Page 44 of Doctor's Surprise Twins

I wet my lips, not sure how to go about it or where to start. “I met her soon after I moved here. Every morning before going to the hospital, I’d stop at a coffee shop and see her there. At first, I noticed her, but she didn’t notice me. Eventually, we caught one another’s eyes. Our relationship started with flirty smiles, and then we moved on to waving, and then we got to where we’d say hello or good morning in passing. It took me longer than I care to admit, but I finally asked her out.”

“And she said yes?”

I chuckle. “Actually, she said, ‘It’s about time.’”

We laugh.

“The rest is history. We started dating, and everything was perfect. I fell in love. She fell in love. We got to where we were spending more time together than apart, and then I asked her to marry me. My dad had passed away long before this. I’m an only child and other than my mom, I don’t have any family. She came from a big family that likes to be involved in everything. I wanted to elope, but she wouldn’t have it. She made me step up and be the man she always wanted. We had a big wedding, and the perfect honeymoon, and then we started looking for a home. This is the one she picked.” I motion toward the property.

“That’s a nice story.”

I nod. “Yeah, but it doesn’t end there.”

She trains her eyes on mine, asking me to continue.

“It wasn’t long after we got married that she wanted to start a family. So, we tried. And we tried and tried. It just wasn’t happening, so she went to a specialist. She found out that it would be extremely difficult for her to conceive, and that if she did, it would be hard to carry to full term—that it would be dangerous for her and the baby. She didn’t care, but I wasn’t willing to take that chance. I didn’t want to lose her. I’d much rather not have a kid than lose her, so we agreed not to have children. After that, everything was fine. At least, I thought so. She was a lawyer and once we agreed to not try for a family, she doubled down on work. She opened her own practice, and I was working at the hospital. Everything seemed great. Little did I know, she wasn’t happy. She wasn’t fulfilled by her career or by just being a wife. She wanted to be a mother.”

I take a deep breath followed by a gulp of wine. “She begged and begged and begged for me to give her a child. Every time I turned around, she was asking, telling, and sometimes even trying to seduce me into giving her what she wanted. I kepttelling her no, that I needed her in my life. It caused a lot of fights. She told me I was being selfish by not giving her what she wanted, for not allowing her to have the same human rights every other woman has. I held my ground for a long time, until finally, I couldn’t do it anymore. I gave her what she wanted.”

19

ALLY

The sadness in his eyes hits hard. I know it’s his story and his sadness, but it feels like my own, and it’s bearing down on me, heavily.

“I held out hope that it wouldn’t happen. I mean, it didn’t happen before. She started IVF treatments. She was determined to get pregnant, and she wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted. Within a year of agreeing to try for a baby, she got pregnant. She was beyond happy. She refused to be realistic. She went from zero to one hundred in the blink of an eye, refusing to entertain the idea that it might not work out. I tried to be a little more reserved. While she saw the positive in everything, I saw the negative. Every day was hell for me. I worried about coming home from work and finding her on the floor if something went wrong with the pregnancy. I dreamed about it. And then one day, that’s what happened.”

I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand. But he doesn’t look at me. He hasn’t looked at me for some time. His eyes are straight ahead, downcast slightly with hooded lids. They’re glazed over like he’s stuck reliving the past.

“I came home from work and found her lying in a puddle of blood. Everything after that is a blur. She was rushed to the hospital. She passed first, and then our child passed.”

“Oh my gosh, Ethan. I’m so sorry,” I say, reaching out and placing my hand on his wrist. The touch causes him to blink and brings him back to the present.

He blinks, causing the tears that have been building to roll down his cheeks. He quickly wipes them away. “I’m sorry. This probably isn’t what you wanted to talk about, is it?” He finishes his wine and leans forward for the bottle.

“It’s good that you’re talking about it. This is your story. I want to get to know you. Even the things that are bad or sad or hard to talk about.”

He nods. “I haven’t been able to bring myself to date anyone else. I haven’t been with another woman, until you. You’re the first woman I’ve been able to look at.”

“It means a lot that you’re telling me all this.”

He leans back now, turning his body slightly toward me. “Why don’t you tell me about you. How’d you grow up? How did someone as gorgeous as you manage to stay a virgin this long?”

I take a sip of wine. “I was born and raised here. My dad took off long before I was born, so it was always just my mom and me. She struggled to provide for me. Often, I was left to myself so she could go to work. We moved around a lot. We got kicked out of places when we couldn’t pay rent. We lived in a car for a few months.”

“Wow. I’m sorry.”

I shrug. “She dated a lot. Usually, guys she met bartending or waitressing. She was a beautiful woman, but she was desperate, and that usually led to her getting involved with the wrong kind of people. She got into a lot of abusive relationships. Watching her live her life taught me lessons. I knew I did not want to grow up to be her, so I did everything I could to ensure that didn’thappen. That meant going to school and getting good grades so I could go to college. That also meant staying away from boys because I did not want to get knocked up and left like my mom did.” I take a deep breath before looking over at him again. “And here we are.”

“What do you want out of life?”

I shrug. “I want to graduate college, get a job, and provide for myself.”

“And after that?”

“I don’t know. I guess I never thought past that.”

“You never thought about marriage or kids?”

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