Bittersweet Catastrophe (Second Chances #2.5) (3 page)

“All right, caveman, why don’t you sit down over here where I can keep an eye on you.” She grinned, rolling her eyes at me. “Just think about some of the nasty, hairy vajayjays he has to look at on a daily basis. Go easy on the guy.”

I moved over to the head of the table and took her hand in mine, pressing my lips to the center of her palm. “I guess I’ll cut him some slack for that, but I swear to Christ, if he tries anything…”

I was cut off as a knock came at the door, and the doctor came waltzing in with the biggest fucking grin on his face. What the hell was he so happy about? He was about to be all up in my wife’s business down below and had the nerve to wink at me as he passed by me? Cut him some slack, my ass! This guy was just asking to get his ass handed to him.

“Hello, Liberty. How are you feeling today?”

Liberty smiled as she spoke. “I’ve been pretty good so far. Haven’t really felt nauseated yet.”

“Give it time. Sometimes the morning sickness won’t affect you until further into the first trimester, so I presume you’re still quite early on into your pregnancy.”

“Oh goody.” Liberty groaned, and I brushed my lips against her shoulder.

Dr. Staebler leaned back in his chair with his leg propped up on his knee. “We got your blood work back, and everything looks good, but your HCG levels were a little high.”

“HCG levels?” I ran my hand over the back of my neck, feeling slightly embarrassed that I had no clue what he was talking about. Shit, maybe I should have picked up that baby book Liberty had placed on my nightstand a few nights ago.

“Human chorionic gonadotropin. It’s the hormone produced after an egg has been fertilized. We simply like to call it the pregnancy hormone.”

“So should we be worried that her hormone level is high?”

Dr. Staebler’s smile passed over the two of us before he spoke. “Not at all. In fact, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Let me just have Nate bring some equipment in here, and we’ll get down to business. In the meantime, I’ll do a quick pelvic exam. Liberty, why don’t you scoot your bottom down to the edge of the table and place your feet in the stirrups.”

The doctor quickly snapped on a pair of rubber gloves and practically dove right in as he lifted the sheet up over Liberty’s legs. It took every ounce of self-control to stay planted in my chair as he practically finger-fucked my wife, and when he finally placed the sheet back down over her legs, I was able to release the breath I was holding and loosen my white-knuckled grip on the chair.

“Everything looks good.” The doctor turned away, scribbling something down in her file, and Liberty smacked my shoulder as I huffed in disapproval.

Another knock came at the door, and one of the ultrasound techs came into the room with what looked like a small TV and a…
dildo?
What in the mother fucking hell were they planning on doing with that?!

“All right, Liberty, since you’re still too early on in your pregnancy to have an abdominal ultrasound, Nate will be performing a transvaginal ultrasound. It’ll give us a better view of what’s going on in there.” He rubbed her ankle as he spoke, most likely to help her relax, but I was sitting over there in the corner beside her with my blood boiling and the artery in my neck threatening to burst. If he didn’t remove his hand in the next five seconds, I was going to remove it for him!

Nate saddled up in the chair, replacing Dr. Staebler. “You’re going to feel some pressure against your cervix…” He slipped what appeared to be a condom over the dildo-like wand and slathered it with lube. As he moved toward Liberty, I grabbed his arm, yanking it away before he could get any closer to her.

“Okay, I’ve had about enough of Dr. Dumbledick and his little helper here!”

Liberty sat up on her elbows, shooting daggers at me, and I knew I had overstepped my boundary, but no more than this asshole had. For Christ’s sake, the little prick almost probed her!

“Shayne, relax! Do you want to see our baby or not?” Her eyes pleaded with such intensity, I had no other choice but to release the ultrasound tech’s arm. “Thank you.” She lay back, and I waved my arm, urging him to proceed.

The screen next to us lit up, and after Nate maneuvered his magic wand around inside of her like a freakin’ wizard, he picked up on a sound that I would never forget for as long as I live. “Is…is that a heartbeat?”

