Page 167 of The Warlock's Trial

After Luana finished with the ultrasound, I helped Nadine to the bathroom. We got her urine sample, then returned to the bedroom, where Luana took Nadine’s vitals, as well as a vial of blood.

Luana signed to Nadine, and the chief interpreted. “I want to continue seeing you once per week for urine tests. You’ll have to do kick counts to make sure the babies are still moving. Once per day, count how long it takes each baby to kick ten times. If it takes more than two hours, alert me right away.”

Luana turned to Onyx, and Cauac added, “I’m going to leave you with medical equipment so you can take Nadine’s blood pressure and vitals daily. Nadine should stay on bed rest, only getting out of bed to shower and use the bathroom. Preeclampsia puts stress on the body, and we want to reduce that stress as much as possible.”

“What other kinds of risks are we looking at?” I asked.

Luana turned to me and signed. “Preeclampsia, as well as being pregnant with multiples, increases the risk of preterm labor,” her father said. “It’s too early to deliver now, but waiting too long can be risky for the mother. We typically plan for women with preeclampsia to give birth at thirty-seven weeks, but since you’re having twins, we may be looking at thirty-six weeks depending on how the pregnancy is progressing. However, in cases like this, delivery can happen much sooner and unexpectedly. I will have all the medical equipment ready to go in case Nadine goes into labor early.”

“What do we do if that happens?” I asked.

“It’s my philosophy that mothers should be as comfortable as possible throughout the delivery process,” Chief Cauac interpreted for Luana. “I’ve assisted in many home births. However, due to Nadine’s condition, I believe it best if Nadine labors and delivers in the hospital.”

“How long will we have to stay?” Nadine asked. “It’s not safe for us to leave the house for long periods of time.”

Luana appeared sympathetic, and Cauac’s tone reflected that. “Since the boys will most certainly be premature, they will require extra care and equipment after delivery. That said, since Onyx is here with you and you have a nurse in the house, I’m willing to provide all the equipment you’ll need to keep the boys here. I’ll be available on-call anytime you need me to portal back for assistance. Of course, plans may change if your preeclampsia worsens, but for now, you can stay home with close monitoring.”

“That all sounds good,” Nadine said. “Thank you so much for all your help. One more question. Can we still have sex?”

“Nadine…” I started, but Chief Cauac didn’t even miss a beat interpreting.

“That depends on your typical reaction to it. If it’s a relaxing activity for you, it can actually lower blood pressure.”

Nadine gave a light smile. “Excellent.”

Nadine didn’t seem bothered by all of this information, as if all the new meds she’d been prescribed and the doctor’s orders were more of a comfort to her than anything. I think she’d come to expect this kind of news and had become accustomed to dealing with it.

Her nonchalant nature helped ease my nerves over the next few days. I worried for her and the babies, but all Nadine could talk about was how excited she was to meet them. Since she couldn’t get out of bed, we spent a lot of time making things for the babies. I’d found craft supplies in Helena’s closet, and Nadine was learning to crochet. She’d already made several hats for the twins, and we’d worked together to make each of them their own fleece tie blanket.

Nadine was learning how to crochet baby socks the following week while I worked on hanging some of the pictures she’d drawn for the babies. Her drawings had the babies’ names on them with cats crawling over the letters. They were really cute.

Our room had become crowded with medical equipment that Luana dropped off when she came to visit. I’d rearranged the furniture to make room for two incubators. We prayed we wouldn’t need them, but we wanted to be prepared for anything. I’d had to move the bed to another wall, and everything that we usually stored beneath it was still piled out of the way in the bathroom.

I arranged Dean’s sign over his incubator, then stepped back. “What do you think?”

Oliver meowed at my feet like he approved.

“Mm…” Nadine mused from the bed. “I think Marcus’s sign is a little crooked.”

I nudged the frame just a little. “Better?”

“Better.” Nadine set her crochet project aside and began stroking Isa’s head.

I didn’t even have to think about it when I grabbed a bottle of lotion off the nightstand and sat on the bed beside her. I ran lotion over her hands and began massaging them. “How are you feeling?”

“It’s hard to breathe sometimes, but I think that’s just from the babies getting bigger.”

“We can’t know that for sure. We should mention it to Luana when she comes this week.”

“I’ve told her everything,” Nadine assured me. “I’m not vomiting, so that’s a plus.”

“If you start vomiting, I’m taking you to the hospital right away,” I warned.

“Deal,” she agreed, though she sounded certain it wasn’t going to happen.

I finished massaging her hands. “We only have to make it a few more weeks. You three better behave yourselves.”

Nadine snickered as she ran her hand over her large belly. “I have a feeling these boys are going to be nothing but trouble.”

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