Chapter 484: Both a Son and a Daughter

Damien Vaughn and Cecelia Archer instantly lost all interest in chatting. They drove to the mall in a hurry and found Sherry’s shop.

The staff were busy. Candy and Annie were with their respective nannies, bouncing around the children’s play area. Sherry and Shane Grant hadn’t returned yet.

Cecelia Archer eagerly pulled out her phone.

“Should I call her, or should you? No, I can’t wait. I have to know what’s going on this instant. We only found out they were dating because Sherry’s pregnant! That Shane, what kind of friend is he?!”

Seeing how worked up she was, especially with her big belly, Damien Vaughn was terrified something might happen to her.

“I’ll call. Don’t worry. Just go sit down. We’ll have plenty of time to hear their story later. What’s all the fuss about?”

When Sherry answered the phone, Damien Vaughn realized Cecelia wasn’t the only one who was excited. Sherry was just as emotional.

“Damien…”

She barely got his name out before she started choking up on the other end.

“I’m at the hospital right now. I have some good news… I’m having a baby! I’m having a baby, did you hear me? I’m going to be a mom! Oh my god, I’m actually going to be a mom. It’s so amazing.”

Shane Grant, who was also panicking, was trying his best to calm her down from the background, reminding her that big emotional swings weren’t good for the baby.

“Hey, calm down. It’s okay. Having a baby is a perfectly normal thing. Why are you so overwhelmed? Easy, now. Tell me everything, just take your time.”

It hadn’t been an easy road for Sherry to get to this point. Damien Vaughn was truly happy for her, and he was relieved that she had ended up with Shane Grant. He offered them his heartfelt congratulations.

「Time flew by, and soon it was the end of the year.」

Cecelia Archer’s and Amina’s due dates were approaching, so they both checked into the hospital.

Donna Thorne and Sherry were both going to be first-time mothers. With their own deliveries just a few months away, they were intensely curious about the whole process and insisted on going to the hospital to “observe.”

Shane Grant and Brandon Jacobs had no choice but to tag along and check in as well.

When Faye Fisher heard everyone had gone to the hospital, she wanted to go too.

“How come every single one of them is pregnant except for me? Is there something wrong with me? No way. I’m going to go stay with them and soak up some of that good pregnancy mojo.”

Wyatt Wynn had no choice but to join the growing army of people on baby watch.

On the first day, the two mothers-to-be weren’t feeling a thing. In fact, they got so bored they wanted to play cards.

Sherry didn’t know how to play, so she watched from the sidelines.

Faye Fisher, not being pregnant, was the most energetic and loudest of the bunch.

“I won again! Pay up, pay up! My apologies, everyone. Taking advantage of you all at a time like this… it feels a bit like an unfair fight.”

She joked as she shuffled the cards. Sherry, with nothing better to do, found herself staring at Faye’s face.

After a moment, she suddenly spoke up.

“You know, Faye, I have a feeling you’re pregnant, too. They say pregnant women get that maternal glow, and their noses get a little bigger and rounder. I feel like your face has changed.”

“Really?” Faye Fisher leaned in, presenting her face to the other mothers-to-be.

“Is it that obvious? I don’t feel anything yet. Can you guys see it?”

Everyone took a close look at her face, one by one, and came to a unanimous conclusion: she was probably pregnant. Sherry’s observation was sharp; her features really had changed.

Overjoyed, Wyatt Wynn and Faye Fisher immediately rushed off for a blood draw and a urine test.

Before long, as everyone waited in anticipation, Wyatt Wynn returned, supporting Faye Fisher by the arm.

“Sherry, I owe you a huge red envelope! You’re a freaking psychic, you were spot on! She’s just one month along, but Faye is really pregnant!”

The hospital room erupted in celebration.

This was incredible. All of their children were conceived in the same year.

Maybe it was from laughing so hard, but soon after, Cecelia Archer started having contractions.

All her prenatal checkups had been positive, so she had opted for a natural birth.

Everyone was waiting anxiously outside the delivery room when, suddenly, Amina started having contractions too.

