Chapter Twenty-Nine
Derek smiled as he sat on a stool between her legs examining her. “Almost done.”
Yeah, you better be. He’d touched and probed every inch of Ella’s body.
“When was your last period?” His fingers slide from inside her, and he stood up.
“I don’t know. Maybe ten days before Garrett came home? I can’t remember.” She covered her eyes with her forearm and tried to concentrate. “That can’t be right. I can’t think.”
“Almost three months ago?” Derek walked to the side of the bed. “Huh. I’m going to help you to the bathroom, and you’re going to pee in a cup for me.”
“Ugh. Fine.” She uncovered her eyes and squinted. The lights are obnoxious.
He slid his hands under her legs and back and lifted her up.
“That’s not helping me. It’s taking me,” she said. Thank you. I’m not up for walking.
He shrugged. “I love you, and I’m your doctor. You have to follow my orders."
“Do you think I have an infection?”
“Maybe. You have a lot of injuries, but thankfully, they’re mostly superficial. There is a spot over your kidneys I’m concerned with.”
He placed her down. She peed, noticing some blood in the cup. He placed the cup in the stainless-steel window cabinet, carried her back to bed, and tucked her in.
“I’m going to grab a nurse and check the test results. I’ll be right back.” He kissed her on the lips. “Don’t worry. I’m going a little overboard because I love you.”
“I love you too. I’ll try not to worry.” Please don’t let me have internal bleeding or cancer. I want to be here for Colleen. I want to marry Cade and have Garrett and Derek as my lovers, my husbands too. How the hell will that work? Cade will never go for it. Damn, my head is killing me.
She closed her eyes and prayed fate wouldn’t be cruel.
The soft click of the door opening startled her. Felicity? She braced for…
“How’s our patient?” the voice of the grandma nurse asked.
Ella opened her eyes and then closed them tightly at the blinding light. Not Felicity. I’m with Derek. The hospital. Slowly, she eased her lids open enough to see without the ache in her head becoming unbearable.
In his blue scrubs with pink frogs on them, Derek helped the nurse set up a portable ultrasound machine next to her bed.
“Do I really need that?” she asked.
The seasoned nurse beamed as she handed Derek the ultrasound wand. Her smile grew as she walked around the bed to Ella’s opposite side.
The door opened, and Garrett and Cade strode into the room toward her.
The lovely nurse picked up her hand. “You’re pregnant.”
“No,” Cade gasped. His hand dropped. His cup of water fell and splattered on the floor.
“What?” Garrett said.
“I can’t be. It’s a mistake,” Ella said. None of them can have children. It’s a tumor. I have a uterine tumor. I have uterine cancer. I’m dying.
“There is no mistake,” the nurse said. “You are definitely pregnant.”
I’ve been moody, sensitive, crying at the drop of a hat. I’ve had an upset stomach, felt queasy. I can’t be… It’s impossible. “I’m under stress, not pregnant.”
“You bastard,” Cade grumbled. He grabbed Garrett’s t-shirt, and drew back his arm.
“No, Cade. No,” she shouted. “Oh God.” She covered her ears as a nightmare became reality.
Garrett dodged the punch heading for his face. His shirt ripped from Cade’s grip.
“What the fuck?” Garrett placed the bottle of milk in his hand on the closest counter.
“Congratulations, asshole. You’ve won. She’s officially yours,” Cade shouted. His entire body shook. His face reddened to a deep crimson. He glared at Ella. “You knew. You knew you were pregnant all along. You called Jerry instead of me. My God, Ella.” He whipped around. “You’ve been playing me all this time?”
The door swung open, and he vanished in an instant.
The healthy glow in Garrett’s face faded to a ghostly white. “It can’t be mine. I don’t want…” He turned around and walked out the door, leaving Ella with Derek, and a nurse with a nervous and seemingly sad smile.
“They’re in shock.” Derek adjusted her on her side. “I want to check your kidneys first. Then we’ll see how far along you are.”
He lifted her gown up over her bottom and back and gently pressed a wet wand on her back over her spine.
“How can I be pregnant?”
“I’m not sure,” Derek said. “But you are. When did you have your tubal ligation? It’s not in your chart.”
“I never had one. You and Garrett had vasectomies forever ago. Cade had one. Don’t you get tested once a year?”
The wand slipped. “Wait. What? You never had one? Greg told me and Garrett you had one.”
“I didn’t. Could I have cancer?” She curled her knees to her chest and held the blanket tightly. Tumor on my ovaries? Am I going to die?
