idea. She was just upset that she will not get to work with the legendary Dr. Rose when she gets back to finish it.

There. Other than that, she was very happy, and undoubtedly excited for her child.

She was doubtful and confused about a lot of things and she did not understand many of her feelings but the only thing that she was so sure of was the fact that she wanted her child and she couldn't be happier. And she already loved him or her with the whole of her heart. To hell with timing and all that shit.

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"Twins?"

River nodded, drinking her cup of green tea, scrunching up her face in disgust and keeping it aside, gagging internally as she downed the muck.

"Drink it." Sebastian glared at her, passing her the cup back and passing their other best friend, Jacqueline Meyers, the sonogram which showed two bean-shaped masses marked A and B.

Her little babies!

River's heart swelled up with pride just at the thought of carrying her little cupcakes.

She didn't know she would be blessed with twins. Something she had wanted all her life!

And a part of her - call it motherly instinct - told her that they were a boy and a girl.

She knew she shouldn't be too quick to assume but she just knew!

"How far along are you?" She asked, looking at the picture in awe.

"Nine weeks." River smiled, cringing again when the yucky liquid touched her taste buds.

Why was she made to drink this shit? Oh how she missed dear old Starbucks! But coffee was a big no-no during pregnancy. River preferred juice but over-protective Uncle Sebby had decided he was worthy of a double doctorate in maternity care now that he had stacked his room with all kinds of pregnancy and baby care books and she was not to argue with him on what she got to eat and what not.

This man needed to get a life!

Though she had to agree, it was quite cute how invested he was about his nieces and/or nephews as long as it was not about the shit that he made her eat and the yoga and meditation sessions. She knew it was all for her sake but she was just nine weeks pregnant. She didn't want this for thirty-one more weeks!

"This makes it so much more real." Jacqueline bit her lips, her eyes not leaving the sonogram. A happy tear escaped her eyes. River could see she was as excited to be a godmother as she was about becoming a mother.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "It was real for me from the moment she started throwing up her meals and complaining how loud I breathed and craving just that flavor of ice cream that wasn't in the house."

River grinned at him as she stealthily placed the mug of yuck back on the table. His eyes darted to the ceramic and back at her, his face tensing, preparing for another long torturous sermon.

She grabbed the mug and downed the drink it in one go.

"Blech!" River scrunched up her face as she brought the empty mug down on the table.

She really wished there was a switch to turn off taste buds just for times when she had to drink and eat gross stuff like that!

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Sebastian said, as if talking to a five-year-old and she narrowed her eyes at him before sticking her tongue out and making another "Blehh!" sound.

"Meyers, can't you come stay with me?" She turned to Jacqueline. "Shane can go stay with Cole."

Cole Harris was Jacqueline's boyfriend of years. He worked at a tattoo parlor downtown. He was the typical bad boy while she the good girl. Personally, River did not like the vibe the dude gave her but he was devoted to Jacqueline and she guessed that was all that really mattered.

Jacqueline shook her head, laughing. Of course, she wasn't leaving her boyfriend. Cheesy relationships.

As if you don't fancy that! River's inner voice snorted.

River rolled her eyes. Couldn't the little bitch in her head give her a break?

Now that she thought about it, she didn't think she had the option of a romantic relationship anymore. She always ended up breaking up within months of dating because of one, her job and two, her eccentricity and she was also bit of an aromantic. And now with the twins coming along, she really didn't think she was going to try for stable relationships because she didn't want them to get attached to anyone only to lose them later on.

She decided that she was going to drop all of her romantic fantasies and just have casual relations from now on. Well, it wasn't like any of her past relationships were really romantic or stable in the first place.

She really wanted to look for the father of the children. The guilt ate away at her for depriving all three of them of their bond but how was she to find someone who visited The Loft a few months ago with only the detail known being his intense caramel eyes. She was not going to pretend to be Prince Charming from Cinderella and find him solely based on the eye color. And what was the chance the man she found was the father – well, there was always a paternity test which could be taken to prove it – and what if the father didn't want to be in their lives? A lot of questions swarmed her mind all the time.

But if, by some miracle, this guy did turn up, and wanted to be part of the kids' lives, she wanted him to at least see the memories that he had missed. So, she had decided to record all those special moments. She did think that all moments involving her beautiful babies will be special but she had thought this out the day she got to know that she was pregnant and had a recording of the pregnancy test as well. And she had also gotten the first sonography session on camera as well that day.

