Soulmates

Chapter seventeen

I woke to my mother and sister kissing my forehead. I notice tears in their eyes and realize they were looking at Kelly next to me. She was hugged to my right arm with our hands laced between us.

Tears fill my eyes and choke in a whisper, "I wanted her to have a wedding better than the one I had with Jessica and I ruined it by ending up in here."

"You can still give her that sweetheart," my mother chokes in a soothing whisper and I look at her as tears roll down my cheeks. "You still have that beautiful beach wedding you planned for next year. You planned this small gathering because she didn't want to wait after what happened with Katie."

"There isn't going to be a wedding next year if I'm not there to participate," I choke quietly and she looks at me with hurt eyes. "I almost died twice in the last six weeks. Whose to say that something doesn't happen in the next year. I don't even know if I'll see my twins born if I continue with the job I have."

"You love being a cop," my mother chokes quietly as tears roll down her cheeks. 

"What good is it to continue being a cop if every day there's a chance I don't come home to my wife," I ask in a scared whisper. "I almost died on our wedding night from a shard of bullet I took saving Jamie six years ago."

"What will you do for a job? You have a pregnant wife to worry about Jennifer," my mother chokes quietly. 

"I'll be going for my detective's exam, as planned and before I'm able to go back on duty. I don't want to be a patrol officer anymore. If I fail, I'll think of something else," I choke quietly and she nods lightly. 

Kelly takes in a hissing breath, clamping down on my hand. Her breaths become heavy. "Something is wrong," she hisses through clenched teeth.

"Caroline, calmly go get a doctor," my mother says in a soothing tone and walks over to rub Kelly's stomach. "Breathe Kelly."

She shutters a calming breath and loosened her grip on my hand slightly. I meet eyes with my mother and together we start singing the lullaby. As if flipping a switch, her breaths calmed down and her grip on my hand loosened completely. 

Her doctor walks in a few minutes later with a portable ultrasound machine. She saw that she was calm and calmly approached the bed. "I brought the portable to see what's going on without taking you from Jennifer. She's currently got you calmed down and I don't want any extra stress for the twins than they were last night," she says in a calm whisper. 

"Can you bring a fetal monitor in here," Kelly asks in a calm whisper. 

"Let's see what activity we have going first and go from there okay," Bryce says softly and Kelly nods lightly. Bryce turns to my mother and asks softly, "Can you help her move to her back?"

My mother carefully helps her to her back and we continue singing the lullaby. I bring her hand up and kiss her wedding bands. Bryce exposes Kelly's stomach and moments later waves the wand over her stomach.

Bryce points to the monitor and says, "Their umbilical cords are tangled, probably due to their activity last night while you were under stress about Jennifer."

Kelly squeezes my hand again, but the twins weren't moving on the monitor. "Can you please check to see if she's having contractions or if she's dilating," I choke quietly as tears roll down my cheeks. 

"Sweetheart she's only twenty-five weeks pregnant," my mother says quietly. 

"It's been fifteen minutes since she last clamped my hand. The last person who did this was in labor and died giving birth to a child that wasn't mine," I choke quietly, scared. "I'm not taking chances with my wife and twins after these last few weeks and especially since I almost died on our wedding night."