I nod. “Yeah, it is,” a smile spreads across my face.
“That’s so exciting,” she grins, “
Her positivity and excitement is infectious, and even Gwen, who normally rolls her eyes at perkiness like this, is smiling.
She settles me onto her table and helps me adjust my clothes so my belly is exposed. “Incoming,” she warns before squirting a blob of cool gel onto my stomach.
I gasp and she giggles. “Sorry, but I promise that’s the worst part,” she reassures me.
Emilie picks up the plastic wand thing and after a few moments of sliding it around, a smile spreads across her face. “There we go!”
She turns the screen so I can see. I’ve never been able to make heads or tails of ultrasound pictures, honestly, so those “first picture moments” always struck me as silly. But as Emilie walks me through it and shows me exactly what blob on the screen is what, I get it.
“So that’s the first baby,” she says, “And then here,” she shows me another series of blobs, “Is baby number two.”
She turns and smiles, “Did you already know you were having twins?”
My eyes are welling with tears and I can’t speak past the lump in my throat. “Her doctor suspected, but this is the first she’s hearing it for sure,” Gwen explains.
“Aww,” Emilie sounds genuinely thrilled for me, “Congratulations!”
“Thank you,” I squeak as a sob erupts from me.
I can’t stop staring at the blobs on the screen while Emilie checks everything out and makes sure everything looks ok. It feels like my heart is going to burst from the overwhelming love I feel. I’m terrified about suddenly being a mom to not one, but two babies, but at the same time, I’m so excited and happy I don’t know what to do with myself.
“Everything looks good,” Emilie sets down the wand and looks at me.
When she sees my face, she rushes across the room for a box of tissues. “No one ever expects it to hit them this way,” she says with a knowing smile.
“No offense to your job or anything, but they’re just blobs on a screen, I didn’t think I’d be such a mess,” I admit.
Emilie laughs. “None taken. But hey, those blobs are your babies, that’s a big deal. Maybe you can’t see them well, but this is the first time you get to see them. It’s a lot.”
I look over and see that even my tough, snarky twin is clamping her lips together and blinking rapidly to will away tears.
Emilie pats my shoulder comfortingly and I kind of want to hug her. “Do you have kids?” I ask her.
She beams and nods. “I have a two-year-old,” she says happily, pulling her phone from her pocket and showing me the background, a selfie with an adorable smiling toddler.
“But enough about me,” she shoves the phone back in her pocket, “Let’s get you your first picture for your fridge!”
After a few more minutes, she prints me a still image. She pulls something from her pocket and presses it into my hands. “Listen, this business card is for my online jewelry store, but it has my cell number on it. If you ever need anything, you give me a call, ok?”
“You are the sweetest thing,” I tell her, marveling at her kindness.
“I’m gonna be honest,” she admits, “I actually just moved here, and I haven’t made many friends yet, especially any mom friends, so I have ulterior motives.”
I laugh. “Can friendship even be an ulterior motive?” Gwen muses, “I thought an ulterior motive had to be sinister.”
“Not necessarily,” Emilie counters, “Ulterior just means intentionally hidden.”
“Well, you’re admitting to it, so it’s not really hidden,” I tease her.
“Valid point,” she concedes.
“But ulterior or not, I am on board with your motive,” I say, “You should come hang out with Gwen and I on Friday night. We’re having a girls’ night with some friends, we’d love to have you.”
Emilie lights up and vows to get a sitter.
On the car ride home, Gwen shakes her head in disbelief. “That was the most eventful doctor’s appointment I’ve ever seen, and I started seizing during a gyno exam once.”
I snort and crack up. “Gwen!”
“You went in to find out who your baby daddy is, and came out with a new friend and a picture of your twins. And without the answer you went in for!”
Ok, she’s right. It was a little chaotic.
I just hope that passing the information on to Leon and Elijah goes a little more smoothly.
Chapter Eleven
Leon
When Audrey’s door swings open, my first impulse is to kiss her, but when I lean in, she rears back, and I realize that something’s off.