And even if the father never turned up, she would still have all these beautiful memories with her. So, it was a win-win for her.

But then again, what was the probability of him ever turning up? And even if they did meet again, what was the probability of them remembering each other or realizing what their relation was?

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River quirked an eyebrow and suppressed a chuckle at the sight in front of her. Her dear old best friend was exchanging saliva with yet another bimbo he picked up from a club – she was one to quickly judge, she knew that. But she just couldn't help it. Her best friend always brought home the worst kind of women.

She strode in, pulling her forever untamed hair together and tying them up in a messy top knot before she tied her robe tightly around her. She hadn't got much sleep last night, or for the last two months for that matter, so she probably looked like a zombie right now.

The woman in his arms caught sight of her and pulled back, her eyes wide as her arms dropped from his chest.

"Who is she?" She asked, looking flustered and almost cheated. Has some self esteem, good. Maybe not a bimbo after all.

"I am the landlord and his best friend." River smiled at her. Her beautiful features eased out as she got off the counter.

"I should be leaving." She said, tucking a loose strand of her luxuriant blond hair behind her ear. Ah.. to have hair that sit where you want it to!

"No no, stay for coffee." River said, making her way to the coffee maker and pressing the power button. "Take a seat." She gestured to the stools behind the counter. She had to give credit to herself for this; she had done a great work with the interior designing of the place. Of course, she might have annoyed the designer to the point he would probably never work for her, but the place was pure perfection, not too flashy and very homey.

"Thank you." The woman smiled at River, climbing on to a stool.

Sebastian grinned at his best friend, wiggling his eyebrow at her from behind the woman he had picked up from the club last night while she nodded in approval. This was the first woman he had brought home in a long long time whom River did not dislike at first sight. And no one could blame River; though Sebastian was a pain in the ass and the personification of irritating, she still thought the ladies didn't deserve him. Her boy was just too awesome!

"What's your name, by the way?" She asked, taking out three coffee mugs from the wooden cabinets.

"Alison Wilkins." The gorgeous smiled genuinely. She had a very pretty smile.

"And I am-" River didn't get to finish it because one of her kids started wailing at that moment. Sebastian held a finger up knowingly and flicked it. As if on cue, the other one joined the morning chorus.

She placed the mugs down and was about to rush towards them when Sebastian held his palm up and gestured to himself. "I will take care of them. They obviously love me more."

River rolled her eyes as he turned on his heels and jogged towards the nursery.

"Are they.. " Alison trailed off, looking surprised again.

"Mine? Yes." River smiled. "He's their godfather."

"And the father?" Alison asked as she poured the coffee into the mugs.

"Not in the picture." River offered her a warm mug of coffee which she gratefully accepted. She passed her the cream and set Sebastian's mug down next to her before getting her own and climbing on to the kitchen counter.

"So what do you do?" She asked, taking a sip of the delicious coffee, savoring every drop. She had missed it during her eight months of being pregnant.

The children were born at thirty fifth week. A bit premature. They had managed to strangle each other with their umbilical cord so they had to operate them out. They both had some breathing troubles at first. But it was kind of normal for twins to be born before forty weeks. River had some complications as well. Well, she did have a very difficult pregnancy. The three were kept at the hospital for two more weeks and now were completely fine. Now she had two healthy two-month-old babies.

A girl and a boy, as she had predicted.

Kiara and Lucas Johnson.

"I work at Rhode Industries. I am assistant to the PA of the President. " Alison said. "And you?"

River nodded. Rhode Industries were pretty famous and the former chairperson was one of Dr. Rose's patients. "I am a resident doctor. I am going to resume work in a few months."

"What about the kids?" She pointed at the door Sebastian had disappeared into.

"My mother and grandmother are more than happy to take care of them." She smiled at the guest.

The two women fell into a comfortable silence, the only sound the occasional whimper or chuckle from the nursery.

"Do you miss being pregnant?" She asked out of the blue.

River was confused by the question. That really was a dumb question.

"I miss my bump." She shrugged unsure, as she took another sip from her mug.

The both of them stared at each other for a second before they burst out laughing.

They were catching their breath when they heard Sebastian make his way back.

River quirked a brow seeing the expression etched on his face.

"Oh my god!" Sebastian joined them on the table. "What on earth are you feeding them?"

His face was scrunched and his forehead beaded with sweat.

Alison and River looked at each other, and burst out laughing again, clutching their sides.

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