by Erin Osborne
“Why?” she asks, confused that I wants to look at another vehicle already.
“Want to be safe with the baby in the car and have more room if we want to take a trip or somethin’ like that,” I answer, taking my eyes off the road briefly to look at her.
“Oh. That makes sense,” she answers, relaxing back into the seat for the short trip to the doctor’s office.
As I help Callie from the car once we’ve pulled in, I notice that there’s a car sitting on the edge of the parking lot. It’s blacked out and the last five minutes it’s been following us. I don’t mention anything to my wife, but I take in as much information about it as I can so that I can call the guys and have them come check it out. If they’re following us, then I guarantee they’ll still be here for the ten or fifteen minutes it takes for someone to get here. But I won’t say or do anything to alarm Callie. That’s the last thing she needs right now.
I have her go to the front desk so I can shoot off a text message to Renegade about the car. I’m just sliding my phone back in my pocket as she walks back over to me and I help her sit down in the uncomfortable as fuck chairs until we’re called back. Callie looks at me like she wants to say something but picks up a magazine instead and pretends to flip through the pages. She wants to know what’s going on but doesn’t know how to ask me. I’m not sure how she knows, but it’s obvious that she knows something isn’t right with me right now.
“Callie Patton,” a nurse calls out at the door to go in the back.
I growl out with the mistake of using Callie’s maiden name and not my last name. Callie giggles as I help her up and makes her way over to the nurse. Personally, I don’t see what the fuck is funny right now.
“It’s Callie Jones now,” I growl out as the nurse tells Callie to step on the scale so she can record her weight.
“Oh, um, I’m sorry. I didn’t see the note that the receptionist put in,” she says, looking away from me and turning her face down to the folder that’s in her hands.
Once she’s done taking Callie’s vitals, the nurse leaves us in the room alone and goes to get the ultrasound technician. We’ll see the doctor after that so she can go over anything that’s seen in the pictures. I like that it’s done that way so the mother-to-be has nothing to worry about until the next appointment. I’m sure that if something was ever wrong, no one would have to wait. I just refuse to take that chance with my wife and unborn child.
“Everything okay Bear?” Callie finally asks from her spot perched on the table.
“Yeah. Why?” I ask, trying to pretend I didn’t see a car following us.
“You seem off,” she answers as a knock sounds on the door and the technician comes in.
I remain quiet as she wheels the machine in and sets everything up. Callie pulls her dress up over her round belly and places the towel the tech gave her over her panties so that none of the gel shit gets all over her. Moving my chair over, I grab her hand and hold it in mine as the tech turns the screen toward us and the baby’s heartbeat fills the room. This time it sounds weird though and Callie and I look at one another at the same time.
“What’s wrong?” Callie asks, a nervous quiver to her voice.
“Let me pull the picture up and see what we can see what’s going on,” she says, hitting a button on the machine.
The screen fills with the image of our baby and we all lean in closer to take a look. As I’m looking at the screen, it looks like the baby has an extra arm and leg. What the fuck? I turn my attention to Callie and her mouth is hanging open in shock at the image before us.
“Is that another baby?” she asks, leaning over so far that I think she’s going to fall out of the bed.
“I think it is,” she answers, moving the wand to a different angle so that the second baby comes into view. “It looks like you’re having twins.”
My heart stops beating, and panic overtakes me at the thought of two babies instead of one. Callie has tears in her eyes as she looks at me. Shock is evident on her face and I know that she’s just as surprised as I am.
“Bear are you okay?” she asks, her voice hitching as she tries not to cry.
“Baby girl, I’m more than okay. It’s just a shock to learn that we’re havin’ twins,” I tell her, leaning over to kiss her while the tech turns her head away from us to give us a moment.
I stay and let the tech do her thing making sure the babies are okay. When she asks if we want to know the sex, I step out of the room and stand right outside the door. Pulling my phone out, I see a message from Grave.
Grave: Car took off and we lost it. Bishop meetin’ you there.
Me: Okay. Want someone on Callie every second of the day.
Grave: Got it.
Callie
Bear leaves the room before I learn the sex of the babies. I’m still reeling from the fact that we’re gonna have two babies soon instead of just one. The thought is daunting, and I’m scared shitless. I know that Bear will be by my side for every moment though. He’s going to be such an amazing dad and I can’t wait to have our babies here and we can begin to teach them things. My mind drifts as the tech tells me to clean up and pull my dress back down.
As she leaves the room, I toss the towel to the side and make it in the bin. Turning my attention to the door, I wait for Bear to make his way back in so that I can make sure that he’s okay with this. There’s not much we can do about it now, but I need to know if I’m going to have to prepare myself for him distancing himself from the babies and me. I’m a big girl and can handle my husband walking away from me, but I can’t handle him doing that to our children. I’ll kick his ass into next week if that’s what he’s going to do.
“What’s got you in your head baby girl?” Bear asks, sitting down in the chair next to me while we wait for the doctor to come in. I didn’t even hear him walk back through the door.
“Just thinking,” I answer evasively, turning my head to look at him.
“Not happenin’. What’s wrong?” he asks, not letting me get away with anything.
