Not Without You [Chris Evans]

95

August 2018
Megan's POV

"That's funny," Chris said, frowning at the computer screen. "That doesn't look like the last ultrasound."

"Well, babies grow and that was a really early one," I reminded him as I squeezed his hand.

My first ultrasound had really just been more of a confirmation than anything else - it had been kinda hard to tell there was even a baby there - that was certainly not the case now.

"You're correct on both counts, Mrs Evans," the doctor said as she came back in, taking over for the tech who'd been showing us our baby. "10 weeks was too soon to see a lot of things, but based on your medical history, it was the best way to confirm if it was indeed a viable pregnancy. Looks like you're measuring for 20 weeks, so that's good."

"Is it healthy?" I asked her. "That's what we really want to know."

"Heart looks good," she said, scanning through the little body. "Brain is developing well. I'm not seeing any sign of congenital birth defects so that's good..." There was a long pause and she frowned at the screen before adjusting the wand. "Hello there, little one - looks like you're having twins! Here's baby number 2 - tricky little thing was hiding behind the first one."

"Twins?" we asked together, staring at the screen and then at each other.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked, somewhat still in shock. I'd never expected to hear that - but I'd also never expected to be pregnant, either.

"Not kidding," the doctor replied. "I certainly wouldn't joke about something like that."

"You do have a lot of twins in your family," Chris reminded me, moving closer. "I said that at the wedding, baby. Remember?"

"So do both of you have twins in your families or just one?"

"Just mine," I said. "I have younger identical twin brothers, my mom has older fraternal twin sisters and my grandparents on both sides had twin siblings."

The doctor raised her eyebrows. "Then I'd say it definitely runs in your family."

She shifted the wand to a different place and suddenly we could kind of see that there were two babies in there. She squirted some more blue gel on my belly and manipulated the wand until we could get a good look at them.

"Yes - you can see them both a little better now. Here's one...and here's two."

"I can't believe we're having twins!" Chris looked from the screen to me, his eyes looked glassy as everything started sinking in. "Oh my god - we're having twins!"

"Breathe, Chris," I ordered him, snapping my fingers in front of his face; he was swaying somewhat. "Just breathe for me, okay? He has a problem with anxiety," I explained to the doctor, who was watching our interaction. "I don't think he'll pass out, but this was kind of a shock."

"He wouldn't be the first new father to faint in my office," she said, pulling out a handheld fan and waving it in his direction; the sudden burst of cool air seemed to help him snap out of it.

"Breathe," I ordered, counting for him the way he said worked best.

He put his head in his hands, struggling to take a deep breath - so far this pregnancy had been far harder on him than me. I hadn't had any nausea or cravings - just extreme tiredness. If it weren't for the enhanced sense of smell and the various physical changes that I was able to see with my own eyes, I almost wouldn't believe it myself some days.

"Are you okay?" Chris nodded, and it looked like he was finally catching his breath again. "Do you hear that, Chris? That's our babies' heartbeats."