"Do I look fatter to you?" I lifted up the hem of my shirt, exposing the lower half of my stomach as I glanced up at Reid and Luke. The two of them were sat at the kitchen island, eating breakfast as they casually talked about whatever nerdy topic they'd decided on this time.
Reid narrowed his eyes and stood up, walking to my side. Immediately he felt my stomach, giving me a few curious glances as he moved his palms to various areas of the skin. While doing so, Luke stared uncomfortably from his seat, shovelling a couple of bites of egg into his mouth as he watched the two of us examine the matter further. "Have you weighed yourself?" He asked, mouth still full.
I shook my head and moved Reid's hands away. "I don't have a scale." I smoothed my shirt back down and moved to my seat, letting out a heavy sigh as I grabbed my fork and started eating again.
After that night at Okeefe's, Reid and I fell off the social map a bit. After everything that happened between Morgan and I, I knew we needed to talk about things, so instead of jumping right back into work, we decided to take a couple of days to recoup. Today being our last one off.
"What time do you guys have to leave today?" Luke's eyes darted between the two of us, his brow raising curiously.
Just thinking about all the things we had to do today made me want to cry. On top of having our first ultrasound appointment, we also had dinner with my family; an event that the more I envision happening the more anxiety I felt.
Reid assured me everything would be fine and while I wanted to believe him I couldn't help, but imagine the potential disastrous scenarios that might occur. My parents, despite the chill, relaxed personas they gave off, were pretty old school and often times adopted views that both Issac and I definitely disagreed with.
"Our appointment's in an hour, so we'll probably leave after we eat," I responded.
Reid sat back down and started eating again, while I merely picked at the food on my plate, staring at it nervously. At this point my intense morning sickness was starting to settle, along with my back pain, which I knew was a good thing. Having to perform daily tasks with that kind of annoyance around was starting to becoming overwhelming. However, over the last day or so my appetite had dwindled greatly; something that Reid noticed immediately.
"You need to eat," Reid pointed to my plate with his fork, giving me a stern look.
I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue as I stabbed a portion of egg and shoveled into my mouth. I chewed it obnoxiously in his direction, making sure to smack my lips together loudly as I leaned into his ear. He cringed at the sound and pushed me away, narrowing his eyes. I laughed and swallowed my food before grabbing another bite. This time I ate it normally and stared at my plate.
"Do you guys get to find out the gender?"
"No, but we get to hear the heartbeat," I replied excitedly.
"That sounds boring." Luke frowned.
"The first test is actually used to determine a more accurate due date and to track milestones during your pregnancy," Reid stated.
"And to check for complications," I added.
Reid nodded his head, giving me a proud smile as he rubbed my shoulder and continued eating.
After that we sat in silence, throwing back our food as quickly as possible in anticipation for the rest of the day. To say I was nervous was an understatement. All week I'd been looking forward to this moment and while it was definitely something to be excited for I couldn't help, but feel fairly anxious as well. What if we couldn't hear the heartbeat? Or what if there were some sort of complications that would make things more difficult? At this point I had a billion questions swimming through my mind; all of them impatiently waiting for an answer. Like usual, Reid tried his best to answer most of them, spitting out facts in order to calm me down as I anxiously waited for the reality to set in.
When he finished eating we washed our dishes, thanking Luke for breakfast. Like usual, he made enough for everyone, even though I'd told him countless times not to worry about the two of us.
"I like cooking," he said happily, "and I know how stressed out you guys always are, so honestly I don't mind."
"You're literally an angel." I wrapped my arms around his front, pressing my cheek against his back as he stood at the sink washing his dish. "I'll grab you one of those tea drinks on our way home, okay?" After that I released him from my grasp and took a step back, watching as he turned around and excitedly nodded.
Reid glanced down at his watch. "We should probably go. Traffic probably sucks right now."
I nodded my head and without a missing a beat, ran downstairs to grab my stuff. Along with my bag, I slipped on a pair of Vans, wiggling my feet into them aggressively before running back upstairs to Reid's side. Once there, we said a quick goodbye to Luke before heading out.
As Reid said, the traffic was awful, which only made my anxious thoughts run wild. I bit my thumbnail as I sat uncomfortably in my seat, my body constantly moving as I scanned the vast amount of cars around us.
Reid reached over to grab the hand at my mouth, shaking his head at my disgusting habit. "Everything's going to be fine," he said softly.
"I know." I let out a deep breath, feeling my chest fall. "Honestly, I think I'm more nervous about dinner tonight."
"I'm sure that'll be fine too."
