Chapter 24
Vera
2006
M aking it to the twelve-week mark was a feat Vera was beyond happy to reach. Her first ultrasound six weeks ago had confirmed a healthy pregnancy, and Vera was beyond excited to see their baby again at her next appointment later that day. The first trimester had been rough, with morning sickness ruining most days for Vera. She felt bloated most of the time and was already frustrated that her favorite pair of pants weren’t fitting.
But Vera wasn’t complaining, at least not too much. Knowing her baby was alive and doing well made all the pain of losing Cole and the side effects from the current pregnancy worth it. The only complaint Vera did have was the fact nothing in her closet fit her.
“Ugh,” Vera groaned as she threw the pants onto the bed next to where Isla was lying. “Why is nothing fitting? I know I’m twelve weeks along, but come on.”
Turning sideways, Vera ran her hands down her already-pronounced baby bump as she looked at Isla.
“Were you this big at twelve weeks?”
She could see Isla’s hesitation to answer as she sat up on the edge of the bed. “Well, no, but all pregnancies are different.”
“Apparently I’m going to be an elephant by my eighth month.”
“Vera,” Isla laughed sympathetically as she stood and pulled Vera into a hug. “You’re beautiful.”
“Will you still love me when I’m an elephant?”
“Oh, yeah. Imagine how nice showers would be. You can use your trunk to wash your back.”
Vera playfully shoved Isla’s shoulder. “Stop it. I’m hormonal and this isn’t funny.”
Studying herself in the mirror, Vera ran her hand over her stomach once more. Her baby bump had been noticeable for weeks, much earlier than Vera had expected. She would have been convinced her due date was wrong if she didn’t know the exact date of implantation. And deep down she knew Isla was right. Everyone carried differently. Vera knew that better than anyone with her profession.
“I’m sorry.”
“Hey, there’s nothing to be sorry about.” Isla put her hand on Vera’s stomach. “You’re carrying our child beautifully.”
“I’m so excited to see her today.”
“Oh, so you’re back to calling it a girl, hmm?”
“Well, it seems so impersonal. Besides,” she covered Isla’s hand with her own, “you make pretty girls.”
The decision to use Isla’s eggs again had been an easy one for Vera. They had chosen for each to do reciprocal IVF, with Vera offering to go first. And after her miscarriage, Vera vowed to enjoy every moment of pregnancy. The good, the uncomfortable, and everything in between.
“I just think it’s a girl. I can’t explain it.”
“I believe you,” Isla chuckled. “Now come on. Let’s find you something to wear so we can go get new pictures of our baby.”
After picking out a pair of sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt, Vera followed Isla down the stairs into the kitchen. Mason was leaned over a bowl of cereal with a magazine laying on the table. She barely looked up at them as Isla poured herself a cup of coffee while Vera opted for a glass of orange juice.
“Mace, do you want to go to the doctor with us?” Isla kept her voice upbeat as she spoke. “You can see your new brother or sister.”
“I guess,” she shrugged in response.
Mason had been excited about the baby, but she was clearly more interested in whatever she was reading in the magazine in front of her.
“Can I do this?” Mason slid the magazine across the table to them. Vera picked it up as she and Isla scanned it. It was an article about a young girl who was training a service dog. “I think it would be fun. And it would help me learn responsibility.”
Oh, she’s pedaling hard for this , Vera chuckled to herself.
“We can talk about it,” Isla said, handing the magazine back to Mason. “It may need to wait until the baby is a little older, but I agree. I think it would teach you some responsibility, like how you’re not supposed to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night to meet your friends.”
Mason sunk down in her seat, obviously embarrassed.
“You’re not in trouble,” Vera added. “Just ask us if you want to go somewhere, okay?”
“Okay,” Mason mumbled.
“Where did you go?”
“To Maddie’s house.”
Of course. Maddie was one of Mason’s best friends. It made sense they’d sneak out together.
“Any drinking or drugs?”
“No.”
“Okay.” Isla was trying to play hardball, but it wasn’t how they parented Mason. She responded better to being treated like an adult than a kid.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Mace. We just don’t want you to get hurt, and anything can happen when you’re out late. We want to know where you are, okay?”
“Okay,” Mason nodded. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“That’s all we ask,” Vera said with a smile. Mason was a good kid and rarely did anything that needed disciplining. “Now, go change out of your pajamas for the appointment.”
As Mason all but sprinted up the stairs, Isla shook her head and leaned against the counter. They had caught Mason sneaking in late the night before but had agreed to confront her about it in the morning.
“Do you really think that’s the first time she’s snuck out?”
“I don’t want to know,” Vera laughed. “As far as I’m concerned, it was the first and last time.”
“Agreed.” They clinked their glasses together and laughed.
Vera happily thought back to a few weeks ago when they’d gotten the official notice that her adoption of Mason had been approved. She hated there was so much legality surrounding what she already knew, but Vera desperately wanted to legally be Mason’s mama. When the paperwork came in the mail, Vera screamed with excitement.
“What in the world?” Isla came running into the living room. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“It’s official!” Bypassing Isla, Vera Ran up the stairs to Mason’s room. She quickly opened the door, startling Mason. Isla was right on her heels and seemed to have pieced together what had happened. “It’s official!”
“It is?” Mason jumped off the bed, running over to Vera and hugging her. “I love you, Mama.”
