by Renea Porter
“It’s so nice to meet you, Rylee. And congratulations to you both. Whatever you need, I’m here. Just let me know.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Luke.”
“If you’ll excuse me.”
Luke excused himself, so Rylee and I could be alone.
“I found a photographer that specializes in pregnancy shoots. Does Thursday work?”
“Yes. I think that’ll be fine.”
“Let me shoot them a text really quick so we can lock in the date.”
I stepped away to text the photographer. After receiving a response, I told Rylee, “All set.”
“Hopefully, the weather holds up. I got some new maternity clothes, too. So that’s one thing I don’t have to do.”
“I’m sure it will be perfect. Let me order some takeout and you can get off those feet, Mama.”
Once our food arrived, we ate in the finished kitchen. That was one thing that didn’t need work done.
“I really like this kitchen. It has that homey feel to it.” It had a farm sink, white wash cabinets, granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances.
I looked around. “Yes. It does. I’m so glad you are giving us another chance. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. And I promise I won’t let you down.” I leaned forward to plant a kiss on her forehead.
“Action, Levi. It’s all about actions for me.”
I gripped her hand and squeezed it. “I know.”
“Now how about after the photoshoot, instead of sending out announcements, why don’t we display the photos in the living room and do a dinner with all our friends and family and announce it there? And they can view the photos, too.”
My face lit up. “That is a great idea. Get everyone together. We can even call in a caterer, so we don’t have to do any work. And you can finally meet my mom, too. Actually, she recently got engaged to a very nice guy. I met him not too long ago and he asked for my permission.”
“That’s fantastic. We can do all the celebrating in one go.”
“Perfect. I’ll set it all up so you can rest.”
“I’m sure I’m capable of doing something from the couch,” she joked.
Chapter Thirty-Two
RYLEE
It was photoshoot day and we were excited to get the pictures done. I picked out a mint green colored dress that was very whimsical and flowy. It was perfect for showing off my baby bump, which seemed like it has grown a lot more overnight. With two babies inside me, I was tired all the time and my feet were already starting to swell when I stood for an extended period of time.
“You look stunning,” Levi said, stepping into the room.
“Thank you. You look handsome.” I walked over to straighten his collar. “You know I am going to get as big as a house now.”
“I don’t care. I’m going to continue to worship every inch of you. Are you ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Otherwise, I’d be forced to ravish you right now.”
“Funny.”
My life had done a complete one eighty in a matter of months. And it was still hard to believe. I guess once the babies were here, then I would know it was real.
Once downstairs, I fixed my floral headpiece and walked barefoot out back.
“Rylee, this is Ciara who is doing the photoshoot and her assistant, Miller.”
“Nice to meet you both.”
“You, too. Levi brought some things down that you want to use in the photos. And I really want to incorporate the love that you two have and of course your belly.”
“Levi showed me your work and it’s amazing. Tell us where you want us.”
Ciara positioned us close to a huge tree. First, Levi and I kissed while he pressed both hands on my stomach.
The next one, we stood next to each other and held a sign that said, ‘Our family is growing by two heartbeats and four feet.’
We then laid down in the grass, holding our sonogram photo as if we were looking at it. After that, Levi kissed the side of my head while I looked at the sonogram. It was super sweet.
Levi helped me stand back up, and Ciara had Levi hugging me while I held a baby onesie that said, ‘Twins’ behind his back while I looked over his shoulder. She then had us hold hands while also holding baby shoes.
“Okay, this look. I want you both to be super serious while you look at each other, but I want to see the passion coming through,” she advised.
It took a few moments for me to straighten my face so I wasn’t laughing. Levi tilted his head a bit while he placed a hand on my neck like he was going to kiss me. I placed my hand over my belly so the dress was against my skin and you could see my stomach really well.
“Perfect,” Ciara said. “Is there any way we can get a few of you inside and it’ll be like silhouette.”
“Of course. We can go right inside the back here and use that room.”
Ciara and her assistant followed us inside and gave more instruction on how to pose against the window. The first few were of me alone, and then Levi joined in and we did a few more. All these photos were probably gonna cost a fortune. But I knew it would be worth it.
“Alright. I think I got everything. You guys were amazing and totally natural in front of the camera.”
“I appreciate you guys coming out here in the middle of week to do this. I’m so glad the weather held up.”
“Me too.” She looked to Levi. “So, I’ll email you the photos. You can pick and choose what you want and how many. And I’ll give you the family discount.”
Levi smiled. “I really appreciate it. We’ll need some larger size photos since we plan on displaying them in here in larger frames, and kind of have the photoshoot on display while we have people over for dinner.”
Once she and Miller left, I looked down at my feet. “My feet are so swollen.”
“You’ve been on your feet all day between working and the photoshoot. Come on, let’s go get you settled in.”
