Page 73 of Claimed By the Damned

She was saying that for her benefit as well. While she felt okay, it was nice to hear from the doctor that she was going to be fine.

“And the baby?” Knox asked the doctor curiously. “Is the baby okay?”

The doctor flipped through the file in his hands and nodded again. “Yes, the babies are doing just fine. Their heart rates look good and strong.”

The room went quiet and still, apart from the beeping of the machines. All of their eyes moved to the doctor, and Amara’s jaw dropped open.

“I’m sorry,” she began. “I think I must have misheard you. Did you say babies? As in… plural?”

“Twins,” the doctor replied with a frown. “I’m sorry, I thought you knew.”

She shook her head in shock. “No. I …uh… I just found out I was pregnant a few days ago.”

Her eyes searched the bedsheets as her mind began to race. One baby was hard enough to get her head around, but twins? The monitor picked up her racing heart, and if she thought she had been nervous before, now it was even worse. How was she supposed to take care of two babies when she didn’t even know if she could take care of one?

“Breathe,” Zeke said. “Don’t panic. We’ll figure this out. There’s four of us.”

“When can she go home?” Knox asked. It was more of a demand.

“She can be released here in a bit,” the doctor replied, unfazed by Knox’s man-handling. He’d probably seen it all before. “Would you guys like an ultrasound first? Maybe see the little ones?”

All three guys nodded before Amara could process what the doctor had asked.

The doctor chuckled and made some notes in his file. “Alright. I’ll go get the ultrasound tech and send them in.” He patted Amara’s leg. “You take care now, and remember to breathe.”

It didn’t take long for the tech to come in, wheeling a machine with her. She was aged, close to retirement if Amara had to guess, and her eyes revealed a gentle soul.

Knox moved aside for her to pass and then sat on the bed, eyeing this new machine with curiosity. “Will it hurt her?”

The tech beamed at him. “No, dear. Not at all. Though, the gel will be a little cold.” She moved about, plugging in the machine, switching it on, and then gently pulling down the blankets so that they sat low on Amara’s waist. She then lifted the gown Amara was in and tucked it underneath her breasts. All Amara could do was lie there and let it happen. Her mind was still trying to process what the doctor had said.

As she squirted the gel onto Amara’s stomach, she glanced around at the boys. “Which one of you is the lucky father?”

“We all are,” Drake answered.

At the same time, Amara snorted. “We have no idea. Could be any of them.”

The tech’s eyes flicked back to Amara’s. She opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it and pressed her lips together. “Alright then.” She grabbed the wand and placed it on the gel, smearing it around a little. The tapping of her fingers on the machine punctuated the thoughts she didn’t say out loud, but all four of them awaited a glimpse of the babies.

The image was blurry at first, but it eventually cleared up. It was still early in the pregnancy, so the two beans that popped up didn’t look like babies, but they were definitely there, and there were definitely two of them.

The fear she felt earlier washed away in a matter of seconds when their heartbeats picked up on the monitor. All of a sudden, everything paled in comparison, and the breath whooshed from her lungs as an instinct she didn’t know she had kicked in. A mother’s instinct, she realized. To protect and to love and to cherish.

“I think that one is going to have my nose,” Knox pointed.

“Maybe it will have your sunny disposition as well,” Zeke said with a snort.

“I think it definitely has Drake’s mouth though,” Knox added with a chuckle. “It’s a permanent frown.”

“Fuck you,” Drake grumbled.

Amara laughed at the exchange and shook her head, not taking her eyes off the screen. Off her children. “First of all, you can’t even see the noses or mouths. Secondly, only one of you is the father, so they can’t have pieces of each of you. This isn’t Frankenstein, weirdos.”

Knox ignored her completely. “Are they boys or girls? Or one of each?”

The tech gave another smile as she punched some keys on the keyboard. Pictures began to print. “It’s far too early to tell. We won’t know that until about the twenty-five-week mark.”

“Thank you,” Amara told her honestly. She didn’t have to print out pictures for each of the guys, but clearly, she understood that the four of them were all in a relationship.

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