Page 49 of Doctor Daddies

“I mean it,” I murmur, and she manages a smile.

“I know,” she replies, and she turns her attention to Lewis, fussing with the covers and adjusting his pillow to make sure he’s comfortable. I can’t help but grin as I watch her; she’s such a mom.

“I think he slept better than you did,” I remark, and she rolls her eyes, laughing slightly.

“Oh, yeah, from what I remember, hospitals aren’t exactly the easiest to rest in,” she replies. “When I was in here giving birth, they tried to tell me to sleep, but I just couldn’t. I feel like there’s always something going on here, right? And you can’t just switch off and relax, even if you want to.”

“Agreed,” I reply. “Even when I was in medical school, I knew I wanted to work in the private sector. Somewhere a little slower. Somewhere I could spend a little more time with my patients.”

She smiles, cocking her head at me slightly. “That’s really sweet.”

I shrug. “Hey, it just works for me.”

“Works for all of you,” she replies. “That clinic, I looked it up. It’s amazing the reputation you have. How many people you’ve helped bring their children into the world…”

I smile. She’s not wrong about that. It’s one of the most satisfying parts of the job, by far, the days where we get to be with someone when they find out that they’ve finally fallen pregnant after years of trying.

“Yeah, I know,” I reply. “It’s…rewarding. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else with my career.”

“And now you’re going to be having babies of your own,” she reminds me, glancing down toward her stomach. “Hey, you want to feel the bump? I think I’m just starting to get one…”

“Kind of early for that, isn’t it?” I remark, but I get to my feet anyway, curious to see what she’s talking about.”

“Yeah, but if I’m having multiples, they’re going to start showing sooner,” she points out, as she takes my hand and guides it against her tee. “See? You can feel it. Right there. Just a little bit, right?”

She looks up at me, and I focus on the feel of her belly under my hand. I feel like I’ve come to know her body so well since we’ve been in each other’s lives again, and I can’t help but notice that she’s right. There is something there, just the beginnings of a bump, a reminder of everything that’s growing within her right now.

“Wow,” I mutter, as I move back to my seat.

She’s grinning at me, eyebrows raised. “See, I told you,” she replies. “You can feel it. It’s totally there, right?”

“Seems that way to me.”

She stares at me for a moment, the corners of her lips tugging downward. “Are you okay?”

“Of course I am.”

And it’s the truth. I’m not upset, or freaked out, or anything even close to it. But feeling her bump like that, it’s bringing everything into stark contrast in a way I’ve not felt before. My children—ourchildren are taking shape inside of her right now. If there was ever a moment where it all became real, it was when I felt that bump, a concrete signifier of what’s happening inside her body.

“It brings it all home, doesn’t it?” she asks softly, as though noticing my sudden change.

I nod.

“In a good way though,” she adds. “Right?”

“Right, right,” I assure her. “In a good way.”

She leans forward, squeezing my hand across the bed. “You know, when it first hit me that I was going to have Lewis, it felt like the toughest thing in the world to wrap my head around.”

“Really?”

She nods. “Yeah. It was right after…well, it was right after Matt and I lost our parents, and I figured out that I was late,” she explains. “And I took test after test, I kept waiting for one to come up negative, because I just couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of actually being…you know.”

She smiles slightly. “So I think I have some idea what you’re going through.”

“A little different,” I remark, skimming my thumb across her knuckles. “Given that we planned these ones.”

“I guess so,” she replies. “Still, a big change though, right?”