Page 78 of A Trial of the Heart
“Umm… An ultrasound will have to confirm, but I’m detecting two heartbeats.”
“Wait.” I quickly sat up on my elbows, glaring at her. “Like, it’s two damn babies growing inside me?”
“Yes, two,” she confirmed. “All that fucking and sucking done caught up with y’all asses, and now, look at you. Done popped it for a real one, and he sat yo’ ass down.”
“LeeAnn,” I said in embarrassment. My eyes bucked before looking Rashad’s way.
“Oh, shoot.” Her face drained a bit of its color. LeeAnn had gotten so comfortable that she forgot all about Rashad being present, but his tall frame was hard to miss. She looked Rashad’s way. “My bad.”
“It’s really two in there?” he asked, seeming unfazed.
“Looks that way. I can see if we can get her in for an ultrasound to confirm, but I’m pretty confident that I’m hearing two separate heartbeats, and they do not belong to Shiloh.”
“Wow.” I dropped back on the examining table. This pregnancy was in its early stages, but it was already full of twists and turns.
Rashadand I rode the elevator in silence. We had waited the extra two hours for a spot to be seen by the ultrasound technician. As suggested, there were two babies in there. They were tiny but seemed to be having the time of their lives growing. I was still in shock that I couldn’t pull my eyes from the few pictures they captured of the twins.
“Shocking, huh?” Rashad asked, causing me to pull my eyes from the black and white photos up to him.
“Very. I can’t even explain it.” I was on a high.
“You happy?”
His question was loaded, so much so I wasn’t sure how to answer.
“Umm… About the babies? Yes.” I had to clarify my happiness. “You?”
“I mean, I would have wanted it planned better, but I can’t lie... Hearing the heartbeats and seeing our creations baking gave me the happiness I didn’t know I needed.”
Hearing that caused me to smile. “You think we can do this?”
“What’s that?”
I didn’t answer right away. I was choosing my words carefully but wanted to get my question across.
“Co-parent in a healthy way? I mean, we’re kind of strangers that have been placed in a lot of forced situations together. Can we make the parenting thing work?” I asked the same question twice, but I needed him to understand me fully.
With a perplexed expression, he peered down at me.
“Strangers?” He chuckled. “You tell strangers you love them every day?”
I pressed my lips together. “You know what I mean. You aren’t really a stranger obviously, and I do love you as I stated, but we can’t pretend. There’s not a lot we know about each other. I just want to make sure that no matter what, you and I will do what’s best for these little people.” I laughed nervously.
“No doubt. They’re what matters. We’re both grown, so we can do this.”
I smiled. For some reason, hearing him say that sounded good.
“We can.” I nodded.
Silence hung between us, yet we never looked away from each other. It felt like it should have been awkward, but I felt safe, protected, and even loved, though he hadn’t said it as I stared at him. The dinging of the elevator indicated we had reached the lobby. The door slowly sliding back interrupted our small moment.
“Thank you for coming today.”
LeeAnn would hear a mouthful from me later, but I couldn’t lie. I was grateful she overstepped and told Rashad about the appointment.
“Glad I could be here.” His tone was blasé. It was a good thing no one stepped on the elevator, or anyone needed it atanother floor because we never stepped off, and the door slowly closed.
“Next time, though, how ’bout you reach out and let me know things about our children.” Rashad wasn’t rude, but his tone held authority.
