Say Something

Chapter Twenty-seven ~ The first scan

A week after Caitlin and Tommo had moved all their things out of thier flat, Caitlin phoned a radiology company nearby and booked her very first pregnancy scan. By this time, we had told Theo all about it and he had begun to get rather excited.

Caitlin was now nearly twelve weeks pregnant and her baby bump was beginning to get quite big. I worried about how big she was getting, for it was still quite early on in the pregnancy and surely she wouldn't be that big yet. Sometimes she would say to me 'Niall, I don't think being this big so early on is normal', and I would agree with her because I too thought it was a bit weird.

The day of the appointment finally arrived, and Caitlin told Tommo to not come with us.

"I want it to be just me and Niall this time, okay?" she told her. "I promise we'll tell you all about it when we come back."

Caitlin hugged her best friend, and I heard Tommo whisper 'good luck'.

We didn't have to wait in the waiting room very long before Caitlin's name was called.

"Are you the father?" a woman dressed in a white coat asked me.

"Um... Not exactly..." I said.

"It's a bit of a long story, much too long to be told in one sitting." Caitlin told her.

"Alrighty then. Follow me." the woman said, and we did as we were told.

We were lead to a small room with a bed on which the woman told Caitlin to lie down on, and Caitlin did so.

"How many weeks along are you?" the woman asked.

"Twelve." Caitlin told her.

"Only twelve? Surely you're a bit big to be twelve weeks along, are you sure?"

"Positive."

Caitlin was instructed to lift her shirt up a bit, and after she did so I took her hand in mine and she gripped it tightly. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was scared. The woman put a sort of gell onto Caitlin's tummy, and she whimpered a bit at the coldness of it. A machine was then turned on beside the bed, and the screen above it lit up.

"Are you ready?" the woman asked Caitlin, and she nodded.

The lady pressed something on the end of a cord that was attached to the machine onto Caitlin's tummy and the screen lit up.

"Oh goodness, that explains it." the woman muttered to herself.

"What explains what?" I asked, puzzled.

"It looks to me like you're having twins, Caitlin!" she said, pointing out the fact that there were two baby-shaped outlines on the screen instead of one.

"We weren't expecting that..." Caitlin gasped, gripping my hand even tighter than before.

"It's going to be okay." I told her, and I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed it softly.

The woman told us that the twins appeared to be healthy and that at the next scan, we would be able to find out what sex they were. She then told us that we were done now and free to go home.

When we stepped out into the carpark, her hand still in mine, Caitlin stopped and turned to me.

"Niall, what exactly are we going to do about this?" she asked me.

"I don't know, honey. This really comes as a big surprise to both of us, doesn't it?"

"I never really wanted one baby with that bastard, and now I'm having two of them. It's all a bit ridiculous, a bit crazy."

"It sure is."

"I always knew that James was trouble, and be turned out to be much more trouble than we ever imagined he would be. I warned Tommo, but she insisted that he was fine. Bit of a mess now."

"I wish I could turn back time and change it, I really do. If I could I would, but I can't so I shan't. "

"That's something that Tommo used to say. 'If I could I would, but I can't so I shan't'. Funny saying that is."

"Let's go home now." I said, and I lead her to the car before helping her into the passenger seat. "I love you, Caitlin, I really do, and if I could I would change things. But I still hope we would've met some other way."

I smiled before letting go of her hand and getting into the driver's seat.

"I love you, Niall." she said once I had started the engine.

I couldn't resist and I leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. She smiled at me, and I then drove us home.

..........................................................................................................................

"So, how did it go?" Tommo asked as soon as we walked into the living room where she was watching tv.

"Something a bit unexpected happened. Is Theo home?" said Caitlin.

"Nope, he's gone over to Lily's. Cute couple, those two. A bit like you guys."

Caitlin sat down on the sofa beside Tommo, and I sat beside Caitlin for it was a three-seater sofa. I took hold of Caitlin's hand again, and again she held it tightly. She took a deep breath before breaking the news to Tommo.

"I'm expecting twins." she said, shaking.

"WHAT?!" Tommo exclaimed.

"They're both healthy, and the lady told us that if we come back in six weeks time, we will be able to find out if it's two boys, two girls, or one of each."

"This is uh, quite the surprise." said Tommo with a nervous grin on her face.