Chapter 19
Sarah
T he waiting room at Dr. Ranick’s office smells like vanilla and antiseptic, a combination that makes my stomach turn more than usual.
Nina sits beside me, flipping through a parenting magazine with forced casualness while I stare at the appointment card in my hands for the twelve-week ultrasound, routine checkup, and possible gender results if I want them.
This is my first real appointment since the initial pregnancy confirmation.
I’ve been dreading it all week, not from fear exactly, but from the overwhelming reality of what this appointment represents.
Seeing the baby will make everything undeniably real, and I’m already struggling with how to fit a child into my complicated situation with Yarik.
“Sarah Clark?” A nurse in cheerful scrubs calls my name, and my stomach flutters with nerves.
Nina squeezes my hand. “Want me to come with you?”
I nod, not trusting my voice. We follow the nurse down a hallway lined with photographs of smiling families holding newborns. Each image feels like a glimpse into a future I can’t quite believe might be mine.
The ultrasound room is dimly lit, with a large monitor mounted on the wall and medical equipment I don’t recognize.
Dr. Ranick enters with a warm smile that immediately puts me at ease.
She’s a middle-aged woman with kind eyes, who came highly recommended from the clinic where I confirmed my pregnancy, and the sister of that doctor.
“How are we doing today, Sarah?”
“A little nervous,” I say, settling onto the examination table. The paper crinkles beneath me as I adjust my position. “This is all so new to me.”
“That’s completely normal. Let’s take a look at your little one and see how everything is progressing.”
She spreads warm gel across my stomach before pressing the ultrasound wand into place.
The monitor flickers to life, showing grainy black and white images that mean nothing to me at first before Dr. Ranick pauses, adjusting the angle and pressure.
“Hmm.” She moves the wand to a different position, her expression shifting from routine to focused. “This is interesting.”
My pulse skitters. “Is something wrong?”
“Not wrong at all. Just more than we expected.” She points to the monitor with her free hand. “See this here? And here? And here?”
Three distinct shapes appear on the screen, each with a tiny flickering movement that must be heartbeats. I stare at the monitor in complete shock, unable to process what I’m seeing.
“Triplets,” Dr. Ranick says gently. “You’re having triplets.”
The word lands hard. Nina gasps beside me while her magazine falls forgotten to the floor. I stare at the three tiny forms on the screen, unable to blink or process what I’m seeing. “Are you sure?” My voice comes out as a whisper.
“Absolutely certain. All three babies appear healthy and developing normally. The heartbeats are strong.” She continues moving the wand, pointing out details I barely register through my shock.
“Would you like to know the genders? I can take a good guess today, though you won’t want to count on the results until your sixteen or twenty-week ultrasound, so don’t decorate the nursery just yet. ” She smiles.
I nod numbly while trying to process there are three babies. How does someone prepare for three babies when she can barely figure out how to navigate having one with a man who’s engaged to another woman?
The doctor moves the wand and after a moment says, “I feel at least ninety percent confident Baby A is a boy.” The wand moves again, and seconds pass before she says, “Baby C appears to be a girl. I’m pretty certain about that.
” Again the wand moves, pressing a little deeper into my stomach as the doctor says, “Hold on. Still looking…” With more wand wiggling, she says, “I think Baby B is also a girl, but I’m only about forty percent sure of that.
We’ll confirm at the next ultrasound if they’re all being cooperative. ”
The room spins slightly as I try to process this news. Two daughters and a son, all of them Yarik’s and mine together. The magnitude of this revelation threatens to overwhelm me completely.
Dr. Ranick prints several ultrasound images and hands them to me along with a folder containing detailed results.
After that, we go across the hall to an exam room, where she gives me a physical exam and sends in her nurse for a blood draw and urine sample.
Pausing at the door, she says, “I’ll want to see you again in two weeks.
Multiple pregnancies require closer monitoring, but everything looks excellent right now. ”
I nod, still grasping the folder with unsteady hands.
I drop my gaze to stare at the ultrasound photos of three tiny profiles when the nurse comes in to collect samples.
My children. Our children. The reality of it makes my chest tight with something between joy and terror as I pee in a cup and leave it in the window.