Audrey backs away and folds her arms over her chest defensively. “Whoa, who the fuck are you?”
I blink, caught off guard, and examine her more closely. She looks like Audrey, although the makeup is darker than anything I’ve ever seen on Audrey’s face, and doesn’t look like what Audrey had on at the office this morning. Her dark waves are pulled straight, and she’s wearing a baggy rock t-shirt and ripped jeans.
Basically…she looks like Audrey, but not. Elijah joins me. “Hey, Aud-whoa.” He takes in the appearance of the woman in front of us.
“Oohhhh,” she suddenly nods in recognition, “You must be the baby daddies. Come on in, Audrey’s in the shower.”
I feel a wave of relief. While I’m still confused, apparently this isn’t Audrey, and she hasn’t suddenly forgotten who we are. “Have a seat,” the woman says, “I’m Gwen.”
Audrey had mentioned a sister named Gwen who lived with her, but I guess it had never occurred to me that she might be talking about a twin.
“Leon,” I offer her my hand and she shakes it.
“Ah, so this must be Elijah?”
“Guilty as charged,” Elijah replies, offering her a handshake of his own.
“Nice to meet you both. And actually, I’m glad I’ve got you both to myself for a second,” she says, gesturing for us to have a seat on the couch.
I flash Elijah a questioning gaze and he shrugs.
Once we’re seated, Gwen folds her hands in front of her. “So, here’s the thing. Maybe this is more of a “big brother” type speech, but I’m the only family Audrey has left. And honestly, I’m probably scarier than any older brother you’ve ever encountered,” she begins.
“I’ll keep it short and sweet: You fuck with my sister, you hurt her or make her cry anything other than happy tears, for any fucking reason whatsoever, and I will make sure that no one, and I mean no one, will ever find your bodies. We clear?”
She’s right, I’ve heard similar speeches from the brothers of ex-girlfriends, but none of them have ever chilled me this deeply. When Gwen says she will end me, I believe her. Not that I have any intention of ever doing anything to upset her sister, but I’m still a little bit terrified by this woman.
“Crystal,” Elijah says, and I can hear a fear in his voice that sounds a lot like the fear running through my veins right now.
She looks at me, lifting an eyebrow. “We’re clear,” I say quickly, not wanting to draw her ire.
With my understanding secured, her face brightens, and she goes from snarling mountain lion to relaxed housecat. “Excellent.”
“We love your sister,” I add, letting the tension ebb out of my body, “We’d never do anything to hurt her.”
“Well, considering you knocked her up before you knew her last name, forgive me for taking a moment to observe before I decide if I like you or not,” Gwen shoots back, and I see the glint of the lioness in her eyes again.
“Fair enough,” I concede.
Mercifully, I hear the rasp of a doorknob opening and Audrey comes into the room, toweling her hair. The oversized blue top she’s wearing hides her figure, but I can still admire the curves of her legs in black leggings.
“Oh, fuck, sorry, guys, I lost track of time in there,” she says sheepishly.
“
No worries,” I get to my feet and kiss her, slipping an arm around her waist, “We were just getting to know your twin sister.”
I raise my eyebrows and emphasize the word “twin” at her, as if digging in the fact that she’d never mentioned it.
She laughs. “Oh, did she rip you two a new one?”
“I was very polite,” Gwen protests.
“Yeah,” Elijah adds, “Her threats of defenestration were totally cordial!”
“I never said anything about pushing you out a window,” Gwen argues, and Elijah and I laugh.
Audrey shoots Gwen a little glare, but I put a hand on her shoulder. “Her threats were well-precedented,” I say, “No offense was taken. We deserved it.”
“And then some,” Elijah adds.
“Don’t give her that opening,” Audrey warns.
“I’m not completely evil!” Gwen throws her hands in the air.
A cell phone chirps and Gwen reaches for it. “That’s my ride, I’m out of here,” she says, “You degenerates have a good night.”
