⇾𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐖𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 | 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐈𝐈

Chapter Fifteen: Double Trouble

January 18, 1964

"John, what if they tell me something is wrong?" I asked anxiously. So much for not being nervous.

John took his eyes off the road for just a moment to give me a reassuring smile. "They won't. It'll all be just fine."

"You're right. I'm overreacting. Why am I overreacting? Everything will be fine." I just sounded flat-out hysterical now. It was pitiful, really.

John reached his hand across the console to take my shaking one in his grip. "Hey, look at me." He had pulled us into the parking lot of the doctor's office now. I turned earnestly to him and was met with his stern eyes staring back.

"Everything is going to be just fine. I promise. If they do anything wrong, I'll thump 'em upside the head." He cracked a grin and I laughed lightly. "Ready?"

I nodded. "Let's go!" I optimistically hopped out of the car, leaving John scrambling to catch up.

"What exactly is going to happen in here?" John asked me.

"From what I've been told, it'll be a lot of questions," I responded. I'd employed Trixie to help me figure out what was going to happen. She said they may try to at least find the heartbeat, but it was bound to be a lot of questioning.

~~~

In less than 45 minutes, we'd filled everything out and were taken back. As expected, she began to ask questions. I answered each one carefully and honestly.

When we had finished with all the questions and the few tests we needed to do, we began to chat, just trying to learn as much about each other as we could. Her name was Violet, and she seemed very nice. I was glad that I had ended up with someone as patient and easy-going as her. She sure was going to need to be patient to deal with me.

John seemed very bubbly throughout the whole encounter, looking eager as we discussed the birth plans with Violet. He was constantly asking questions as if he were the one having the baby, listening closely as his questions were answered, soaking up everything he could learn, giving me hope for the next few months.

When Violet asked if we wanted to search for a heartbeat, neither of us could have answered anything faster. As she got ready, she told us that it was still very early, and there was only a slim chance that we would hear it, but I knew we both got our hopes up much more than we should have.

She took the device in her hand and we watched curiously as she ran it along my abdomen, searching for a sound. For a moment, her face perked up and she smiled, but then her expression turned into a confused one. She shifted the device again and John and I exclaimed a nervous glance.

"You've—?"

"Is everything alright?" asked John nervously.

Finally, she smiled up at us. "You've got two heartbeats," she said, and we froze.

Neither of us said anything for a moment.

"Y-you're sure?" John asked tentatively.

"You wanna listen?" she responded.

John nodded his head rapidly and she gestured for him to go over to her. She was quick to tell him exactly where each heartbeat was after helping him with the machine. John's eyes lit up, and his face broke into an excited grin, his demeanor going from a confused man to a child on Christmas morning in two seconds flat.

"That's two!" he said loudly and the two of us laughed. "Can Donna listen?" he asked brightly.

"Of course she can," Violet answered and went to set it up so I could listen.

"Here's one," she said when she'd found it again. I listened to the faint sound of a thumping heart. The room around me was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. "And here's two," she added, moving to the other side of my stomach. I felt my mouth fall open in shock. "And if you listen here—." She moved the device to the middle of my stomach. "You can hear them together." The thumping sound did get more rapid when she moved it, as if it were the combined heartbeats of two individuals. "We will, of course, be able to properly confirm it when you get your first ultrasound, which should be soon. You're getting to a good point for that. Perhaps at our next appointment? For now, this is what we've got."

~~~

Most of the car ride home was positively silent. Both of us were really too stunned to think straight. I guess two babies would explain why I looked so much bigger than Maureen did right now, even when she was about the same as me.

"W-what are we gonna tell everyone?" John asked me shakily after a while.

"We don't say anything right now."

"Why?"

"Well, you heard what she said," I reminded him evenly. "It could be a misreading. We won't know anything for sure until we get the ultrasound next week."

"Oh, Jesus, I dunno if I can wait 'til next week," he said anxiously. Then, he paused. "Donna, we're almost outnumbered."

I laughed lightly. "Don't say that. That makes it sound a lot scarier." I looked down at the papers in my hand, filled with all the information I could possibly need and more.

"Have I got one kid or two kids?" John asked no one in particular.

"Have you seen me?" I asked him amusedly, putting my hands to the little bulge that was my belly. "If I haven't got two babies inside of me, then I'd best lay off the snacks."

He grinned over at me. "Speaking of which," he said. "We should get dinner."

"Hmm," I said, leaning back against the seat comfortably. "That's a fantastic idea."

"Where are we off to?"

"We should go to a buffet so I can eat all of the food I could ever possibly want."

"Now, you're thinking what I'm thinking," he responded, smiling teasingly.