“Three months?” I repeated. “Is—Are you… Is everything okay?”
She pressed a small black-and-white picture into my hand. “Everything is okay. It was a little spotting, but Dr. Carter says everything looks fine.”
I peered at the image, the small bean in the center. My child. Our child. We were going to have another baby.
I lifted Paige in my arms, holding her. I kissed her once. Twice. A third time. “A baby,” I said in wonder. Then I chuckled. “No guest room.”
“Nope.”
“I like this much better.”
“Maybe it’ll be a boy this time.”
I shrugged. “If not, I’m good with my girls. I just want him or her healthy.” I hugged her close. “Can we tell my parents?”
“Your mom already suspects. But your dad is clueless.”
“Typical,” I snorted. “Such amazing news, Sweet Pea. Thank you.”
She smiled and snuggled close. “I think it was our weekend away.”
“Ah. The B&B in Niagara.” I pressed a kiss to her head. “I do remember your wandering hands on our picnic. I think we scared some wildlife that afternoon with your brazen behavior.”
She slapped my chest. “It was your idea.”
“I do have the best ones.” I agreed. “Like choosing you as my wife.”
The sound of running feet made me grin. “Brace yourself, Momma. Here come the girls. I wonder how they’ll take to the news?”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
“I guess we will.”
A few weeks later…
“What?” Paige gasped.
Dr. Carter smiled. “Yep. Twins.” She studied the image. “I can tell you the sex if you want.”
I stared at her, dumbfounded. Twins? We were having twins?
“You must be mistaken,” I said. “It’s a shadow, right? Ronan should be having twins. He’s a triplet. I’m not.”
The doctor laughed. “It doesn’t work that way. That’s not a shadow. There are two babies. And listen.” She adjusted a dial. “Two heartbeats.”
The rapid noises filled my ears, and as I listened, I was able to detect two separate beats.
I looked at Paige. “Twins.”
She nodded, her eyes filled with tears.
I leaned over and kissed her. “You want to know?”
We had known with the other two. We liked to be prepared.
“Yes.”
“Hit us, Doc.”
“You have two sons. Two healthy sons. Congratulations.”
I kissed Paige again. “Two boys. Holy shit, the girls are going to go nuts. The babies don’t stand a chance. They’ll be henpecked from the get-go.”
She laughed, wiping her tears. “I think I’ll let you tell them.”
“Shannon will want to exchange them,” I mused. “At least one. She’s counting on another girl. Boys are just…eww.”
“Erin might try to plant them.” Paige grinned, wiping her stomach and sitting up once the doctor finished. She gave us some books to look at, answered some questions, handed us the printouts that showed very clearly there were two babies. She also admonished Paige gently.
“You need lots of rest. There are more risks with twins. It’s different. I want to see you more, and we’ll monitor you closely. You’re young and healthy, but we want to keep you that way.”
“I’ll take good care of her. I’ll get her help,” I interjected.
She smiled at me. “I know you will, Liam. I’ll see you both in a few weeks.”
She left, and I looked at the pictures. “Twins.”
“Boys,” said Paige. “I know nothing about boys.”
“Good thing you have me. I’m an expert.”
“So’s your mom.”
I laughed. “Expert at boys and more than one baby at a time.”
I helped her off the table. She was a little shaky, so I slipped my arms around her.
“Sons. We’re having sons.”
“Yep.”
“Where are we gonna put them?”
Paige was quiet for a moment. “Erin will go upstairs soon. Her room will be the nursery, and eventually, we’ll turn the office into another bedroom.”
That idea made sense.
“I could turn the garage into a part office, I suppose. It’s big enough.”
“Good plan, Daddy.”
“Okay, let’s get you home, and I’ll look into some help.”
She was quiet on the car ride home. My thoughts were filled with the future. Baseball games in the summer, hockey on the ice during the winter with my boys. Them, my dad, and the other BAM men fishing. On the boat with Pops.
I had tried with the girls, but none of them was remotely interested in sports. Erin had wanted to try fishing with me, but she was horrified when I showed her how to hook a worm and had cried all the way home. I had to let her “free” the worms into her gardens to calm her. The next time I took her on the boat, we just sailed around in the water. My dad had laughed hard at that.
The only sport I was able to interest the girls in was skating, and I suspected it was more about the hot cocoa afterward than the actual skating, but I took what I could get.
Maybe now I could flex a little testosterone in the house. I wouldn’t be so outnumbered.
This twin thing might work out well for me.