Top of the World
Chapter 2
27th August 2009
We were sitting in the living room, trying to watch a movie, but all the guys were watching was me fidgeting and squirming.
"Rhys, are you ok?" Gavin asked eventually, and I sighed heavily.
"Something doesn't feel right." I admitted, not needing to explain myself. They knew I was worried, and with good reason. I'd had my monthly scan the day before, and while the bigger boy, who we'd decided to call Joe, was huge compared to the last scan, the smaller boy, who we were naming Alex, had barely grown at all, and ever since they started kicking a fortnight ago, we'd been able to tell which one was kicking, because Joe would kick really hard and the others could only just feel Alex kick, while I could barely feel it myself.
"I'm sure he's fine, babe, he's just a slow developer, that's all." Snoz reassured me, and I nodded with a sigh, then rested my head on his shoulder and tried to settle down, just as Joe started kicking. I sighed and rubbed my stomach, talking softly to Alex as I did.
"Come on, little guy, let me know you're doing ok in there." I mumbled, smiling softly as I felt a few gentle but determined kicks against the skin under my hand.
"How's he doing?" Snoz asked softly as he placed his hand over mine.
"He's hanging in there." I told him, moving my hand and resting his where Alex was kicking, making him smile.
"We don't need to worry; I know that Joe's looking after him in there." He reassured me, making me smile more. Half an hour later, I decided I'd had enough and got to my feet, stretching.
"Right, I'm off to bed." I announced to the others; then kissed Snoz, who told me he'd be up when the movie was done. I'd only just gotten to the living room door, though, when my head spun, my vision swam and I could feel myself falling, staying conscious long enough to hear several shouts of my name.
I must have only been out for a few minutes, because when I woke up, I was still on the living room floor, the others all kneeling beside me, giving me looks of fear and worry.
"Hey, buddy, how you feeling?" James asked softly, and it took me a few tries before I managed to talk.
"I need water...." I rasped, and James jumped straight to his feet, coming back within seconds with my water, which I needed help to gulp down.
"We called for the doctor, he said to see how you were when you woke up, then told us to check for a load of things to see what was wrong, and I think you're just dehydrated." Sean told me, and I nodded.
"The twins must need a lot of water...." I mumbled, making the others all laugh softly.
"Yeah, they must, now, let’s get you to bed." Snoz replied softly, before lifting me into his arms and carrying me up to bed.
22nd September 2009
I finally figured out what's been bugging me for so long. We forgot to tell Ian and the boys about the twins. So when they finally got back from a very long tour three days ago, they were quite shocked. Admittedly, it was Snoz, Sean and Gavin that explained everything to them, because I wasn't talking to them, but that was only because I'd had to let them in when they got back. None of them could find their keys, and when I'd opened the door, Ian looked me up and down and let out a low whistle, then grinned.
"Damn, Rhys, you haven't half put on weight, eh?" The reason James and Matt weren't helping explain was that they couldn't stop laughing.
While everything was being explained, I fidgeted and chewed my lip. I hadn't felt Alex kick in over a week.
"Come on, little one, don't give up." I murmured, rubbing my stomach.
"Still nothing?" Snoz asked me softly from the couch and I shook my head, chewing my lip harder. A few seconds later, I felt a sharp, hard kick on the right side of my stomach.
"Joe's still doing good though." I announced softly, and everybody smiled, then gave me strange looks as a massive grin spread across my face. I moved over onto the couch, and grabbed Snoz's hand, placing it where Joe was kicking.
"You feel that?" I asked, and he nodded, still give me the strange look. I grinned more; then guided his other hand over to the left side of my stomach, placing it just above my hip.
"Now, do you feel that?" I asked, watching the grin slide onto his face.
"He's never kicked that hard before." He whispered, and I nodded, grinning more.
"He's ok. Our baby boy's still fighting." I told the others, who were giving us confused looks, which turned into four relived looks; then five more joined them after we explained our worries about Alex to the others.
19th October 2009
The doctors are starting to take us seriously. They're starting to worry about Alex as well. I had a scan this morning and he's only about a quarter of the size he should be, the size Joe is. There was four doctors in the exam room this time, when there's usually only a nurse. They said they were looking for signs of something called Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, but they didn't think that was the problem. I was sitting in my usual armchair in the living room, watching Stuart, who was on the couch, researching Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome on his laptop for me.
After a few minutes, he looked up and motioned for me to go over to where he was sitting.
"Found it." He told me softly, and I went over, sat beside him and started reading.
"Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome is when twins share a placenta, instead of having two separate ones. In most cases, one twin will get more oxygen, blood and nutrients, causing the other twin to grow slower, have health problems, and sometimes even..." I trailed off with a gasp, and Stuart looked at the page, found where I was and sighed.
"And sometimes even die." He finished for me softly.
"But the doctors said that wasn't what was wrong." A voice said softly from the doorway, and we looked round, to find all of the others were standing just inside the door.
"But that sounds like what's wrong. What if he dies?" I asked, and Snoz shook his head.
"He won't." He replied simply, and I felt myself getting frustrated.
"But what if he does?" I repeated, causing his bottom lip to twitch, the usual sign that he was getting angry.
"He won't. I know he won't." He replied sharply, and although I knew I should stop and take his word for it, I kept going.
"But how do you know? If this isn't what's wrong with him, then it could be anything, he could be inches away from death already!" I argued, and he glared at me.
"Ok, fine, I don't know that he'll be fine, excuse me for not wanting our son to die!" He yelled; then stormed out, slamming the front door behind him. I sighed and looked around at everyone, the looks on their faces telling me exactly what they were thinking, and I cut Jamie off as he opened his mouth.
"I know, I know, I went too far." I mumbled, and they all nodded.
