Put my Heart on Your Sleeve and Wear it All Over Town

Thumpa, thumpa, thumpa. The beating of the heart continued out of the speakers of the ultra sound machine.

"Wow, that's a strong heartbeat." The nurse commented.

"Yeah, thanks." I smiled up at her from my spot on the bed. Then I tilted my head to the side to look at John, he was staring at the screen.

"Wow. That's crazy."

"Yeah?" I was skeptical, he was making me nervous.

"Yeah, it's really cool."

"Hold on a second..." The nurse moved the part of the ultra sound that was touching my stomach to the other side. She smiled. "Twins. Do you want to know the gender?"

"Uh..." I looked to him for the answer, on account of I was still stunned by the fact that I was having twins. "Yes?"

He nodded, "Yeah, sure."

"Okay," she smiled. "Congratulations it's a-"

"Wait , I don't want to know. You can tell him, but I don't want to know." I looked at John's surprised face. "I'm sorry. Please understand."

He smiled my favorite crooked smile. "It's cool. Don't worry bout it. I'm kinda glad you said no because I didn't really want to know."

The nurse smiled again. "That's alright. It happens all the time. Tell you what, I'll put the results into an envelope and have the doctor watch it. So you can look at it if or when you're ready."

"Thank you. That's very generous of you." She wiped the gel off my abdomen and turned off the machine.

"Here's your picture, not revealing anything, and we'll see you in three to four weeks."

"Thanks." I sat up and pulled my shirt back down over my growing belly. The nurse had left by then. "I like her, she's nice."

"Yeah. She is. Are you hungry? You want to stop and get something to eat?"

"Ha, I'm always hungry nowadays. So take that as a yes." We went to Chipotle then home. I was getting out of the car, still talking to John, when a sharp pain pierced my stomach. "Ow! Ow ow ow ow, shit." I bent over, my arms wrapped around my stomach.

"Gabrielle? Are you alright? What? What's wrong?"

"I think the baby is kicking, or moving or something. It was a really sharp pain." I exhaled and straightened myself out again. "I'm okay, it's over. Let's just get inside in case it happens again. I don't want to be crippled going up the stairs." I smiled at him to try and calm him down, reassure him.

"Okay, let's go then."

I walked up the stairs slowly to avoid any sudden movements by the babies. I walked as fast as I could to the couch and plopped down. "Damn, my feet hurt already."

"Can I do anything?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm just tired."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. Just keep it down so I can try to sleep." I drifted off after about five minutes of attempting to get comfortable. I had a dream that as soon as I had the babies John had a new girlfriend and had completely forgotten about me and the kids. I woke up in the dark, crying. I got up off the couch and walked to my bedroom. I grabbed my shower stuff and went to go take a shower.

When I looked in the mirror at myself in my cami and shorts I could see the subtle, but defined, bump in between my hips. I still couldn't believe that this was happening. I, of all people, was having a baby. With John. I shook my head trying to clear it. It was too late at night to be thinking about this kind of stuff. I took all my belongings and walked back to my room. I out it all away and crawled into my bed. Trying to bring on sleep I pulled on a sleep mask and put ear plugs in. Sleep quickly followed. Thankfully.