“I honestly don’t know. I have mixed emotions, ranging from how am I going to keep a child alive to I’m going to get fat to what about the wedding and everything in between.”
“Do you not want kids?” His voice was soft and tender.
“I think so, but I hadn’t thought that far into the future. Shit, you know I hadn’t thought about any of this. I mean, I’m not mad or upset, I’m just…overwhelmed. I guess that’s the best word to describe it.”
“I think for most people, that’s a normal reaction to getting pregnant unexpectedly, even for people who have thought about it and know they want five kids and two dogs.”
My eyes bugged out of my head. “I do not want five kids.”
He threw back his head in laughter. “That’s fine by me; kids are expensive.” He kissed me softly and then cupped my face. “I promise everything will be just okay. We may just need to move some dates around for the wedding next year, no biggie.”
“Just like that; no big deal? I’m just going to spit out a kid in nine months, and that’s no biggie?” I felt the panic rising, and I needed to tamp it down.
“Easton, I love you. Knowing that we’re going to have a baby is special. I’ve always wanted kids, and I think you’re going to be an amazing mother to our little boy or girl. We will figure this out as we go, but you don’t have to worry about anything.”
My breathing evened out, and the panic started to subside. Tanner had a way of making everything better. I nestled into him, and he held me tight as we both let the idea of being parents sink in. At least I had a while to prepare.
When I finally felt like I had my emotions under control, I pulled back.
“I promise it’ll all work out; I believe things happen for a reason, baby.” He kissed me softly and then helped me up.
When we walked into the living room, Sadie and Rhian were talking softly.
“Everything all right?” Sadie’s eyes were filled with concern.
“Yeah, I’m just completely freaked out, but we will figure it out.” I looked up at Tanner as I squeezed his hand, and he kissed my forehead.
“Yay! So, we’re going to be aunties!” Rhian squealed.
“Looks like it.”
“I know you aren’t there yet, but this is so exciting, East. You two are going to be amazing parents.”
I hoped Sadie was right because I was terrified. I’d never even been around babies.
After they left, we spent the rest of the day lazing around and doing a lot of Googling. I was completely clueless, but surprisingly, Tanner wasn’t as ignorant as I was. We made some lists of things we needed to do, and I made a note of some things that I should change in my diet.
Tanner turned to me. “What do you want to do about the wedding?”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought maybe we should get married before the baby comes. I know we planned the wedding for next year, but why not sooner?”
I shrugged. “We could run off to Vegas.”
“Yeah? You’d do that?” He seemed surprised.
“Fucking right, I can do without a huge wedding, I know you have a lot of family, and your mom wanted a big deal, so I went with it, but that’s so not me. Vegas with an Elvis impersonator is more my style.”
“Let’s do it. My mom will get over it. We can have a big party later.”
I pounced on him and brought my lips to his. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I’d called and made my first obstetrician appointment, based on my last menstrual cycle, I had another six weeks until she needed to see me. My pee stick had indicated that I was more than three weeks along, but they mentioned that home pregnancy tests can be inaccurate. They would do blood work as well as an ultrasound.
We’d booked our flights for Las Vegas and also booked the wedding chapel in a few weeks as Tanner couldn’t get the time off until then. We hadn’t told anyone because we knew that they’d all want to come, so we would wait to tell them when we got back. I’d never been to Vegas before, so we had booked a few days to explore. Everything was crazy busy, and it truly was the city that never sleeps.
Although the ceremony was completely out of the ordinary from the music to the infamous Elvis impersonator, it was everything I could’ve possibly dreamed. When we looked into each other’s eyes and said, I do, there was no hesitation—this was our forever. And in the end, the only thing that mattered was that I was now Mrs. Tanner Fields.
We spent the rest of our vacation holed up in our honeymoon suite, taking advantage of each other. It was pure heaven.
By the time we’d gotten back home, we were well-rested, but we had to get back to our real lives, including work. My first doctor’s appointment was in just over a week, and I was both nervous and excited. We’d booked it at lunch so Tanner could come on his break.
He’d picked me up and held my hand the entire way over to the office. We didn’t speak much, both lost in thought.
The technician informed me the gel would be cold, and when they looked on the screen, they couldn’t see much. So, they opted for a vaginal ultrasound instead. I hated this type of shit, but I needed to make sure everything was okay.
