Page 157 of Beautiful Exile

“You’re sure?”I asked, gaping up at Dr. Avery.

He smiled, the lines around his mouth deepening. “The test doesn’t lie.”

“I just—I—I’m supposed to be getting my stitches out,” I said dumbly.

Nora moved in next to me, her hand taking mine and squeezing. “And they’re out. This is just a bonus.”

A bonus.

The slightest flicker of fear lit something deep in the darkest parts of me. But then I remembered the light. Not the one that came from the sun or the bulbs over my head, but the one that lived inside me. The one that Linc and I had created together.

My hand went to my belly. And this little one was a part of it. A baby. A being that was me and Linc.

“What if I’m no good at this? What if?—?”

Nora cupped my face in her hands. “Arden. You were made for this. I’ve seen it more times than I can count. Your kindness. Your fierceness. It’s the perfect blend. And this baby is solucky to have you.”

I gently pressed my hand against where the baby lay, growing. “I love him or her already.”

Nora’s eyes misted. “Me, too.”

I was glad she had come with me today. Linc had a meeting he couldn’t get out of—there’d been quite a few of those lately. He’d gotten everything back in order for the Sparks and had even managed to rescue a skate company in Minnesota that Philip had targeted because of him.

We were healing in all ways. But right now, I was thankful for Linc’s many distractions because it was Nora I needed most in this moment. Someone who’d been down this road in infinite ways. Someone who was everything I wanted to be.

My gaze flew to Dr. Avery. “What about the surgery? The shooting? Is the baby okay? How do we know? Are we?—?”

He cut me off with a small smile. “Everything we’ve gotten back from your labs looks great. But why don’t we take a peek and see how your little one is looking?”

“Now?” I squeaked.

“You can come back with Linc if you’d prefer,” Dr. Avery assured me.

I worried my bottom lip, going back and forth in my mind. “Could we do both?”

Dr. Avery chuckled. “Of course, we can.”

Nora helped me lay back as Dr. Avery rolled over a machine. Pulling up my shirt, I waited. Nora took my hand in reassurance as the doctor squirted on some gel and began moving the wand over my stomach. But all I could think about was everything I’d been through these past few weeks. All thisbabyhad been through. I squeezed my eyes closed, hoping with everything I had that he or she was okay, safe.

And then I heard it.

A rapid whooshing. But Iknew.

“It’s my baby,” I croaked, my eyes flying open as he moved the wand again.

Dr. Avery grinned so wide it looked like his face might split in two. “Babies.Plural. There are two in here.”

Nora let out a strangled sound. “Twins?”

Dr. Avery nodded.

Nora chuckled. “Go big or go home. Isn’t that what the kids say?”

“Twins,” I whispered.

Nora squeezed my hand. “You okay?”

I looked at the doctor. “Are they okay? Both of them?”

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