“Not yet. Soon.”
“How soon?”
I pause, considering the options. “I’ll know after tomorrow.” I end the call and finish my vodka, already planning the conversation I need to have with Sarah. She deserves to know what choosing her will cost and what kind of war we’ll be walking into together.
She also deserves the chance to walk away if the price is too high.
The thought of losing her makes my heart pound with something close to panic, but I won’t trap her in a life she didn’t choose. She’s already escaped one man who tried to control her destiny. I won’t be the second.
19
Sarah
The waiting room at Dr. Ranick’s office smells like vanilla and antiseptic, a combination that makes my stomach turn more than usual. Nina sits beside me, flipping through a parenting magazine with forced casualness while I stare at the appointment card in my hands for the twelve-week ultrasound, routine checkup, and possible gender results if I want them.
This is my first real appointment since the initial pregnancy confirmation. I’ve been dreading it all week, not from fear exactly, but from the overwhelming reality of what this appointment represents. Seeing the baby will make everything undeniably real, and I’m already struggling with how to fit a child into my complicated situation with Yarik.
“Sarah Clark?” A nurse in cheerful scrubs calls my name, and my stomach flutters with nerves.
Nina squeezes my hand. “Want me to come with you?”
I nod, not trusting my voice. We follow the nurse down a hallway lined with photographs of smiling families holding newborns. Each image feels like a glimpse into a future I can’t quite believe might be mine.
The ultrasound room is dimly lit, with a large monitor mounted on the wall and medical equipment I don’t recognize. Dr. Ranick enters with a warm smile that immediately puts me at ease. She’s a middle-aged woman with kind eyes, who came highly recommended from the clinic where I confirmed my pregnancy, and the sister of that doctor.
“How are we doing today, Sarah?”
“A little nervous,” I say, settling onto the examination table. The paper crinkles beneath me as I adjust my position. “This is all so new to me.”
“That’s completely normal. Let’s take a look at your little one and see how everything is progressing.”
She spreads warm gel across my stomach before pressing the ultrasound wand into place. The monitor flickers to life, showing grainy black and white images that mean nothing to me at first before Dr. Ranick pauses, adjusting the angle and pressure. “Hmm.” She moves the wand to a different position, her expression shifting from routine to focused. “This is interesting.”
My pulse skitters. “Is something wrong?”
“Not wrong at all. Just more than we expected.” She points to the monitor with her free hand. “See this here? And here? And here?”
Three distinct shapes appear on the screen, each with a tiny flickering movement that must be heartbeats. I stare at the monitor in complete shock, unable to process what I’m seeing.
“Triplets,” Dr. Ranick says gently. “You’re having triplets.”
The word lands hard. Nina gasps beside me while her magazine falls forgotten to the floor. I stare at the three tiny forms on the screen, unable to blink or process what I’m seeing. “Are you sure?” My voice comes out as a whisper.
“Absolutely certain. All three babies appear healthy and developing normally. The heartbeats are strong.” She continues moving the wand, pointing out details I barely register through my shock. “Would you like to know the genders? I can take a good guess today, though you won’t want to count on the results until your sixteen or twenty-week ultrasound, so don’t decorate the nursery just yet.” She smiles.
I nod numbly while trying to process there are three babies. How does someone prepare for three babies when she can barely figure out how to navigate having one with a man who’s engaged to another woman?
The doctor moves the wand and after a moment says, “I feel at least ninety percent confident Baby A is a boy.” The wand moves again, and seconds pass before she says, “Baby C appears to be a girl. I’m pretty certain about that.” Again the wand moves, pressing a little deeper into my stomach as the doctor says, “Hold on. Still looking…” With more wand wiggling, she says, “I think Baby B is also a girl, but I’m only about forty percent sure of that. We’ll confirm at the next ultrasound if they’re all being cooperative.”
The room spins slightly as I try to process this news. Two daughters and a son, all of them Yarik’s and mine together. The magnitude of this revelation threatens to overwhelm me completely.
Dr. Ranick prints several ultrasound images and hands them to me along with a folder containing detailed results. After that, we go across the hall to an exam room, where she gives me a physical exam and sends in her nurse for a blood draw and urine sample. Pausing at the door, she says, “I’ll want to see you again in two weeks. Multiple pregnancies require closer monitoring, but everything looks excellent right now.”
I nod, still grasping the folder with unsteady hands. I drop my gaze to stare at the ultrasound photos of three tiny profiles when the nurse comes in to collect samples. My children. Our children. The reality of it makes my chest tight with something between joy and terror as I pee in a cup and leave it in the window.
After that, I dress again and return to the patient room, where Nina waits for me. The nurse is also waiting and beams at me. “Congratulations, Ms. Clark. This is wonderful news.”
I somehow manage to nod and smile, though my thoughts are too preoccupied by the bomb that just cleaved my life into Before and After Triplets as I walk past her with Nina holding my arm to keep me steady.
