Tempting Tatum (36 page)

His words cause a waterworks of emotions to break loose. “I’m pregnant?” I ask again through my tears. I need to hear it again.

Blaise shakes his head no. “No, baby, we’re pregnant. You and me. We are in this together, and just so you know, I plan on marrying you and having at least two more,” he says with a wink. Then his lips find mine. He’s careful of my injuries. The kiss is packed full of tenderness and love.

“I love you,” I say once he releases my lips.

“I love you, too,” he says just as the doctor enters the room.

“All right, let’s take a look at your baby,” she says as she and her new assistant wheel in the ultrasound machine.

The doctor explains something about the hormone levels of my blood show that I’m not too far along. By her calculations, a few weeks. She says she will be doing a trans-vaginal ultrasound. When she pulls out a wand, I watch as Blaise’s eyes go wide. He doesn’t say a word, just holds my hand and stands beside me. Every few minutes he kisses my temple, my cheek, or my fingers. It’s almost as though he has to touch me to reassure himself I’m okay.       

Dr. Michael’s assistant dims the lights and she directs our attention to the screen. I’m grateful for the distraction considering the position I’m currently in.

After a few uncomfortable minutes, Dr. Michaels points to the screen. “There,” she says. “There is your baby.”

I watch the tiny blip on the screen flutter. So tiny. My hand instinctively moves to my belly. Blaise covers mine with his and laces our fingers together. Tears fall from my eyes. I’m having a baby.

Blaise leans down and whispers in my ear. “We made that,” he says, kissing my temple.

“Oh,” Dr. Michaels says, and my heart skips a beat.

“’Oh’ what? You can’t just say ‘Oh’ and nothing else,” I scold her.

“What’s wrong?” Blaise asks. I can hear the fear in his voice.

“Nothing, nothing. I’m sorry I frightened you, it’s just that…well, you see this dark spot here?” she asks.

Blaise and I both nod our heads. “You see this one here?” she asks.

Again we nod.

Dr. Michaels removes her eyes from the screen to look at us. “You’re having twins,” she says with a grin.

“Hell yeah!” Blaise says as he places a sloppy wet kiss against my lips. “Twins!” he cheers.

I can’t help but laugh. We’re having twins.

“Have you been feeling any sickness, Tatum?” she asks me.

I shake my head no. “No, nothing. I had no idea. I’m on the pill,” I tell her.

“The pill is not one hundred percent effective. Have you been taking it regularly?” she asks.

I start to nod my head, but then stop. “I had a stomach bug a few weeks ago. I took it, but I wasn’t able to keep much down.” I look up to find Blaise smiling down at me. “I didn’t even think about it; I’m sorry,” I tell him.

“Sorry? For making me the happiest man on the damn planet? We’re having twins,” he says happily.

We all laugh at his outburst.

“It looks as though you are only about three weeks. I was worried due to your numbers being so low, but you are so early in the pregnancy that it makes sense. I see no issues with either baby. I will want to see you in a week for follow-up and we’ll keep a close eye on the three of you. Congratulations,” she says before she leaves us alone.

Blaise leans down and kisses my nose. “I love you so much, future Mrs. Richards,” he says.

“Just because I’m—” He interrupts me.

“Stop. I love you, all of you. I talked to my dad today about doing less time at the department to spend more time with you. I told him I wanted to build a life with you. All of this before we found out about the babies. You’re it for me,” he tells me.

“I love you, too,” I tell him.

Blaise falls to his knees beside the bed and holds my hand to his lips. “Marry me. I want you.” He moves one hand to my belly. “I want them, and a few more.” He winks. “I want to build a life with you. I can’t breathe without you. Marry me?” he says.

Without reservation, I answer, “Yes.”

He crashes his lips to mine. “I know it wasn’t the most romantic, and I don’t have a ring, but as soon as I can break you out of here, I’ll do it right and we’ll pick out your ring together. I love you, Tatum,” he says.

“I don’t want you to ask me again. That was prefect,” I say, wiping the tears from my eyes.

Blaise stands to his full height and claps his hands together. “Okay, so no more than two people are allowed back here at a time, but I say fuck that. Everyone we love is in that waiting room. They all want to see you and we have news to share. I’m going to round up the troops so we can tell them all at once,” he says, beaming. Leaning down, he kisses my cheek and practically skips out the door.

Not two minutes later, the two-visitor rule is shot to hell as all nine of them fill the room. Blaise makes his way to me and stands beside the bed. He reaches down for my hand and brings it to his lips.

“Blaise, you know they’re gonna kick us out,” his mother scolds him.