Dr. Staebler came around and patted me on the back while all I could do was sit there in stunned disbelief. “I usually don’t stick around for the ultrasounds but wanted to personally deliver the good news.” He looked back at the screen. “Nate, why don’t you move the wand just a little over to the left…perfect!” He shifted his gaze between Liberty and me and grinned even wider. “Just as I suspected.”

I blinked a few times. “What? Is something wrong?”

“Not at all. She’s got two steady heartbeats, and the BPMs are right where they should be. I had a feeling when I saw her HCG levels were a bit on the high side, and being that she’s only seven weeks along, it looks like my assumptions were correct.”

“Well, thank God for that. I’d hope the baby and mother would have steady heartbeats.” I released a deep breath and smiled over at Liberty, her eyes brimming with elated tears.

“Uh, maybe you’re not quite picking up on what I’m alluding to here, Mr. Thompson. You and your wife are expecting twins.”

“T-twins?!” I could feel my blood pressure drop, and my vision became blurry.
Twins?
One baby was enough of a surprise, but twins? I hung my head between my legs, sucking in deep breaths and forcing all of the air out of my lungs. “No, no, no. There is no way we are having twins. I only ordered one baby.”

“Shayne!” The look she gave me told me I should have kept my damn thoughts to myself.

“I take it you haven’t discussed the possibility of twins with your husband?”

“Does this look like the face of a guy who knew that was a possibility?!” My finger shook as I held it up toward the dumbfounded expression gracing my face.

“It might’ve slipped my mind, doctor.” Liberty slowly turned to face me, chewing her lip frantically.

“Uh, I’ll just print these out for you and let you two have a minute to yourselves. Just be sure to start taking your prenatal vitamins, Mrs. Thompson, and Chrissy will schedule your next appointment up front when you’re ready.” Dr. Staebler and his wand-waving minion exited the room, leaving the two of us alone to drown in the silence.

I sat there staring up at the ceiling, counting the tiny holes in each panel.
One, two, three…
“Shayne?”
Four, five six…
“Shayne.”
Seven, eight nine…
“Shayne, I’m sorry! Okay?” Her voice cracked, and it nearly split my heart straight down the middle.
Ten.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight and slowly shook my head back and forth. “Baby, you have nothing to be sorry for.” When I finally gazed up at her, there were tears streaming down her cheeks, and I felt like the biggest asshole because I was responsible for each and every one of those tears. “Please don’t cry. I’m the one that should be sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.” I made my way over to her and carefully slid her legs over the edge of the table so that I could stand between them. My hands rested on her tiny hips that would soon grow with time, as would our child…
children
. As would our
children
. A hint of a smile played at my lips, and I reached up to brush my thumbs across her tear-stained cheeks.

“I can’t believe I never told you that twins run in my family, and even with the fertility drugs I was taking, I just never gave it a second thought. I’m s-so sorry.” She hiccupped as she pressed her cheek against the palm of my hand, and fresh tears began to slip through my fingers. “We’ve been trying so hard to get pregnant for the past year, and here I go screwing things up by dumping not one but two babies in your lap. Maybe if I hadn’t pressured you about having a baby then this–” I cut her off midsentence, capturing her unnecessary apology before she could finish. I wrapped my hand behind her neck and pressed my lips firmly against hers until she relaxed into the kiss. It was then I finally pulled away just enough to breathe out the words I should have said the moment the doctor told us we were having twins. “I love you so fucking much, and I couldn’t be happier that you’re the mother of my children.”

“Wait…wh-what?” She looked at me like I had grown another head, her brows slowly drawing together. “I thought you were upset about this? I mean…hell, I don’t even know how I feel about this yet. Twins? Shayne, we’re not even prepared for one baby, let alone two! W-we…”

I leaned my forehead against hers and let the grin I’d been holding back spread as wide as it could across my face. “We’ll make it work, sweetheart. I’m not gonna lie. I’m surprised and, to be honest, a little scared.” She laughed at my admission, and I couldn’t help but kiss her sweet lips as the most beautiful sound passed through them. “Okay, I’m really fucking scared…but I’m happy.”

