| |
No one had to tell her that she was stressing out over nothing, but no matter how many times she tried to convince herself that Hannah was totally off the mark in the following days, that she had proof from the doctor himself, she couldn’t shake the memory of stories about women who had given birth — who hadn’t even known they were pregnant. Or about women who were only expecting one special delivery and wound up with a little extra surprise.
She’d lost track of the number of times she found herself in the bathroom eyeing her profile ... specifically, her stomach. Would being barely five feet tall account for the fact that she very much resembled Jess and Holly just before they’d given birth to Tara and Bailey. There was no doubt they had more space between their hip bones and ribs than she did, but was it that much more?
In an effort to distract herself from those thoughts, she had been spending a lot of time with the stereo blaring while she went through the house cleaning and organizing things Cal wouldn’t notice. Or at least she hoped he wouldn’t. He tended to see things other men missed, so she had to be careful. But right now, all she wanted to do was stay busy.
Once the baby arrived, she wouldn’t have nearly as much time on her hands, if she had any at all — and she hoped so with all of her heart. Used to working since her graduation from college, being a stay-at-home expectant mother was turning into one of the most boring things she’d ever done.
Maybe she’d just buy a pair of comfortable slippers, the kind with the gel in the soles, and start going into work with Cal a few days a week. She could sit on a stool and help prepare food for cooking. And polish the silverware. It didn’t matter what the job was, it was better than sitting at home trying to figure out ways to keep herself occupied. And much better than driving herself crazy with off-the-wall thoughts about twins.
She’d sure be glad when it was Friday.
~~~~~
DARBY WONDERED IF HER doctor ever experienced anything close to having a huge stomach pressing on a full bladder. The water she’d been told to drink twenty minutes ago in order to have the impromptu test was becoming a problem — and the doctor had yet to make his second appearance. The longer she sat on the edge of the table in the less than comfortable paper gown that tore a little every time she moved to get more comfortable, the more sick to her stomach she felt.
She just wanted this appointment to be over, to have the previous test results confirmed, and to put the thoughts of a multiple birth out of her mind for good. Twins didn’t run on either side of their families, so it was silly to entertain the thought for a minute, much less five days.
When the door opened and Dr. Taylor walked back in again, she couldn’t work up a smile for the huge, teddy-bear-like man. He always put her in mind of someone more suited to playing football than delivering babies.
“Are you doing okay. Ready to check this out and see if your baby has a roommate?” he asked, glancing over the chart on the laptop he held, looking at the numbers for her blood pressure, weight, and whatever else the nurse had typed in it. Wasting time going over the same information he’d looked at half an hour ago...
“I’m fine. And past ready.”
“Then why don’t you lie back and get comfortable?” He set the computer on the counter and came to stand beside the table — and the machine that would put her fears to rest once and for all.
After covering her legs with a sheet, he picked up a plastic bottle. The gel was warm when he squeezed a glob of it on her stomach, but after he rubbed the transducer over it, she didn’t really notice it anymore.
“Hmm,” he said, leaning in to get a closer look at the screen. Darby felt her heart speed up, fearing that something might be wrong.
“What is it?” she demanded, a tremor in her voice.
“I think I’m seeing three arms.”
“What? My baby has three arms?”
“No, I don’t think so. I see four legs and two heads, too.”
What he was saying wasn’t making sense, like he was speaking gibberish. He must be the kind of doctor who thought scaring a patient half to death was funny, only she found no humor in it at all. When he looked at her and grinned, she wondered what he might do if she smacked his arm.
“I was right. I thought I might have heard two heartbeats this time. That’s why I decided to do the ultrasound today instead of next month. You’re having twins, Darby. The babies must have been lined up perfectly the last time, so we didn’t see it.” When she didn’t respond, his smile dimmed just a bit. “You’re getting a ‘two for the price of one’ deal.”
For a moment it felt like her heart must have stopped as the shock of the words began to sink in. Two babies. Twins. Her face felt frozen. Sure, the girls had teased her about it, but then they’d relented and determined she was so big because she was so short. Except there really were two babies.
Something he said finally registered. Three arms... She looked at him wide-eyed and terrified.
“One of my babies only has one arm?”
“No, no,” he said, chuckling and patting her shoulder. “I’m ninety-nine percent sure there’s a fourth one hidden behind his or her sibling. It’s a little crowded in there, you know. Not a whole lot of space to stretch out and get comfortable.”
Twins.
Hannah had been right. How could she be right? What would Cal say? Sometimes she was afraid he was still worried about one baby. What would he think when she told him they were going to have two?
“Are you okay?” Dr. Taylor asked, looking at her, his brows raised. “I know it’s a shock, but once you get used to it, you’re going to love the thought of having two babies.”
But will my husband? she wondered, as the doctor turned to leave the room.
~~~~~
“BREATHE. JUST BREATHE,” Darby whispered with a voice that trembled.
Although she was breathing, it felt more like hyperventilating as she sat there holding the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white. Willing herself to relax, she concentrated on loosening her grip, finally dropping her hands to her round belly.
Twins? The word echoed in her mind like it was being shouted through a bullhorn.
While one part of her was thrilled, mostly she was just terrified. Her marriage to Cal had never been better, but she didn’t know if it was strong enough to survive a blow like this. For as much as she wanted children, she didn’t want to lose her marriage in the process.
“Stop it,” she muttered irritably.
She was being ridiculous. Cal wouldn’t leave because they were having more than one baby. He wouldn’t. He wasn’t that kind of man. Still, she couldn’t shake the fear that he might start avoiding home by returning to his former hours on the job. Maybe not intentionally, but once the thought took hold, it wouldn’t let go. No matter how much he’d changed since she’d almost left him, maybe it wasn’t permanent.
