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“Are you sure?” I said gruffly.
Dr. Young smiled. “A hidden twin is not a common occurrence, and yet it does happen. Sutton is almost twenty weeks,seven months so it would be hard to miss Baby B at this point. If you think you won’t hit the ground again, I can show you with the machine?”
Sutton was bitting her lip, eyes glassy and a worried expression on her face.
I smiled weakly. “Of course I want to see them—err, Baby B. I want to see all of the babies.”
“How could this happen?” Sutton blurted out.
Dr. Young raised a brow. “The usual way, I assume. Twins occur when the fertilized egg splits in two or there are two fertilized eggs. In your case, it was a fertilized egg that split in two.”
“How do you know that?” Sutton’s voice was borderline hysterical.
Dr. Young continued to restart the ultrasound. Once the wand was pressed against her belly, he began to explain.
“Here you can see clearly there are two heads.” He continued to point out various body parts. “They share the same sac as well as the placenta. I would be willing to bet that you have identical twins here.”
“Twin boys?” Sutton asked in wonder.
Dr. Young shook his head. “No, do you see here? You are having a girl, and then over here, the same. I have labeled them Baby A and Baby B with the intent of making sure we get accurate measurements and keep good track of them. But if you would like to supply names I can put those in as well.”
“But they said we were having a boy?” Mark said weakly.
Dr. Young smiled knowingly. “It would appear that they were wrong. I can definitely see two girl fetuses.”
Sutton looked over at me. “Why don’t we have names? I am a terrible mother!”
Dr. Young wiped her belly off and helped Sutton to sit up. “It is normal to feel overwhelmed. You have recently married and there has been a lot of stress and extenuating circumstances that have been on your mind. However, now that we know there are twins, I would like to see you every two weeks. It’s important that we keep a close eye on these girls. We want what is best for you and Mr. Williams.”
Sutton nodded. “Alright, we will be here. Should I be doing anything else? I feel like my world has just been flipped upside down.”
Dr. Young shook his head. “You are healthy, the girls look good, honestly everything is going as it should be. Normally we would have a mother with twins come in twice a month at twenty-four weeks. I am just going to add the one extra appointment because of the stress you have been under and the allergic reaction you had. It’s better to be on top of these things and that is what we will do.”
**
AS WE LOADED INTO THESUV, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. I knew that Sutton was reeling from the news just as badly as I had been. But now I was starting to wrap my head around it, I couldn’t help but picture two little girls with dark hair and silvery eyes. It was a vision that made my heart feel full to bursting.
Sutton was quiet, too quiet.
I reached over and took her hand. “Everything will be fine. I promise you.”
She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “I don’t know how to be a mother. What if I ruin them?
I pulled over to the side of the road and took her in my arms.
“Sutton, you will be an amazing mother. You are a phenomenal woman and one of the kindest people I have ever met. There is nobody on this earth that I would rather be having a baby with. And by some miracle of God, we are getting two. Thank you, baby.”
She melted against me and I could feel some of the tension leave her body.
I squeezed her tight. “And we can always hire a dozen nannies if they end up being a nightmare.”
She snorted in a horrified way. “They aren’t going to be a nightmare. They are going to be perfect.”
“What should we name Baby A and Baby B?” I asked. “You could name one and I could name the other!”
She didn’t look convinced.
“Okay, what about Gertrude? We could call her Gerty?”