Alpha Billionaire Series

BROOKE

The paper covering the examination table rustled under my legs. At least I no longer needed to wear an examination gown during these appointments. I lay back as Nurse Bea took my vital signs.

“How's your morning sickness been?” she asked.

“I haven't had very much of it in the past couple of weeks, which is a good thing because I was really getting sick of being sick,” I laughed.

She chuckled. I'm sure it wasn't the first time she had heard that.

“I don't know why they call it morning sickness when it feels sick all the freakin time,” I complained.

“Now that you're well into your second trimester it usually does ease off”

“If I'm only in my second trimester, why am I so huge? How big is this thing?"

I didn’t simply have a baby bump; I had a baby Mount Everest. Other pregnant women looked at me as if I was the most pregnant, they had ever seen a woman be, and I wasn't even six months along.

“Babies are going to grow and take up as much room as they can,” Nurse Bea said.

“You make it sound like a goldfish.”

I hiked my shirt over my belly, and she adjusted the heart rate monitor around my waist. Once she got that steady shoo- shoo-shoo sound of the baby’s heartbeat, she left me for a few minutes while the monitor recorded what it needed to record. I relaxed back and listened to the setting heartbeat of my baby.

When Nurse Bea came back, she was pulling a cart full of equipment.

“The chart says that it is time for your twenty-week ultrasound.”

I pushed up on my elbows and watched as she rolled in the device and began setting it up. The last time I had an ultrasounc they had sent me to another department where they got the very first pictures. They assured me the fuzzy gray shows were the beginnings of my child.

“Is this the ultrasound where we find out if I'm having a boy or a girl?” I asked eagerly.

Nurse Bea unclipped the heart monitor. “You'll need to pull your shirt up a little more, and can we get your pants down a bit Boy or girl? Only if the baby is cooperating.”

I held my shirt up and pushed the waistband of my pants down low onto my hips.

“This was supposed to be warm, but it might be a little bit cool” She took what looked like a clear ketchup bottle and squirted a clear gel on my belly. And then she began rubbing the wand over my skin, pushing in uncomfortably every now and then.

I watched the monitor while she clicked and dragged and did all the computer things. But I could clearly see the shape and face of my baby in profile.

“Oh, wow!” I felt a rush of love and excitement. That was my baby. “Can you tell me if it's a boy or a girl?"

“Let's see what we can do here.” She began pushing and moving the ultrasound wand across my stomach more.

I watched my baby move on the monitor as I felt it shifting inside.

Nurse Bea stopped moving the wand around. She made a small intake of a gasp followed by a concerning sound.

“Is something the matter?” I asked.

She moved the wand around again and pushed and made more of those concerning “Hmm’ sounds.

I00k several deep breaths. There was no need to panic. At least that's what I was telling myself.Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

“I'll be right back” She turned to me and patted my arm. “Nothing is the matter. I'l be right back”

She left me on the exam table, belly still covered in goo, staring at the last image on the computer monitor.

This was nothing to worry about, I repeated to myself. But she got up and left in the middle of an ultrasound. That couldn't be good, could it?

When she returned, she had the doctor with her. Oh no, no, this couldn't be good. Doctors didn't come into the middle of ultrasounds for things that were not a problem.

Dr. Herbert picked up the ultrasound wand and ran it over my belly.

“Oh, yep. I see it. There we go," she said, keeping her eye on the monitor

“Well, is there a problem?” I tried not to yell as panic tightened my chest.

“Not a problem, but we do have an explanation as to why you feel like you are so very extremely pregnant” Nurse Bea said. “Am I further along than we thought?”

“Oh, no, you're right on target for what we thought. You're so big because there are two babies in there,” Dr. Herbert announced.

“What?” I couldn't have heard her properly. “Say that again.”

“There are two babies” she repeated.

“But there's only one heartbeat,” I reminded her.

“There's one very strong heartbeat. And it's strong because these two are perfectly synced. Congratulations. Do twins run in your family?"

I didn’t know what to say.

“Let's see if we can get a picture of the second baby. We can only get a glimpse of it. It's tucked in pretty well”

Dr. Herbert took over and continued to move the wand over my belly, but they couldn't get another picture. The second baby was being protected by the first one.

“Are they boys or girls, or one of each?”

“I can't seem to get a good shot of that. Maybe next time. We're gonna have to run ultrasounds more regularly at this point.” I left the doctor's office in disbelieving shock. I had two healthy babies coming. I held the small print out they gave me of th image of baby one. And the second image where they had a little arrow pointing to where the second baby was hiding behind the first one.

It was as unreal as when I first found out that I was pregnant. Oh crap, what was I going to do? I had more than enough work with just one coming, now I have two.

No wonder none of my clothes fit anymore. I took public transit home and climbed the stairs, which with my gaining girth, seemed to be higher and higher every week.

For my mentorship program, I had a report to write but all I could think of was the twins. It was overwhelming. I sat on the couch, dropped my bags around me, and just stared into space. I probably looked like I was staring absentmindedly into a blank TV. I know that's what Angela saw when she walked in the door about thirty minutes later.

“Brooke, Are you okay?"

I blinked up at her. I opened my mouth, but I didn't know what to say.

“Brooke, is everything all right with the baby?"

I started to shake my head but then they had to switch it to a nod. “The baby, the babies are fine. But there are two of them, I managed to say in a disjointed manner.

“You said what?" She took off her purse and hung up on the coat hook followed by her coat. She turned back to me and put her hands on her hips. “Did you just say babies, plural with an 57"

I nodded. “Twins, they're gonna be twins."

“Oh Lordy." She sat with a thump on the couch next to me. “You're going to need more diapers.”

“I know. Right? I'm gonna need more of everything. Oh my God.”

She looked shocked with her jaw hanging open. This was more of the reaction I had expected the first time I told her I was pregnant. I didn't know what to expect now. I had just been told I had twins and I had no clue what was going to happen from here on out. I couldn't second guess anything anymore. I didn't even know what I was doing.

Why was I having two babies? Why hadn't I told Mark? Should I tell Mark now?

“Oh my God. Angela, should I tell him? I mean twins!” I needed someone to tell me what to do.

She put her hand on my wrist and squeezed. “You haven't told him that you were pregnant at all. Are you sure you want to tell him now that there are two babies involved? I'm not saying don't, but 'm saying you had your reasons up until this poin Are those still your reasons?”

I groaned, leaning my head on the back of the couch. She was right.

I hadn't told Mark for a reason. I didn't trust him. Why would I all of a sudden trust him now that there were two babies?

I blinked up and tried to clear my vision and clear my brain all at the same time. I sat up and looked at Angela. “Should I tell my mom? Oh my God, how am I going to tell my mom?”

This time Angela leaned back with a heavy sigh. “I think your plan of not telling your mom until after the babies are born is still maybe a good idea. Maybe a better idea now that theyre two of them.”

“Angela, what am I gonna do?" I felt overwhelmed and lost.

“You're gonna do the same thing you were doing when it was just one baby. I'm still going to be here to help. Now, I get to be the auntie to what though? Are they boys or girls? Do we know?”

“No. We don't even know the gender," I said.

She shrugged. “So now, we just need to double up on gender-neutral stuff. We can do this," she said.

I nodded in agreement. “You're right. We can do this.