“That’s enough!”
Taking another deep breath, she looked out the windshield to find herself parked at the curb on Cochran Avenue — right in front of the Half Day Cafe. Funny, she didn’t even remember getting here. In fact, the drive from the medical building was a complete blur. Still, her stomach grumbled at the thought of a second roll in one week, and she laughed a humorless laugh. Maybe if she did something normal, gave her system a sugar overload, she might feel better. She’d been so nervous before the appointment, she hadn’t eaten much.
She made it just inside the door before the fear nearly paralyzed here and she stood there unmoving until Wendy hurried over to her side.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, gently touching Darby’s shoulder. Darby looked at her, saw the worried expression on her face, but didn’t know what to say. “Do you need me to call someone?”
“No. I– Uh– I think I need to sit down.”
When she still didn’t move, Wendy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her to the back booth, then she murmured something about being right back. In what felt like only moments, she returned with a cup of peppermint tea and a cinnamon roll. Darby watched her slide into the seat across from her.
Thanking her, she spun the foam cup in slow circles, shaking her head every few seconds, not sure what to do or say. Finally Wendy asked, “Are you in labor?”
“No. I’m not— I’m not due until the end of March.”
“You’re kidding!”
“Yeah, I know, right?” Wendy’s stunned reaction struck her as hilarious and she started to laugh, even as tears filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks in a seemingly never-ending stream. “I just came from the doctor’s office. Twins. We’re having twins. It took Cal forever before he was comfortable with having one baby. What’s he going to do when he finds out we’re having two?”
“You haven’t told Cal yet...”
It wasn’t a question, and Darby realized how — not right — it was to be telling someone else before she told her husband. But there was nothing to be done about it now. The words had already left her mouth and there wasn’t a thing she could do to recall them. First, she’d found out she was having more than the one baby they’d agreed to. Now, the first person she’d shared that news with was a woman she barely knew instead of the husband who deserved to hear it before anyone else. Whether he wanted to hear it or not... Well, that was something else altogether.
“No. I – don’t know how to tell him. He’s going to hate me.”
“Oh, sweetie, Cal isn’t going to hate you. He might be a little surprised, just like you are, but he’s going to love your babies just as much as you will.”
“Do you think so?” She wiped at the tears and looked the older woman with more hope than she’d felt since receiving the news.
“I really do.”
“I don’t know what to do.” Wendy reached across the table and took both of her hands, holding them gently.
“If it were me, I think I might go home and make a special meal, light some candles, put some soft music on ... and then tell your husband the wonderful news. That you’re getting two babies to love instead of one.”
After a moment, Darby looked up, her long lashes spiky with the tears that continued to fall.
“It is wonderful news, isn’t it?” She knew it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself rather than agreeing with what Wendy had said, but for the first time, she felt a spark of excitement. Not much, but it was more than there’d been before.
“The most wonderful kind of news ever. Just think, Darby. You won’t have to share because you’ll have two babies to bring joy into your home. It might be hard for the first few months when they need to be fed every few hours, but even then it will be worth all the sleep you lose. I loved every stage my kids went through, but that first year... There’s nothing like it. It goes by so fast you’ll wish you could find a way to rewind it so you can do it all over again.”
“What if we can’t?” she asked, voicing one of the fears that had been tormenting her since the doctor’s announcement. “What if we’re horrible parents?”
“Haven’t you been wondering that same thing already? When you thought you were just having one?”
“Yeah, I guess we have.”
“It’s normal, Darby. Trust me. No matter how much they want a baby, all parents are scared. I’ll grant you that twins are probably a little scarier than a single baby, but it won’t be that much different. You just need to feed them, keep them warm, hold them, and love them. And I don’t think you and your husband are going to have a problem doing any of those things.”
Darby mulled her words over for a few minutes and finally realized she was right. She needed to give Cal more credit, or at least the benefit of the doubt. There was no way she could predict his reaction, so she might as well just tell him and get it over with.
“I guess I should figure out something for supper.”
“I can help with part of it.” Wendy jumped up, boxed up a whole apple pie, putting it and two salads in a plastic bag and bringing it back to the table. “There. Maybe you can just do steaks and baked potatoes to go with it.”
“That would work. Yes. Thank you. How much do I owe you?”
“Not a thing. I mean it.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Just tell me that talking it over here helped.”
“It did. Really. I was such a mess when the doctor told me. We weren’t scheduled for an ultra sound until December, but he thought he heard two heartbeats, so he did one right in his office. I wasn’t — expecting it.” Of course, she’d been worried about it, but she’d honestly wanted to believe he’d been right months ago when he’d said it was just a single baby. Maybe a large baby, but still only one.
“I don’t think anyone ever does. But it will be all right. You have a lot of friends, and from what I know of them, they’ll be glad to pitch in and help if you need it.”
“Yeah, they will, won’t they? They’re great.” She looked at the table, at the cinnamon roll she hadn’t touched, and whispered, “You won’t say anything?”
“Not a word. I promise. We’ll pretend this conversation never happened.”
“Thank you so much.” She maneuvered herself out of the booth and they hugged hard. One of the babies chose that moment to give a forceful kick. Darby watched Wendy’s eyes fill with tears as she stepped back and lightly touched her fingertips to her belly. “I guess I should go now.”
“Good luck. And, Darby? Congratulations.”
Smiling her first real smile in a several days, she picked up the bag and headed back out to her car. Cal wouldn’t be home for a couple of hours, so that would give her plenty of time to get supper things ready. And to try not to worry too much. Like that was actually possible, but she’d give it her best shot.