Chapter 46
Chapter Forty-Six
Two Weeks Later
Simon
I’d been awake since four-thirty a.m., staring at the ceiling and thinking about everything that could possibly happen at our first ultrasound. Bella was eight weeks pregnant, and it still didn’t feel real. But after today, it would feel more real than ever.
I was sitting beside her in the exam room. The doctor had already been in to talk to us, the nurse had drawn Bella’s blood, and now we were waiting for the technician to come in and show us our baby.
“You’re doing that thing with your leg again,” Bella said.
I looked down at my bouncing knee. “Sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I’m just afraid you’re going to shake the table.”
“I’m nervous,” I said.
“Wow.” She glanced at me. “I can’t believe you just admitted it. But I am too.” Her fingers tightened around mine.
The technician walked in, turned off the lights, and started getting everything ready.
“Is this your first ultrasound?” she asked Bella.
“Yes.” Bella smiled.
She grabbed a bottle next to the ultrasound machine and squeezed some gel over Bella’s belly.
“Ready?” The technician smiled.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Bella said.
The technician moved the wand across Bella’s belly, and all I saw on the screen were a bunch of gray shapes. I swore I saw something.
“Is that it?” I pointed to the screen, not knowing what the hell I was even pointing at.
“Not yet.” The technician smiled, and Bella squeezed my hand.
“Let her do her job,” she said.
“I’m letting her do her job.” I frowned.
“You’ve been looking at the screen for eight seconds,” she said.
“There we go,” the technician said as she stopped moving the wand. “Right there.” She pointed.
“That’s our baby?” Bella asked.
“That’s your baby.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered. It was small and blurry and looked nothing like a baby to me, but it was ours.
I glanced at Bella and noticed the tears in her eyes. I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed it.
“Here’s the baby’s heartbeat,” the technician said, turning up the volume.
“Simon,” Bella said, and I squeezed her hand as we listened to our baby’s heartbeat.
For the last month, we knew Bella was pregnant. But hearing our baby’s heartbeat for the first time felt different from seeing two pink lines on a stick.
“That’s our beautiful baby, sweetheart.” I leaned over and kissed her forehead.
The technician continued the ultrasound, taking measurements while I still tried to understand what I was seeing. She paused, and a strange look crossed her face. She moved the wand back, and instantly, my stomach tightened.
“What is it?” I asked as she kept looking at the screen.
“Is something wrong?” Bella asked nervously.
“No. Nothing’s wrong,” she said. “Okay. There we go.” She smiled.
“There we go what?” I asked.
“Everything’s fine. I just saw something I wasn’t expecting.”
“Oh, God. What? Bella asked.
“Another baby.”
“I’m sorry. What?” I shook my head.
“What?” Bella lifted her head from the table.
“You’re having twins.” She grinned.
“As in two babies?” I asked.
Bella burst out laughing.
“What are you laughing at?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Bella, there are two babies inside you.”
“I know.” She laughed harder.
She was either in shock or completely losing her mind.
“You’re sure?” I asked the technician.
“I’m sure. Would you like me to show you again?”
“Yes,” I said.
“This is Baby A.” She pointed. “And this is Baby B.”
“Jesus Christ.” I leaned back in my chair.
“You look completely freaked out.” Bella laughed.
“Because I am completely freaked out. I thought there was only one.”
“Well, there are two babies.” Bella smiled.
“At the same fucking time,” I said, and Bella laughed.
I was beginning to believe she was having a nervous breakdown. How the hell had I gone from never wanting marriage or children to sitting beside my wife and finding out I was about to become the father of twins?
“Here is Baby B’s heartbeat.”
Bella stopped laughing as we listened to our second baby’s heartbeat.
“Nice and strong.” The technician smiled.
A tear fell from Bella’s eyes as she stared at the monitor. I leaned over and kissed her before resting my forehead against hers.
“Two babies, sweetheart.”
“I know.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m shocked and scared. But yeah, I’m okay. Are you okay, Simon?”
“Yeah.” I softly smiled.
“And you’re happy?”
“I was happy when there was one,” I said.
“That wasn’t my question,” she said.
“I’m terrified, sweetheart, but thrilled.”
The technician finished the ultrasound and handed us several pictures. Bella and I stared at them together.
“Our babies, Simon.”
“Babies. That’s going to take some getting used to,” I said. “It’s plural now. Christ. We need two cribs.”
“Simon.” She cocked her head as I helped her up from the table.
“What?”
“Can we at least make it out of the doctor’s office before you start planning?”
“I’m not planning, sweetheart. I’m stating a fact.”
“Well, we’ll need two of everything which means double the mess in the penthouse.” She grinned. “Are you going to be able to handle that?”
“I’ll get back to you on that,” I smirked. “What if they’re both girls?”
“Careful, Simon,” Bella said.
“I didn’t say anything bad. It’s just two daughters are scarier.”
“What? Why?” she laughed.
“Because I’ll be outnumbered. Even Raine is a girl.”
Bella laughed.
“It doesn’t matter. All I want is for them to be healthy,” I said.
“Me too. Your father is going to lose his mind.”
“Shit. He barely survived finding out about one grandchild. He and Mary are leaving tomorrow morning for their trip. We better head over to his place and tell them the news.”
I pushed the elevator button and grabbed hold of Bella’s hand.
“Simon?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“I’m in shock.”
“Me too.” I chuckled as we stepped into the elevator. “Did you know that twins run in your family?”
“I remember my mom telling me that my great-aunt was a twin. Apparently, as far as the family knew, they were the first set. The thought I could be pregnant with twins never even crossed my mind.”
“Two cribs,” I mumbled. “Two of everything.”
This morning, I’d been nervous about seeing one baby. Now there were two. Two heartbeats, two cribs, two car seats. Two kids who would depend on me for everything. It scared the shit out of me. But I knew Bella, and I had this. We were stronger together, and there wasn’t anything we couldn’t do.
Nick pulled up to the curb of my father’s townhome. I helped Bella out of the car, and we stepped inside.
“Dad?” I shouted.
“In here, son.”
I grabbed Bella’s hand, and we walked into the living room.
“How did the ultrasound go?” William asked.
“It went good. I have pictures.” I pulled the envelope from my pocket and handed it to him.
He removed the pictures and studied. Bella and I glanced at each other, wondering how long it would take for him and Mary to figure it out.
“Oh my gosh. Look at that.” Mary smiled.
“What the hell am I looking at?” William said.
“Right there, William.” Mary pointed. Her brows furrowed as she studied the picture. She looked at us, and I winked.
“Oh, my God!” she exclaimed.
“What?” William said.
“Look at the letters, William.”
He brought the picture closer to him. “A and—what the hell? You’re having twins?”
“Yeah, Dad.” I smiled.
“I’m going to have two grandbabies at once?”
“That’s how twins work,” Bella said.
“I can’t believe this.” Suddenly, he let out a bolstering laugh.
“What’s so funny?” I asked him.
“Life can’t get any better than this. Monday morning, you become the new chairman, along with your CEO position at MDG, and you have twins on the way.” He continued laughing. “Brace yourself, son.”