Chapter Text
“Babe, I think maybe we should call it and just try again tomorrow.” Betty says softly, her hand pressing to her husband’s back with gentle affection.
Archie had been ridiculously excited to take the twins to Disney World. He’d been trying to get her to go for years, but she’d insisted they wait until they were at least five years old and might actually remember and appreciate the experience. Archie uses their kindergarten graduation, complete with insanely adorable caps and gowns, as a perfect excuse to indulge in the trip.
He’d taken care of every detail; booking Character Breakfasts, securing fast passes for the best experiences, and even springing the extra money to stay at a hotel on property for the added perks. He’d planned for every detail, even the most minutiae, except for one factor he forgot no amount of planning could account for.
The unpredictability of Florida thunderstorms.
All of their afternoon plans are dashed by rain delays. Luckily, the twins seem perfectly content occupying themselves. Freddy is jumping and splashing in the puddles that have formed just past the small awning they’ve taken refuge under. Betty’s abandoned her poncho in favor of draping it over their various bags, containing snacks, suntan lotion, coloring books, and a variety of items Archie had spent way too much money on at the gift shop. Nora is using it like a tent and has been reading a picture book for the last half an hour, living her best life.
“The concierge said that it’s worth it to wait it out,” He reminds her. “Sometimes these things pass by in fifteen minutes and if everyone else leaves, that means shorter lines for us.” He adds, reciting the exact phrasing of the man they’d spoken to two afternoons ago when they’d checked into their resort.
She ignores the fact he’d said the exact same thing to her twenty minutes ago when she’d mentioned this earlier. “Okay, babe.” She can’t help but smile at his determination, one of the things she loves most about him. She might be wet, hot, and tired but she won’t be ruining the magic for anyone on this trip, least of all him. She fixes the Mouse Ears he’d demanded they all choose a pair of on their first day at the parks, hers are rose gold glitter with a flower crown, and resolves to have a good attitude.
Thirty more minutes of waiting, one overpriced souvenir bucket of popcorn, and two churros later; the rain still hasn’t let up. “Daddy, can we just go back to the hotel?” Freddy always starts to whine first, he’s got far less patience than his sister and a much shorter attention span.
“Ten more minutes bud and if it’s still raining we’ll leave and go to the indoor pool.” Archie promises, not yet ready to admit defeat.
“Dad, are you feeling frustrated and disappointed?” Nora asks, her adorable face morphing with a very serious look of concern as she places her hand on his. “It’s okay to have big feelings.” She reminds him, parroting the words her mother had spoken at least a dozen times a day between her and her brother.
Archie can’t help but smile at that, scooping up his little girl and pressing a tender kiss to her cheek. “Who said you were allowed to be cute and smart? Huh? Mommy junior over here.” He tickles her belly and she starts to giggle wildly. Freddy, not wanting to be left out, throws himself into the mix and soon enough Archie has one twin under each arm squealing gleefully.
Betty pulls her phone out and snaps a few photos, smiling to herself as she notices a shift in their surroundings. “Hey, would you look at that, sunshine .” She points up towards the sky, where the sun is now peeking out and the gray storm clouds are being replaced by happier white ones.
The twins argue over who gets to hold hands with mommy and daddy at the same time, until Betty comes up with the solution of Archie giving Freddy a piggyback ride while they hold hands with Nora. Archie’s smile is triumphant as he guides them towards the Mad Hatter Tea Party ride, which he’d been talking up to the twins all day. Betty’s nauseous just thinking about it, but feigns the same level of excitement as the rest of her family as they climb into the teal colored death trap. “Daddy,” Freddy’s voice is full of hesitation as Archie snaps together his lap belt. “This doesn’t look so fun anymore.”
“This is gonna be so fun, buddy!” Archie starts, but he notices the slight quiver of his son’s lip and he knows there are only a precious amount of seconds before his mini me dissolves into tears. “Hey you know what is so cool about this ride? We get to control how fast we go! So you can help me, okay? We’ll start off really slow.”
His words seem to be a temporary placebo for his son who reluctantly nods but doesn’t melt down completely. ‘Great job,’ Betty mouths to him from across the Tea Cup, giving him a thumbs up of approval for the parenting win.
They do start off slow, but encouraged by his children’s laughter, he speeds them up pretty quickly. There’s a nearly constant chorus of ‘more’ and ‘faster’ sprinkled in between their giggles. These are the types of moments she wishes she could remember in finite detail. Archie’s happiness is mirrored so perfectly in their children’s eyes, it brings a tear to her own. She’d had a lot of reservations about having children. When they’d found out she was pregnant, she was nervous enough just with that development. Finding out she was carrying twins? It was beyond daunting, but somehow they’d not only kept the twins alive for five years, they’d helped nurture them into sweet, loving people that were fun to be around. Now, Betty can’t imagine life without her little family.
“Can we go again, please?” Nora pleads as they head off the ride. She and her brother are each holding one of their father’s hands.
“Yeah, Daddy, please?” Freddy joins in, tugging at his father’s fingers.
“What do you think Mommy, should we get back in line and run it back?” Archie turns his head over his shoulder to look at Betty inquisitively.