After that, I dress again and return to the patient room, where Nina waits for me. The nurse is also waiting and beams at me. “Congratulations, Ms. Clark. This is wonderful news.”
I somehow manage to nod and smile, though my thoughts are too preoccupied by the bomb that just cleaved my life into Before and After Triplets as I walk past her with Nina holding my arm to keep me steady.
Once out of the clinic, after making my next appointment, Nina helps me to the passenger side and opens the door for me. I sit in the passenger seat clutching the folder while she starts the engine, and both of us remain quiet as we process what just happened.
“Triplets,” she finally says, shaking her head in amazement. “Three babies, Sarah.”
“I know.” The words feel inadequate. “I can’t... How do I even begin to handle three babies?”
“You don’t handle them alone. You have help. You have Yarik.”
“Do I?” The question comes out with a brittle laugh. “He’s engaged to another woman. He made promises to someone else before he even knew I existed.”
Nina pulls into traffic, glancing at me with concern. “He also said he wanted to build a future with you. That has to count for something.”
“What kind of future? As his mistress while he stays married to Katya for business reasons? I won’t do that.
I won’t raise our children in the shadows while he pretends to love someone else in public.
” I sound angry, and I am, but not at Nina.
I’m angry at myself and the choices I’ve made, and I’m angry at Yarik.
I’m also angry at the universe or whatever deity thought me having triplets was a good idea.
She shrugs off my angry tone, sounding brisk but sympathetic when she says, “Tell him about the babies and make him choose.”
The thought terrifies me. Using my pregnancy as leverage feels manipulative, even if the babies are his. I want him to choose me because he loves me, not because he’s trapped by biology and obligation.
We drive in silence until Nina pulls into the parking lot of a small shopping center. Without planning to, I ask her to stop at the baby boutique on the corner. The decision surprises both of us but suddenly, I need to touch something real and connected to the future growing inside me.
The store is filled with soft pastels and gentle music.
Cribs, strollers, and tiny clothes create a maze of possibilities that should feel overwhelming but instead brings an unexpected sense of peace.
For the first time since seeing those three heartbeats on the monitor, I allow myself to imagine this could actually happen, and the anger starts to fade away.
I end up in the newborn section, running my fingers over impossibly small onesies.
Three cream-colored ones catch my attention because they’re simple, soft, and perfect while being gender-neutral in case my ultrasound today was wrong.
I pick them up, one for each baby, and press my fingers together to steady them as I hold the tiny clothes.
“Those are beautiful,” Nina says softly behind me.
Yarik would hold one of our children like this, carefully, probably too carefully at first, while learning how to be gentle in ways I know he’s capable of despite the dangerous world he inhabits.
The image feels so real I have to bite my lip to keep from crying right there in the store. “I’m buying them.”
She doesn’t question the decision. She stands beside me at the register while I purchase the onesies, along with three soft blankets in pale yellow. The cashier smiles warmly as she wraps everything in tissue paper.
“First baby?” she asks kindly.
“Three, actually. Triplets.”
Her expression lights up with genuine excitement. “How wonderful! Congratulations. You’re going to be busy, but it’s such a blessing.”
A blessing. The word stays with me as we leave the store, and maybe that’s exactly what this is despite the timing and complications. Three healthy babies are worth fighting for and worth demanding more from Yarik than stolen moments and vague promises.
Walking back to Nina’s car, I pull out my phone and type a message to Yarik: Thank you for last night. I haven’t stopped thinking about what you said. Let’s talk soon.
I hit send before I can second-guess myself. The folder with the ultrasound results sits in my purse like evidence of the future we could have, and he deserves to know. Our children deserve a father who chooses them openly, who doesn’t hide them from the world.
As we cross the parking lot, movement catches my attention near the edge of the lot, where several cars are parked in shadow. A tall figure stands between two vehicles, too far away to identify but close enough to make my skin crawl with sudden recognition.
I stop walking abruptly. The height, the posture, and the way he holds himself create a familiar silhouette that makes me tremble, and I almost drop my shopping bag.
“Sarah? What’s wrong?”