Chapter 12 - Two Heartbeats
The explanation was far less sinister than everything we had imagined.
The twins had separate placental structures, and one had implanted later and was developing along a slightly different growth curve.
The medical team would monitor us carefully, but both heartbeats remained strong.
“No secret embryo?” I asked.
Dr. Patel smiled gently.
“No secret embryo.”
I laughed and cried at the same time.
Ethan pressed his forehead against mine.
For weeks, fear had turned every medical appointment into a crime scene in my imagination.
Now the ultrasound became what it should have been.
A picture of our children.
Baby A moved constantly.
Baby B seemed quieter.
Ethan jokingly called them Thunder and Whisper.
For the first time since his birthday, we bought something for them.
Two tiny pairs of socks.
That evening, Rebecca came over.
She brought a cardboard box.
“I found more of Howard's things.”
Inside were photographs from her childhood.
Howard had apparently known where she was.
He had sent birthday cards that Linda intercepted.
Rebecca cried as she read them.
Then she found a photograph of Howard holding a newborn.
Ethan.
On the back:
My son. I hope someday he knows he was wanted.
Ethan sat on our couch for nearly an hour holding that photograph.
Then his phone rang.
His attorney.
Linda had decided to plead guilty to the assault.
May you like
But there was a condition.
She wanted to see Ethan once before sentencing.
