Page 38 of The Boss's Triplet Surprise

How would they feed two babies? Change their diapers? If one was sleeping, wouldn’t the other be awake? What about when they were toddlers? How was Leah going to manage?

And how was he going to manage? One baby had felt doable. He’d imagined spending weekends with Leah and the baby, evenings, too. He’d pictured family outings and homework help. But two babies? How could he possibly juggle two babies and a career?

“Dan?” Leah squeezed his hand. “Is everything okay?”

It obviously wasn’t okay. This was a huge shock, and one that could change everything.

“I’m just not sure how we’ll manage. And how you’ll manage, when I’m not around.”

Leah squeezed his hand. “We’ll manage. I’ll manage. I have two arms, don’t I? They make strollers for twins. Cribs, too. I promise, this isn’t as big a change as it feels like.”

Dan relaxed, if only slightly. Leah was so confident. She didn’t seem worried about how they’d manage the twins at all. And she was more experienced with babies and children than he was. If she said not to worry, he would try not to.

“Mom, Dad.” Dan and Leah turned to Moira. Dan had almost forgotten that she was there. “I’ve found a third heartbeat.”

This time, when Dan turned to Leah, he saw that her mouth had fallen open in shock as well.

“Triplets?”

“It appears that way.”

Leah looked down at her stomach, eyes wide. “Are you sure that’s all of them?”

Moira shook her head. “Three heartbeats, three babies. That’s all.”

“That’s all?” Dan chuckled, but the sound was humorless. He had no idea how he and Leah were going to manage. Even though she’d said she could do this on her own, surely she would need help. She didn’t have three arms, after all. And Dan wasn’t going to be able to provide that help. One of the babies was always going to be hungry, or need a change, or be unwilling to sleep. Always. What had he gotten himself into?

“Dan.” Leah’s eyes were wide. Dan knew that he should comfort her. He should tell her that he would do everything he could to help her and that all would be well. He should tell her that this wasn’t so bad. He should say all the things she’d said to him when they’d found out about the second baby just minutes ago. But Dan couldn’t say any of that, because he didn’t believe it.

“They’re all healthy?” he managed.

“Yes. You have three healthy children.”

“Good. So, there’s that.” He knew his tone was harsh but couldn’t change it. “They’re all healthy. And Leah is healthy, too.”

Dan couldn’t bring himself to look at Leah. He knew what he’d see in her eyes — disappointment. She’d been supportive through this process, even calming him down about multiple babies, and now that she needed him, he couldn’t manage to say a single helpful thing.

This was the real reason Dan couldn’t be a true partner to Leah or a true father to their children. Give him a business meeting with important partners, or an impending deadline anytime — he could handle it. But ask him to be supportive when his world was falling apart, and Dan would crumble.

“Yes.” Moira looked back and forth between them. Her tone was calming. “I know multiples can come as a bit of a shock, but take some time, both of you. I promise, even though three babies might be a big surprise now, even an overwhelming one, in a few weeks you’re very likely to feel differently.”

Dan knew he wouldn’t feel differently, though. In a few weeks, three babies would still be too many. In a few weeks, he would still be equally unprepared to deal with a change like this.

Dan felt like he was moving through a cloud as Moira did a few final checks on the three babies and on Leah. He saw what was happening and even asked a few questions, but everything seemed a little fuzzy. It was like he wasn’t really there.

The cloud stuck with him as Leah cleaned up and they headed out to the car. In silence, he held the door open for her, and she slid into her seat. When he got in, she turned to him, her eyes wide and worried.

“Dan. I know this is a shock. It is for me, too! Let’s just take a breath and talk about this, okay?”

“Yes.” Dan nodded. “We should talk about it. But I have an important meeting in less than an hour. I’ll drop you off at home, and we can talk later.”

The meeting was important, but Dan probably could have rescheduled. The real reason he wanted to drop Leah off at home and return to the office alone was that he needed time to think. This all felt like too much, and he needed to do familiar things. Things he was good at. Things he could control.

“Okay…” Dan heard the hurt in Leah’s voice. “If that’s what you want.”

“Do you need anything? We can stop on the way to buy some carrots or something.”

“It’s fine. I have some in the fridge.” Leah turned to the window, and Dan understood that she needed some time, too. In silence, he drove her home.

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