You've Made Me Stronger

I think I choked on my own spit when I gasped, because next thing I knew, I was coughing my head off as Nick stroked my back.
"Are you okay, Miss. Alina?" The doctor asked. I finally calmed myself enough to look at him and shook my head.

"No, I think I just had a stroke. Are you sure there's two babies?" I asked, not believing what I was hearing. He smiled and turned the monitor our way.
"You see here? Another fetus, alive and well," he informed us, pointing to the screen. I gasped as I looked at the screen. There, clear as day, we two babies, all huddled together in my womb. Their little faces were all scrunched up, and though they looked more like aliens than babies right now, they were still ours.
Nick squeezed my hand and I looked over to him, my mouth still open in shock. He was looking at the screen still and smiling as tears welled up in his eyes. He looked so proud.
Just a proud father.

"Oh, Ava. They're gorgeous," he whispered, finally looking over to me. I felt a single tear that I hadn't even felt form fall from my eye and roll down my cheek.
Two babies... I couldn't believe it.

I looked back at the screen, then to the doctor. "How was it not seen in the last ultra-sound?" I asked him. This is what had me so shocked. They said there was only one heart beat. I only heard one as well. Now, as the doctor turned up the volume on the machine, two little rapid heart beats filled the room.
I choked back a sob at the sound.

"Well, somehow, the second heartbeat was overlooked during the first ultra-sound. But the sibling is definitely there. Congratulations, Mommy and Daddy; you're having a little boy and girl," he stated.
This broke the dam. I laid put my hand over my belly and cried as I watched my babies on the screen. Nick stood up and sat next to me on the bed before pulling me into his arms. He placed his hand over the one I had on my stomach and kissed my head. When I looked up at him, I was surprised to see that his eyes had teared up as well. He smiled down to me before placing a soft kiss on my lips.

"Oh, Ava. Thank you," he whispered.
"For what, Nick?"

He kissed me again before flexing his fingers against my little baby bump. "For this," he replied. I smiled a wide, absolutely, no doubt about it, "I'm completely happy" smile before looking back at the screen.
"Thank you, Dr. Lucas," I whispered through my tears before leaning my head on Nick's chest and watching our babies sleep contentedly inside of me.

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That night we sat at the dinner table in Mrs. And Mr. Jonas' house, Nick and I's hands intertwined as we waited for Mrs. Jonas to serve dessert. Once she had it on the table, she sat down at the end to my right and smiled at me.
"So, Nick, sweetie, you told me you and Ava had an announcement?" She asked. Nick and I looked at each other and smiled before looking back to everyone at the table, which, like every Friday night, included the entire Jonas family.

"We have some amazing news," Nick started. "I've been having trouble holding it in, actually, but I think Ava should tell you," he stated before looking at me and smiling. I gave a grinned as the table turned their attention to me. I turned around and reached into Nick's jacket, which was hanging on the back of his chair, before pulling out the ultra- sound pictures. I held them against my chest as I started to tell the news.

"Well, as you know, Nick and I had an appointment for an ultra-sound today, and we got to learn the sex of the baby... And, something else," I started. The room buzzed with a sort of anticipation. I glanced over at Nick again and smiled as he squeezed my hand.
"We're having twins," I stated. The entire room gasped in unison and Mrs. Jonas clapped her hands.

"That's incredible!" She exclaimed, and soon, Nick and I were being bombarded with hugs and kisses. We stood up and accepted the hugs and congratulations of the family and from Dani, Kevin's new wife and my new big sister.

"So what's the sex of the babies?" Dani asked me once we were all seated again.
"A boy and a girl!" Nick answered for me.
"We're not sure how it was missed in the first ultra-sound, but here the are," I informed them as I passed the ultra-sound pictures to Mrs. Jonas to pass around. As she looked at them, tears formed in her eyes.

"Oh, honey," she whispered as she reached over and grabbed my hand, gripping it tight. She then looked up to Nick and I and gave a wide smile. "They're beautiful."