We were sitting in the living room, trying to watch a movie, but all the guys were watching was me fidgeting and squirming.
"Rhys, are you ok?" Gavin asked eventually, and I sighed heavily.
"Something doesn't feel right." I admitted, not needing to explain myself. They knew I was worried, and with good reason. I'd had my monthly scan the day before, and while the bigger boy, who we'd decided to call Joe, was huge compared to the last scan, the smaller boy, who we were naming Alex, had barely grown at all, and ever since they started kicking a fortnight ago, we'd been able to tell which one was kicking, because Joe would kick really hard and the others could only just feel Alex kick, while I could barely feel it myself.
"I'm sure he's fine, babe, he's just a slow developer, that's all." Snoz reassured me, and I nodded with a sigh, then rested my head on his shoulder and tried to settle down, just as Joe started kicking. I sighed and rubbed my stomach, talking softly to Alex as I did.
"Come on, little guy, let me know you're doing ok in there." I mumbled, smiling softly as I felt a few gentle but determined kicks against the skin under my hand.
"How's he doing?" Snoz asked softly as he placed his hand over mine.
"He's hanging in there." I told him, moving my hand and resting his where Alex was kicking, making him smile.
"We don't need to worry; I know that Joe's looking after him in there." He reassured me, making me smile more. Half an hour later, I decided I'd had enough and got to my feet, stretching.
"Right, I'm off to bed." I announced to the others; then kissed Snoz, who told me he'd be up when the movie was done. I'd only just gotten to the living room door, though, when my head spun, my vision swam and I could feel myself falling, staying conscious long enough to hear several shouts of my name.
I must have only been out for a few minutes, because when I woke up, I was still on the living room floor, the others all kneeling beside me, giving me looks of fear and worry.
"Hey, buddy, how you feeling?" James asked softly, and it took me a few tries before I managed to talk.
"I need water...." I rasped, and James jumped straight to his feet, coming back within seconds with my water, which I needed help to gulp down.
"We called for the doctor, he said to see how you were when you woke up, then told us to check for a load of things to see what was wrong, and I think you're just dehydrated." Sean told me, and I nodded.
"The twins must need a lot of water...." I mumbled, making the others all laugh softly.
"Yeah, they must, now, let’s get you to bed." Snoz replied softly, before lifting me into his arms and carrying me up to bed.
22nd September 2009
I finally figured out what's been bugging me for so long. We forgot to tell Ian and the boys about the twins. So when they finally got back from a very long tour three days ago, they were quite shocked. Admittedly, it was Snoz, Sean and Gavin that explained everything to them, because I wasn't talking to them, but that was only because I'd had to let them in when they got back. None of them could find their keys, and when I'd opened the door, Ian looked me up and down and let out a low whistle, then grinned.
"Damn, Rhys, you haven't half put on weight, eh?" The reason James and Matt weren't helping explain was that they couldn't stop laughing.
While everything was being explained, I fidgeted and chewed my lip. I hadn't felt Alex kick in over a week.
"Come on, little one, don't give up." I murmured, rubbing my stomach.
"Still nothing?" Snoz asked me softly from the couch and I shook my head, chewing my lip harder. A few seconds later, I felt a sharp, hard kick on the right side of my stomach.
"Joe's still doing good though." I announced softly, and everybody smiled, then gave me strange looks as a massive grin spread across my face. I moved over onto the couch, and grabbed Snoz's hand, placing it where Joe was kicking.
"You feel that?" I asked, and he nodded, still give me the strange look. I grinned more; then guided his other hand over to the left side of my stomach, placing it just above my hip.
"Now, do you feel that?" I asked, watching the grin slide onto his face.
"He's never kicked that hard before." He whispered, and I nodded, grinning more.
"He's ok. Our baby boy's still fighting." I told the others, who were giving us confused looks, which turned into four relived looks; then five more joined them after we explained our worries about Alex to the others.
19th October 2009
The doctors are starting to take us seriously. They're starting to worry about Alex as well. I had a scan this morning and he's only about a quarter of the size he should be, the size Joe is. There was four doctors in the exam room this time, when there's usually only a nurse. They said they were looking for signs of something called Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, but they didn't think that was the problem. I was sitting in my usual armchair in the living room, watching Stuart, who was on the couch, researching Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome on his laptop for me.
After a few minutes, he looked up and motioned for me to go over to where he was sitting.
"Found it." He told me softly, and I went over, sat beside him and started reading.
"Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome is when twins share a placenta, instead of having two separate ones. In most cases, one twin will get more oxygen, blood and nutrients, causing the other twin to grow slower, have health problems, and sometimes even..." I trailed off with a gasp, and Stuart looked at the page, found where I was and sighed.
"And sometimes even die." He finished for me softly.
"But the doctors said that wasn't what was wrong." A voice said softly from the doorway, and we looked round, to find all of the others were standing just inside the door.
"But that sounds like what's wrong. What if he dies?" I asked, and Snoz shook his head.
"He won't." He replied simply, and I felt myself getting frustrated.
"But what if he does?" I repeated, causing his bottom lip to twitch, the usual sign that he was getting angry.
"He won't. I know he won't." He replied sharply, and although I knew I should stop and take his word for it, I kept going.
"But how do you know? If this isn't what's wrong with him, then it could be anything, he could be inches away from death already!" I argued, and he glared at me.
"Ok, fine, I don't know that he'll be fine, excuse me for not wanting our son to die!" He yelled; then stormed out, slamming the front door behind him. I sighed and looked around at everyone, the looks on their faces telling me exactly what they were thinking, and I cut Jamie off as he opened his mouth.
"I know, I know, I went too far." I mumbled, and they all nodded.
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