“That’s better,” the technician exclaimed in her sing-song voice. “So, it looks like you’re a little earlier than we’d previously thought. I can’t believe your pregnancy test picked up on it at this stage.” She moved the probe around, making some noises. “Oh, now I see why.”
She turned to us; I was currently gripping Tanner’s hand like a vice. I was dying to know what this woman was talking about.
“Would you like to see?”
Was she demented? Of course, we wanted to see. We both nodded enthusiastically, my voice stuck in my throat.
She turned the screen around and showed us all the parts of the little peanut on the screen. Tears slipped down my cheek as Tanner kissed my forehead.
She turned the probe a little more. “And there’s Baby B.”
“Wait, what?” I tried to get up, but I quickly decided that was a bad idea, seeing as there was a giant rod shoved up my vagina. “There are two in there? This has to be a joke.”
And then it dawned on me. “Your fucking mother.” I couldn’t believe we were having twins. “She cursed us.”
“No, baby, she blessed us.”
I turned to look at Tanner, who was staring at the screen. “Tanner?”
He shook his head and looked down at me. “We’re going to have two babies?” His eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and I couldn’t help but melt.
The anxiety lifted, seeing how happy he was at the thought of having two. “Yeah, Tanner, it looks like it.” I reached up and caressed his cheek, and he leaned into my palm.
The technician cleared her throat. “The doctor will be in any moment.”
By the time Tanner dropped me off, it still really hadn’t sunk in. He pulled up to the curb in front of the apartment and turned to me. “I know you’re freaking out in that pretty little head of yours. But I promise everything is going to be amazing.”
I took a deep breath and smiled at him. “You’re always right, aren’t you?”
“Basically.” He kissed me senseless.
“Well, guess I was right—subconsciously at least—on this one?”
His brows creased as he hadn’t a clue what I was talking about.
“So, I never told you this, but the first night we met, I had a dream. It was about us having sex, and in the dream, you’d told me we needed to make it quick because the twins would be up soon.”
His mouth hung open. “You’re kidding?”
“Nope, I woke up in such a panic that night. I remember it like it was yesterday. I also remember laughing at how ridiculous the thought was.” I looked down at my belly. “Guess it’s not since this is now our reality.”
“Wow! That’s kind of crazy. Any other premonitions I should know about?”
I threw back my head, and a snort escaped my nose bef
ore I could cover it up. “No, nothing else. This was definitely enough for a lifetime.”
He kissed my cheek. “I wish I didn’t have to get back to work.”
“Sucks to be you.” I jumped out of the car and blew him a kiss before closing the door. I leaned in the open window. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
We’d decided to wait to tell everyone about the twins. It killed me not to tell my best friends, but I couldn’t wait to see the looks of surprise on everyone’s face when we finally told them. We were combining our wedding reception with the gender reveal party. We’d had a 3D ultrasound just the other day. We were now twenty-seven weeks and counting. We asked them to write down the genders in an envelope and gave that to the event planner. She was more than happy to help out.
Today was the big day, and everyone was dying to know the gender, but no one had a clue that it was going to be a double reveal.
There was a big white box wrapped up by the wedding cake. We were going to do the reveal right after we cut the cake. So, when they announced the cake cutting, I nearly ran over. I was dying to know what we were having. Now that it’d finally sunk in that we were having twins, I was beyond excited.
Everyone gathered around as we cut the cake. We didn’t bother smashing it in each other’s faces. We made it short and sweet, took our photos, and moved over to the big box.
“So, guys, Easton and I have no clue what’s in this box. We’re going to be just as surprised as you are. Are you ready?”
Everyone shouted, and I overheard Rhian tell us to stop fucking around.
We each took a string and pulled. Out popped a silver number two balloon and nothing else. Everyone was silent until Tanner’s mom jumped up and down. “I knew it. I told you that you’d have twins.”
At the realization of what the two meant, everyone went crazy. Sadie was holding my cellphone up since my mom wasn’t able to make it. She was in Dubai, living it up with her latest conquest, but she wanted to be a part of the celebration.
“All right, all right, so the cat’s out of the bag, yes, we’re having twins.” Tanner looked inside and pulled out the other two smaller boxes and handed one to me. “Now, let’s find out what we’re having.”
On the count of three, we both opened the box; blue balloons flew out of mine and pink from his. The tears streamed down my face as I dropped the box and made my way to my husband. He picked me up and spun me around. “Instant family, eh?” he said.
