holds up a paper and wiggles it at me. “I already have. I definitely see two embryos implanted in your uterine lining and everything looks great. They’re about the size I would expect them to be at eight weeks.”
I shake my head, refusing to believe this is true. One baby is bad enough but two? My world is crumbling down around my ears.
“What are the chances she’ll be able to maintain a twin pregnancy?” Lucky asks.
I look over at him like he’s crazy. What the hell? Did he go to medical school and I somehow missed that?
“Well, she’s a healthy young woman, she doesn’t drink, and she doesn’t smoke, so I suspect she has a pretty good chance. It is true that sometimes with twin pregnancies one of the embryos will disappear, but we’ll keep an eye on it, and if anything like that happens, of course you know we will be here to answer whatever questions you have. But let’s go ahead and assume that they’re both healthy and they’re both going to continue on to full gestation, and make plans to deal with that. How does that sound?”
“Sounds good to me.” Lucky looks at me. “What do you think, babe? Is it a good idea?”
I shrug. “Okay.” I’m on autopilot. None of this is truly sinking in. I feel like I’m going to wake up in an hour and realize I had a horrible dream about a double pregnancy. The only thing missing right now is Charlie walking in saying that he’s going to be my doula.
The doctor yammers on and on about nutrition, vitamins, and weight gain, and Lucky responds with what seem like normal questions. But I’ve got nothing to say, and I’m really not listening very closely to anything the two of them are discussing. All I can think about is my life with two children in it. Does that qualify as a pack of kids? A herd? A flock? It should. It sounds like way too many. How is this happening to me? I’m starting to think that God has abandoned me to the hands of the Devil. This definitely seems like a game a devil would enjoy playing with someone’s life.
Lucky stands and brings me to my feet with a gentle tug on my hand. “Thanks, Doctor. Really appreciate all the information that you gave us.”
The little guy holds his hand out and shakes Lucky’s. “It’s my pleasure. You have our number, so if anything comes up, give the office a call and one of my nurse practitioners or a midwife will get back to you. We’ll want to see you again in another month just for a regular checkup, and if you guys want to know the sex of your babies, you can do that around eighteen to twenty weeks’ gestation. Go ahead and make the appointment for another ultrasound today for that. Sound good?” He smiles at both of us.
I nod numbly, unable to converse with another human being right now. My brain just won’t work.
“Great. See you later, Doc.” Lucky pulls me out of the room and down the hall to the front desk. He even digs in my purse and fishes out my insurance card to take care of the administrative part of my visit. When I try to give him money for the co-pay he refuses and pulls cash out of his wallet instead.
I don’t have the energy to deal with that right now, but we’re definitely going to have to have a conversation about it. I don’t want to be beholden to him down the line because he helped me out financially. I’ll let him do his part by paying for diapers.
We go out to the car and Lucky opens my door for me. When I settle into the seat, he actually leans over and puts my seatbelt on for me. I look up at him, gazing with confusion into his beautiful eyes. “What are you doing?”
He kisses me on the forehead. “Taking care of my babies’ mama.” Then he leans into the car farther and looks at me so closely, it makes my eyes cross. “That’s babies plural. We’ve got two.” He reaches down and gently pokes my belly two times. “One and two. Romulus and Remus.” He pulls his hand away and starts grinning at me like a fool.
My ears ring as I realize what all of this means. I’m having twins with Lucky. Lucky! I can’t decide whether to laugh, cry, or scream. I