I leaned my elbow against the open window, placing my hand into my palm with a sigh. "Yeah, but what if my parents get mad? They're not exactly the most liberal people."
"They're not?" Reid glanced over at me, raising his brow.
I shook my head. "They're pretty old fashioned. It may not seem like they are, but," I stopped to cringe at the thought, "they can be pretty brutal."
"They seemed so nice when I met them."
"Oh they are. They're like the nicest people ever, but they're also the type that are able to keep their opinions to themselves when necessary," I responded, "I remember when Issac told them he was married they actually lost it." Just remembering that night made me want to die.
"What even happened with that? You never talk about it."
I let out a heavy breath, giving him a head shake. "That's because it's like this unspeakable blip in our family's history. My parents were so embarrassed when it happened they literally just pretended it never did, because it's just was easier."
"So, what happened?" Reid repeated.
"Well, uh," I paused to lick my lips, "Issac met this girl while he was out traveling. I honestly can't even remember where he was at the time, because he jumped around so much, but whatever. It's not really important."
Reid nodded his head, giving me a quick glance of curiosity before moving his gaze back to the road once the light a couple cars ahead turned green.
"The two of them got married without telling any of us and when he returned the two of them got this house together. For a while it seemed pretty okay, at least according to him, but eventually things started getting weird after he realized how much money she was spending."
"She was just using him?" Reid questioned.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess so. Honestly, other than her name and like, a couple of random details I really don't know anything about her. Most of us just assume that's how things went, but Issac is kind of crazy so anything could've happen during their time together."
As we continued to drive I told him the rest of what I knew, which was basically that after receiving a hefty bill from a company Issac knew nothing about, he finally talked to her. Not long after that, the two divorced, forcing Issac into debt, despite his lucrative paying job, which he quit not long after getting out of his financial hole.
"There's a lot of details I'm still out of the loop on, like how she managed to get the house and stuff, but like at this point I just don't ask, because I know how sensitive he is about it."
"So, were your parents mad about the marriage itself or how it ended?"
"Both," I responded, "I think their main beef with it all was how secretive he was about the whole thing. Like, he didn't tell us they got married until like three months later, which I think really hurt their feelings." I let out a heavy sigh, wondering if I'd receive the same reaction. I knew for a fact the circumstances were different. Not only had they already met Reid, but typically with pregnancies it was normal to keep things on the down low for a while. At the same time though, the whole baby before marriage thing was something they'd expressed hostility towards.
"Even if they're disappointed it's not like they can do anything about it," Reid replied with a shrug.
"I guess." I sighed. "But I'd also like their support. I know I'm not the most easy child to deal with, but like, at least we didn't get married and have an eight month whirlwind romance that ended in a complicated, financially draining divorce."
He let out a laugh as he turned right and pulled up into one of the free parking spots along the street. "I guess we do have that going for us, yes."
Both of us unbuckled our seatbelts as Reid turned off the car. Afterwards, he hopped out, closing our doors in unison as he walked over to the meter. I fished out my wallet, grabbing some loose change before sticking it inside the slot. "You think two hours is enough?" I asked.
He nodded. "More than, probably."
I nodded back and started walking, dragging him lightly behind me as I scanned the street for our destination. Not long after announcing I was pregnant, Reid took it upon himself to find the best possible clinic for us to go to, claiming how important it was to find the right fit. Obviously, I agreed with him, and was thankful for his drive, but at the same time I felt less particular on the matter. For me, as long as there was a doctor around to help, I didn't care too much.
When we arrived, I pulled open the door, giving his butt a discreet smack as he walked past. He gave me dirty look, holding back a smile as he entered the building, waiting for me to join him. When I did, I grabbed his hand and together we walked to the front desk.
"Hi, I'm Isla Rafferty, I, uh have an appointment with Dr. Farrell?"
The woman behind the desk looked at the screen of her computer, typing in a couple of things before nodding her head and smiling back at us. "Perfect timing. If you can just go down the hall and take the first door to your left you can get ready in there. Dr. Farrell is just finishing up with one his other patients, but one of our staff members will be in there to get you situated."
I nodded my head, giving her a quick thank-you before glancing at Reid nervously and moving to where I was told to go. As we went inside we were greeted by a woman in scrubs sitting in the corner of the room. She smiled excitedly at us, standing from her seat as she clapped her hands together and moved towards us. "Hi, Isla, right?" She held her hand out for me to shake.
"Yup, this is Spencer, the dad." I hooked my thumb in his direction and smiled.
