Free Sins of the Father by LS Sygnet Page B

Johnny said. “I’m so excited, I think I could
just about bust open and bleed.”
    “Please don’t do that. It’s going to be hard
enough with twins and two parents without you up and dying on me,”
I chuckled.
    “Does that mean I can show off the first
picture of my children?”
    A little bit of his exuberance infected me.
Viral joy. Contagious happiness. Infectious bliss. “Are you really
going to have that framed?”
    “There’s a professional place over by La
Pierre that can blow this thing up to a better size,” Johnny said.
“We could have it mounted over one of the fireplaces at home.”
    I groaned softly.
    “Get dressed before Dr. Harvey comes in
here,” he said. “We can talk about picture frames and matting and
the proper size of our children’s first photograph on the way
home.”
    I slipped into my clothing quickly, perched
on the end of the exam table and watched Johnny stare at the tiny
photograph until Julie Harvey came back into the room.
    “Well, I hear that double congratulations
are in order, Helen,” she said.
    I nodded. “Thank you, doctor. Is there
anything else I should be doing now that I’m carrying a litter
instead of a single child?”
    She chuckled. “You could start taking a
multivitamin in the morning and one at bedtime. Make sure you’re
taking both with food, Helen. You said your appetite is improving,
correct?”
    My stomach growled on cue.
    “Good enough. I’d like to see you more often
during this pregnancy since we know you’re having twins. Your age
has put you at higher risk anyway. But this is how we manage all
multiple births. I know it seems like your due date is an awfully
long way from now too, but it might be a good idea for you to start
talking about how you want to deliver these babies. I recommend
vaginal delivery if at all possible. The risks with C-sections make
that an option that should only be considered as a last resort,
plus your recovery time will be extended significantly if we have
to deliver surgically. For vaginal deliveries there are some
different options – natural versus medication assisted.”
    Johnny’s arm curled around my waist. “I want
her comfortable, Dr. Harvey. We’re not going to be one of those
couples who thinks maximum suffering is necessary.”
    I didn’t remind Johnny that I recently
danced pretty close to the line of drug dependence.
    “So when you talk to our scheduler, I want
you back here in two weeks instead of four. We’ll see how things
look at that time. I want Joan to do a 3-dimensional ultrasound
next time. She says you’d like to know the sex of these children in
advance. That method has proved far more reliable in seeing
gender.”
    “That would be fine,” I said.
    “At about sixteen weeks, we can do an
amniocentesis. It’s not necessary unless there’s anything in your
family’s histories that might put the babies at risk for birth
defects.”
    My heart took off running. I thought I knew
my family’s health history. What if I didn’t because I never really
was Helen Eriksson?
    Another thought popped into my head. Was
Helen really my name? It wasn’t like I could stroll up to Crevan
and ask him. Hell, he was still in denial that his mother had given
birth to a boy and a girl instead of twin boys.
    Johnny’s voice filled the pause in my
responses. “We’ll discuss it Dr. Harvey. I think we both gave
pretty accurate histories earlier.”
    “Then it’s probably not necessary. The
amniocentesis would be of course, the definitive test for gender as
well.”
    “I think we’ll take our chances with the
ultrasound,” Johnny said.
    My cell phone rang inside my purse. I yanked
it out and stared at the screen. Maya. My hands began to
tremble.
    “Helen?”
    “Shock catching up with me. She knew about
my appointment this morning. She’s probably calling to see how
things went.” Lie. I shoved the phone back into my purse. “I’ll
call her back later.”
    “I’ll make the appointment,”