Page 71 of The Paris Chapter

‘Sorry?’ Carly asked, frowning.

‘What do you mean?’ Luke demanded.

I stepped forward in shock as I looked at the screen and could make out two blobs on there.

‘You’re having twins,’ the woman replied.

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The sonographer left us alone to find a doctor as Carly’s pregnancy was now considered higher risk and she would need more monitoring. The three of us stared at the picture of the scan she had left in the room.

‘Twins,’ Luke said for maybe the tenth time in a row. He shook his head. ‘Actually, my grandfather was a twin…’

Carly snapped her head around to glare at him. ‘And you didn’t think to mention that in all the years we’ve been together?’

‘He died before I was even born,’ Luke protested.

‘This is good news,’ I said. ‘Not only is the baby fine but now you have two.’ I saw their faces. ‘No?’

‘It’s just a lot to take in…’ Carly said. She touched her stomach. ‘And now I’m classed as higher risk. I hope everything will be okay. And I was just getting my head around becoming a mother. But to two at once? I mean, how will I cope?’

‘How willwecope,’ Luke corrected. ‘I’m here. And we’ve always been a team, right? We can handle this. I promise.’

Carly looked at it and smiled. ‘I guess you’re right.’

Luke leaned in to give her a kiss. ‘Tessa, tell my wife she will be an incredible mother, please.’

‘Definitely,’ I said firmly. ‘You’ve always looked out for me.’

There was a knock on the door and we called out to whoever it was to come in. Ethan and Juliette walked inside. I had sent them a message to give them an update.

‘All okay then?’ Ethan asked as they edged into the room.

‘Look!’ Carly held up the scan. ‘Twins. We can’t believe it.’

‘Congratulations,’ Ethan said as Juliette looked at the scan picture. ‘We’ll wait outside until you’re ready and I’ll give you all a lift home.’ He turned from the bed to glance over at me.

‘Thanks, Ethan,’ I said, giving him a shy smile. The last hour had been dramatic and it meant our conversation in his office had ended abruptly. I wanted to talk to him more, but I didn’t know if he felt the same. We looked at one another for longer than was strictly necessary.

Juliette made a tutting sound, making us turn away from each other. ‘Carly must be thirsty and hungry; you didn’t have dinner. You two…’ She pointed at Luke and Ethan. ‘Go and get us some supplies while we wait for the doctor.’

‘Juliette, you can’t keep bossing…’ Ethan began.

‘Actually, I would like some food and drink,’ Carly said, cutting him off. She turned to Luke. ‘You know what I like.’

He nodded and got up. ‘No point arguing, mate; I’ve learnt that through the years,’ Luke said to Ethan. ‘Let’s go.’ Ethan let himself be led out of the room, leaving us three ladies alone.

‘You are very impressive,’ Juliette said to Carly. ‘I can’t imagine one baby, let alone two, but you’ll be fine, I can sense it.’ Juliette gestured to me. ‘Tessa, I’m not so sure.’

Carly nodded. ‘I know what you mean.’

‘Huh?’ I looked at them. ‘Why are you both ganging up on me? This is why you shouldn’t introduce friends to one another.’

‘You and Ethan,’ Juliette said. She said something in French. When she saw our blank faces, she sighed. ‘You are both being… how you say it? Stupid.’

Carly barked out a laugh. I glared at them both. ‘Sorry, Tessa, but Juliette has a point. The way you two just looked at one another. It was like no one else was in the room. Is this what they were like in Paris?’

Juliette nodded. ‘I could see the chemistry instantly. Lots of sparklers.’

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