Page 108 of Shootout Daddies
The wand presses against me. I wince but stay still, the cold bite of it nothing compared to the storm rolling through my chest.
The screen flickers. Grainy gray shadows. Dr. Patel tilts her head. Adjusts.
And then she makes a small sound. Almost a hum.
I freeze. “What? What is that?”
Hunter straightens. Rhett pushes off the wall. Landon leans forward, tension sharp as wire.
Dr. Patel doesn’t look away from the screen. “Well,” she says carefully, “this is… unexpected.”
My nails dig into the paper. “Unexpected how?”
Her hand moves deftly on the probe. She clicks something on the machine. Points at the blurry shapes on the monitor. “Here’s one gestational sac… here’s another… and”—she shifts again—“a third.”
The room goes silent.
I blink. “I’m sorry, what?”
Dr. Patel finally looks at me, her smile gentle. “Triplets, Ivy. You’re carrying three.”
Everything tilts. My breath lodges somewhere in my throat.
Hunter swears under his breath, a low shocked laugh that cracks like static. “Holy—” He cuts himself off, pressing his hand over his mouth.
Rhett just stares. Blank. Like his brain has stopped computing.
Landon lets out a slow exhale, scrubbing his jaw with one hand, his eyes fixed on the monitor like he can will it into showing something different.
“Triplets,” I echo, my voice high and thin.
Dr. Patel nods. “Yes. All three appear to be measuring consistently. That’s good. We’ll monitor closely for growth andviability over the coming weeks. Carrying multiples is higher risk, but we’ll keep you well supported.”
The room spins. I grip the edge of the table tighter. “How—how is that even?—”
“It can happen spontaneously,” she explains calmly. “Particularly if more than one egg is released. It’s rare, but not unheard of.”
I can’t even look at the men. I feel them, three different energies filling the room—Hunter buzzing with stunned excitement, Rhett a wall of silent shock, Landon a controlled mask I can’t read.
“What about…” My voice cracks. I swallow. “What about paternity?”
Dr. Patel’s eyes soften. “At this stage, there’s no way to determine that. If the babies share the same placenta, they’re identical and from the same egg. If they each have their own, they could have different fathers, but we won’t know for certain until genetic testing after birth.”
The words slam into me like stones. Different fathers. After birth. Unknowns piling up.
“Okay,” I whisper, though nothing feels okay.
Dr. Patel pats my arm gently. “Let me finish the measurements, and then we’ll get you cleaned up.”
The wand moves again. I focus on the ceiling tiles, counting the tiny holes in the speckled surface because if I look at the screen again, if I see three flickering lives inside me, I might shatter.
She prints images, wipes the gel from my skin, and steps back. “I’ll have my nurse schedule your next scan in two weeks. We’ll want to keep a very close eye.”
The men close in as soon as she leaves.
“You okay?” Landon asks first, his hand on my shoulder. His voice is rougher than usual, like he’s fighting to stay calm.
Hunter crouches beside me, grin twitching at the corners of his mouth like he can’t stop it. “Baby girl, do you understand? That was three little heartbeats. Three. We’re talking—this is huge.” He’s practically vibrating with awe.
