Chapter Text
Layla’s nose wrinkled as the hard plastic wand prodded even higher, jabbing into what felt like her ovary. The transvaginal ultrasound wand might look like a vibrator, but it definitely wasn’t as fun. Of course, she hadn’t used a vibrator in almost a year. Even when Richard was away filming, his voice and her fingers had always been enough. Had it really been less than a year since she met Richard? Thoughts of the last year of her life swept through her like a whirlwind, most of them with Richard at the eye of the storm.
His thumb stroked over the bridge of her nose, smoothing out the wrinkles. Richard’s hand was resting on top of her head, his fingers loosely woven through her curls. Neither one had said out loud how nervous they were about today’s appointment, the first meeting with the obstetrician, but they both kept touching each other, and as the doctor poked and prodded Layla and peered at the monitor that neither one of them could see, Layla’s hand tightened around his. Minutes ticked by and each beat of her heart started to hurt as anticipation slowly turned into dread.
The doctor finally turned to them, her smile warm and friendly. “Would you like to see your babies?”
“Babies?” Layla echoed in confusion.
“Babies,” the doctor confirmed, her smile widening.
“Babies?” Richard asked, the last syllable becoming extra sibilant as he dragged out the ess.
The doctor nodded and turned the monitor around so they could both see it. “Here is the first fetal pole,” she pointed at one little grey blob against the dark background. “And here is the other.” A second jelly bean looking blob. “They aren’t very exciting to look at yet, but those are your two babies.”
Richard rubbed his cheeks, covering his mouth with his hand. “That’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen.”
Layla stretched her hand over her stomach as she stared at the two little pixelated grey masses. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but she didn’t know what to say. She looked up at Richard, looking for guidance, for his reaction, for something steady to lay hold on in this monumental moment of change.
He was leaning forward, staring at the lentil sized dots on the screen with the same intensity he had demonstrated reading every book on pregnancy he could get his hands on for the last two weeks. “The little flicker, that’s their hearts?”
“Yes. Would you like to hear their heartbeats?”
“Yes,” he choked out as Layla nodded hurriedly.
“Here’s baby A.” Layla winced as the wand shifted position and Richard smoothed his thumb over the bridge of her nose again. A sound like a distant herd of running horses filled the room. Layla closed her eyes as the whooshing washed over her. After a bit the doctor said, “That’s about 153 beats per minute.”
“And that’s good?” Richard asked.
“That’s perfect.”
Layla squeezed his hand and he brought her hand to his mouth to kiss. He kept her hand there as the doctor said, “This is baby B.” The sound filled the room again, the slightest bit slower. “That’s 151 beats per minute. Nice and healthy.”
Layla listened for a minute and tears filled her eyes. Richard carefully wiped away the ones the escaped. “So, what’s the likelihood of a miscarriage at this point?” she asked, the fear from last time haunting this moment.
“There’s lots of things that go into determining likelihood of miscarriage. You’re under thirty, healthy, only one miscarriage, you conceived easily, we’ve confirmed heartbeat in the healthy range, and those are all good signs. Paternal age is a bit of a risk, but right now, taking that all into account, I’d estimate less than five percent.”
Layla nodded, the fist around her heart relaxing slightly. Five percent wasn’t bad. Her mind raced ahead, trying to cope with the sudden change to the plans she had made. “And with twins, there are additional risks with the pregnancy, right?”
“A few. We’ll schedule you for additional appointments and keep an eye on things, but there’s no reason to expect anything other than a healthy pregnancy as long as you get the rest and nutrition you need. A lot of mothers of multiples have additional morning sickness, but not all of them. The biggest change is that your pregnancy probably won’t last as long. Our goal is to get you to at least 32 weeks. With a singleton we aim for 37.”
She blinked several times. Thirty two weeks? As a goal? So maybe not even that long. Two months gone from the schedule she had made. Would the house even be done by then? They had been hoping to remove at some point in August, but she couldn’t imagine trying to deal with that insanity with two babies in tow. And what would this do to Richard’s shooting schedule? Peter was talking about wanting them all back in New Zealand for pick-ups in May. And then this would wreak havoc with her schedule at work. She’d have to completely rework the timeline she had put together for training someone to fill in for her while she was gone. “I guess this means I’m not going to New York Fashion Week, then.”
“When’s that?” Dr. Olson asked.