“Pretty much. Are you happy?”
“Very. I would’ve been happy no matter what, but this is amazing. I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too.”
Everyone swarmed us with congratulations and to give us hugs and kisses.
Tanner must have felt my unease and came to my rescue as always. “Thank you, everyone, but I’m stealing my bride away for a dance. She’s all mine now.” He swept me away to the dance floor without looking back.
By the end of the night, my feet hurt and I was ready for bed. We’d opted to stay at home since we’d already had our time away and weren’t able to fly anyway.
“Tanner.” I shook my husband as he snored beside me. “Jesus, you’re so damn loud.” I elbowed him sharply before getting out of bed, and he moaned and rolled over, which temporarily halted his snoring.
The worst part about pregnancy was the incessant peeing. I didn’t think I’d peed as much in my whole life as I had during the last thirty-four weeks. “Tanner,” I shouted from the bathroom.
“Who’s the loud one now?” he grumbled.
“Come here.”
He ran into the bathroom, his eyes barely open. “What’s wrong?”
“I either pissed myself before making it to the toilet, or my water just broke.” The gush I’d felt just before sitting down on the toilet definitely wasn’t pee. “They aren’t supposed to come yet. I still have a few weeks, according to Dr. Somerset.”
“It’s okay, baby. Everything will be fine. Let me grab a towel. We will clean you up. Then we can grab your bag and head over to the hospital to get you and the babies checked out. It’s not a big deal; twins come early all the time.”
Although Tanner’s voice was calmer than expected, I could hear the panic. I started to do my breathing exercises to try to calm myself down. I was no good to anyone in a panicked state.
Tanner got me cleaned up and changed. The water was now trickling, so I was able to use a pad for that. We went down to the car. When we arrived in the emergency room, they took me right upstairs—perks of living in a small town. My doctor happened to be on call, so things were looking to line up nicely. We weren’t quite prepared for the babies to come just yet, but clearly, God had other plans. Six hours later, I gave birth to a four-pound, two-ounce baby girl and a five-pound, three-ounce baby boy.
The babies were almost immediately wheeled away, but my doctor assured me they were doing great. They just needed a little extra care and examination because they were a few weeks early. Tanner kissed my face and encouraged me, telling me I’d done such a great job. Although he was trying to distract me from thinking about what was going on with my babies, I could see the panic behind his smile.
What felt like hours later, they were wheeled back into my room. They were so tiny; I couldn’t believe it. They both had breathing tubes, but the doctor explained that it looked like they wouldn’t need it for very long. They were both doing very well.
“We should probably name them, eh?” Tanner said as he smiled at the sleeping angels.
“How about you name our boy, and I’ll name our girl?” I figured that was fair. “The only thing is the other can’t hate the name.”
“Fair enough. I had a name in mind already, how about Bauer?”
“Nice one, hockey related and starts with a B, which just so happens to be the same letter that the name I was thinking of starts with.” I looked down at my beautiful girl and said, “Bodhi. She’s this amazing little girl who surfs, and I thought it sounded like such a strong name.”
“I love it. Bauer and Bodhi. Sounds perfect to me.”
“Me too.”
The End
Acknowledgments
Caught Inside was inspired by a cover I purchased back in 2017 from my girl, Ally. Although I’ve made some tweaks to the cover, I couldn’t have come up with the story without it.
And of course, thank you to my bestie, Stephie, for always being there for me and helping me grow as an author. You’re stuck with me FOREVER and you’ll have to listen to my incessant bitching until we’re old and grey and hard of hearing—at which point I’ll start to scream while close to your ear.
Thanks Nick for enlightening me on a new way to portray women’s blue balls.
About the Author
I'm a feisty redheaded Canadian/American who fell in love with romance novels when my friend Phil bought me a Kindle that hasn't left my side since.
My favorite books to read are anything taboo and super sick and twisted. I'm not sure I will ever write anything dark, but I would love to give it a shot one day.
I live in South Florida with my high school sweetheart and three kids.
I grew up in Burlington, ON, Canada but made the move to
South Florida in 2013 and definitely don't miss the snow.
I'm not sure where this writing journey will take me but either way, I know it will be a fun new adventure, and I'm super excited about it.
Also by Kristie Leigh
Wrecked by Her
Saved by Him
Let it Snow
A Side He’d Never Seen
Caught Inside Playlist
Spotify
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