“What’s wrong?” I ask
“No, no problem, I err, I just need to fetch the consultant.”
“Why?” Gabe and I both ask together.
“I just need a second opinion, won’t be long, I’ll just fetch Dr Forde.”
The nurse follows out the door with her, probably so we can’t ask her any questions. Gabe leans forward and kisses me on my mouth.
“You okay baby?”
“I’m laying with my dress up around my waist, my ankles together, my knees apart, I have just had a condom sheathed wand stuck inside my noonie and that is the very least of my problems so no, actually baby, I’m far from fucking okay.”
The door swings open and the curtain around the bed is pulled back and a very doctorly-looking doctor introduces himself to Gabe and I as Keith Forde, he shakes both our hands, before pulling on a pair of rubber gloves and saying, “Well let’s take a look at what we have going on here then.”
The wand is slid back inside me and moved around. He stops every now and then and looks closer at the screen. A screen filled with a whole load of nothing as far as I can see. The doctor stops what he’s doing and pulls the wand out.
“Alrighty…You can sit up Lauren, Michelle, would you get Gabriel a seat please.”
Oh shit, this is going to be bad, Gabe is squeezing my hand tightly with both hands and leans in towards me as I sit up and he sits down, his closeness calms me down just a little bit and it strikes me, just how much I need him right now.
“Well, Lauren, Gabe. You are most definitely pregnant, I would say around seven to eight weeks.” I let out a sob and cover my mouth with my plastered left hand. Seven to eight weeks, that’s perfect, so, so perfect; anything else he has to tell me I can handle.
“And I am absolutely 100% sure that you are expecting twins, congratulations!”
Except that, anything accept that there that he just said, those words I cannot accept those. What. The. Fucking. Fuck? Gabe makes a noise a bit like ‘Huuummm’.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Yep, I can show you both the heart beats, they look very tiny on the screen right now but there are most definitely two there.”
“What about the dates, are you sure about the dates?”
“These machines are state of the art Lauren, they may be one or two weeks out, especially with twins, as they tend to be smaller but I’m pretty happy with those dates, we will know more after the next scan but I would say you are looking at a delivery date of around June next year.”
I’m having twins, but on the upside, they’re Gabe’s twins, did I mention that I’m forty-five and pregnant, with twins no less. The doctor goes through the procedure again and we watch the two tiny little dots on the screen as they thrum with life. Gabe kisses me again as he laughs, I cry.
“Twins Lauren, we’re having twins are they boys doc? Can you tell yet?”
The doctor laughs. “No, I can’t tell you yet, not till about twelve weeks but I am pretty sure they are not identical so you may get lucky and have one of each.”
The nurse, doctor and radiologist give us their congratulations and leave us alone, I put my undies back on and we go back out to the reception area; Gabe settles the balance of the invoice that the insurance doesn’t cover and we walk back out into the sunshine. We are barely out of the building when Gabe wraps me in his arms and kisses me.
“Twins Lauren, we are having twins.”
“Yes Gabe, I was there, I heard it too.” I can’t help but smile, he’s ecstatic.
“Why aren’t you happy?”
“I don’t know what I am right now Gabe, I’m shocked, there’s still a lot to consider, my age is going to throw up a lot of problems, added to that I still have a coil in place, add to that the complications that can go with having twins, there’s just so much to take in, so much that could go wrong. I’m scared Gabe, I’m terrified.”
I look up into his face, his smiling, handsome face and allow myself a moment of happiness. “It will all be fine, I just know it. I love you Lauren, so much and to think, I could have lost you and them and Ava, oh my god, Ava is going to be, shit, how do you think Ava will take this?”
He kisses me deeply without giving me a chance to answer and I can feel the stares of people walking in and out of the hospital and I really don’t care, I’m pregnant, with Gabe’s babies, not one but two, I’m having twins and until we are told different, we will assume they are healthy and enjoy this time. We head off to Harba, our favourite place to lunch and we celebrate and discuss our news and our ten week anniversary, ten weeks that have rocked our worlds.