He glanced at me, his free hand not on my stomach going to my face, cupping my cheek, staring at me even as he listened avidly to the doctor. He proceeded to tell us I was fine for mild exercise and work, and yes, we could continue sex for a short period of time—as long as it was gentle—until he told us otherwise. He then went through the risks of multiple pregnancies to the mother and babies, and Daniil’s face turned ashen again and stayed that way. He didn’t ask me about reduction, thank God, because I would never choose to do that, and apparently, he wouldn’t either when he flicked a quick glare at the doctor, who quickly changed the subject seeing we weren’t interested.
To say I was scared shitless by the end of his speech was an understatement, but I was pretty sure, by the look in Daniil’s eyes, he was even more frightened than I was. After the doc wrote out a prescription for those prenatal vitamins I mentioned during dinner on Wednesday, and scheduled another appointment in two weeks to have another sonogram to check for heartbeats, we left the room silent and gripping each other’s hands.
I knew I didn’t look so good, but Daniil was barely able to walk a straight line. It probably appeared that we were drunk the way we stumbled out into the waiting room with his bodyguards following. Daniil had entered separately when we walked into the office, so as not to show that we were together. However, we had both forgotten about this. At this point, we didn’t really give a shit because when we exited, both of my parents looked up from whatever they were reading, took one look at us, and jumped to their feet.
My dad grabbed Daniil’s other arm and my mom grabbed my free arm, and while neither said a word, they both herded us out of the office. Silently, we walked down a hallway, down an elevator, and out to a limo waiting for us. I had driven separately and so had my parents, but no one said anything about separate vehicles. We just all piled into Daniil’s ‘armored’ limo and shut the door, the six bodyguards sliding into vehicles behind us.
I hunkered down next to Daniil, letting my head fall against his shoulder. He immediately enveloped me in his arms, kissing my head and resting his forehead on the top of my curls. My parents sat side-by-side, their expressions carefully even, watching us.
And finally, my mom asked, “What’s wrong?” Her face was calm, but her voice was hard as if she were walking a tightrope.
“Whatever it is, we’re here for you.” My dad didn’t sound much better.
Daniil didn’t move, and I was afraid he had fainted again, and I tilted my head back enough to see that his eyes were still open. They were, even though his face was still pale, and I let him pull me back so he could rest his face back in my hair, hugging me tight. I cleared my throat, turning my head a smidge so I could speak to my parents directly. “I’m having triplets.”
My parents sat there in shock as I told them everything the doctor had told us. Everything. All the way down to some of the horrible risks. My mom’s face turned as pale as Daniil’s at one point and Dad wrapped his arms around her, supporting her. We were almost to Daniil’s house when I pulled the pictures out of the book I was given and handed the shots over to them.
Mom took one look at them and started bawling. Daniil came out of this comatose state, glancing at her, saying, “Please don’t get those wet.”
Dad quickly took them from Mom when she kept blubbering and studied the pictures, a small smile forming on his lips. “I know you’re both worried about their livelihood, but Dr. Wisser said everything was fine right now, right?”
Daniil and I both slowly nodded.
Dad’s smile increased, and he faced the shots toward us. “Then you shouldn’t let it worry you right now when there’s nothing but what-ifs. The future is full of those, anyway. And it’s not healthy for either one of you. You should be thanking God that he’s blessed you two with three babies when there are so many people out there who are unable to just have one.” Dad’s gaze turned straight to Daniil, and he smirked, an odd gleam in his eyes. “And at your age, too. You should be proud.”
Mom tried to grab the strip from Dad, mumbling, “The first pictures of my grandbabies!” She sobbed. “Give them back, James!”
Daniil stiffened at what Dad said, and amazingly, his chest puffed up a little. His color returned. I couldn’t believe it. Dad had just helped him in a way I hadn’t been able to do.
“Not until you quit crying, Frankie,” Dad said, after a quick, satisfied smile at Daniil. “I want copies of these without water spots on them.” Dad beamed at the pictures. “Three! Three to spoil and love.” He grinned at me. “You did good, sweetie. Real good.”
I blinked. “Daniil had a little to do with it, too.” Hell, he’d just said that. It was like a huge rollercoaster ride of emotions. And not mine. I was still shocked and scared while everyone around me went from shocked to proud and thrilled.
Mom waved her hand absently, drying her tears as fast as she could. “We know, sweetie.” She grinned through more tears sliding down her face. “But triplets! Oh!” She actually leaned over and patted my leg, and then Daniil’s leg—happily. “I was so worried when you came out of there…” She waved her hand. “Never mind. That doesn’t matter. What does matter is the doctor said everything’s fine right now. One day at a time, sweetie. And enjoy it while you can. Pregnancy isn’t forever.”
“Thank God,” I muttered. I had been puking my brains out non-stop for the past week, then eating everything in sight afterward. And now I knew I was about to balloon up even bigger than a normal pregnant woman does. Yeah, thank God it wasn’t forever.
Daniil reached over and snagged the pics from my dad, staring down where he placed them over our legs. Yeah, we had enough kids in my belly for there to be that many. And that quickly, my vision blurred. I gulped, staring down at them, wide-eyed, whispering, “We did that.”
Daniil nodded. “Yes. We did.”
I turned my head to stare at him, seriously feeling faint. “Three, Daniil. I don’t even have that many arms to hold them.” I held said arms up.
His brown eyes turned to mine, his definitely looked better, his eyes crinkling ever so slowly as he smiled. A beautiful, truly happy smile. “Good thing you have mine. We’ll have one spare arm to clean the spit up with.”
I choked, seeing that he was serious. And happy about it. “Do you know how many poopy diapers that is?”
He nodded, his eyes staying locked on mine. “I’ll buy more trashcans.”
“Oh!” Mom exclaimed. “They have those Genie things now to help with the smell!”
“We’ll need three car seats, and three strollers or an extra-large one, and three outfits of everything, three diaper bags, three bottles because I sure as heck am not going to breastfeed three children, and—” Daniil cut me off mid-mad-rant by placing his lips on mine. None-to-gently. I growled against his lips, “Daniil, I’m serious—” He kissed me again, even harder, smiling half the time against my lips, holding my cheeks so I couldn’t move away.
Irritated, I bit his lip gently, and he chuckled but pulled back. Then he placed a hand over my mouth when I started to speak again, murmuring softly, “It will be all right. I have plenty of money for everything you mentioned…and think about it, Beth…three babies to love. Three of those tiny, perfect, beautiful gifts staring at you with unconditional love. You don’t just get to see the first time they smile once. Or the first time they roll over once. Or the first time they say their first word once. Or take their first step once. You get to experience it three times.You get to love three babies, my sweet.”
I blinked…and started bawling, realizing I was a complete dufus worrying about materialist things when Daniil was right. We had three babies on the way to love. “We did that,” I whispered, grinning through a sob, “three. And they’re all right, right now.”
Daniil grinned, wiping my tears away. “Yes. We did do that, and they are all right, right now.” Daniil handed off the pictures to my dad when the tears wouldn’t stop flowing and held me tight, kissing my forehead repeatedly, even though he pulled out his cell phone, dialing, and saying, “Grigori, call your brothers and sister and Kirill. I’ve got news and I want you all home for it.” He hung up without saying anything else.