“Mommy is not feeling great,” She forces out a smile, though inside she feels a wave of nausea coming on. Ever since having the twins, motion sickness has been a real problem for her. “Why don’t you guys ride again and I’ll get our bags and wait for you right here.” She motions to a small, unoccupied bench adjacent to the ride’s exit.
“You okay, baby?” Archie scoots Nora over so she’s on the same side as her brother, his free hand cupping his wife’s face tenderly.
“Just a little queasy from all the spinning. I’ll eat some crackers and rally,” She insists, leaning in to kiss him gently. “You gonna be okay wrangling those two wildlings on your own?” She grins knowingly.
“We’ll see, but the point of having two at once is that it’s okay if we lose one, right?” He laughs, leaning in to kiss her once more before heading back into the line with the twins. Betty grabs their bags from the nearby lockers and takes a seat on the bench, drinking some water and eating a few crackers. Usually, that helps, but right now; it’s somehow making it worse. She looks around for the nearest bathroom, but knows she won't make it, and settles for a nearby trash can instead. She throws up a few times, but it actually sort of helps her feel better.
She hadn’t felt this way since…
Fuck .
She pulls her phone out and taps on her calendar, looking over the past few weeks, she notices she’s almost six weeks late. With planning the trip and renovating the house, plus Nora’s ballet recital and Freddy’s little league practices; she sort of forgot to keep track. She hasn’t been on birth control since before she got pregnant with the twins, but Archie’s very good about restraint and being careful most of the time.
Although, there was that long weekend away for their anniversary a month and a half ago. They’d definitely thrown caution to the wind for that entire seventy two hours.
She’d need to take a test later to be sure, but she was pretty positive that her current state had less to do with the ride she’d just been on and more to do with riding her husband during their trip to the Adirondacks.
“Feeling better?” Archie asks once he and the twins complete their second turn on the Tea Cups and arrive back at Betty’s designated meeting spot.
“Definitely,” She lies, popping a piece of gum in her mouth and standing up. “Where to next?” She asks with feigned enthusiasm.
They hit up the Jungle Cruise, It’s a Small World, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant; though Betty manages to avoid riding the latter by pretending to get an important work call. With the twins officially tuckered out, Archie announces that it’s time to head back to the hotel for the day. The children are both asleep by the time they’re all boarding the monorail and Archie reaches over to grab her hand gently. “Are you sure you’re good, babe?” He asks quietly.
“Today was amazing,” She insists, resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m just tired and you know how I get motion sickness these days.”
When they make it back to the resort, the twins have their second wind and remind Archie he’d mentioned the indoor pool earlier. He’s pretty easy to get to give into their whims, so as soon as they’re back in the room, Betty is pulling out everyone’s swimsuits and floaties. “Mommy, you’re gonna come and swim, right?” Nora asks, climbing onto the bed wearing her Little Mermaid themed bathing suit.
“Mommy is going to rest for a little while,” Archie answers for her, setting a can of ginger ale next to the bed along with a sleeve of crackers.
“Arch, it’s fine, I can-”
“You need some peace and quiet in the air conditioning.” He insists, kissing her forehead and then moving to pick up three of the pool towels Betty had set out. “If you’re feeling up to it, join us in a little while. If not, that’s fine too.” He scoops Nora up and sends her to go pick out a couple of the pool toys Betty’s packed.
“Best daddy and best husband, how did I get so lucky?” She reaches for him and he moves back to the bed, hugging her gently and then capturing her lips in a sweet kiss. “I love you.” She reminds him fondly.
“Love you too, beautiful.” He beams back at her, kissing her one more time before wrangling the twins to head down to the pool.
Betty wants to take advantage of the peace and quiet as her husband suggested, but she needs some more information before she’ll be able to relax. She’d be fine with whatever the test says one way or another and she knew Archie would be beyond ecstatic if she was pregnant. It’s the not knowing that’s currently driving her insane.
Luckily, the resort has its own little shops attached so she pops downstairs to buy the most overpriced pregnancy test of her life. One chugged bottle of water and the longest three minutes possible later, she flips over the test.
Two bold pink lines stare back at her.
Well, this was an unexpected development.
She changes into a one piece, throws on a flowy cover up, and heads downstairs, stopping at one more gift shop before making her way to the pool. She doesn’t feel like getting in, but she’ll attempt to read a book in a chair by the water and inevitably be interrupted to watch the hundred thousand times her children want to show her some fascinating trick.
“Mommy’s here!” Nora spots her first, squealing with excitement. Freddy hops out of the water first, beelining for Betty. “No running by the pool!” His sister shouts after him, power walking behind him like a true rule follower.
Their tiny wet bodies wrap around her legs and grasp at her hands until they guide her to the chair Archie’s snagged to leave all their stuff on. When her husband gets out of water, it attracts the attention of nearly every woman in the nearby vicinity. She’s certainly grown used to the open gawking these days. She smirks, thinking how lucky she is to enjoy his immaculate body whenever she wants to. “You came!” He smiles, leaning in to kiss her quickly before the twins are dragging him back to the water.
