Epilogue
The more Grace’s knee bounced the faster her heart raced. Or maybe it was the other way around.
Damon’s grip on her hand tightened, mimicking the tightness in her chest. Then suddenly, he released her hand and put his arm around her shoulders. Pulling her close, he kissed her temple and whispered in her ear.
“It’s going to be okay, you’ll see.”
“But what if it’s not. What if the pregnancy test was a false positive, like last time?”
She’d taken three tests over the past two weeks and they were all positive, but she still didn’t dare get her hopes up until her doctor confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. Especially since the last round of IVF six months ago failed.
They were supposed to have had this appointment two weeks ago, but Dr. Allen had a family emergency that took him out of town for a week.
The wait was killing Grace.
Damon squeezed her shoulder. “Then we’ll try again in another six to eight months.”
Her mom would be so happy to know her life insurance money was being used to literally create new life.
“You said it yourself the other day, ‘This time feels different.’” Damon kept his cheek pressed to her temple. “The hormones Dr. Allen had you take this time should help ensure conception.”
“I know.” Grace ground out the words as she forced herself to stop bouncing her knee. “I’m just so ready to have a baby. I mean, Paige is due any day, and Riley is pregnant again. I want our children to grow up together.”
“I’m ready too, beautiful.” Damon’s arm tightened around her shoulders.
Something relaxed inside Grace at the term of endearment. They’d been married for a year and a half, but she never tired of hearing Damon call her beautiful.
She chuckled. “Are we crazy to try to have a baby when we both have a year of school left?”
“Maybe, but we decided a long time ago that we would let God be in charge of our lives.”
She slowly nodded. “And we’ve both felt so strongly that it’s time to have a baby.”
“Whatever happens, we can trust that it’s the Lord’s will.”
Grace knew Damon still struggled to understand why he’d been given a second chance at life when his buddies didn’t get one, but he was determined to live his life with gratitude and purpose.
He still had the occasional nightmare and some PTSD, but the episodes were a lot less frequent than they used to be.
“We still need to decide what we’re going to do with the other half of the duplex,” Damon said. “Do we want to rent it out or knock down the wall and expand our living space?”
Grace appreciated his effort to distract her.
Gabe and Paige had moved out over a month ago after building a house on the land Paige’s parents gifted them when they got married. They now lived at the end of the cul-de-sac between her parents and her brother. They’d agreed to sell their half of the duplex to Damon and Grace.
The door across the room opened before Grace could speak, and Angie, Dr. Allen’s peppy medical assistant, stepped out. “Grace, you’re up.”
Grace sucked in a sharp breath and rose to her feet. She and Damon followed Angie down the hall lined with beautiful baby photos to an exam room with an ultrasound machine in the corner.
“Okay, you know the drill.” Angie laid a hospital gown on the table and held up a cup. “We need a urine sample. Then undress from the waist down. Because it’s early in the pregnancy, Dr. Allen will want to do a vaginal ultrasound.”
That was Grace’s least favorite part, but hearing Angie say pregnancy in reference to her, made Grace want to dance on the exam table and sing karaoke.
A grin covered Damon’s face as Grace walked out the door with the specimen cup in hand. When she returned, she undressed and draped the lovely, blue gown around herself. Then she planted herself on the exam table. She couldn’t help but laugh when she saw Damon’s leg bouncing.
She was about to tease him about it when Dr. Allen walked through the door. “Congratulations, you guys are going to have a baby!”
Damon and Grace both let out cries of exclamation. Then Damon was on his feet, wrapping his arms around Grace.
“We’ll still take a blood sample, to officially confirm the pregnancy and make sure your hormones levels are where they should be, but I’m confident this round of IVF was successful.”
He motioned for Grace to lay back on the table. “I’m sure it has been torture waiting this long to confirm embryo implantation. I’m sorry I had to cancel on you two weeks ago.” He prepared the ultrasound wand. “Shall we take a look and see if we can see your baby?”
Damon took her hand as they both stared at the ultrasound monitor. Ignoring the discomfort of the wand, she tried to make sense of the static on the screen.
Dr. Allen narrated what the ultrasound revealed inside her body as he angled the wand this way and that. “There’s your baby!”
Tears flooded Grace’s eyes as she spotted a large, lima bean-shaped, white and gray spot surrounded by the blackness of the uterus. She squeezed her husband’s hand.
Damon’s eyes glistened as he lowered his lips to hers. “We’re really going to have a baby.”
The doctor held the wand still and tapped some keys on the machine, rolled the little ball in the center then tapped more keys. He typed in words then shifted the wand a little. “And there’s baby number two.”
“What?” Both Damon and Grace’s eyes flew back to the monitor.
“Congratulations, Mom and Dad, you’re having twins!”