“We’re the degenerates?!” Audrey protests as Elijah and I howl with laughter.
On that unorthodox note, Gwen leaves, and Audrey lets out a sigh. “Sorry, I hope she wasn’t actually too rough on you guys.”
“Not at all, babe,” Elijah reassures her, getting to his feet and giving her a kiss of his own.
“Glad to hear,” she sighs.
“So, how did things go at the doctor?” I ask her.
We both told her that neither of us care whose baby this is. As far as we’re concerned, this is our kid, together. All three of us. But she was sure we’d change our minds, so when she found out it was possible to test in utero, she insisted on trying.
She bites her lip. “Unexpected?” she offers as an answer.
“Uh, I feel like unexpected isn’t a good thing,” Elijah says, anxiety creeping into his voice.
“This isn’t…bad unexpected,” Audrey says, “But, uh, the DNA test was inconclusive.”
“Oh. So are they re-testing or something?” I ask.
“Well, no. They can’t get a conclusive test, because the paternity test they use during pregnancy doesn’t…” she trails off, steeling herself for something.
We both stare at her expectantly, and finally she blurts out: “The test doesn’t work for twins!” and claps her hands over her mouth.
Elijah lets out a weird, undignified squawk and spins Audrey around in his arms in delight, and I’m smiling so hard my face fucking hurts. “Twins? Guess that means one for each of us,” I joke, and Audrey groans loudly.
“Not you, too! My sister made that same joke!”
I laugh. “Well, maybe she and I will get along after all.”
“But everything else looked ok? The babies looked healthy and everything?” Elijah asks, searching her face.
It’s been kind of adorable to see this worrywart side of him.
“The tech, Emilie, said they looked perfect,” Audrey says reassuringly.
Elijah rests a hand over her belly. “Good,” he kisses her forehead.
I feel a surge in my chest, watching them. I don’t know how it’s all turned into this so fast, but I fucking love these two, and this tender moment between them fills me with more emotion than I knew I was capable of.
She regales us on the appointment, from her fainting to, apparently, befriending her new ultrasound tech?
“You lead a strange and interesting life, don’t you?” I ask her.
She laughs. “Only since I met you two!”
Epilogue
Audrey
A Year & A Half Later
“By some impossible miracle of GOD, they are both asleep!” I exclaim as I crawl into bed between Elijah and Leon, exhausted.
Getting Natalie and Blake to sleep at the same time was no small feat, and to have accomplished it makes me feel like a fucking superhero.
“Good job, sweetheart,” Leon says, leaning over and kissing me.
Elijah takes a turn next, and I settle in between them, feeling warm and tingly and happy. Once the first trimester had passed, my pregnancy had actually been surprisingly easy, although I’d gone into labor early.
But despite being tiny, the twins had been healthy, and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. I marveled every day at the precious tiny humans we had created, and I had finally stopped worrying about the DNA test.
Every single day, I saw that the twins really were both of theirs. They belonged to all three of us, no matter what, and they were loved so deeply that blood was irrelevant.
And all throughout my pregnancy, every day had made me fall more and more in love with Leon and Elijah. They took care of my every need, supported me in every way, and before long, even Gwen had befriended them.
When we started talking about living together, though, things got complicated. While both of them were more than happy to share our space with my sister and make sure she was taken care of, too, Gwen wasn’t thrilled with the idea.
“The idea of living with you and your new family makes me feel like an invalid,” she had protested.
“You are family,” I’d shot back.
“It’s not the same and you know it, Audrey. We’re adults, you need the freedom to have your own life and stop babysitting me,” she insisted.
But I couldn’t rest easy, and finally, Elijah and Leon had found a solution. They decided to sell both of their houses and they bought a home for the three of us that also featured a separate “guest house” sort of thing, almost like a separate apartment.
It gave me the peace of mind of knowing that I could be there to help her if she needed me, she could still get rides from us to work, but she still had privacy and wouldn’t be kept up all night by crying babies.
