Page 39 of Keeping Our Secrets

“As you can hear, there are two heartbeats.”

The moment I heard the overlapping beats I lost it. I sobbed.

“What does that mean?” Liam stammered. “Is there something wrong?”

“Both heartbeats are nice and strong,” she responded.

“The baby has two hearts?” he asked, dumbfounded.

“No,” she chuckled. “That means you’re having twins.”

Liam exhaled and ran his left hand through his hair, so he didn’t let go of my hand with his right. Impending fatherhood had most likely screwed with his brain cells. Liam leaned over and rubbed my shoulder as I continued to cry.

I faintly heard the doctor say, “I’ll leave you two for a bit,” before the door clicked shut.

Liam pulled me into his arms and quietly held me. When I finally stopped crying, I sat back on the bed and spoke.

“It makes me think about Michael.” Finding out we were having twins brought everything rushing back to the surface as if it had happened yesterday.

“I’m so sorry,” he replied, gently squeezing my hand.

“No matter what our parents say, I’m keeping them. I know you might not be ready to become a father, and that’s okay. I was just supposed to be a one-night stand, even if it was a weekend.”

“I’ll be here for the three of you,” he replied, rocking me to the core.

“Are you sure? This is huge.”

I wanted to give him an out, even if our unique step-sibling relationship would inevitably force him to be around for part of the pregnancy and the eventual future. I was prepared to do it alone, and he could just be their uncle instead of a father.

“I’ve had enough time to think about it. More than anything I want to be their father. If that’s not what you want, I want to be in their lives in whatever capacity you’ll allow me to be. I still have a year left to finish school, so money will be tight until I graduate and get a full-time job.”

“That’s what I want too,” I replied.

There was a knock on the door, and then the doctor entered.

“How are you both doing?”

“I’m sorry, I kind of lost it for a moment there,” I apologized.

“No problem,” she smiled, then took a seat. “It looks like you are about five months along. They both have strong heartbeats and you are young and healthy.”

“Thank you.”

“Is there anything we should be doing?” Liam asked.

“I see that you’re already taking prenatal vitamins. I would recommend reading some books, attend some parenting classes and most of all, watch your stress levels,” she responded. “You’re young and from what I can tell you were in great shape before becoming pregnant, so I don’t see anything we need to be concerned about beyond what I’ve already mentioned.”

“Okay,” we replied in unison.

“Now, would you like a picture and video?”

I nodded. “That would be awesome. Would you be able to print out two pictures?”

“Definitely.”

CHAPTER 16

Liam

---