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My hand drifts across my stomach.
Eight weeks.
Through all the late nights at work, afternoons helping Babs and Biddy with homework, and evenings falling asleep on Bane’s couch, our baby has been growing without either of us knowing.
Bane has no idea.
“Would you like us to call someone?” Dr. Patel asks.
My phone rests within reach.
One call would bring Bane racing back to the hospital, but this news deserves more than a hurried conversation beside a hospital bed.
I shake my head. “I’d like a little time first.”
She offers a reassuring smile before standing. “Of course.”
The ultrasound technician arrives a few minutes later and wheels me downstairs, explaining each step on the way to another exam room.
I answer her questions automatically, climb onto the bed, and stare at the blank monitor while one thought refuses to leave me.
I’m pregnant.
She dims the lights and spreads cool gel across my stomach before picking up the probe. “You’ll feel a little pressure.”
I nod, watching the screen, and she begins the scan. She studies the image without speaking, moving the probe across my skin as my pulse starts climbing again. My fingers curl around the edge of the mattress.
“Is everything alright?”
She looks over with an encouraging smile before turning the monitor toward me. “Everything looks exactly as I’d expect for around eight weeks.”
I search the grainy image until she points to a tiny shape near the center. “That’s your baby.”
My breath catches.
She takes a few measurements, then taps another section of the screen. “And that’s the heartbeat.”
A tiny flicker pulses against the dark background.
I can’t tear my eyes away from it.
The technician studies the monitor for another few seconds before moving the probe slightly. Her smile grows.
“Well,” she says softly, “there’s something else I’d like to show you.”
My heart jumps into my throat. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s perfect.” She points to another tiny shape beside the first one. “You aren’t just having one baby, Emma.”
I stare at the screen. “I’m… not?”
She shakes her head, laughing gently. “You’re having twins.”
The word echoes through my head as I stare at the monitor.
Twins.
She taps the second tiny shape, and another heartbeat flickers into view.
