Page 34 of Doctor’s Surprise Twins

My heart dropped. It was too late. She was gone now. I would have no way of knowing how to get in touch with her or let her know how I felt. I sat back, tapping my finger on my desktop, feeling my heart shatter. She had been right there within my reach, and I blew it, all because I was too prideful to admit that I might need her.

What did I do?

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

Maggie

I sat anxiously bouncingmy foot in the waiting room. It had been a few months since I moved, and I was settling in just fine. Today’s baby checkup was also sonogram day. The doctor had heard what she thought were two heartbeats and scheduled a sonogram to be certain. I was nervous. I could barely process the idea of being a mother to one baby, but now there was a likelihood that it was twins.

“Cameron.” The nurse’s smiling face appeared in the door, and a blonde stood and strolled over to her, disappearing into the void. Based on my calculations of who was sitting in this tiny room when I walked in and who had left, I was next.

I looked down at my hands, picking at my fingernails. It was a bad habit I had developed a while back and I never got rid of it. It gave me something to do when my mind wouldn’t shut off and I needed to force a smile. Picking my fingernails didn’t make my troubles any less. It just made it easier to distract myself.

“Magnolia.” Hearing my name, I looked up. The same cheery-faced woman with the clipboard stood in the doorway looking right at me. I’d only had one other appointment in this office, and it was very uncomfortable because the doctor had lectured me that I hadn’t been getting the prenatal care I needed.

I blamed myself because of my fear of Derek finding out, but that didn’t explain how I’d been settled into Evansville long enough to have gotten a primary care physician. I just hadn’t. There was no excuse. Derek would have been furious with me if he knew. Which was why I hadn’t told him.

I stood and strolled her way, and she started off toward an exam room. When I walked in, there was a large sonogram machine parked next to the table. The nurse gestured at the table and said, “Have a seat.” She set her clipboard down on the counter and folded a few sheets of paper to the back, scanning with her finger. “Twenty weeks, right? Time to see this baby of yours.” She sounded excited, as if she had a personal stake in my pregnancy.

“Yes, I’m sort of nervous. I guess the doctor thinks maybe I’m having twins.” I shrugged as I dropped my purse on the seat and climbed up onto the table. The nurse slid the blood pressure cuff on my arm and pressed her stethoscope to my inner elbow. After she had checked my pressure, she scribbled something down in my chart and smiled at me.

“Can I have you lie down? You might want to scoot all the way up there, so your head is on the pillow.” Her name tag readSarah, and I smiled, thinking about my mother. Her sister’s name was Sarah. After helping me get positioned on the bed, Sarah walked over to the sink and washed her hands. She called over her shoulder, “No dad today?”

I was certain she was just being friendly and trying to make me feel more comfortable, given the fact that I’d confessed my anxious thoughts. I, however, was instantly deflated. No dad... ever. Derek didn’t have a thought in the world about me and wouldn’t ever again. I had left him behind, but I knew I’d never move on. Not with this little one—or two—growing inside me.

“No, no dad. He’s not really in the picture.” That had become my mantra lately. Every time someone I met made a passing comment about how “Dad must be so excited,” or “He’ll be daddy’s little boy.” I had enough practice now to smile through the discomfort.

“Oh, sorry to hear that.” Sarah dried her hands and put on some gloves, then turned the machine on. It whined to life, the fan inside it the only sound in the room for a few seconds. Sarah must have felt bad for bringing up “Dad”.

I folded my shirt up, exposing the large baby bump that had developed in the past eight weeks. The cold gel she squeezed onto my belly made me cringe. The room was the perfect temperature, but that just felt like ice. And the minute she touched the paddle to my stomach, the sound of a perfect tiny heartbeat reverberated out of the speakers. It brought a smile to my face.

“Look there, a strong little heartbeat.” She maneuvered the paddle around, spreading the cold gel. It was torturous, but hearing the little heartbeat encouraged me. She took measurements and pointed the machine in my direction so I could see. When she stopped and typed inBaby Binto the machine, I felt my chest tighten. “Looks like the doc was right. We have two little ones here. Both of them look really healthy.”

I was in shock. I stared at that screen as she showed me two perfect heartbeats. Two sets of tiny hands and feet. As if my world weren’t going to change enough, I’d been dealt a loaded hand. The nurse talked to me, but I wasn't listening. My mind was lost in the overwhelming confirmation that I was now a mother to two unborn babies—not one.

“Magnolia?” I looked up at her compassionate face. “Would you like to know the sexes?”

Sarah offered a smile, but I could only blink back my emotion. I nodded. Knowing what I was having would save me a bit of money in the long run. No wasted funds on pink outfits if they were both boys. I watched as she swirled the paddle around until she was poking me in the ribs.

“Baby A is a girl! Congratulations.” Sarah continued working the machine, but my heart swelled. I was going to have a girl. “And a boy! Baby B is a boy.”

I covered my face with both hands and closed my eyes. This was all too much. I had so much to think about now. I had been shocked to find out I was pregnant—my fault for putting my desire for Derek ahead of my own future. By the time the hour-long sonogram was complete, I was a flustered wreck. Pregnancy had done a number on my resilience, and the hormones made it difficult to paste a smile on my face, but I did it. The second I got into my car, I dialed Gypsy’s number.

“Mags, oh, my God, it’s been like two months. What is going on? Where are you?” Leave it to Gypsy to be so dramatic.

“I’m safe, okay? I moved to Evansville. I got a job with a GP here.” I sighed. “Just don’t tell anyone, alright?” I heard some rustling and the sound of a microwave beeping and glanced at my clock. She must have been in the breakroom at work. I forgot totally about the time of day.

“Listen,” she hissed, “everyone is asking where you are. Derek is so sullen all the time. We haven’t been able to replace you because everyone Barb tries to bring in, he shoots down.”

It felt good to know I was missed, but I doubted it had anything to do with his having feelings for me.

“I’m sorry I left a hole there. Please, Gypsy. Don’t tell anyone.”

“I’m not, I swear, but you should see this place. Even Barb is moody on the daily.” I heard her talking, but she had covered her phone mic with something. When she came back, I heard his voice in the background. My heart fluttered, and I shut it down. I didn’t have the time or energy to get emotional about him right now. “What made you call?”

Derek’s voice in the background faded away, and I could tell she had left the room.

“I’m having twins, Gyps. My God, I’m seriously freaking out. I just got confirmation today.” I leaned back in my car seat and rested my head, eyes closed. “As if one baby wouldn’t have been hard enough. Why did the gods have to do this to me?”

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