Her words hit me like a crack of lightning, the rest of the world vanishing. Emotions ran through me that I could hardly comprehend. While I’d suspected as much, hearing the words come out of her mouth, knowing that in a short time I’d be holdingmychildren in my arms… it was too much to even begin to process.
I cleared my throat, putting on as professional a demeanor as I could. “We’ll talk about this when they’re here, OK?”
She nodded.
We didn’t get a chance to say anything else. Another contraction hit, and more screams and shouts filled the air.
“Where’s my baby?”
A woman’s voice came from behind me. I turned to see an older couple at the door, a woman who resembled Georgia so much that it almost shocked me, and a tall, strapping man in his mid-sixties.
“Mom, Dad!” As if there were any doubt that these were her parents, Georgia’s words confirmed it.
I looked down to see one of the babies crowning. There was too much chaos.
“Only one of you can stay,” I said. “Twin births are no small thing. We’ll have you all in here as soon as possible.”
Georgia’s friend threw her arms around her. “We’ll be right outside, OK?”
“OK.”
She left Georgia’s side, hurrying over to the parents and stepping out with Georgia’s father as her mother came over and took her hand.
Normally, the father of the babies would be the one to stay in the room. A small smile took hold when I realized that hewasthere.
I pushed all of that out of my head as I stepped to the end of the bed.
“Georgia, I need you to push.”
Chapter 15
Georgia
It was morning. Snow had started to fall a few hours before and was still going. Soft, morning light poured into the hospital room. And in my arms were the most beautiful little girls I’d ever seen in my life.
Danae and Daphne. I’d been in love since the moment I’d laid eyes on them last night, the girls so beautiful and perfect that I could hardly believe that they were real. They were fraternal, not identical. Danae had gorgeous, blue eyes that were no doubt mine, while Daphne had the green eyes of her father. Danae had a head of dark, thick hair, while Daphne was as adorably bald as a cue ball.
A soft knock sounded from the door. As much as I’d wanted to see Alex, I could tell from the sound that it wasn’t him. Besides, with the news I’d dropped on him, I didn’t mind him taking some time to process it all.
“Come in,” I said.
The door opened and Melanie, one of the nurses who’d helped deliver the twins, walked in.
“Hey!” she said, her voice soft but filled with happiness and enthusiasm. “How’re the girls?”
“Sleepy,” I said. “But perfect.”
Melanie smiled before stepping over and giving them each a look. She checked their skin tone, their pulse, and their reflexes.
“Everything good?” I asked.
“Preemie twins can be touch and go, but these two are looking as good as we could hope for a pair that came out of the oven a month early. I just wanted to pop in and let you know we’ll be taking them back to the newborn care unit in a few minutes. Thought it’d be nice to give a little warning before we actually did it.”
“No, I appreciate it. Thanks again for everything.”
She smiled. “I know Dr. Schmidt checked you out early this morning, but Dr. Ecomides will be in shortly to look in on you, as well.”
I smiled. “Sounds good.”