Once in our little apartment, I changed my clothes and put on a comfy sleep shirt. “I’m exhausted,” I admitted.
Levi scooted next to me on the bed. “I bet. You need to continue taking it easy, though.”
“Okay.” I smoothed a hand over his chiseled jaw.
“Get some rest.”
My eyes suddenly felt heavy, so I got comfortable in bed.
***
Friday evening, we headed into town to attend the fall festival. We arrived thirty minutes before the show so we could grab a quick bite to eat. And we had some snacks packed in case we needed them.
Walking around town, hand in hand, we looked at crafts and fall holiday décor and I even spotted a few fall decorations I wanted to put around our place. “I have to take a break,” I told Levi once I spotted a free bench.
“Of course. Do you need some water or a snack?”
“Sure.”
He passed me a bottle of water and a granola bar. “We can sit and people watch for a little bit.”
After sitting for thirty minutes, I was ready to continue.
“Walk slow and take it easy,” Levi told me.
He had been so attentive and even though I hated attention being drawn, I appreciated everything Levi was doing to make things easy for me.
“You’re being such a trooper for a guy about to be a father to twin boys. You have to be freaking out and not showing me.”
He chuckled. “I’ll admit, I’m scared shitless. I’m afraid I’ll do something wrong. What if I’m not a good dad?”
“I know for a fact you’ll be a great father. Our boys are very lucky.”
“They are lucky to have you as their mom.”
“Are you gonna get me a push present?”
“A push present? What the hell is that?”
I laughed. “It’s where the partner gives the mother a present for pushing out a baby. But I’ll be pushing out two.”
“Well, shit. I’ll have to think of something.”
“Levi, you don’t have t
o do that. I was half-kidding.”
I pointed. “Half-kidding being the key word there. Are you gonna invite your brothers down for the big dinner? I would really like a chance to apologize to your brother.”
“I’ll invite them, but they are busy. So, I’m not sure if they’ll make it or not.”
“Let me know if they can. I can fix up two of the rooms in a rush if they want to stay the night or whatever.”
“I’ll call them tomorrow.”
I secretly hoped my brothers would be able to make it. Even if it was for a day or two. I missed them so much. And these babies were gonna need their uncles in their life. The thought caused me to choke up, but I blinked back the tears. It sucked I didn’t have much family to enjoy this experience with. I was looking forward to catching up with Aubrey and Chance because hiding this secret had been excruciating. Even though Chance and Aubrey were Levi’s family, I made Aubrey swear not to tell Levi where I was when I initially left. She kept her word.
But it so happened I ran into Levi at that Halloween party and my heart hadn’t stopped beating furiously when I was around him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
RYLEE
It was time for another checkup with the babies. My doctor was having me come in every two weeks since I was high risk. I was close to being twenty weeks, so I was really showing.
“Let me get the door,” Levi said pulling the door to the doctor’s office open for me. “Go ahead and sit. I’ll check you in,” he told me.
Levi doted on me, and we were already in the process of setting up the nursery for the boys. And lately, we’d been toying with some names. We liked Liam and Tanner so far. But I was afraid to finalize their names until I was able to see them and determine if the names matched them. The theme for the nursery was zoo animals. Levi was even more excited about being a dad. He wanted to raise the boys right.
Moments later, we were called back, and after a few minutes, I got up on the bed and laid down so the doctor could do another ultrasound. She was quiet for a long period of time while looking at the screen and then she sighed.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“It looks like you are having Twin to Twin Syndrome.”
“What is that?” Levi asked, concerned as he held my hand.
“It’s when the twins share one placenta. There’s an imbalance in the blood exchange. One twin gives away more blood than it receives. And this poses a problem. Then the recipient twin receives too much blood, which leads to complications.”
“Can you fix it?” I rushed the words out.
“Let’s do a few more tests and see what the best action is.”
Levi griped my hand with both of his. I couldn’t lose these babies. I couldn’t. I was so scared until the doctor could tell us more.
“Everything is gonna be okay,” Levi reassured me.
“I hope.”
After a few more tests, I was provided with some answers.
“Okay. We’ve looked at everything, and it looks like you are in a severe stage of this.”
I interrupted her. “What does that mean?”
“Your best bet is to have laser surgery to correct the issue. It’s not too invasive so you would stay overnight so we could monitor you, and then if everything is okay, you’ll go home. But please talk about this between you both.”
“Is there another option?” I asked.
“The other option is complete bedrest, and we monitor the progressions of the twins. But personally, at this stage, I would recommend surgery. I can give you a few moments or you can wait and call back with your decision.”
“Give us a few.”
The doctor exited the room, and I sat up to straighten myself. “What do you want to do?” Levi questioned.
“I think she’s right; surgery is best for the survival rate of both babies. I can’t lose these babies. They might be the only ones I can have at this stage in my life.”
“I agree.”
“But we have that dinner planned and everything.”
