41
Mal
Dr. Gupta was a tall, narrow woman with a prominent, slender nose and a warm smile. Unlike Dr. Peterman and Dr. Heaney, who’d been professional but distant, Mal was taken in by Dr. Gupta’s charm right away. Her skin bore marks of age, from its hairline wrinkles to its loss of elasticity, but her eyes were young, and her youthful spirit changed the atmosphere in the room. When she walked through the examination room door and flashed him a brilliant smile, he knew that they would get along just fine.
“Hello, hello,” Dr. Gupta said as she hurried to join Vincent, who stood by Mal’s side. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Collins. I’m sorry for being late. I had something to attend to between patient visits, and it took me a little longer than anticipated.”
“You’re fine,” Mal said. He lay on the examination table, nude from the waist up. Next to him, Vincent had already set up the ultrasound monitor, and had been preparing to conduct the ultrasound on his own.
“I see that the esteemed Dr. Rhyne has done a fantastic job of preparing you for your first ultrasound. Wonderful! I do so like a man who takes initiative.” Dr. Gupta rubbed her hands together in anticipation and wiggled an eyebrow at Vincent.
Vincent grinned at her. There was a playful sparkle in his eyes. “So does my boyfriend.”
Dr. Gupta sighed. She picked up the ultrasound probe, wielding it with the expertise of a woman whose practiced hands could make no mistake. “All the good ones, am I right?”
Mal smiled. He wanted, in the worst way, to catch Vincent’s eye and give him a look, but he knew better. No matter how at ease Dr. Gupta made him feel, Dr. Biernacki was still across the room, supervising his visit. It had been a little more than two months since Mal’s last visit to the clinic, but he doubted that Dr. Biernacki had forgotten his suspicion.
“Alright, Mr. Collins. Let’s see what we’ve got cooking…” Dr. Gupta moved into position by the table, taking over for Vincent. If Vincent was bothered by it, his displeasure didn’t show on his face. She pressed the probe against Mal’s exposed stomach, pushing, releasing, and changing positions every now and then. Mal watched the image change on the display monitor, but it made about as much sense to him as it had when he’d watched Vincent perform the embryo transfer. Gray blobs. Darker shapes. White outlines. Pulsing, moving forms that could be his body, or could be the baby—to his untrained eye, it was impossible to tell.
At last, Dr. Gupta clucked her tongue. Vincent, stony faced, pushed a hand through his hair. The probe stopped, pushing in one particular spot.
“Oh, my.” Dr. Gupta squinted at the screen, then looked to Vincent expectantly.
He nodded.
Dread seized a space in Mal’s chest, setting in like the grip of winter over a dewy field. “What?”
Dr. Gupta laughed, and at once, Mal knew that there was nothing wrong. At least, nothing serious. “You’re having twins, Mr. Collins. It appears two of the three embryos implanted have thrived. We don’t see it often in older patients who undergo standard IVF procedures, but it looks like the clomiphene phylacetate is doing what it’s purported to do.”
There was commotion from across the room. Dr. Peterman and Dr. Heaney engaged each other in quiet conversation while Dr. Heaney transcribed what was happening, or what was being said, on his tablet.
“Twins?” The frost in Mal’s soul melted, then superheated. The vapors rose to his head, and for a moment, he remained stunned on the table, attempting to process what he’d just heard. “I’m havingtwins?”
“There are two heartbeats,” Vincent confirmed. “The imaging shows two distinct, healthy fetuses at approximately the stage of development we’d predict them to have reached.”
“Twins.” Mal stared at the ceiling, waiting for one of his doctors to drop the act and claim that it was a mistake, a joke, or somehow false. At his age, success rates for a single birth were low enough. Twins was almost unheard of. “You’re serious?”
“Yup. Sure am.” Dr. Gupta released the pressure on the probe, and the image blurred, then disappeared. “Congratulations, Mr. Collins. I’m going to take a second here to make an adjustment to your file, and then we’re going to take some pictures. Are you ready?”
“Yes,” Mal said.
He’d never felt more ready in his life.
* * *
Seated in his vehicle,the keys on the seat beside him, Mal stared at the pictures in his hands. The ultrasound had been labeled to point out the twins, A and B, and although in most poses they didn’t look like much more than round, gray shapes, there were two pictures that had captured the twins in profile. Mal saw the curve of their skulls, the tiny points of their noses, and their rounded, blobby bodies. His hands shook, and at last, he set the images down.
There was no feeling like this—swelling joy and crushing fear all at once. The family he’d wanted for so long was taking shape inside him, but would he be enough for them? He was older, more feeble than the young man he’d been thirty years ago. He’d cared for children of all ages while babysitting for his friends, but when he was a full-time parent, would those skills translate?
Before he could lose himself to doubt, his phone rang. Mal took it from his pocket, expecting it to be from Vincent. It wasn’t. Aaron, one of the children he’d babysat once upon a time, was calling.
Mal answered. “Hello?”
“Mal!” Aaron laughed. His voice was lifted by tremendous energy that turned it simultaneously delicate and sunny, like cotton candy woven beneath the sun. “Are you ready for some good news?”
“Of course.” The gears in Mal’s mind turned. “Did Gage…?”
“He did.” The excitement in Aaron’s voice grew. “We welcomed Penelope Elaine Alcrest into the world a little more than an hour ago at six pounds, seven ounces. She’s happy, and healthy, and perfect. Gage is doing fine. He’s exhausted, but he’s going to be okay. We’re so excited for you to meet her.”