Reid shoved one of his hands into the pockets of his pants and raised the other one awkwardly. "Hello."
Instead of reaching out her hand she mimicked his gesture, giving him a head nod. "I'm Maddie. Nice to meet you guys. Ready to get started?"
I swallowed hard and nodded.
"Perfect, well, Spencer you can take a seat here, while Isla," she paused to turn towards a small desk, grabbing a bundle of fabric off the edge of it, "you can head into that bathroom over there and change." She pointed to a door on the other side of the room, dropping her hand once she saw me start to walk over.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Reid move to sit down. When he did, he let out a deep sigh.
As quickly as I possibly could I went into the bathroom to change. The clothing Maddie gave me was just a simple set of scrubs, which made the transition pretty easy. Once finished, I threw my clothes into my bag and stepped out, glancing over at Reid with a nervous smile as I wandered to his side and dropped my stuff on the floor. After that Maddie instructed me to get onto the table and lift my shirt. As I did, she explained the process of the ultrasound in full detail, letting me know that after the screening Dr. Farrell would come in to further discuss the details of our findings, along with the planning of what happened next.
When I lifted my shirt I watched as Maddie threw on a pair of gloves and started prepping. As she did I reached over to grab Reid's hand, suddenly feeling really nervous.
"Okay, today we're just doing your standard transabominal ultrasound, so if you could just take a couple of breaths for me, while I apply the gel to your stomach that'd be great."
"Why?" As I asked I realized why. The gel, while somehow soothing, was freezing cold, causing me to gasp at contact. Maddie apologized quietly, biting her bottom lip as she smoothed it out across the base of my stomach.
"Doing good?" She asked.
"That's fucking cold." I let out a deep breath and looked at Reid who merely laughed and kissed my hand.
"I know, I'm sorry."
"No, no it's fine. It's not your fault."
After spreading everything out Maddie grabbed a device that looked kind of like a microphone, but with a flatter edge. Curiously, I narrowed my eyes at it, watching as she flicked on the monitor next to us and pulled her chair in closer. "Alright, ready to go?"
I nodded my head, tightening my grip on Reid's hand as I closed my eyes for a quick second. At this point I had no idea why I was so nervous. All she was doing as rubbing an object along my stomach. It wasn't like it was going to hurt.
As soon as Maddie ran the contraption along my skin the image of my uterus appeared on the screen. When I opened my eyes I bit my lip, wiggling Reid's hand as I looked over at him. His eyes, while appearing excited, housed a pair of wet spots in the inner corners, causing me to press my lips together tightly. Even though I knew how sensitive he could be sometimes I wasn't expecting him to cry for this.
"Awe, Spencer," I pouted and pulled his hand to my lips, placing a quick kiss on his knuckles as he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater. When he dropped his arm he flashed me a grumpy smile, running his thumb along my hand.
"I'm not crying, you're crying," he retorted jokingly.
Maddie chuckled at the two of us as she moved the object along my left side. The feeling of it dragging along my skin wasn't anything to be scared about, yet my heart wouldn't stop pounding.
"So, right now your baby is about the size of sweet pea, so unfortunately we won't be able to see much." She narrowed her eyes at the screen, which was mostly black, aside from a few flecks of white along the outer edges. Slowly, she moved her hand towards the right, eventually stopping once she saw a little white dot. "Aha, there you are." She pointed to the screen, flashing us a wide grin. "There's your little one."
At this point it finally registered that I could hear a heartbeat that wasn't my own. I turned to Reid, clamping my hand over my mouth as I forced back a scream of happiness. As I did, he laughed and wiped his eyes again, bringing that same hand to my shoulder not long after.
The heartbeat itself was quicker than I expected. I asked if that was normal. After I did, Maddie remained quiet, focusing on her hand, which moved around for a couple of moments before stopping abruptly. "Well, would you look at that, I got another one." She let out a laugh.
I swallowed hard and turned to Reid who looked like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. Nervously, I shook his hand, watching as he slowly turned to face me, his body suddenly tightening. I narrowed my eyes in his direction, feeling confused as I looked back at Maddie who seemed to be beaming with excitement as she pointed to the screen again, which now showed two dots instead of one.
"What do you mean another one?" I asked sternly, even thought I already knew the answer.
Reid and I were having twins. Fucking twins. The thought sent my head into a fit of swirls, causing me to have to close my eyes and lean back as I let out a couple of deep breaths. As I did, Reid tightened his grip on my shoulder, lightly digging his fingers into my muscles in order to provide some sort of relaxation.
"Twins are more common than you think," Maddie said happily.
