Page 49 of Safe at Home

“No, take my car,” Emma said and held out her keys. “I’ll go with Molly and Susan. I’m parked in Lot D. Just hit the panic button, and you’ll be able to find it. It’s a silver Jetta.”,

“Are you sure?” I asked. She had just met Tyler’s parents, and here she was, offering to let his dad borrow her car.

“Without a doubt. They are family,” Emma said and pulled me into a hug. “My nieces and/or nephews are very important. Getting their dad and grandpa to the hospital is important, too.” I wasn’t sure what Emma would technically be to my babies, but I knew I would be proud for them to call her Aunt Emma.

“Get a move on, and make sure those grandbabies of mine are okay,” Mike said after he gave his wife a quick kiss. He gave me a big hug and patted Emma on the shoulder.

“Molly!” I heard from the hallway and sat up in my hospital bed. I awaited my husband coming into the room. He was still wearing his baseball uniform, and I could see he hadn’t even showered. He rushed over to my bed and took my face into his hands. “Are you okay?” He leaned down and hugged my stomach. “Are the babies okay?” He noticed the bands around my stomach that were attached to a monitor. The monitor beeped loudly. “Oh, crap! Did I mess it all up?”

“This must be dad,” my doctor said from the other side of my bed. “And, no, you didn’t mess anything up. That was baby A showing some excitement.”

“Yes, Dr. Cowan, this is my husband, Tyler,” I said with a smile. “The babies love when he talks to them.”

“So does that mean the babies are okay?” Tyler shook my doctor’s hand and then took my hand in his. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Mr. Stone, your wife had some vaginal bleeding, and with twins, that could be a concern. We have drawn some of her blood to see if we can determine the cause, and those results should be back tomorrow. I would like to keep her overnight to monitor her and the babies.”

“Of course,” Tyler said. “Am I allowed to stay with her?”

“As long as you take a shower,” I said with a grin.

“There is a couch over here with your name on it,” Susan said to her son. “We wouldn’t have expected anything else.”

Ty turned around and hugged his mom. “Thank you for taking care of Molly and the babies and for bringing her here.”

“Of course!” Susan said and hugged him back. “We already got a hotel room close by. We won’t be far if you need us. But Molly is right. You do need a shower.”

A new nurse I hadn’t met came into the room. She was wheeling a small table behind her with a computer on top. There were lots of wires and handles hooked up to the computer. “So, twins, I see! How exciting! Are we finding out the sexes of the babies?”

“No!” a collective cry around the room sounded.

“We want to be surprised,” Tyler said.

The doctor excused herself to check on other patients but said she was on call tonight and to let the nurses know if she was needed at all.

“I see it here in your chart now. I always ask because sometimes people do change their minds,” she explained. “I’m Tia, the ultrasound tech. We want to just check in on these two and make sure everything is okay.”

“Do you want us to go out in the hallway?” Emma offered.

“Are you kidding? You guys are more than welcome to stay,” I said.

“Well, we usually recommend anyone other than the significant other go in the hallway. If something is wrong and needs to be discussed, it can be done in private.”

“If something is wrong, I’ll want my family here more than anything,” Tyler said as I squeezed his hand. I agreed with him.

“Alrighty,” Tia said and lifted my hospital gown. She squeezed some gel on my stomach and warned me it would be cold. She took a cable from the computer and hooked it to the monitor that had been showing the babies’ heartbeats. The screen went blank. She took the wand from the side of the computer and began moving it around. We heard the thump thump thump of a heartbeat, and I felt the tears streaming down my face.

“Here is Baby A,” she said. “As you can see, they are very active and moving around wonderfully. Baby A is measuring a little behind schedule at 23 weeks, but that is normal for twins.”

“Look at that cute little nose!” Susan exclaimed. “We will be able to get pictures of this, right?”

“Of course, ma’am,” the ultrasound tech said. She then moved onto Baby B.

“Awww, this baby is a little bigger. They are measuring right on schedule at 25 weeks. This baby is also very active. They must be keeping you on your toes already.”

I had to laugh. “I love how active they are.”

“I took a couple pictures of some things the doctor asked for, and she will go over the scans before speaking with you. The babies are active and measuring well. If there are any signs of complications, Dr. Cowan will let you know.” She handed me an envelope of ultrasound pictures and smiled at my family. “I made four copies of each picture.”

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