Swerve Chapter 6
Today was an exciting day for my two best friends.
They were going to the doctor to have their first sonogram and hear the baby’s heartbeat.
Since Paige had waited a bit longer before getting tested, and they had to wait a month to get an appointment, they hadn’t done either yet.
I was both psyched and honored to be asked not only to come along and hear the heartbeat with them, but also to be their godfather and co-guardian to their baby and any future ones.
I prayed that the co-guardianship would never happen, but if it did, God forbid, I’d step up to the plate.
Scorpion’s mom, Jamila, was part of the gang going. She hadn’t been at the clubhouse the night of the announcement, but they’d told her earlier that day. The plan was to get me alone that night and tell me, but then Diablo got the idea to make a double announcement with Scorpion.
Jamila was jumping for joy. She’d been saying how she wanted grandkids before Scorpion met Paige and lamented she never would. She’d been after me to give her some as well. She might not be my mom by blood, but she was the mom of my heart.
I lost my mom when I was nine years old.
She’d been out gardening and gotten stung by a bee.
Or that’s what the coroner said the cause of her anaphylactic shock was.
She was alone and unable to get help. Luckily for me, my dad, Moondog, had been the one to find her, not me.
I would’ve if he hadn’t come home in the middle of the day before I got home from school.
I mourned my mom, but Jamila had already been like a second mother to me, so she helped me through that time.
So did Dad, Scorpion’s dad, Cottonmouth, Scorpion, and the rest of the club.
She claimed me as her other son right after I was born, three months after Scorpion was born.
Two blood brothers couldn’t be any closer than Scorpion and I were.
Since we were going to the doctor’s office and it would be crowded with all of us, I left Dozer at Recovery’s office. He was hanging out with Annette and Electra. Thinking of her name made me recall her offer to keep my dog.
I came into the office and reminded everyone that I’d be leaving in the afternoon to attend the appointment with my friends.
I excitedly told the women about it when I came into the office on Monday.
There was no way I could stay at home this week.
Both smiled. Annette said she’d have to tell Paige and Scorpion congrats the next time she saw them.
Electra had asked me to tell my friends she was happy for them.
She hadn’t gotten a chance to meet both of them yet, that I knew of.
When I reminded them, Electra had cleared her throat.
“I don’t know if you’ve thought of this, but going into those rooms with so many people, equipment, and stuff, they’re very crowded.
I don’t think Dozer will fit. If you want, he can stay here with us.
I’ll keep an eye on him for you. I promise he’ll be well cared for. ” Electra stunned me by offering.
“Oh, I can watch Dozer. It’s no problem. No need to bother you with it,” Annette quickly interjected. She wore a slightly disgruntled look.
I hadn’t thought of the tight squeeze it would make, but Electra was right. Not wanting to cause hard feelings between them, I answered them.
“Thank you both so much. I admit, I didn’t think of that, but he would be in the way. If you’re sure you don’t mind, I’ll leave him in both your capable hands. Or I can take him and leave him at the compound. There’s always someone there, and he’ll have the run of the compound.”
“It’s not possible for him to be in the way.
Is it, Dozer? You want to stay with us, don’t you?
” Electra crooned as she rubbed his head.
His doggie look of adoration said he was all for it.
So when it was time to leave, I said goodbye to Dozer as he plopped down at Electra’s feet in her office. She smiled and waved me off.
Before I could get caught up in thinking more about Electra, I forcibly pushed thoughts of her to the back of my mind. We were called to the room for the big reveal moments later. Only Scorpion and Paige had gone in for the doctor's examination—no need to see that. Paige had snickered.
I wheeled myself into the room and held the door for Jamila, then shut it behind us.
The doctor was Dr. Daniela Rojas. Jauhnna had found her when she moved here and had been seeing her since her pregnancy with Chasin.
Paige knew Dr. Rojas from the hospital. Staff and patients both sang her praises, and with Jauhnna liking her, it was a no-brainer to have her be Paige’s doctor.
Dr. Rojas was a slender, attractive Hispanic woman in her late thirties.
She was on the short side, which wasn’t unusual for many Hispanic women and men.