"One in two hundred and fifty," Reid stated.
She let out an awkward laugh. "Yeah, how'd you know that?"
I opened my eyes, giving her an annoyed look. "He's a genius," I responded.
At that point Maddie sense the hostility in my voice and went quiet. She swallowed hard and moved her hand slightly, bringing the pair of dots on the screen towards the centre so that we could get a better view.
"Oh, my god we're having twins." This had to have been some sort of joke. It was bad enough I had to prepare for one, but two? Was that even possible? Did Reid and I have the kind of stability for that? At least with one we'd be able to outmatch it, but with two we were at a draw.
"Twins." Reid repeated.
"Why the fuck do you always have to be so good at everything?" I asked desperately. "Couldn't you just produce a single child like everybody else?" Despite the severity of the situation Reid and I both managed to laugh, causing Maddie to loosen up a bit and join in.
"You know there's a multitude of reasons why twins occur, right? It's not just strong swimmers," Reid retorted sassily.
I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. "You're just saying that so you can uphold your modesty."
He snorted and shook his head. "For all we know you could've done this. Women of an overly average height have a higher chance of producing twins."
"I'm only five-seven," I argued.
"The national average is five foot four," he pointed out.
"Seriously?" I gave him a desperate look before moving my eyes to Maddie. "Is my height seriously why we have two kids instead of one now?"
Maddie chuckled and shook her head. "While Spencer's right, taller woman tend to have a higher chance at producing twins, there's also a ton of other reasons why this could've happened."
She went on to list a bunch of them, all of which I figured Reid already knew. As she spoke I stared at the wall in disbelief. At this point the idea of going back on the field seemed even more unlikely than before.
When she finished up the ultrasound she wiped me down. As she did I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, wondering what exactly happened next. Twins obviously made things a lot more complicated. For one, we'd probably have to talk housing; something we hadn't actually discussed yet. At first I was just planning on asking Luke if Reid could move in with us, but now with an extra body on the table I knew that wouldn't fly.
It also meant we had to tell everyone the news all over again, which I knew would obviously be fine. Everyone was already pretty excited so their reactions when we informed them of the sudden surprise to most likely be positive.
Maddie cleaned up the rest of the items as she informed us that Dr. Farrell would be in shortly. We thanked her for her time, watching as she threw everything away and said a quick goodbye before leaving. After she was gone I turned to Reid, my mouth dropping open almost instantly as we made eye contact. "What the fuck?" I blinked, still feeling unfit to register the events of what just happened.
He merely shook his head and stared at the floor.
"Like, obviously I'm excited, but like what the fuck?" I let out a nervous laugh and palmed my eyes.
Reid laughed too, placing his hand on my knee. "We're just too good at having sex," he joked.
I smacked his arm and rolled my eyes. As I did, the door opened, revealing a thick burly man with dark rimmed glasses and a head full of curly brown hair. He strode into the room confidently, giving us a couple of head nods as he took Maddie's seat. "So, twins, eh? Exciting stuff." In his hand was a file folder, which he opened up and started flipping through.
"Yes, exciting." I stated somewhat sarcastically, glancing over at Reid who moved his hand from my knee and nodded.
After that we discussed the next few steps with Dr. Farrell, who despite coming off a little strong was actually pretty nice. Like most doctors I'd encountered, he was painfully honest about the process of having twins, letting me know that while it was no walk in the park, the results were obviously worth it. By the end of the appointment, while still feeling absolutely blindsided, I also felt pretty confident that things would be okay. According to the scan my body was as healthy as possible, which made the both of us sigh in relief. On top of that, the babies were growing accordingly, which was equally good news.
After everything was said and done, Dr. Farrell booked us in for another ultrasound in eight weeks time, which seemed far away, despite him claiming otherwise.
"Alright, well, I'll let you guys get on with your day," he stood from his seat, smacking the tops of his thighs as he gave us a tight lipped smile. When he was fully upright he opened his file again, pulling out a large booklet, which had our ultrasound picture attached to the front. "I highly recommend checking out some of the resource centres we have listed in this booklet. I'm not entirely sure if you've decided on the route you want to go in terms of the actual birthing process, but it's got a lot of options for you to look at." He handed the booklet off to Reid who immediately opened it up to look.
"So, I guess we'll see you in two months?" I asked.
He nodded his head. "Obviously if you suspect anything is wrong or have any questions you're welcome to come in beforehand, otherwise, we'll see you then." Without another word he gave us a quick wave and left, leaving Reid and I alone again to reflect on what just happened.