“How does it work?” Ashley’s mom asked.

“How does what work?” Ashley asked back.

“You’re pregnant with a baby from a donor, but you have two girlfriends. How does that work?”

“Mom, come on,” Ashley said.

“It works how it works,” Maddie added. “We’re all mothers.”

“But there are three of you.”

“Yes, so the baby will have three loving parents,” Katelyn replied. “And I know it’s hard to understand, but we’re not just girlfriends anymore. We haven’t been for a while now. We’re married in our eyes.” She reached for and took Ashley’s hand under the table. 

Maddie held Ashley’s other hand as they told Ashley’s parents about her being pregnant with their first child.

“So, all three of you will be parents?” Ashley’s dad asked.

“Yes, Dad,” Ashley confirmed.

“What do your parents think about this?” Ashley’s mom asked Maddie.

“They don’t know yet. We’re telling you first. We’ll tell them at dinner this weekend, and Katelyn’s family the following week when we see them. It’s just how it worked out scheduling-wise with all of us being so busy.”

“I’m sorry, honey,” Ashley’s dad said and shook his head. “It’s still strange for your mom and me to understand how this all works.”

“I know. But, Dad, you knew we were trying to get pregnant. This is good news. You’re going to be a grandpa.”

“And I am thrilled about that. I cannot wait to meet my first grandbaby; you know that. I’m in for the tea parties, the baseball games, the babysitting; all of it. And I’m not going to be one of those grandpas who thinks it’s tea parties for girls and baseball for boys, so you should prepare yourselves. I’m teaching them everything and playing all the games that they want.”

Ashley laughed at her father.

“I want you to have a healthy baby, and I want them to be loved and cared for. That’s all I care about. But this is still a strange thing for your mother and me. So, bear with us.”

“It’s not that we don’t support you,” her mother added. “It’s just still strange to go to your house and see that you each have your own rooms and one main room. Your father and I have shared the same room for thirty years.”

“Mom, I know. But this is what we want. I love Maddie and Kate. We’re married, even though we can’t do it legally. We all wanted to be parents, and now, we’re about to be. This was always our plan and our hope. We’re about to take that office we all use when we need it and turn it into a nursery, and we can’t wait.”

“And just so you know, Kate and I aren’t planning on letting Ash lift a finger during her pregnancy. We’re going to spoil her rotten and make sure she has everything she needs,” Maddie said.

Ashley squeezed her hand.

“And what if you have two?” her father asked.

“Huh?” Ashely asked back.

“Well, you don’t know that yet; you’re not far enough along. Your mom and I read up on this stuff with the donor and all that. It says there’s a higher likelihood of there being multiples, right?”

“Multiples?” Ashley said. 

She’d known all the numbers. They’d also talked to their doctor about how that was a possibility. But, for some reason, hearing her dad bring up the idea that she could currently be pregnant with more than one baby was hitting her in a way the numbers talk with the doctor hadn’t.

“You have that big house, but you all have your own rooms and then the main room together. If you have more than one, at some point, they’ll need their own rooms, probably, right? I know some people don’t care or do that, but if you had a boy and a girl, let’s be honest, in the future, they’ll want their own space,” her mom shared.

“Right,” Ashley said.

“We have a lot of time before we need to worry about that. And if that’s the case, we’d just have a room that’s for all of us, one that’s for one of us on the nights we’re not all together, and we’ll change the other rooms. We know what we’re getting ourselves into,” Kate said and squeezed Ashley’s hand. “Financially, we’re doing great. Maddie just got another promotion. Ash loves her job and got a raise last year. And I’m running the office at my company, making my own commissions and profit-sharing, so we’re secure, if you’re worried about that.”

“We’ll always worry. We’re the parents. Soon, you’ll get how that works,” Ashley’s dad said to Kate. “All of you will.”

“Mom?” Ashley asked, swallowing hard.

“Oh, honey. I can’t wait to be a grandma. I’m going to start working on my grandma name. Do I want Nana? Gan-Gan? Grandma?”

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed both Kate and Maddie’s hands.