I’d somehow inherited the genes linked to height from my dad’s Spanish bloodline and my mom’s Native American.
The doctor smiled at both of us. Scorpion introduced us, and we shook hands with her. She smiled.
“I heard this is a family occasion and that everyone is anxious to listen to the heartbeat. It’s still a bit soon to know the sex using the sonogram, although one of the blood tests we’re running on Paige will reveal that.
I’ll let everyone listen first, take some measurements, and then show you the screen.
The tech is letting me have control today,” Dr. Rojas said cheerfully.
The sheet was lowered to the top of Paige’s pubic bone.
A towel was tucked under the edge of the sheet and the waist of her lowered shorts, and her top lifted to below her breasts.
Then, a clear gel was applied to her stomach.
Dr. Rojas skimmed through the gel with a wand-like thing, spreading it out.
She was staring at the screen. I saw her pause, then move on and pause again.
I was about to ask her what the holdup was when she turned the volume on.
The fast, echoing, oddly whooshing sound, which I assumed was the heartbeat, filled the room.
“Listen here. Can you hear it, Paige?” her doctor asked.
She was watching the parents-to-be’s faces closely. Paige frowned. Then her eyes widened. She grabbed Scorpion’s hand. I barely held back from shouting, What the fuck is wrong?
“Do you hear it?” Paige asked Scorpion hoarsely.
As she asked, Jamila gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. I couldn’t stay quiet. “What the hell are we supposed to hear? All three of you women know something we men don’t. Tell us,” I growled.
Paige burst out laughing.
“You’re so much like Scorpion. What we’re hearing is the echo, which, if I’m not wrong, means… There are two heartbeats, right, Dr. Rojas?” Paige’s voice was husky.
The doctor smiled and nodded. “Yes, that’s right. It appears you’re going to be the proud parents of twins. Give me a few minutes to get my measurements, then I’ll show you the screen.”
As Dr. Rojas navigated around, clicking away, the four of us were initially stunned into silence.
Then Scorpion was kissing Paige and murmuring things in her ear, and she was doing the same back.
I put an arm around Jamila’s waist. She was crying.
Eventually, when my brother stopped mauling my other bestie, I was able to congratulate them.
Scorpion and I shook hands. Jamila hugged her son and daughter-in-law.
I’d have to wait to hug Paige until later.
Finally, Dr. Rojas stopped clicking and turned the screen toward where all of us had gathered. She moved the wand and then centered on a black, gray, and white area. There was another gasp from Paige. She looked at her doctor.
“Is that what I think I see?”
“If you mean two placentas, then yes. These are fraternal twins, and after the one test results are in, you’ll know if they’re boys or girls.”
I could tell that both Paige and Scorpion were still in shock. Hell, all of us were. Then I started to laugh.
“What’s gotten into you?” Scorpion asked, mystified.
“I just thought of something. I bet you Dragon Lady planned this, and she used her medical magic to ensure there were two. That way, she could hit you with two daughters out of the gate. They’ll be hot like their mom, so that means your life will be triple the trouble it is with just this one. ” I chuckled.
Scorpion’s look morphed into a horrified one. “No, please, you can’t do that to me, Desert Blossom. Two girls who look like you. No, we need boys first so they can help protect their sisters.”
“Honey, I have no such magic. It’s the men who determine the sex of babies, not women. We have only X chromosomes to give. You have both.” She smirked and blew him a kiss.
As I laughed harder, Scorpion whipped around to glare at me.
“I don’t know why you’re laughing your ass off.
You’re in as much trouble as I am if they’re girls.
You’re their uncle and godfather. Who do you think will be out in the cold night with me, with a rifle in his hands, picking off those horny hopeful boys?
Paige, they’re to be homeschooled,” he demanded.
As I came to the realization he was right and grew protective, the three women dissolved into laughter and tears. I didn’t see a damn thing funny about it at all.
???
I returned to work right before the end of the day. I wasn’t sure if we’d gotten over the shock or if my brother and I had gotten over our double shock. I told him I’d be at the compound this weekend and we’d make plans on defenses. His mom and Paige rolled their eyes and snickered.