“Second week in September.”
The obstetrician laughed and shook her head. “You wouldn’t have been going anyway. No doctor worth the salt in a packet of crisps would’ve let you fly across an ocean two weeks before your due date.”
“Really?” Layla had planned on working until she went into labor.
“Yes. I’m not going to want you to go anywhere beyond a few hours from London once it gets to July. If we can get you to the end of August before you give birth, I’ll be very happy.”
Richard watched Layla’s eyes and thoughts turn inward. He rubbed his fingers against her scalp as he talked to the doctor. “Are there any additional restrictions?”
“Not at this point. Take your pre-natals, limit your caffeine, eat healthy, plenty of sleep and water. You’re going to be just fine.” She patted Layla’s hand.
Layla looked up at Richard and heat filled her cheeks. “Can we still have sex?”
“Yep. Don’t do anything that hurts, and don’t blow air directly into the vagina. Things might change in late pregnancy depending on if we need to limit your activity, but go ahead and have lots of sex. It’s good for you and the babies won’t notice.”
“Babies,” Layla said, wonder in her voice.
“Babies.” She smiled. “I’m going to give you two a few minutes together to process the news, and then I’ll be back and we can go over some dietary information and I’ll answer any other questions you might have.”
She left and Layla sat up on the exam table and arranged the examination gown over her knees. Richard took her hands and her head fell forward. She rubbed her fingertips over her forehead.
“What are you thinking, love?”
“I need new bras.”
Richard chuckled. “That’s what you’re thinking right now?”
“They’ve already gotten too big for my bras now and they’re going to keep getting bigger andI’m going to keep getting bigger. I’m going to be huge and bulky and my clothes won’t fit and we’re not going to fit. You aren’t going to be able to cuddle me because I’m going to be enormous–,”
Richard had heard enough, and her words were cut off with a muffled mmmf as his lips pressed against hers. He wrapped his arms around her and one hand closed around the back of her head. Their heads tilted in opposite directions as he opened her lips to him and soothed her worries with his tongue. When her spine had gone from rigid to melting against him, he clasped her face in his hands. “You and I will always fit, Layla.”
“I’m going to be so big,” she whispered.
“My arms are big enough to hold you and both babies at the same time.”
She shook her head. “I’m gonna get stretch marks.”
“Tiger stripes. And I’ll oil your belly every night.”
She looked up at him, one eyebrow raised, her eyes narrowed. “Does that work?”
“I don’t care. You won’t be able to keep my hands off of you, sweetness.”
She rested her forehead against his chest and he stroked her back. “I don’t know if I can do this. I mean, one baby was scary enough, but two? What do I do if they run in opposite directions?”
“I’ll chase down one and you go after the other one. We’ll have time to work these things out before they can run.” His chuckle rumbled through his chest and into her body. “If I remember correctly, they’re fairly immobile when they come out.”
Layla managed half a laugh. “I’m scared, Richard.”
“So am I a little bit, but we’re going to do this together. We’ll figure it out. We both have siblings and friends with children. We can read books and things on the internet and ask a pediatrician and then do what feels right and we’ll learn as we go.”
Layla spread her hands over her stomach. “I just want everything to be perfect for them. I want to be a good mum.”
“You’re going to be great.”
She looked up at him, her hands still resting over her stomach. “We have enough love for two, right?”
He clasped her face in his hands again. “Absolutely.” His kiss on her forehead was a blessing.
“I’m probably going to have to start wearing flats at some point.”
He smiled and his blood pressure dropped a few points. She was talking about new shoes. The initial crisis was over. “Probably.”
“They’re not going to have matching names.”
And now she was on to the babies. Her mercurial train of thought always kept him on his toes. “Alright.”
“And I’m not going to dress them in matching outfits.” She waved a finger at him, as if he had brought up the idea.
He caught her finger in his teeth and scraped his teeth against it gently as he let it go with a kiss on the tip. “I would prefer that you didn’t.”
She tapped the same finger against her lips. “Can we buy baby shoes?”
“After we’re done here, we’ll go buy you new bras and some cute flats and two pairs of baby shoes and then we’ll go out to dinner and celebrate. We’ll see if the doctor approves a glass of champagne for tonight.”
Layla smiled up at him and he brushed his thumb over her cheek. “Babies, Richard.”
He nodded. “Babies.”