office and made an appointment for me for that afternoon.
I have always hated going to the doctor. I can’t explain it, I just always had. We walked into the clinic and my stomach immediately flip-flopped. Just seeing all of the horrible, old paintings on the walls, the old green shag carpet, and the chairs in the lobby that probably hadn’t been cleaned since before I was born, made me want to run away screaming.
Before we left the house, I had been feeling a little bit better. I had actually been able to keep down some toast, and my stomach hadn’t felt quite as upset.
Dr. Hudson came in and started his normal exam. He took my temperature, checked my blood pressure, listened to my lungs, and pressed on my stomach to check for tenderness. When he pressed on my belly, it hurt. I gasped, and he looked at me funny, and then continued his exam.
He asked me all the normal doctor questions. I just wanted this to be over so I could go home. I just wanted him to give me a prescription and make me feel better. While I was thinking about what I was going to watch on TV as I laid in bed and recuperated from the bug, Dr. Hudson grabbed my knee and asked the question that made me get really nauseous again. “When was your last menstrual cycle, Loralei?”
Oh my god! I hadn’t even realized it. I had been so upset over what happened to Declan I hadn’t even thought about myself.
My mouth was so dry. I could barely get out a response, but I finally said, “I’m not really sure.”
Then Dr. Hudson asked a question that made me even sicker. “Is it possible? I mean, is there any way you could be pregnant, Loralei?”
Oh my god! At that point my mom was looking at me with tears in her eyes. I think she already knew what I was trying so hard not to answer.
After what seemed like forever, I responded, “Yes, I could be.”
When we had sex, Declan and I hadn’t used protection. Everyone told me you couldn’t get pregnant the first time, and I was so naïve, I believed them. So, after a simple blood test Dr. Hudson informed me that I was pregnant. He guessed my due date would be around the end of March. That would be about right.
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“Mom!” Mags screamed at me from across the field.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?”
“Sammy hit me and then he hid my iPod!”
“Sammy!” I screamed. “Give your sister back her iPod right now!”
“But, mom, she bit me.”
“LIAR! I nipped you. I didn’t bite you. You little wuss.”
“Don’t talk to your brother like that, Mags.” Oh my goodness, these kids were going to be the death of me, but I really didn’t know what I would do without them. I had fulfilled my destiny, well almost. It had been done just a little out of order though.
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I had my babies on March first, exactly eight months to the day of the accident. They were preemies, and they were so tiny. Margaret (Mags) Louise Sharp weighed 3 pounds and 9 ounces, and her brother Declan Samuel Sharp Jr. (Sammy) weighed in at a whopping 4 pounds 8 ounces.
Mags was born with blonde hair like me, and Sammy had black hair like Declan, but both babies got Declan’s amazing blue eyes. My dad told me at the hospital right after they were born, “I know I’m prejudiced, but those are the most beautiful babies I’ve ever seen.”
“Well, Gramps, I would have to agree with you. My babies are the most beautiful babies ever born!” They really were the most beautiful little creatures. I couldn’t believe Declan and I had made these two little perfect pieces of us.
Sammy looked just like Declan. Mags had his eyes, but she looked more like me. Sammy was a little Declan. He was a mischievous little brat, but he was my brat.
I graduated high school in May, a year early but my mom had homeschooled me all through the pregnancy, and I was ready to be done with that part of my life. I was a new mom of twins, and I just needed to be done with school, so I worked my butt off and got it done. My parents decided I should just spend time with the babies for the first year.
I continued to live with my mom and dad, and my babies made everything better. After I lost Declan, I could hardly get