EPILOGUE

Abby

MARCUS IS SQUEEZING my hand so hard it’s almost painful. I squeeze back, and he releases a little and gives me a sheepish grin.

“Sorry,” he mutters. “I’m nervous.”

“Really?” I laugh wryly. “I can’t tell.”

We hear yet another buzz from his phone, and he sighs. “We shouldn’t have told anyone the scan is today. It’s been pinging all morning.”

With his spare hand, he withdraws the phone from his pocket, then turns the screen toward me. His lock screen is full of notifications.

“Are you two ready?”

We look up to where the sonographer is adjusting a computer monitor. I hold my breath as she brings the wand down on my bare stomach, then squeal at the cold gel. Marcus strokes the hair back from my face, and then we hold our breath.

I’ve had an easy pregnancy so far, except for the fact that I’m already busting out of my clothes. Marcus says my curves are “sexy as fuck.”

“Okay, and here we go,” the sonographer says softly. On the screen is the flickering of a heartbeat. Relief and joy bring a wave of tears to my eyes. I look to Marcus, and he’s blinking rapidly. This is my family. I can’t believe how lucky I am.

He tried to convince me to marry him before the baby comes, but I told him he’s just going to have to wait. I’m in no rush—there’s no way I could doubt how committed he is. The man is so crazy about me he can barely think straight, and I’m every bit as smitten. We can get married next year, when I can fit into a dress that wouldn’t also double as a tent.

There’s a second good reason for waiting—we’ve been spending a lot of time with Warwick and Rita, and although Lindy was nervous about it at first, she’s gradually becoming more supportive of Marcus and Luca reconnecting with their biological father. I think with just a little more time, we’ll be able to share our wedding day with all of Marcus’s parents.

“Everything looks good?” Marcus asks the sonographer urgently, and the woman nods.

“At a glance, sir, yes. I’ll do some proper measurements now, and—oh.”

“Oh? What’s ‘oh’?” I blurt. The sonographer is concentrating fiercely as she stares at the screen, and Marcus’s death grip is once again cutting off the blood flow to my fingers.

“Just give me a moment,” she says carefully, then she sits back in her chair. “Well, heck. Can you two see what I see?”

My vision is blurry. I can’t make sense of the blob on the screen—it’s moving too much to even see the flickering heartbeat anymore. Where did the heartbeat go? I turn to Marcus. The color has drained from his face.

“What’s wrong? Something is wrong, isn’t it?”

“Abby,” Marcus says cautiously. “Just calm down and look at the screen.”

“It just looks like blobs to me.”

“Exactly,” he whispers, then he grins. “Blobs.”

It’s my turn to pale as I drag my gaze back to the screen. Now there’s no mistaking it—I can see not one but two flickering heartbeats, safely tucked inside not one but two little humans.

“Wait,” I say urgently, and the sonographer smiles at me. “But are you sure? That’s what’s in there? That’s definitely my stomach?”

“Yes, ma’am...”

“Are twins genetic?” Marcus asks.

“Mostly luck,” the sonographer tells us, then she laughs. “Good or bad luck, depending on your perspective.”

“Good luck,” Marcus says, then he clears his throat and he squeezes my hand again. “It’s good luck. This is the best luck.”

“Holy shit,” I say through lips that are suddenly numb with shock. “They said I might never have a baby, and we accidentally made two?”

“Sometimes,” the sonographer says softly, “some things are just meant to be.”

I look at Marcus. There are tears on his cheeks, and he brings our entwined hands to his face and leans into them. Our eyes meet, and I start to cry, too, as I whisper, “I know exactly what you mean.”

Keep reading for a special preview of the next book in Kelly Rimmer’s Start Up in the City series,

Unspoken

Coming soon from HQN Books.