“Don’t worry about that right now. Let’s tell the doctor our decision and get the surgery scheduled.”
“Okay.”
God, I was so nervous and scared. What if something bad happened? I couldn’t think like that now. My babies needed me.
The doctor came back in, and we explained our decision.
“All right. We will schedule the surgery.” She looked over her calendar. “How’s three days from now?”
“Perfect.”
“Don’t worry, Mama. Everything will be okay,” she reassured me.
I took a deep breath and tried to be calm as one can be, but I was a bit terrified.
“They will give you all the information when you check out. Hang in there. We have an exceptional team of doctors.”
That put me a little at ease.
We checked out, and I got all the paperwork I needed.
“I can’t believe I went in for a regular checkup and I’m walking out, needing surgery.”
“I know. It’s a bump in the road for us. I’ll be there every step, okay?”
“Okay. I love you so much,” I told him, and it felt like it’d had been forever since I told him I loved him.
“I love you so much. We’ll get through this.”
“I know.” And I had to believe that. There was no other choice in the matter.
Levi looked at his phone. “Looks like the pictures came through. Once we get home, we can go through them.”
“Awesome.”
I needed something to take my mind off this surgery.
Once back home, we settled on our comfy couch with Levi’s laptop. We sifted through the photos. All of them were so beautiful. “Let’s get all of them and then we can choose which ones to get bigger.”
“That’s gonna cost a fortune,” I told him.
“Worth every penny in my opinion. Pick out the ones you want as the larger ones. We can even hang them in the nursery after we display them at the dinner.”
“I love that idea.”
“Okay then. It’s settled. I’m going to bump up the dinner for the day before the surgery. I’ll call everyone and we can do a little celebrating beforehand.”
“Okay. I’ll call my brothers now and see if they can make it.”
Levi stood, kissing the top of my head. “Are you gonna be okay for a few? I need to finish some work before the dinner.”
I forced a smile. “I’ll be fine. I know where you are if I need you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Levi, I’m sure. Go. I’ll be fine. I could use some alone time.”
“Okay. I’ll grab a pizza for dinner.”
“Sounds good.”
I was thankful for a little alone time. I needed to process what happened today. I allowed myself to have a pity party for thirty minutes before I picked up the phone to call my brothers. I dialed Constance’s number first, figuring he would be easier to get hold of.
“Hello?”
“Hey! It’s me. Rylee.”
“Hey. How is it going?”
“Good. Good. Listen, I know it’s last minute, but Levi and I are throwing this dinner party and I was wondering if maybe you and Simon can come? If you can, we have a place you can stay. We have news to share and kind of want everyone together. It’s important.”
“Let me talk to Simon and see if he can work that out.”
“When did you say it was?”
“It’s the day after tomorrow,” I replied.
“That is short notice.”
“If you can, text me as soon as you know.”
“Okay. Will do.”
“Talk to you soon.”
“Bye, Ry.”
I hung up the phone.
Once the text came through that they worked it out to come, I was excited. Then next thing I knew, Levi came through the door carrying a pizza.
Chapter Thirty-Four
RYLEE
Today was the day before my
surgery. It was also the day of our dinner party. Thankfully, our photographer was able to send the photos over and we were able to print some to display and then enlarge the ones we picked out. I was busy telling Levi where to display them. I had gotten good at giving directions.
“How are you feeling?” Levi made his way over to me, placing his hands on my growing belly.
“Nervous. It’s my first time meeting your mom, and you meeting my brothers. I hope everyone gets along.”
“Me, too. And I will make that apology I owe your brother in person.”
I smiled. “I would appreciate that.”
“I love you, and I’m prepared to do what I can to show you and everyone else.”
“I love you, too. Oh, did you feel that?”
Levi’s eyes lit up. “I felt a kick.”
That evening, people started arriving. First to arrive were my brothers, Constance and Simon.
“Levi, these are my brothers. You met Constance before, and this is Simon.”
Levi held his hand out and shook both of their hands.
“I’m so glad you could make it.”
The boys then turned their attention to me, and their eyes darted down to my belly. “You’re pregnant.”
I smiled wide. “With twins.”
They both took a turn to hug me. “Congratulations. Oh my god. That’s so amazing.” They congratulated Levi and I both on the happy news.
“And this is our…” I looked to Levi for confirmation because I wasn’t sure I could say the bed and breakfast was both of ours. But Levi offered a nod in agreement. “Our bed and breakfast.”
Levi chimed in, “I fixed up two of the rooms for you both. Come on, I can show you where to put your stuff before our other guests arrive.”
I watched as they trailed up the stairs and hoped Levi would have that conversation with Constance before everyone got here. Looking around, I loved the white fairy lights that hung above the photos and really set the mood in the room. I walked around, staring at the photos, and I was in awe of how amazing the photographer was.
“There she is,” I heard a familiar voice calling.