The nurse shows me a wand and explains everything softly to me, clearly seeing from my expression that I did not expect to be probed today. That I’m not prepared for any of this motherhood thing. My heart is pounding.
“Relax,” the technician says kindly. “Let’s take a look, shall we?”
She turns the monitor toward herself and begins moving the wand. The screen fills with static and shadows and that familiar grainy swirl. I squint, trying to make sense of it.
There’s a beat of silence. Then two. The technician tilts her head, squints, and moves the wand again.
And then she smiles.
“Well,” she says gently, “it looks like we’ve got two heartbeats.”
The words hang in the air like thunder.
“What?” I whisper, blinking hard.
She taps a few buttons. “Two. See here?” She points to the screen. “One here, nice and strong. And a second one just behind. They’re both right on track.”
Maya leans forward in her chair, her eyes huge. “What— Twins?”
The technician nods. “Congratulations.”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out.
Two heartbeats.
Two.
A strange sound escapes me, half laugh, half gasp. “You’re sure?”
She nods again, all calm professionalism, as if she didn’t just drop a bomb in the center of my life.
I look at Maya. She’s speechless too, her hand clapped over her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.
And then the wave hits me.
Shock. So much shock, it’s dizzying. Followed by panic. Fear. Awe. A wild, rushing cocktail of every possible emotion crashing through me at once.
Two babies.
Two.
How the hell am I supposed to do this?
How do I afford it? Where do I go? Who do I even tell now?
But under all that, beneath the static and noise and fear, there’s something else. Something fierce. Something deep.
A bone-deep certainty that no matter how impossible this feels right now, I will do it.
Because they’re mine.
Because I have to.
Because I want to.
A tear slides down my cheek before I can stop it. Then another. I don’t sob. I don’t break. I lie there quietly, my hands resting protectively over my stomach, and I feel it.
That shift.
