“Everything looks perfect,” Dr. Hartmann’s smile broadens. “The only concern I have is that you’ve only gained eight pounds since your appointment with your previous doctor. We’d expect between ten and sixteen. And since you’re already a bit underweight, I want you to up your protein and healthy carbs.”
“Twins?” She asks, voice wobbling a bit.
I squeeze her hand, “We’ve got this.”
“When you check out, the receptionist will set your next appointment. Please feel free to call with any questions.”
When she leaves, Hildy curls up into a ball, and her shoulders start to shake. She’s crying.
“I promise that?—”
“You can’t even begin to imagine,” she stops, and sniffs back tears. “If I don’t get custody, she’s going to feel like I’m replacing her.”
Lucy.
“You’ll get custody, I can promise you —”
“No, you can’t,” she whispers. “Nothing is one hundred percent.”
I stand up and lift her chin, her eyes meet mine, “I can promise you this, Hildy, because we won’t stop until she shares our last name.”
“Ours?” She nearly chokes.
“One day, yes, of course. Yours, mine, Lucy’s, and our little ones to come.”
She slides off the other side of the exam table and grabs her clothes, sputtering under her breath as she dresses the same way she undressed, quickly, and without showing any of the goods. Which, quite honestly, right now, I need to take the feeling of … rejection out of my head. But I’m pretty sure requesting that she flash me a tit would not go over well right now.Yet still…
When finished, she clears her throat and squares her shoulders and stiffly states, “I’m ready.”
I step in front of her, “Are you … happy?”
She looks at me like I’m insane.
“Bad timing?” I ask.
“Ask me that again in like, eighteen years,” she says as she side steps me.
“I’m not sure I can promise that I will do that, but I will give you time to let it all settle in.”
She turns and looks at me, “Like you’re ready for twins?”
“I am.”
She throws her head back and laughs a tad bit maniacally.
“I’m not the one whose carrying them, but I assure you, when I can, I will.”
“And change poopy diapers?” My face must do a thing because her brow arches. “See, you’re no more ready?—"
“I just want to say that I wasn’t ready for you when I saw you, and look how that turned out.”
“Yeah, look,” she points to her belly.
“I won’t say I’m thrilled, because that may tip you over, but I will say I wasn’t ready for Lucy, and neither were you, but can you imagine a night without reading her a book? Watching her fall asleep? Listening to her excitement about colors and stuffed animals?”
Her eyes begin to mist over, and I decide fuck it and gently cup the back of her neck and pull her into a hug. “We’ve got this, Hildy. And I promise I will change as many diapers as you. You’re not doing this alone; you’re not doing anything alone anymore. We have a little team, you and me, and there isn’t another woman, or human on this planet that I’d want that with, besides you.”
She tilts her head up, green eyes shining as the search mine. “I’m going to love you in the most beautiful way, Hildy Sullivan.”
