Page 32 of Never Really Mine
21
MARLEY
Otherbaby?
“I’m sorry, what now?” I question.
“Baby A.” She moves the wand. “Baby B,” she says, as if that explains everything. “You’re having twins.”
“Twins?” I shriek.
Beau’s completely still next to me, his eyes wide and focused on the screen where our baby, no,babies, are displayed side by side. Two little beans.
Two.
Not one.
Two.
Beau squeezes my hand, and my heart races with each breath I take. “Holy shit, okay. I don’t,” I stutter. “How? What?”
“Twins can run in families. Do either of you have a set of twins in your immediate or extended family?” The tech is so calm, as if she didn’t just change my life even more than it already was.
I shake my head, and Beau does the same. “No, no one in my family is a twin.” I pause as I realize that, in fact, is not true. “Oh my god, my grandma was a twin,” I breathe.
“Twins usually skip a generation, so that makes sense.” The tech does her thing, moving her wand around, showing us different angles of the babies.
She takes measurements and when she’s done, has me head into the bathroom to clean up, letting us know she will be right back to bring us back to our room, and then she’s gone.
I use the restroom, cleanup, and watch as Beau paces back and forth in front of the bed. I climb back in, still mindful of the IV pole I’ve been dragging around. Once I’m comfortable and covered, he speaks.
“Twins run in your family?” Beau asks incredulously, using his free hand to run over his face and beard. He grabs hold of my hand, and we both squeeze tightly, holding onto each other. “You didn’t think to mention that?”
I scoff in irritation.“Yes, Beau, tell me. When should I have mentioned that twins run in my family? Before, or after, you mauled my face?” I imitate myself. “Oh, by the way, Beau, if I somehow get pregnant tonight, there’s a chance it might be twins since they run in my family.”
He huffs out a sigh, leaning down to rest his head against my forehead. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t kind of me. I’m just… very overwhelmed. Going from one baby to two is a lot.”
“Yeah, you’re telling me. I’m the one that has to push two babies out of my vagina.”
Beau grimaces. “I can’t believe there’s two.” He looks back at the screen where the tech froze a photo of them.
I’m suddenly overwhelmed by it all as I realize one thing. Tears careen down my face. “I forgot to ask for a picture,” I cry, lifting my hand that’s still entwined with Beau’s to wipe away my tears. “Now I’ll never get to see them this little again, Beau. They’re going to grow.”
“Oh, my love,” Beau croons, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. “I’ll ask for a picture of them. And I took a video withmy phone.” He points to his phone sitting on the small desk in the corner. “We have it all on video. Their heartbeats, finding out we have two babies, everything.”
Now I’m crying for a whole other reason. “You did?”
He nods, lifting my hand to his lips to press a soft kiss to the back of my hand.
“Thank you,” I cry.
He leans down as if he’s going to kiss me, but there’s a knock on the door, interrupting us. Beau steps back, clearing his throat and scratching at the back of his neck.
“Alright, I’ll take you back to the room, and then Doc should be in,” the tech says, her face light and happy. “How are we doing?” She guides me off of the table and into the wheelchair.
“Overwhelmed,” I say with a shaky voice, my mind still unable to process anything else.
“I’m sure,” she replies, squeezing my shoulder. She lays another blanket across my lap, moving the IV over, and then pushing me out the door. I want to walk, as I’m feeling a lot better, but I know it’s probably some policy that I have to be in the chair, so I don’t bother asking. Beau walks next to me, hands in his pockets, face unreadable.