“I’m worried about what you’re really thinking about this. Are you gonna walk away from us? Are you going to distance yourself because this wasn’t expected?” I ask, not wanting anything between us.
“It’s not gonna happen Callie. You’re my wife and the love of my life. Were we expectin’ twins? No. That doesn’t change anythin’ though. I’m all in and I’m not goin’ anywhere,” he says, pulling me in for a heated kiss that we only break apart when the doctor clears her throat.
“I just heard the news,” Doctor Pritchard says, sitting down on the small stool and looking at my file. “Now, I’m not going to mention anything about the sex because only one of you knows. But everything looks good from the measurements. I do want to start seeing you every other week because more than likely you’re not going to make it to forty weeks with twins.”
“Should we be worried about them bein’ born early?” Bear asks, taking in the news that I don’t have a full three months left.
“No. It’s normal for women pregnant with multiples. We’ll keep a close eye on things and make sure that there’s no distress or anything wrong with the babies while they’re still in you. Our ultimate goal is to keep them in you as long as possible, but we’ll take it a week at a time and see what happens. I’ll be here no matter what you need,” the doctor says, writing something down and handing it over. She’s given us her personal cell phone number. “I know this is a shock and not what you were anticipating. But, it’s nothing to be worried about. Your pregnancy is very normal and I don’t see anything going bad. You need to take it easy though and stay as stress free as possible.”
“I can do that,” I answer, wanting to get out of here and share the news with Hadliegh. “I’m supposed to go shopping today for baby things. Can I still do that?”
“Yes. You can still do your normal activities. I would try to tone it down if you have a rough sex life, but other than that no restrictions,” Doctor Pritchard say
s looking at Bear. She already knows how protective he is and how over the top he can be.
“Thank you,” he says, standing up and helping me sit up while the doctor makes a few notes down in the file.
Bear leads me out to the receptionist so I can make my next appointment two weeks from now. Man, this is all getting even more real as the days go on. Each new thing that happens in this pregnancy makes it all the more real. Now that we know there’s less time than we thought to get ready for the babies to be here, we really have to get our asses in gear so that things are ready and we’re not scrambling at the last second.
“Bear, I’m gonna drop you off and head out with Hadliegh. There’s so much to do and buy before they arrive,” I tell him, knowing that he’ll understand what I’m talking about.
“Okay. Be careful baby girl. Bishop and Bentley will be goin’ with you,” he says, letting me know that the bodyguards are back on for some reason.
“Whatever you think we need. But what am I supposed to do with everything we get? You don’t want to know what we’re having so how am I supposed to get around that?” I ask, the thought just hitting me.
“Maybe you could store it in one of the rooms at the clubhouse,” he says, leaving the doctor’s office and heading home so that he can pick his bike up.
“I’ll figure it out. The only things that will come here then are the cribs and chairs,” I answer, sitting back in the seat.
Pulling into the house, Hadliegh is sitting out on the porch talking to Chris. She looks up when we pull in and rushes inside to grab her things so we can head out. As I get out of the car to head to the driver’s side, I hear another bike pull up and see Bentley pulling in. I’m glad to see that we don’t have to wait on the guys before we can head out.
Bear pulls me into him and places a kiss on my lips. I go to pull away but he’s not having it. He pulls me in closer to his body and deepens the kiss in front of our friends. I can feel his hardness pressing into my stomach and I’m rethinking my decision to go shopping and him to go to work. Maybe we could go in for a quickie and then head out.
“Not happenin’,” he says, finally breaking the kiss and laughing because he knows where my thoughts went.
“You’re no fun,” I pout, climbing into the car and adjusting the seat so that I can reach the peddles but not crush my stomach in the process. This shit is getting hard as I get bigger and further along.
“Ready to head out?” Hadliegh asks, getting in the car and waiting for Bishop and Bentley to move their bikes so we can head out.
“I am. I’m not sure what we’ll be able to accomplish today, but we’ll get it done,” I say, smiling at my friend as she sits next to me and realizes that I have a secret. “We found out that we’re having twins. A boy and a girl.”
“Are you fucking serious right now?” she asks, turning her full attention to me as we head out toward the next town over where the mall and shopping centers are.
“I am. The heartbeat sounded off and when she hit a different button on the machine the baby looked like it had an extra arm and leg. Bear left the room and she told me that it’s one of each. I’m so excited and nervous at the same time. Am I gonna be a good mom? How am I gonna handle two babies instead of one? It’s not like I had good role models with my parents,” I ramble on, letting everything out.
“You had Silvia though. She was the only role model you need,” Hadliegh says, pointing out the truth. She may not have known my grandma, but she’s heard our stories about her.
We’ve bought the cribs, bedding, chairs, and the rest of the furniture that we’ll need for the babies. Since it’s all color neutral, I had them load it up and send it to the house. Bishop called Bear to let him know that it was on its way. Now we’re heading to a shopping center so I can get the rest of the things that we’ll need for our children. And, I want to get a few more dresses so that I don’t have to wear sweats to work. I want to wear cute dresses.
