Page 112 of Awakening

“You are,” she says, still smiling. “Remember, our pregnancies progress more quickly than a human pregnancy. A blood test can confirm it almost immediately. Congratulations.”

I stand in shock for a moment, only being pulled from my daze by the feeling of Ethan’s thumb brushing against my cheek. It’s then that I realize he’s wiping away tears. He smiles at me when I turn to him. “I’m pregnant,” I whisper.

“You are.” Cupping my face in his hands, he pulls me in for a tender kiss, then wraps me in his arms. “I love you,” he whispers against the top of my head.

I snuggle into the warmth of his chest. “I love you too.”

“Everything looks good then?” Ethan asks Jillian.

“Yes, however I am wondering if you’d be up for doing an ultrasound while you’re here?”

Ethan’s hold on me tightens and my heart feels like it literally freezes. “An ultrasound? Now?” I ask.

“I’m sorry. Let me put you at ease. I don’t think anything is wrong, but your numbers are quite high for how far along you might be, which could possibly indicate twins.”

Ethan’s arms drop like lead down to his sides. “Twins?” he asks as his face goes pale.

Jillian bites her lower lip, likely trying to hide her amusement. “Yes. I have time to do it now, if that works for you?”

“Yes, of course,” I say, while Ethan still looks stunned.

“Great. I’ll be right back,” Jillian says, leaving the room.

“Hey,” I say, reaching up to touch Ethan’s cheek. “Are you okay?”

He looks at me, taking my hand from his face and kissing it. He smiles and nods slowly. “I’m fucking amazing.”

“Are you sure?” I ask with a laugh. “Because you looked like you might faint just a minute ago.”

“I’m just…surprised. Wow,” he says, shaking his head. “Twins.” He looks down at me with a big smile. “What about you? Are you okay?”

“Also, very surprised, but in just the most incredible way. I can hardly believe any of this is happening right now.”

Jillian knocks on the door before opening it. “I’m ready for you. Just follow me.”

Once we’re set up in the ultrasound room, Ethan holds my hand as Jillian spreads the warmed gel over my abdomen. She uses the handheld probe to search for what she believes will be two babies. That’s when we hear the most thrilling sound.

“Here we go,” she says as the heartbeat of one baby echoes through the room. “You can see the small outline of nugget number one right here,” she says, pointing to the monitor. “Let’s see what we have down here.” She moves the probe around, and my own heart thunders in my chest when the heartbeat of baby number two makes its presence known. “There is nugget number two,” she says as she points to the second baby on the monitor.

I look up at Ethan who is beaming with pride, while tears of absolute happiness stream down my cheeks. “Two babies,” I whisper. He leans down and kisses me, then rests his forehead to mine. “This means I probably got pregnant as soon as I got my memory back. It’s so cool that you can hear the heartbeat so soon,” I say, but then I gasp. “Oh, no. I got really drunk just a few days ago.” Ethan’s eyes widen and his grip on my hand tightens.

“Don’t worry. Remember, our pregnancies are quite different than that of humans. Alcohol doesn’t affect a developing fetus for us like it would with a human. We just recommend refraining from it now that you know,” she says with a smile. “And yes, we are lucky enough to be able to detect the heartbeat within a week or so with our pregnancies.”

Ethan breathes a sigh of relief. “Do we know if we have boys, girls, or both yet?”

Jillian continues to study the screen. “What I can tell you is that you have fraternal twins here, meaning they are not identical, but I would hate to give you a definitive answer on sex right now. I’d offer a blood test, but with fraternal twins, the results would only definitively show the sex of both babies if they are both girls, as no male chromosome would be present. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait for the babies’ development to progress. We can schedule another ultrasound for three months from now.”

Ethan’s head whips toward Jillian. “Three months?”

Jillian laughs and nods. “Yes, I’m sorry. I know it’ll be hard to wait so long, but things should be really clear by then. At least we’re lucky to be able to see the sex far sooner than one would be able to with a human pregnancy.”

Ethan sighs and then looks at me. “These are going to be the longest months of my life.”

Ethan

I’m still in shock when we get home. I’m going to be the father to two babies. At the same time. All at once. That’s a lot, but I couldn’t be fucking happier.

“So, I think we need to set up a few ground rules,” Olivia says. She sits down on the couch, and I reach over and pull her feet up onto the ottoman. “This is what I’m talking about, Ethan. I know we’ve been through a lot, but you can’t hover over me twenty-four seven now that I’m pregnant.”

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