“I love you, too, baby. So, so much.” Holding out her arm to Isla, the three embraced tightly.
Vera smiled at the memory.
“You have that dreamy look in your eyes.” Isla’s eyes were soft as she spoke. Vera went to her, letting her wrap her arms around her waist as Vera put her hands around Isla’s neck. “What are you thinking about?”
“How I get to be the mama to your babies. I love you.”
“I love you more, baby.”
An hour later, Vera was lying on an uncomfortable bed with one of the medical students performing the ultrasound. There were three med students spending their semester at the office. Vera loved the training part of her job the most. Well, that and helping women bring babies into the world. Both were highlights of her career.
But the med student, currently staring at the screen as if he was reading hieroglyphics, had Vera questioning if he was ready to perform an ultrasound. Thankfully, her fellow doctor, Stacey Jameson, was standing behind him, whispering intently to him.
Vera would have given anything for the screen to be turned where she could see it. But she knew why they didn’t. If they found something wrong, it was best not to let the mother see.
Her heart sank to the floor.
Is something wrong with the baby?
Not again. I can’t go through that again.
“Stacey, what’s wrong?” Vera could hear the slight tremble in her voice. “Why don’t you take over for him?”
Bryan nodded, dropping the ultrasound wand from his hand. “Yeah, I shouldn’t be the one doing this. You should tell her.”
“Tell me what?” Her voice was a mix of annoyance and panic. Stacey picked up the wand, holding it above Vera’s stomach. “Stacey?”
Beside her, Isla held tighter onto Vera’s hand as Mason stood from the chair in the corner of the room. She stood just behind Isla, and Vera could see the worry on her face as Mason looked down at her.
“Vera,” Stacey’s voice was calm as she spoke, “everything is okay. I promise you that.”
Vera let out a sigh of relief. “Good.”
She took a moment to let Isla comfort her with a hug and forehead kiss as Mason tenderly reached out and put her hand on Vera’s arm.
“So, what was Bryan seeing?”
Stacey’s smile spread wide as she turned the screen around. “You won’t believe it until I show you.”
Squirting more gel onto Vera’s stomach, Stacey moved the wand around a little until the grainy black and white image appeared on the screen. Vera scanned it frantically, looking for anything out of the normal. It was then Vera saw it.
“Oh… oh, shit,” she laughed as she put the back of her hand to her head. “How did we miss that?”
“I don’t know,” Stacey chuckled, nodding her head toward Isla and Mason. “You want to tell them?”
“Is it what I think it is?” Isla’s eyes were brimmed with tears as she looked at the screen and then back at Vera.
“It is. It’s twins.”
“Twins?” Mason gasped. “That explains why you’re already showing.”
“Thanks, Mace,” Vera laughed as she wiped a tear from her eyes. Looking up, Vera couldn’t help but laugh at Isla’s white-as-a-ghost expression while she was also smiling ear to ear. “Twins.”
“Twins,” Isla repeated with a laugh.
It was then Vera caught a glimpse of Mason wiping away a tear. Vera held out a hand to her and Mason went to her willingly. She leaned down, putting her arms around Vera’s neck.
“I was so worried something was wrong, Mama.”
“It’s okay, sweetie.” Vera kissed her cheek several times, as she often did when she was comforting Mason. “Me and the babies are okay.”
“Twins,” Mason repeated. “That’s a lot of diapers.”
“Then it’s a good thing there’s three of us and two of them.”
Later that night, Vera made her way downstairs to the recliner. It had become the only place she could comfortably sleep since laying down seemed to always give her heartburn. She’d made the recliner her second bed, and with twins, Vera was sure she would be there more often than not to sleep.
Lifting up her shirt, Vera placed a hand on her stomach. Her baby bump made her smile every time she looked at it. She knew watching it grow would mean getting her babies closer to delivery.
“Mama loves you so much, babies,” she whispered into the quiet house.
“They love you too.” Isla startled her as she came around the recliner and sat on the couch beside her. “Can’t sleep?”
“I think the fried chicken was a bad idea tonight.”
“Heartburn?”
She picked up the bottle of Tums wedged between her hip and the recliner and shook them. “Yup.”
“I’m sorry, baby.”
“It’s okay.” Looking down at her baby bump again, Vera pulled her shirt back down. She waited for a beat before looking at Isla. “Are you okay?”
Isla’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What?”
“You’ve been really quiet since the appointment.”
Vera watched as Isla lowered her gaze. Reaching out her hand over the side of the recliner, Vera waited until Isla took it before continuing.
“Talk to me, baby.”
Isla’s lower lip quivered as she knelt down beside the recliner, looking up at Vera. “I was so worried something was wrong with you or the babies. And it just took me back to last year and I couldn’t imagine going through that again.”
“Isla, honey,” Vera put her hand on her cheek, “I know. I was worried too. But things are different now.”
“I know.” Isla sniffled, wiping a tear from her eyes. “I just love you so much and I can’t wait to have babies with you.”
“Come here.” Scooting over, Vera made as much room as she could for Isla on the recliner. Isla snuggled in next to her as their legs intertwined. Taking Isla’s hand, Vera lifted her shirt and placed her hand on her stomach. “There are two babies growing in there that cannot wait for you to be their mom. And I’m so excited to go on this journey with you. I know it’s not been easy, but everything we have gone through led us here.”
“You’re right.”
“I love hearing that,” Vera giggled as she snuggled closer to Isla.