Page 108 of Ruthless Commander

Her hand went to the metal railing, her knuckles white.

I moved instantly, striding around the side to peel her hand from the cold metal. “I’m right here.” I gripped her hand as they squeezed gel on her abdomen and pressed some kind of sonic wand against her skin before pushing it down gently.

I saw it all.

Every crease of her brow.

Every panicked flinch.

I gripped her hand as the sweat slowly trickled along her brow.

“So you said you fainted for no reason?” The doctor took the wand.

“Yes.” She answered.

We were both riveted to that blurred black-and-white image on the screen. The one where tiny blobs shifted slowly. I had no idea what I was looking at, let alone try to work out what was wrong. The doctor stilled, leaning carefully over her belly before he gave a “Hmm.”

“Hmm? What do you mean,‘hmm?’?”I muttered, jerking my gaze between his and the screen.

But he never answered, just pressed and moved…then pressed again before stopping. “Well, there you have your reason.”

“What reason?” I barked, jerking my focus to the screen.

I’d killed men with my bare hands.

I’d been knocked out.

Taken prisoner.

I’d even been ambushed and held at gunpoint.

But I’d never felt this powerless.

“You’re pregnant.” The doctor answered. “With twins.”

“What?”Xael whispered.

But I was frozen, staring at two little bean-shaped things. Two little things that moved and floated.

The doctor leaned over and pressed a button on the screen, taking a snapshot before he eased the wand off my wife’s stomach.

“T—” I started. “Did you say…t—”

“Twins.” He murmured, pressing the button and the monitor spat out the printed image. He grabbed the photo, then turned around and handed it to me. “You’re having twins.”

I swallowed hard, staring at the image in my hand. “Twins.”

“Twins.” He repeated. “Congratulations, Dad.”

“Da…dad…” The word caught around the lump in my throat.

The world kept moving. The earth spun. The sun shone. But I stood still. Unable to think, unable to breathe. Unable to do a damn thing but stare at the image in my hand. The photo blurred. I blinked, desperate to keep staring at those little white spots against the darkness.

“You’re crying,” Xael whispered.

I lifted my gaze to hers, then in a rush, I leaned over and pulled her into my arms. “I love you,” I croaked, burying my face into her neck. “I fucking love you so much.”

“I didn’t think you’d want this,” She cried. “I didn’t think you’d want this.”