As we pull into the parking lot, my stomach growls. We get out of the car laughing our asses off and spot a burger joint just down from the baby store. So, we head there, and the guys follow us. I order my food and Hadliegh’s before we take a seat at a table in the corner. The prospects don’t sit with us. One of them sits at a table behind us at the front of the restaurant while the other one sits at the back. They’re on full protection mode for some reason and it gets my nerves raised a little as I wonder about the safety of us right now.
We eat our food and make our way to the baby store so that we can get back home. I’m ready to be done shopping and at home where we can relax and not worry as much about anything that’s going on with the club. Right now, the guys are all an hour and a half away from us with the exception of Bentley and Bishop. Plus, my feet hurt and I’m ready for a nap.
Hadliegh and I make our way up and down the aisles throwing everything in the carts that we’ll need for the twin’s arrival. It’s weird to grab two of everything and make sure that I’ll have enough diapers and bottles for two baby’s and not one. Then we make our way over to the clothing section and I fall in love with every little piece of clothes that we see and pull up to show one another. It’s a good thing I have money because I can’t pick and choose when everything is so cute.
By the time we have everything that we’ll need, there are eight carts. I’m sure that we don’t have everything, and I’ll have to go again, but that’s okay. We didn’t get anything to decorate the room that will serve as the nursery until the kids can have their separate rooms. I’ll have time to think about what we need to decorate the room though. For now, I have what we need and extra so that we won’t have to go shopping for clothes anytime soon. Well, at least until they grow out of them.
“Hadliegh, I don’t know what I’m gonna do with all this stuff. Bear doesn’t want to know what we’re having,” I say suddenly, as the cashier continues to ring up the purchase.
“We’ll take it to the clubhouse and put it in Psycho’s room. I don’t see a reason for Bear to go in there,” she answers like it’s the most logical idea.
“I don’t know if he’s gonna go for that idea. Do you see how much shit is here?” I ask, letting her know I’m not sure about her idea.
“It’ll be fine. I’m sure he’ll be there when we show up and he can help us take it in and store it,” she responds, loading up the carts and shoving them toward the guys so they can help us get them outside.
“If you say so,” I respond, listening to the total the cashier gives me and pulling out a wad of cash to pay for everything. She’s looking at me like I’m crazy to be walking around with this much money. Or that she wants to know where the hell I came up with this much. It’s none of her fucking business.
Once I have my change and receipt, we make our way out to the car. The guys are each pushing two carts while we push one each. There are still two carts sitting right inside the door that the cashier is keeping an eye on. I pop open the trunk so we can start loading stuff in there while Bentley goes back in to get the last two carts. Bishop manages to get most of the bags into the trunk so that we have only a little bit to put in the backseat. Bear is going to shit himself once he sees everything that I bought today.
“Where we goin’?” Bishop asks, holding the door open for me.
“The clubhouse. Bear doesn’t want to know what we’re having so I have to figure something out. Please don’t say a word to him about what we got,” I tell him looking at the piles of blues, greens, purples, and pinks.
“Our lips are sealed,” Bentley says, coming up to the car to find out what’s going on.
Getting in the car we make the journey home and I realize that I’m hungry once again. And that I need a nap. So, I drive as fast as I can get away with without getting pulled over. The guys keep up with us all the way back to Shadowville. Hadliegh keeps up a steady conversation because she can sense that I’m tired and doesn’t want me to fall asleep at the wheel. I’m thankful that she’s with me right now.
&nbs
p; As we pull into the parking lot of the clubhouse, I look around to make sure that Bear’s bike isn’t parked out among the rest of them. It’s not. Bishop and Bentley park their bikes and make their way over to us so that they can help us bring everything inside. As I shut the car off and open my door, I see Renegade and Psycho make their way outside.
“You girls buy out the store?” Psycho asks, walking over to look in the trunk.
“Pretty much,” Hadliegh responds as I lean against the car in my exhaustion.
“Psycho, can I ask a huge favor?” I ask, looking at him from my spot on the side of the car.
“What’s up sweetheart?” he asks, coming to stand next to me and give me a once over to make sure I’m okay.
“Since Bear doesn’t want to know what we’re having, can I keep this stuff in your room for now? I don’t have anywhere else to put it,” I ask, looking at him with tired eyes.
“Yeah babe we’ll make it work,” he responds, tossing his keys to Bishop so he can unlock his door and put the bags in there. “Bishop, put them in the closet.”
“Thank you, Psycho,” I say as I lean in the car to start grabbing bags from the backseat.
“Anytime. So, Bear says you’re havin’ twins,” Renegade says, leaning in the passenger side of the car and grabbing all the bags before I can take one.
“Yep. That explains why I’m so huge right now,” I say with a laugh as I stand up and stretch my back that hurts from all the walking and movement.
“Go in his room and lay down. We’ll get this unloaded and call him so he can come and get you,” Renegade says, shutting my door while Hadliegh grabs my arm and walks me inside.
“I’ll grab you a snack and drink while you go get settled,” she tells me, making sure that I’m steady on my feet as I walk up the stairs and into Bear’s room.
I lay down on the bed after sliding off my flip flops. There’s no time to pull the blankets up over me as I lay my head on the pillow and instantly fall into a deep sleep.