Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Jenna
I stared at myself in the full-length mirror and couldn’t believe my belly was already expanding, for I was only eight weeks pregnant. My morning sickness was worse this time around and lasted long into the day.
“Damn. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Lucas said as he walked into the room. “Are you admiring that sexy body of yours?”
“No. I’m looking at how I’m already starting to show, and I’m only eight weeks.”
“Don’t women usually show earlier with the second pregnancy? I thought I read that somewhere.”
I turned and looked at him.
“And where would you read that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe in that baby book of yours.”
“Maybe you’re right.” I sighed.
“Anyway, you can ask Dr. Lewis about it at your appointment today.” He walked over and kissed me.
“Thank you for coming with me.”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I already missed the first half of your first pregnancy, and I won’t ever do that again. Remember, you are my first priority, Mrs. Thorne.” He went to kiss me, and I put my hand over my mouth and ran to the bathroom.
I’m already starting to show, Dr. Lewis. Is that normal since I’m only eight weeks?” I asked her.
“Your body already has a head start from your first pregnancy, and your uterus never truly goes back to the size it was before you were pregnant. So yeah, it’s pretty common to start showing sooner.”
“See. I told you.” Lucas winked, holding my hand.
“Let’s see if we can hear a heartbeat today, but I don’t want you to worry if we can’t.”
I lifted my shirt as she placed the Doppler on my belly and moved it around. All I could hear was a bunch of static. I began to panic when I saw the look on her face.
“Is something wrong, Dr. Lewis?” I asked as I looked at Lucas.
“I would like to do an ultrasound.”
“Why?” Lucas asked.
“I need to check something. I’ll be right back.”
“Oh God, Lucas. Something is wrong,” I spoke in a panic.
“Calm down, babe.” He brought my hand up to his lips, but I could tell he was just as nervous.
A few moments later, Dr. Lewis walked in with an ultrasound machine. After squeezing the gel on my belly, she pressed the transducer down and began scanning my belly as we intently watched the monitor.
“Oh boy.” She smiled. “Just as I thought.”
“Thought what?” Lucas asked.
“See this right here? This is your baby. And see this one? This is also your baby.”
“What?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Thorne. You’re having twins.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are, Jenna. This is Baby A, and this is Baby B.”
“Oh shit,” Lucas said, laying his forehead on my arm.
“I’ll give you two some time to process this, and I want to see you back here in three weeks.”
Lucas helped me up from the table, and I just sat there staring at the wall.
“Jenna, are you okay?”
“Do I look okay? We’re having twins, Lucas. Not one, but two babies at the same time! Two! We can barely handle Scarlett, and now we’re having two more!”
“Well, at least you can’t blame this one on me.”
“Oh, my God. Did you just really say that?”
“What? It’s the truth. Twins run on the mother’s side.”
“I didn’t know you were such an expert on twins!”
“Calm down, babe. We have months to prepare for this. We’ve already been through it once and will get through it again.” He gripped my shoulders.
We went over to my parent’s house to pick up Scarlett and tell them the news. I had no idea twins ran in my family, and I hated my mother for not telling me. The moment she opened the door, I pushed past her.
“Why didn’t you tell me twins run in our family?” I spat.
“Twins? You’re having twins?” she asked in shock.
“Yes, Mother. I’m having twins. Who in our family is a twin?”
“Jenna, I have no clue. In fact, I had no idea that twins ran in our family. I’ll have to do some investigating, and I’ll let you know.”
It turned out that my mother’s great-grandmother was pregnant with twins, and when they were born, she gave them up for adoption because they were born out of wedlock.
The family was so ashamed that they kept it a secret.
The only way my mother found out was because she did some digging into the family history and stumbled upon the twin’s birth certificates.
Three Months Later
Lucas
Jenna was now five months pregnant, and I knew we would soon be outgrowing the penthouse.
“Scarlett is finally asleep,” I said as I walked into the bedroom and took off my shirt.
“I hate you. I hope you know that,” Jenna said as she stared at my body.
“You love this body and what it does for you.” I smirked as I crawled onto the bed next to her. “In all seriousness, we need to have a discussion.”
“About how much I hate you and your sexy body?” A small smile framed her face.
I grabbed her chin, pinched her lips together, and kissed her.
“No. About the penthouse.”
“What about it?”
“We’re outgrowing it, and I think it’s time we moved. It’s only a three-bedroom, and what if we have another baby?”
“Excellent point, Mr. Thorne.” She reached over to her nightstand and handed me a piece of paper.
“What’s this?”
“Your appointment with Dr. Sherman.”
“What appointment? And who’s Dr. Sherman?”
“He’s the doctor who will be performing your vasectomy.”
“Excuse me?” I arched my brow at her. “There’s no way I’m?—”
“Yes, you are.”
“So let me get this straight. Because you can’t remember to take your birth control on time, you want me to make sure we don’t get pregnant again?”
“Yep.” She nodded her head.
“Don’t you think we should have discussed this first?”
“Nope. If you want to keep having sex, you’ll get it done.”
“I have four more months to fuck you freely, Mrs. Thorne.”
“But wouldn’t you rather get it done now, so we don’t have to worry about it after the babies are born? You’re going to have to heal and stuff.”
I let out a sigh because she did have a point.
“Do you really want another baby after we have the twins?” she asked. “I mean, we’ll have three children. That’s one more than I planned on having.”
“True. Three kids are going to be a lot. Especially if these two are geniuses like Scarlett. Okay. I’ll go and get it done. You’ve pleaded your case.” I leaned over and brushed my lips against hers. “Now, back to the penthouse. I think we really need to move.”
“A bigger penthouse?” she asked.
“I was thinking more of a townhome.”
A wide smile crossed her face. “I love that idea.”
“I knew you would. I’ll call the realtor first thing tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I’m going to take as much advantage of you as I can before my procedure. Will that be a problem for you?”
“Not at all. But first, stand up and take down your pants. Let me show you how much I hate you and your sexy body.”
“Damn, Jenna,” I said as I quickly unbuttoned my pants and stood up.
We brought Scarlett to the ultrasound appointment so she could see the babies. We were preparing her for her sibling's arrival in the best way we could.
“Are we finding out the sex of the babies?” Dr. Lewis asked.
“Yes, definitely.” Jenna smiled.
“Babies,” Scarlett said to Dr. Lewis.
“That’s right, Scarlett. You’re going to see your brothers or sisters.”
Dr. Lewis squirted some gel on Jenna and pressed the transducer down on her belly. Tears sprung to my eyes when I saw my two precious babies snuggled together.
“They’re so incredible,” I said.
“Babies.” Scarlett pointed to the monitor.
“That’s right, princess. Those are your brothers or sisters in mommy’s belly.”
“The babies are doing excellent, Jenna. Let’s see if I can tell what sex Baby A is. Baby A is a girl.” She smiled at us.
Please let baby B be a boy. Please. Please. Please. I silently thought.
“And Baby B is—no doubt about this one. It’s a boy.”
“YES!” I shouted as I leaned over and kissed Jenna.
“Both babies are healthy and growing on schedule. I’m going to do a few more ultrasounds over the next few months to keep an eye on their positions. There may be a possibility we’ll need to do a c-section, and I want you to be prepared.”
I helped Jenna from the table, and we stopped to get some lunch before our appointment to look at a couple of townhomes. I was ecstatic we were having another girl, but secretly, I was happier we were having a boy.