Our Time Will Come - An After Story

8

Tessa

Tonights the night we leave for Washington and luckily enough, our anniversary falls in the middle of spring vacation, so the kids won't be missing any of school. I'm so grateful for the fact that we have a scan today, and we get to see our little bundle of joy before we announce our news to the rest of the family tomorrow. I have that anxious feeling at the pit of my stomach, but it's fuelled by excitement to see our little man or lady, for the second time. That's the only good thing about being high risk in pregnancy, we get to attend more scans and see our baby more.

I'm thankful that my bump is still tiny. I mean, we are only eleven weeks, but it would be pretty obvious if we announced our pregnancy and I looked like I was going to pop. Everyone would be like..no shit guys.

I wait in the car outside of Landon and Nora's place While Hardin drops the children off inside. He's in  there right now, convincing them that we are taking Louie to the dog sitters as he will be staying there while we are away. It's only half a lie, I guess. We really do need to drop Louie off at the sitters. Convincing the kids to keep quiet about the baby was a challenge in itself, but a bit of bribery did the trick. We just want to tell everybody together and there's only one day left until we announce it, so why tell them now?

Hardin finally leaves ten minutes later, Landon and Nora are at the door, waving. I wind my window down to return the gesture. "See you guys later!" Landon yells from his door step as Hardin drives away. Landon and I figured that He, Nora and Addelyn may as well fly out with us tonight from JFK, to make things easier.

We arrive at the hospital after dropping our family pet off at the dog sitters. Hardin made some ridiculous remark about the woman being Cruella De Vil the second as we left her house. "It's a good thing louie isn't a Dalmatian then isn't it" I rolled my eyes.

I look around the empty waiting room of the antenatal unit, taking in the surroundings. My heart is beating out of my chest as we wait to have our name called. I'm pretty sure I've read the entire leaflet on the wall about quitting smoking four times now and I don't even smoke. I'm getting impatient. "Hardin" I look into my husbands eyes. "Yes baby?" He covers my hand with his. "Tessa Scott?" We are interrupted by a young nurse, calling us in. I squeeze Hardin's hand as I take a deep breath and we follow her into the room. 

The nurse who introduces herself as Sarah, instructs me to lay back on the examination table and I oblige. "So, how are we feeling today Mrs Scott" she asks, her voice soft. "I'm good" I engage in small talk. I'm terrified, I'm shitting myself, my subconscious adds. I glare worryingly into Hardin's eyes.

A sonographer enters the room shortly after, introducing herself as Marie, she seems bubbly and full of energy. "Hey, everything's going to be fine" Hardin squeezes my hand as Marie applies ultrasound gel to my swollen tummy. I flinch at the chill of it.

Seconds later, i finally feel like I can breathe. I hear the most magical sound ever, our baby's heartbeat. I experience relief that I've never felt before. This is the most soothing feeling ever. Tears brim at my eyes as I take in the most beautiful sound. "Is this your first ultrasound with this pregnancy?" Marie asks, concern in her voice. My heart is back to thumping out of my chest. "No, second" I tell her.

"Hmm," Marie says. Placing the wand back on my belly and moving it around a bit. "This is your second ultrasound ?" she asks again. I nod. She begins to whisper to Sarah and I wonder what the hell is going on. Sarah seems to nod in agreement to whatever Marie is saying. Hardin looks like he may faint any second. Marie angles the screen so I can see it, and places the wand on my tummy once again. "What do you see?" She mutters.

What I see is two perfect ovals, side by side. "Two?!" I sputter. "Two," she nods. "Twins." My breath is stolen from me as I take in what Marie is saying. "Congratulations mommy" she smiles. I am completely and utterly speechless. Twins, TWINS?

I look over at Hardin, who hasn't said a word, but is no longer holding my hand. In fact, he doesn't look good. I sit up, pulling down my T-shirt and attend him. "Hardin?" I reach for his hand. "You look like you're going to- oh shit" I gasp as he collapses onto the floor. He resurfaces seconds later, standing to his feet. His hands are trembling and he has the complexion of Caspar the friendly ghost.

I can tell Marie and sarah are trying their best not to laugh, they must get this a lot with fathers. "Twins? Fuck. They're like buses, you wait for one for fucking ages and none come, and then all of a sudden two turn up at once" he panics. Weird way to look at it, but okay. "Hardin are you okay, you literally just fainted" I am now laughing. "Am I okay? Am I okay?" He paces the room. Oh shit, I'm getting the feeling that Hardin's not fully okay with this. "I'm more than I'm okay, I'm fucking ecstatic" he wraps his arms around me. Phew. I hear Marie and Sarah make a remark, something like "if this is what he's like at the scan, I wonder what he'll be like at the birth". The women have a point.

I feel his frantic heart, beating against my ear as he pulls me into his chest. I'm completely and utterly flabbergasted with joy, and I think the feelings mutual for both Hardin and I. "Two babies?" He glances over to Marie who is now writing notes. "Two babies" Marie repeats without looking back at us.