He smiles at her. “This won’t take long. I just wanted everyone here at once.” He looks down at me. “First of all, I wanted you all to be the first to know that Tate and I are getting married,” he says.

The room erupts with congratulations and hugs and kisses on the cheek.

“We have one more piece of information.” His free hand finds my belly. “We’re having twins,” he says. His eyes never leaving mine.

More hugs and congratulations erupt. We are a noisy group. I guess that’s why we didn’t hear the nurse the first time she yelled at us.

“Excuse me. Two at a time. You need to go back to the waiting room,” she scolds.

Blaise just shrugs his shoulders and takes a seat beside my bed, never letting go of my hand.

I watch as they leave my room. I turn to look at Blaise. He’s texting with one hand, no doubt spreading the word. I will miss my parents every day of my life. I will always feel the sadness deep inside because they will never get to meet my children. I know they are proud of me and watching over us. I also know I have never known a love for another person like I do with Blaise. I found what I’ve always been looking for. I found what my parents had. I found the man that will always cherish my heart. I found Blaise.

Today is my birthday. Tatum insisted that she throw me and Asher a party. I whined, complained, protested, whatever you want to call it, but my lovely wife won the battle. She always does. I never have been able to say no to her.

I watch as she waddles into the kitchen to try to help prepare the food. I know for a fact that my mom will scold her, so will Ember for that matter. It only takes five minutes for her to retreat back to the living room and ease herself back down on the couch. She takes the spot beside Grace who absentmindedly rubs her small baby bump. She and Asher are about four months along. I continue to brag that I’m, of course, the superior twin because my wife is having twins; his, however, is not. The women just laugh at us.

Leah and Ember are sitting on the loveseat opposite the couch. Ember is holding baby Sophie in her arms. She’s a month old today. All four of them are glowing with happiness. Ember and Jackson just recently got engaged. Life is good.

I hear my name and I focus my attention back to the guys. They all have the same dopey look on their faces, the same one that I’m sure is plastered on mine. Just as I’m about to re-join the conversation, I hear a loud gasp. I whip my head around to see Tatum with wide eyes. She lifts her head and our eyes lock. She nods once and I’m rushing to her side. It’s time. The house becomes a flurry of activity while Asher pulls the Tahoe around.

Brent takes one of Tatum’s arms and I take the other, carefully leading her out the door. I help her inside and make sure she’s strapped in. I already have both car seats, both our bags, and a bag for the babies loaded in the back. Call me super dad.

Asher stays in the driver’s seat as Grace climbs in beside him. I turn to face our family. “We’ll be right behind you,” Brent says.

I nod in agreement.

I round the back of the car and hear my mom say, “What a special gift to have the babies be born on their birthday.” She laughs.

I smile. That thought had never occurred to me. It would be really cool to have my kids born on mine and Asher’s birthday; however, I know that’s unlikely, yet still possible. Either way, soon, very soon I’m going to be a father.

Asher gets us to the hospital in record time. It helps that Blaise has the emergency lights, which we placed on top of the truck. Even though he gave up working at the department all together, he insisted on keeping the lights for this exact occasion. At first, I said he was being silly; now, not so much. I’m grateful. My contractions are maybe two minutes apart. I’m doing all I can to keep from letting on to Blaise how much pain I’m in. He worries.

I’m whisked into the ER and immediately settled into a wheelchair. A nurse, who looks about Nancy’s age, leads us to an elevator. Labor and Delivery is on the fifth floor. Blaise made sure we were pre-registered three weeks ago. Again, I’m glad my husband is always thinking ahead.

By the time I’m in a gown and in a room, the contractions are almost constant. The machine is going crazy about every minute and a half or so. Blaise watches as the lines rise and fall. The doctor comes in and says hello to Blaise, while instructing me to “scoot down.” I hate this part, but it’s worth it for my babies.

“Well, I have good news and not so good news,” he says. “The good news is you are going to be parents today.” He looks over at Blaise. “Happy Birthday, Dad.” He chuckles. “The not so good news is that you are dilated to ten and baby A is crowning. There is no time for an epidural.” He focuses his eyes on me. “How long have you been in labor?” he asks me.

Shit!
I’m busted. I avoid Blaise’s stare as I answer him. “The pains started about three am. They have become more constant throughout the day,” I tell him honestly.

“What?” Blaise asks. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He studies my expression. “The party, really, Tate? You should have told me, baby,” he says as he strokes my cheek.

“I thought they were just Braxton Hicks.” I pant as another contraction hits. At least I did until about eleven o’clock when they increased in frequency. I just wanted to get through the party.

“AHHH!” I scream.

“All right, Tatum. It’s time to meet your babies. When I say three, I want you to push. One. Two. Three.”