Plus, Elijah and Leon had said in an act of peacekeeping, if Gwen eventually did move out, they could rent out that guest house, so it was a useful investment. I think that had been the tipping point that got Gwen to agree.
While she insisted she could live on her own, I knew my sister well enough to know that the idea of it still scared her.
Elijah rubs my shoulder and I moan softly. “That feels amazing.”
“Turn over,” he orders.
I turn onto my stomach and he and Leon both start to rub down my back, massaging all the little knots of tension from my shoulders and back.
“Ooooohhhh,” I sigh in pleasure, “I am the luckiest woman alive.”
The two of them are oddly silent, and for a moment, I’m puzzled, but then Leon speaks. “Glad to hear you feel that way, love,” he says, then gently pulls me by the shoulder, rolling me onto my back so I can look up at them.
“Because,” he continues, “We were thinking about making that a little more of a permanent situation.”
I look at him, completely confused. “What do you-“ I see Elijah move out of the corner of my eye and when I look, he has a small velvet box in his hands.
“You’re not-“ I gasp.
“It’s not quite the way we planned to do this, but we couldn’t agree on a moment until now,” he admits as he opens the box and shows me the ring, “But this just feels right. Audrey Sinclair, will you be our wife?”
I’m breathless. Speechless. My eyes fill with tears. “Yes,” I choke out finally, the word both a laugh and a sob, “Yes, yes, yes, of course!”
I throw myself at both of them and smush their faces together so I can kiss them both at once. Elijah slides the ring onto my finger and they both laugh at my dramatic reaction. Once I’m less hysterical, they each exchange a sweet and tender kiss with me.
The kisses start to grow heated until, unfortunately, our bubble of peace is broken, and we hear the wailing of a twin on the baby monitor.
I groan. “I’ll go.”
“No, we’ve got it,” Leon insists.
But I’m already on my feet. The two of them trail behind me. Natalie’s little face is scrunched and red as she sobs her little heart out, and I quickly scoop her out o
f the crib, whisking her out of the room before her cries wake Blake.
Elijah shuts the door behind me and I bounce the baby lightly, crooning and making soft shushing noises at her. “What’s the matter, sweet girl?” I murmur, smoothing a lock of her soft brown hair from her face.
“Let me,” Leon takes her gently from my arms and begins to rock her gently.
In his arms, she slowly begins to quiet to soft fussing and hiccups, and I shake my head in disbelief. “Definitely a little daddy’s girl.”
“Yep,” Leon leans down and kisses her forehead.
“Give her here,” Elijah reaches for her and Leon passes her over.
It gives me butterflies every time to see them with the kids. They melt completely into mush, and to see these big, muscular men of mine babbling baby talk and singing lullabies makes my heart do flip-flops.
And now they want me to be theirs forever. I peek down at my ring and I feel so deliriously happy, I don’t know what to do with myself.
“She’s asleep. Should I try and move her to the crib?” Elijah whispers.
“If she’s asleep, maybe we should just let her stay asleep,” Leon says, smirking.
“Both of my arms will go to sleep, but it’ll be worth it,” Elijah sighs, and I cover my mouth to stifle a giggle.
“We can transfer her, she’ll be fine,” I guide them back into the nursery and carefully scoop Nat from Elijah’s arms.
Slowly, carefully, I lay her down and retreat. She stirs, smacking her lips and wiggling her feet for a moment, but then she settles and returns peacefully to sleep. The three of us tiptoe back out of the room and shut the door quietly.
Once we’re successfully out of the room, we exchange high fives and let out our breath collectively.
Even so, we tiptoe down the hall and slip quietly into bed. “Now, then,” Elijah says, “Where were we?”
He leans in and presses a kiss to my collarbone while Leon slides a hand up under my shirt. “Much as I love the whole “slow and sweet” thing,” I murmur, “We might want to make this quick. If we’re being honest with ourselves, we maybe have half an hour max before one of them wakes up again.”
Just One Night (Just Us Series Book 4) Page 6
