Chapter Thirteen
“She’s absolutely beautiful,” I murmured, as I gazed down at the newest member of the Runaway Train family.
“That’s because she looks just like her mother,” AJ mused, kissing Mia’s cheek.
“I can see some of you in there, too,” I argued. “Just like with Bella.”
Gabriella Maria Resendiz, aka Gaby, had been born at eight this morning, and she was just a few hours old. Unlike her older sister’s limo birth, she had made a very casual appearance into the world by being born in a hospital on her actual due date. But you could hardly say there was anything ordinary about Gaby considering her father was a famous musician, and her arrival had beckoned a rag-tag group of paparazzi who had taken mine and Jake’s pictures when we entered the hospital.
Mia glanced up from gazing lovingly at Gaby to smile at me. “So today’s the day, huh?”
I returned her smile as my stomach filled with butterflies. Actually, they felt more intense like flapping seagulls beating against my abdomen. Today was our first ultrasound—the first picture of the little life Jake and I had fought so hard to get. I couldn’t help being a nervous wreck. Since I was only seven-and-half weeks, I wasn’t safe from the danger of miscarriage. That fact scared me to death. A terrifying fear there would be no heartbeat. “Yeah, we probably need to leave to make it to our appointment.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Mia reassured me.
I nodded. “I hope so.”
“It will,” AJ insisted, thumping Jake on the back. “A few months down the road, your kid will be playing with Gaby on the bus while having Bella, Lucy, Melody, and Jude to entertain him or her.”
The thought brought a smile to my face, and for just a moment, it helped me tune out the voices of doubt in my head. “That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”
AJ winked at me before turning his attention back to Gaby’s sleeping form. Jake’s hand came to rest in the small of my back. “Ready, Angel?”
“Sure.”
“You can’t go without holding Gaby,” Mia said.
I grinned. “Like you’d have to twist my arm.”
She smiled as she passed the baby over to me. I leaned down to bestow a kiss on Gaby’s tiny forehead. In Spanish, I whispered, “Bienvenido al mundo, hermosa, ni?a bendecido.”
“Thank you for welcoming my beautiful, blessed girl,” Mia said.
My brows rose in surprise. “Your Spanish is getting really good.”
“After three years of AJ’s random lessons on the bus, coupled with trips to Guadalajara, I’ve picked up a lot,” Mia replied, with a grin.
With a final kiss, I passed Gaby over to Jake. He smiled as he nestled her against his chest. “I think I’d like for us to have a girl,” he said, as he gazed at Gaby, whose eyes had popped open.
“Really?” I asked, to which Jake nodded. So far he hadn’t said one way or the other what he wanted—just that he hoped the baby would be healthy. He was good with little girls—Melody, Lucy, and Bella all worshipped him. I tried imagining for a moment what our daughter might look like. “You think that now, but I wonder if you would be saying the same thing when she became a teenager,” I mused.
Jake grimaced. “Yeah, that will blow.” He glanced over at AJ and shook his head. “I feel for you, man.”
AJ laughed. “It’s going to be tough when they want to date, and I insist on going along with them.”
Mia snorted. “Yeah, right. Like that will ever happen.”
“We’ll see,” AJ replied, with a wink.
Jake kissed Gaby’s head before passing her back to Mia. Then we made our goodbyes, and Jake took my hand and led me out of the room. We didn’t have far to go since Mia and I went to the same OB, and the practice was around the corner from the hospital. After we signed in, we took a seat, and I nervously began tapping my foot.
“Abby Slater?” the nurse questioned. If I had been getting questionable looks from the women and men in the waiting room before, they were now on heightened alert that I was someone famous. I guess the fact Jake was sitting next to me didn’t help. We hurried away from their prying glances and followed the nurse to the ultrasound room.
“Exciting day, huh?”
“Yes, it is.”
“If you’ll just go into the bathroom and slip off your jeans and underwear. Today’s ultrasound will be transvaginal.”
“Okay.”
I took the flimsy sheet from the nurse and headed into the bathroom. Once I’d taken off my jeans and panties and deposited them on the hamper, I wrapped the sheet around me and headed back outside. On shaky legs, I got up on the examining table. After I was settled, my hand flailed out, searching for Jake’s. When he grabbed it in his and squeezed, I exhaled a shaky breath.
The door opened, and the ultrasound technician breezed in. She glanced at my chart before she spoke to me. “Hi Abby, I’m Claire.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, extending my free hand.
If Claire recognized who we were, she didn’t let on, and I was glad. In that moment, it was kind of nice being treated normally. “So, let’s get a picture of your baby,” Claire said, as she sat on her stool and rolled up to the examining table.
Within a few seconds, the probe was inside me, and I gritted my teeth at the pressure. But all of that was forgotten the moment an image appeared on the screen. “Looks good,” Claire murmured.
I had to agree with her as I stared at the pea sized image. “Wow,” Jake murmured at my side.
“Oh, my,” Claire said, peering at the screen.
“W-What do you mean?” I asked.
“Is something wrong?” Jake demanded.
Claire glanced from the screen to us and then smiled. “There’s nothing wrong, so don’t panic.”
“Then, what is it?”
“I’m seeing two sacs.”
My brows furrowed as I tried processing her words. “Two sacs…does that mean…”
“Twins,” Claire replied.
The world spun in a dizzying flurry, and I brought my free hand to my head to try to still the spinning. “You did take fertility drugs, correct?” Claire asked.
“Yes, some Clomid to help egg production since I only have one ovary,” I replied.
“Multiples with fertility medicine are quite common.”
I glanced over my shoulder to stare at Jake. His face had paled considerably after our momentary scare. I couldn’t begin to imagine what was going on in his head now. “Twins?” he croaked.
“That’s what it looks like. Let’s see if we can pick up two heartbeats.” Claire began scurrying around to hook me up to a fetal heart monitor. I held my breath, hoping and praying that there would be two. I didn’t know if I would have the chance to have another baby, so the idea of being blessed with two at once was overwhelming.
At the sound of our babys’ heartbeat echoing around the room, tears stung my eyes. With one thump-thump, came another thump-thump. “There we go,” Claire said.
“Oh, my God,” I murmured.
Jake squeezed my hand. “You okay, Angel?”
Tears streaked down my face. “I’m more than fine. I’m absolutely perfect.”
He smiled and kissed me. “You think we’re up for twins?” he asked, in a shaky voice.
“Oh, I am, but what about you?”
Jake stared thoughtfully at the screen, eying our baby blobs. “I think it’s the most amazing and most terrifying prospect in the entire world.”
I laughed. “I couldn’t agree more. We’re truly blessed.”
Jake smiled. “Yeah, we are.”
In that moment, the happiness of carrying two babies outweighed any fear I might’ve harbored about being the mother of twins. After all, I would have a wonderful support system with the members of Runaway Train, along with my parents. Deep down, I knew that I could handle two babies at once, and that Jake could as well. He would rise to the challenge like he always did.