Page 60 of His Wife

The doctor’s voice disappears into the background, and I no longer notice the smell of alcohol and antiseptic that made my stomach turn when I walked in here earlier. My mind is utterly consumed by the image on the screen. I try to move, leaning my head to the side to look closer, focusing and taking in every detail. The doctor is pointing and explaining what I’m looking at, but all I can see is this black and white foggy image. Somewhere in the middle is a black bubble with a tiny shape inside, a little pulsating blip. The baby’s heartbeat.

It’s a life. A tiny little life whose heart is beating inside me.

“Would you look at that.” The doctor inches closer to the monitor, and I watch him as he pushes his glasses farther up his nose.

“What is it?” I glance back at the screen as he circles an area with his finger.

“It looks like you’ll be having twins.”

“What?”

“That definitely looks like a second amniotic sac. Do you have twins in your family?”

“Um…my husband. He has a twin brother.”

“Let’s see if we can hear that second heartbeat.” He gently moves the ultrasound probe inside me, focusing intently on the screen. The discomfort I felt two minutes ago when he slid the probe into me is long gone, replaced with a fusion of nerves, anxiety, and a dash of ‘what-the-fuck-is-happening.”

Suddenly the heartbeat we hear through the speaker sounds different. More erratic.

“There it is.” The doctor smiles.

“There’s what?”

“The second heartbeat.”

I swallow hard. “A second one?”

“Yes. A second one.” He smiles at me, then eases the probe from between my legs and discreetly drapes the white sheet over my knees. “Congratulations, Mrs.,” he glances at the name on the top of my file, “Dinali.” That was Mira’s idea, using my maiden surname to avoid the raised eyebrows when you mention the Del Rossa name.

“I’ll need to see you again when you’re at twelve or thirteen weeks. I’ll arrange with my receptionist to schedule a date for you.”

I prop myself up on my elbows. “Twins?”

The doctor chuckles. “It’s a shock, I know. But yes. It looks like you’ll be having twins.” The latex gloves snap as he pulls them off, discarding them in the metal bin, and I’m still choking on a breath when he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

I lie back down and stare up at the ceiling. “Twins,” I whisper, saying the words like I have no concept of what it means.

There’s a light knock on the door. “Can I come in?”

“Um, yeah, Mira. Come on in.” I sit up and dangle my legs down the side of the bed when she walks in, her eyes beaming with curious excitement.

“I saw the doctor leave. How did it go? Are you pregnant?”

I’m still stunned, brushing my hair out of my face, leaning my head to the side as I stare down at my feet. My mind is struggling to digest what the doctor just said, and Mira is staring like she’s two seconds away from choking the words out of me.

“Leandra, what did the doctor say?”

“I…um…” I look at her but then glance to the side. “I’m…I’m pregnant.” My gaze meets hers. “With twins.”

Mira’s eyes widen in shock, and her palm is on her chest as she sucks in a breath. “Twins?”

I nod.

“Twins?” she reiterates, taking a step closer.

“That’s what the doctor said. Twins.” The words are coming out of my mouth, but I’m not sure what the hell it is I’m saying. It’s as if my mind isn’t able to digest it, to make sense of it. Twenty minutes ago, when I walked in here, I was still struggling with the idea of being pregnant, of having a child. Now I’m facing the reality that I’m not just pregnant with one, but two lives are growing inside me. Two.

“Two,” I repeat my own thoughts. “I’m having two babies.”

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