Betty moves to sit on the edge, dipping her legs into the cool water and watching her husband play with their children. Her hand moves absentmindedly to her lower belly, considering how this time next year, they’d have another one with them.
“Mommy, watch me!” Her son shouts for the sixth time in a row, this time demonstrating how he can float on his back while kicking his feet.
“No mommy, watch me!” Nora demands, kicking her feet to the side dramatically as she jumps off the ledge and towards her father.
“Wow, everyone is so impressive!” Betty encourages, clapping for both of them. “Is Daddy going to do a trick next?” Archie swims up and wraps his arms around her legs, tugging teasingly like he might pull her in. “Archie Andrews, don’t you dare!” She warns, though she giggles in a way that’s counterproductive to her serious warning.
“I would never,” He swears, placing a hand onto the pool deck on either side of her hips and lifting himself out of the water to kiss her. “I’ll do a few tricks for you later,” He whispers huskily into her ear, kissing her cheek before lowering himself back in the water with a wicked grin.
Betty bites her lip, letting her eyebrows raise with implied interest.
“Okay, we’re staying for ten more minutes and then we’re getting out to dry off.” Archie announces, bracing himself for the inevitable protest. Freddy starts to whine, of course, so he gives him a pointed look. “Should we make it five minutes instead?” The boy immediately stops complaining and resumes playing with his sister, causing his parents to share a victorious smile.
They grab a pizza to go on their way up to the room and the twins have eaten dinner, bathed, and changed into pajamas in less than half an hour. They both have their eyes closed already, but Archie sets them up with Moana playing, before closing the door to the small living room area of their suite. “Alone at last.” He grins, wrapping his arms around Betty’s waist from behind.
She turns around in his arms and kisses him, deepening the passion almost instantly. “C’mere. I want to show you some souvenirs I picked up for the twins.” She slips her hand into his and leads him to their bed and motions to the merch bag sitting atop it.
“I thought we were on a ‘no more souvenirs’ ban?” He feigns mock irritation at her.
“No, only you’re banned, he who spent over $300 on the first day in one gift shop.” She laughs gently as she reminds him, kissing his cheek again. “These ones were must-haves, trust me.” She adds with a wink, trying to quell her excitement so she doesn’t ruin the surprise.
Dipping his hand in, he pulls out two t-shirts. He unfolds the first one and blinks in confusion before repeating the action with the other one as well. He looks up at her, “Big brother and big sister shirts?” But once he says it out loud, it’s like the realization dawns on him. “Wait, what ? Hang on, are you serious?” His eyes go wide with excitement.
“Guess it was more than just the heat making me nauseous.” She pulls the pregnancy test out of her back pocket and hands it to him as further confirmation. “There better only be one in here this time though, or I’m actually going to kill you.” She warns him, her giggle lost to the crushing kiss he presses to her lips.
“I love you so much,” He mutters, picking her up and twirling her around gently.
“Less spinning, more kissing.” She commands, her fingers slipping to the hem of his tank top. “Let’s go take a shower,” She grins, pulling the fabric up and over his head before letting her fingers trail over his well-defined ab muscles. “You were amazing today,” She reminds him, moving her hands up to rub his shoulders to grant him some relief. “Sorry I kept abandoning you.”
He relishes in her loving touch, his eyes closing as she moves behind him, working her fingers harder against his taut muscles. “You were a trooper.” He insists, sighing contently as her thumb starts to work out a knot on the left side. “The rain, the heat, the spinning tea cups, and two boat rides all while pregnant? You’re the amazing one.” He corrects, leading her towards the bathroom.
They get in the shower and there is very little focus on getting clean. He makes love to her, his hand covering her mouth to stifle the sounds of her moans each time he pushes her over the ardent edge. “I have to be able to walk around Animal Kingdom tomorrow.” She reminds him, giggling gently.
“We’ll get you a wheelchair.” He smirks, teeth dragging across her neck before he nips at his shoulder, he does slow the pace of his hips though, easing in and out of her at an almost torturously slow speed now. “I told you the rule, you have to stop being so hot if you don’t want me to fuck your brains out.”
“Oh, you can fuck my brains out.” She digs her nails into his shoulder as he hits a particularly pleasuring angle, her breath catching in her throat. “Just maybe don’t displace my hips in the process.” She giggles again, the sound disappearing into his mouth as he kisses her passionately. Any train of thought she has leaves the station with no planned return trip and she throws her head back in ecstasy as he makes her fall apart for a third time. He follows not long after, kissing her while he comes undone.
He carries her to bed, pushing up the fabric of her nightgown so it pools over her belly, pressing a few kisses there before rubbing his hand gently over the area. “Hey littlest one, it’s Daddy.” He mumbles against her skin. “I love you already.”
Archie falls asleep with his face pressed against her stomach and her fingers carding soothingly through his hair, the day finally catching up with him. It doesn’t take long for each of the twins to migrate from the pull-out couch bed in the living room of the suite and into their parent’s king sized bed. Even with two pairs of feet shoving into her rib cage at different angles and Archie half-draped over her like a weighted blanket, she’s perfectly content.
This wasn’t the life she’d always imagined for herself.
This was so much better.