“You are? You’re not mad?”

“Mad? What could I possibly be mad about? We got two for the price of one! I must’ve produced some Olympic swimmers to make that happen!”

“Babe, it has nothing to do with how well your boys can swim.”

“Shhh.” I pressed my finger against her lips, smashing them together. “Just let me bask in the moment.”

She rolled her eyes just as a knock came at the door. A middle-aged woman peeked in, smiling at us. “Everything okay in here?”

I looked down at my wife, and a surge of pride filled me, knowing this gorgeous woman was carrying my entire world wrapped up safely inside her, like the precious gift that she was. All that was missing was a big red bow. “Perfect.” I kissed the top of her head as I ran my hands across her stomach. “Everything is perfect.”

“All right, well, if you don’t mind, we have other patients waiting, so…” The woman motioned her eyes out the door, and I nodded, letting her know we’d need just a minute. She shut the door behind her, and after Liberty removed the paper sheet from her lap, my mouth salivated as I gazed down at her beautiful form.

“Fuck, I can’t wait to get you home.”

“In a hurry, are we?” She giggled, reaching for her panties, but quick as lighting, I snatched them right out of her hand.

“You won’t be needing those,” I said as I shoved them in my back pocket.

Her mouth fell open, and I had to bite back a laugh. “Are you serious right now?”

“Serious as a fucking heart attack. The faster I can be inside of you the better, and those are just another damn roadblock. Honestly, woman, I don’t know why you bother wearing them anymore.”

“That explains so much.” She shook her head as she pulled up her pants, and I could see the wheels turning in her head. “You’re the reason I keep having to buy new underwear. You’ve been stealing all of them, haven’t you?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny your accusations.” I bent down to slip her shoes on her feet, and she playfully nudged my ribs, finally eliciting a full-bodied laugh from me.

“You’re unbelievable. From now on, I’ll be buying granny panties just to spite you.”

“You wouldn’t…” I slowly stood, towering over her. She was bluffing. She had to be. I knew she’d never be cruel enough to tease me with ugly ass granny panties.

Her eyes thinned to the tiniest of slivers. “Try me.”

I released a drawn out sigh. “Fine. I won’t steal them anymore…as long as you keep buying those little boy shorts that hug your ass like a glove.”

“Ah, you like those, huh?” Liberty smirked, and the lustful look in her eyes had Shayne Jr. twitching with anticipation. “You know my ass is probably going to get even bigger with me gaining pregnancy weight and all. Maybe you’re right about the whole ‘no panties’ idea.”

Jaw, meet floor.

Fuck, she better not be playing with me because now I couldn’t stop imaging myself biting down on those luscious, firm globes at her backside before thrusting my cock so deep inside her. We really needed to get home.
Like now.

She managed to slip the sonogram photos in her purse before I grabbed her hand, almost dragging her out of the doctor’s office. “Well, let’s not keep the rest of these lovely patients waiting.” The other women smiled as I eagerly pulled Liberty behind me.

“Wait, I didn’t schedule my next appointment!” she said, nearly out of breath by the time we got to my Jeep.

“Just call and schedule it later. We have more important things to worry about right now.”

“And what could possibly be more important than the well being of our unborn children?”

I opened the passenger side door and lifted her into the seat, crushing my mouth against her pouty, pink lips. My tongue teased the seam of her lips, and she opened just enough to draw me in greedily. She released a breathy moan, and the vibrations she produced against my mouth could be felt well below the waist of my jeans.
Fuck me. I had to stop before I took her right there in the middle of the parking lot.
When I pulled back, ending the kiss abruptly, she sighed and pushed out her bottom lip.

“Practicing to make more.” I winked and closed her door, knowing I was driving her crazy, but I loved getting her all worked up and panting for more. Nothing got me harder than seeing the look on her face when she was aroused and readily waiting for me to fuck her. Now that I knew my wife was carrying not one, but two of my kids…
Damn.
I just prayed there wasn’t any traffic on the way home because I was about ready to bust right out of these jeans.