Page 28 of Unexpected Delivery

Arbor comes out of the bathroom with her forearm pushing against her tits. “My boobs heard her before I did.”

I snort, shaking my head.

She’s really cute, and I’m not even going to beat myself up about acknowledging it. It’s just one of those facts of life things—Arbor is fucking adorable, and I’m interested in her.

Arbor squeaks, grabbing the top of her breast as the baby nurses. “That was uncalled for. Random shooting pains during pregnancy. Now even more during breastfeeding?”

I chuckle and take a seat on the edge of her hospital bed. “I swear I’m not creeping on you while you’re trying to feed Gracie. I just wanted to talk to you about something.”

Her eyes widen as she gives a tentative nod, and I feel like a total dick.

“Whoa, it’s nothing bad.” Okay, that’s a lie. Or it might be. I have to find a way to warn her about the insurance stuff before it comes out from someone other than me. “We couldn’t find your insurance card when you were admitted, and I didn’t want you to have to worry about a big bill for the baby.”

Arbor lets out awhooshingsound and groans. “Oh shit, the cramps. Why do they come every time I try to nurse? I mean, I know they’re supposed to be helping shrink my uterus, which might be nice because I still look six months pregnant, but damn, they do not feel great.”

I frown, twisting to lie on my side, facing her. “Can I do anything to help?”

“No, sorry. I didn’t mean to cut you off.”

“It’s all good.” I bring a hand over, tucking her hair behind her ear.

She nuzzles her face to my wrist, and I feel my canines dig into my lower lip. “Do all identical twins share the same scent?”

“What?” I ask, chuckling. “Hayes and I might smell similar, but no one ever describes our scent as identical.”

“Really? You both smell like the weather after a thunderstorm, but with an electric tinge that I’m not sure how to describe. It’s not bad.” She cuddles closer to my forearm. “I really like it. Wow, that sucks almost as bad as the labor contractions.” She hisses, and her eyes clench shut.

Not only is my mind racing, because it sounds like she’s as fond of my scent as I am of hers, but she smells almost exactly the same way to me.

Scooting my chest closer to Gracie’s back as Arbor lies facing me, I ask, “Do you want me to take her?”

“No. She got a good latch this time, and she’s awake. Sorry, I know I’ve been non-stop complaining. I swear I’m not always like this.”

“I complain when I get a hangnail, trust me, you can complain all you need to.” I smirk, studying her big blue eyes. “Back to the other thing. I put down my information for Gracie’s insurance. If it would have helped, I would have tried to cover you, but I think you would have had to already be on the plan before delivering Gracie for it to pay for this hospital stay.”

“Hael,” she whispers as her jaw falls.

“Yeah, I know.” I frown, running my hand down Gracie’s back. “I panicked, okay? I wasn’t trying to be a pushy dick, but—and please don’t take this the wrong way—can you afford to pay for all this out of pocket?”

She flinches, and my chest gets tight. Wow, way to make a questionable situation even worse.

“I didn’t mean that how it sounded,” I say quickly. “I don’t know many people well-off enough to pay for a hospital stay without insurance. That’s all. Come to think of it, I doubt I know anyone who wouldn’t be hurting financially after even an afternoon trip to the ER without insurance.”

She reaches over, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “And I appreciate you trying to help us out, but how would that even work? They let you just add random people’s children onto your health insurance nowadays? Because I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.”

Fuck.

This seemed like such a better plan when my adrenaline was still pounding.

“I listed myself as your emergency contact…” I feel my face heat. Jesus, it’s been years since I blushed, but I bet I’m as red as a tomato. “And I may have put myself down as Gracie’s father.”

She blinks repeatedly, not saying anything, and I grimace.

This is really fucking bad… She’s about to freak out.

“Okay,” she says slowly. “We can fix this. We just update the information before we leave. I’m sure it happens all the time when stress is high.”

“Or you could let me sign the birth certificate,” I blurt out. “I checked into adding a kid onto my plan. All I need to do is be listed on the birth certificate and add her within ninety days to qualify as a life event. Otherwise, I’d have to wait until January, but this way, you won’t have to worry about paying for any of the pediatrician appointments out of pocket.” I give her a look that feels like some combination of pleading andseriously, just listen to what I’m saying.“You heard the baby doctor. They want to see her two days after leaving the hospital, then five days, a week, a month old, two months old?—”

---