After three excruciating hours, the delivery room door finally opened. A nurse placed a tiny baby into the arms of Damien Vaughn, who had rushed forward.

“Congratulations! Mother and son are both safe and sound. Go on, take a look.”

Everyone quickly put on masks and crowded around to see the baby.

Since Amina was carrying twins, she had opted for a C-section.

Not long after Damien Vaughn’s son was brought out, good news came from Zeke Walton’s side as well: fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, and both mother and babies were safe and sound.

The whole group swarmed over to get a look at Zeke Walton’s babies.

It was a very happy New Year for everyone. Each of them had found the partner they loved and started their own family.

The following year, around the beginning of May, Sherry also safely gave birth to a beautiful little princess.

At the end of September, Wyatt Wynn welcomed his son into the world.

By then, Zeke Walton’s and Damien Vaughn’s children were almost a year old.

Looking at Wyatt Wynn’s newborn, the youngest of the bunch, Zeke Walton joked.

“So, should we arrange their marriages now? Out of this whole pile of kids, the only two princesses belong to our family and the Grant family. You guys have some stiff competition for your sons, so you’d better put on a good show. I’ll betroth my daughter to whoever can suck up to me the best.”

Wyatt Wynn was the first to protest.

“You were a victim of an arranged marriage yourself! Have you already forgotten the pain now that the wound has healed? How can you inflict that same suffering on your own kids? I’m not arranging any marriage for my son. All that ‘hoping your son becomes a great man, hoping your daughter becomes a great woman’ pressure… I don’t care about any of that. I just want my child to grow up happy and healthy.”

Everyone murmured in agreement.

His joke having fallen flat, Zeke Walton turned the tables and started ribbing Wyatt Wynn instead.

“Easy for you to talk about wanting your ‘daughter to become a great woman’ when you don’t even have one! Your son was just born, and you’re already thinking about having a daughter. You really don’t treat poor Faye like a human being. Faye, did you hear that? This guy’s just using you as a baby-making machine! He’s already planning for a second kid. Don’t you fall for it!”

Everyone watched, enjoying the show. As expected, Faye Fisher’s retort didn’t disappoint.

“It’s not clear who’s the baby-making machine in this relationship! The man’s useless. He knew perfectly well I wanted a daughter, and he gives me a son. Nope, we’re going again next year. I am absolutely having a daughter!”

“And you, Zeke Walton, wipe that smug look off your face! You’re only lording it over us because you have one of each. Just you watch, I’ll one-up you next year.”

Everyone burst out laughing.

Zeke Walton retorted, “Maybe we’ll have another one next year, too. Then we’ll have two boys and two girls. You’ll never be able to catch up to us.”

“Your babies aren’t even one year old yet and you’re already talking like that! Aren’t you the one treating poor Amina like a baby-making machine?”

Zeke Walton pulled Amina over and planted a kiss on her for everyone to see.

“Amina, darling, you tell them. Is one son and one daughter enough? If I wanted to have more, would you be willing?”

“I would.”

Amina might seem meek and gentle on a normal day, but she was fiercely protective of Zeke Walton when it mattered.

“I’ve been telling our parents the same thing. Two children is too few. In a couple of years, once these two are a little older, we’ll have two more. I’d love to.”

The room erupted in laughter once again.

Damien Vaughn gently nudged Cecelia Archer.

“See that? Look at her attitude. She talks about having kids like it’s nothing. Unlike you… I practically have to beg you just to discuss it. How about in a couple of years, we have another one? I want a little girl. I want to be there for her, for every step of her childhood. I missed out on so much when Candy was little, and I regret it so much.”

He hadn’t expected Brandon Jacobs to overhear his quiet suggestion.

“Hey, if you’re all having more, then so are we. Honey,” he said, turning to Donna, “how about we have a daughter in a couple of years, too?”

This sent everyone into yet another fit of laughter.

“Alright, alright! Everyone have more babies! Go on, have as many as you can! The future birth rate of Veridia is depending on us! HAHAHAHA!”

(The End)