A/N: Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans. :)

Chapter Twenty:

You Can't Stop the Beat

Two years later, Penny sat on an examination table in the obstetrician's office. Seaweed held her hand as the doctor studied the ultrasound pictures.

"Well," the doctor said, turning around, "would you like to know the sex of the babies? We can pretty much tell at this point, but some parents prefer to be surprised."

"We'd like to be surprised," Penny said cheerfully.

"We want to know," Seaweed said at the same time.

Husband and wife stared at each other stubbornly for a moment (this was obviously a longstanding squabble), and then Penny raised her eyebrows, turned to the doctor, and hoarsely whispered:

"Did you say babies?"

PENNY'S POV

June of 1978

"Girls! Lunchtime!" Penny placed a peanut butter sandwich each on two paper plates, poured two glasses of milk, and put it all on the table just as Jo barreled into the kitchen.

"Mmm, peanut butter!" The little girl grinned and sat down. "Thanks, Mommy!" Jo (short for Josephine) was the older twin by about two minutes, and the louder twin by about fifty decibels. At age six, she was already showing a preference for blue jeans over skirts, and for baseball over ballet.

Penny chuckled and shook her head as she watched her daughter wolf down her lunch. "Slow down, honey," she scolded gently. Jo nodded and kept chewing.

Just then, Alicia ran into the kitchen. Alicia was quieter and more feminine than her sister, always choosing pretty skirts over jeans and wearing her dark hair in braids, rather than a ponytail like Jo's. (Truthfully, their different hairstyles and clothing were a quick way for Penny and Seaweed to tell them apart.)

Penny was surprised to see her running. Being the "quiet twin," Alicia was really more of a walker. "What is it, sweetie?"

Alicia stopped and took a deep breath. "Jo and I were playing in the attic and then you called us down for lunch and then she left me up there"—she stopped for a moment to scowl at her sister, who nonchalantly took a swallow of milk—"and then I found this!" She blushed, obviously not used to saying so much so fast, and shyly handed her mother a grainy old photograph.

Penny blew off the thin film of dust that had collected on the photo and laughed as she realized what her daughter had found. "Wow, I've been looking for this for years."

"Who are they?" Alicia asked, standing on tiptoes to look at the picture. Jo finished chugging down her milk and trotted over to have a look.

Penny adjusted the photo so both of the twins had a good view, and then pointed to a dark-skinned boy who was holding a blonde around the waist. "That's your daddy and me."

Alicia studied the picture appraisingly. "Can you do my hair like that sometime?" she asked, pointing to sixteen-year-old Penny's extreme pigtails.

Penny chuckled. "Sure."

"What about these two?" Jo asked, jabbing a finger at a boy with a pompadour who was kissing a plump girl on the cheek.

"Those are your Aunt Tracy and Uncle Link."

Both girls stared at her, pop-eyed and open-mouthed.

"That's Aunt Tracy?" Alicia whispered, shocked.

"Her hair is huge!" Jo shouted.

"Well, that was the style back then."

"How did she do it?" Alicia asked in amazement.

Penny smiled wryly. "Well, she used a comb, and a headband, and a lot of hairspray..."

YOU CAN'T STOP THE BEAT!

A/N: -tears up- I can't believe it's over... but it had to end eventually, right:( Thanks so much to EVERYBODY who reviewed this story and/or added it to their favorites or alerts! Y'all keep in touch, now, ya hear:)

Well, I guess this is it. I think I'm going to take a break for a couple weeks (mostly because I am headed to an area with NO WI-FI--can you believe it:) ), and then start a new story, probably Wicked-related. As a final word...

"Keep the faith, baby." :)