“None of us had vasectomies. Cade had his pipe cleaned, but I think he might actually believe he can’t have kids.” He turned her onto her back. “You have a nasty bruise. No working for two weeks.”
“What?” No. No. No. This can’t be happening.
He cleared his throat as he gazed into her eyes. “Let’s take a look, and…” he paused, a smile formed on his lips. “Garrett has a really low sperm count. Really low. He’s probably not the father.”
She covered her eyes with her hands, trying to cut out more of the light. I don’t have a pregnancy rider for my insurance. I can’t afford a baby. Shit. Shit. Shit. I can’t take off work. “I have to work tomorrow. I can’t take off. I can’t be pregnant.”
Derek guided her legs apart. The hard plastic wand slid inside her.
The nurse’s soft hand squeezed Ella’s. “Oh, look, Mrs. Winthrop.”
She opened her eyes, seeing on the monitor the life growing inside her. “I’m thirty-seven. My grandchild is going to be older than…”
“Garrett will be back. Cade will too. We’ll get DNA testing done,” Derek said.
“They don’t want kids. Cade doesn’t want children. He wants to travel and have couple fun. Garrett has never wanted them. He likes giving them back at the end of the day.” She gazed up at him. I can’t ask if you can be the father in front of her.
There was a soft knock at the door.
“See,” the nurse said. “Garrett is back.”
“Come in,” Derek said. His fingers clicked on the keyboard. He moved the wand inside her and sucked in a big lungful of air. “Oh. My. Goodness.”
“Twins,” the nurse said. “What a miracle. Twins.”
“Fraternal twins.” Derek said.
The short-haired brunette who’d discharged Colleen peeked her head into the room. “Dr. McGregor, Jerry Wynn is here to see Mrs. Winthrop,”
“I don’t want to see anyone,” she whispered. There can’t be two. There can’t be.
“Ella?” Jerry said. His head appeared above the nurses. “Can I come in?”
She bit her bottom lip to stop from crying.
Derek waved him in.
“Where are Cade and Garrett?” Jerry sauntered into the room.
The nurse gazed at Jerry and then at Ella. “Could he be?”
“No,” Ella whispered. What the nurse must think of me.
“Too bad,” the nurse mumbled. “He’s gorgeous. You’d make beautiful babies with him.”
“Babies?” Jerry stepped to Ella’s side. His gaze darting to the monitor and back to her. “Cade got you pregnant, and he’s not here? Not possible. The man has ‘Dad’ tattooed on his forehead.”
“They’re probably Cade’s, but they might not be,” Derek said.
“Does she need to stay the night?” Jerry asked. “Can I take her home?”
“She’s fourteen weeks. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize the symptoms,” Derek said. “Nurse Long, could you give me a few minutes with Mr. Wynn and Mrs. Winthrop.”
The nurse let go of Ella’s hand. “This really is a miracle. You’re already past the first trimester. The babies look great. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She exited the room.
“I love you.” Derek pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’m going to support you no matter who is the father. I’ll talk some sense into Garrett and Cade. I’ll swing by your place later.” He kissed her again. “I gave up my dream of children as soon as I fell in love with you. I hope I’m their father. I could be. I actually could be.”
His hand glided over her breasts and belly to her mons. “I’m going to pamper you like you’ve never been pampered in your life. I love you so much. So. Fucking. Much. If I’m not the father, I want one with you. I want to have my baby growing inside you.”
“Slow down, Daddy,” Jerry said. “Shit. Twins. Well, Ellie, are you the most fertile woman on the planet, or what?”
“One more pregnancy after this one,” Derek said. “I’ve always wanted three kids. At least three, maybe four, or five or six.”
“Oh, my God. Are you crazy?” she said. “Garrett and Cade just walked out, and you’re talking more babies?”
The room filled with Jerry’s laughter. “Ellie, I can’t wait to tell everyone. We’re going to give you the biggest, most outrageous party ever. We’ll make everyone wonder if I could be the father. That will get Cade and Garrett scrambling back and begging for your forgiveness.” He sat down next to her and held out his phone.
She winced at the movement.
“Sorry,” Jerry said. “Smile, Ella.” He tenderly kissed her cheek. The phone’s light flashed in her eyes, blinding her, and sending her head spinning.
“Don’t do that,” she grumbled.
“Sorry. Had to be done. Derek, come on. I’ll get a pic of all of us, since you’re gonna at least be an honorary uncle, if not my bestie’s baby-daddy.”
Derek climbed in next to her.
Jerry took picture after picture without the flash. He whispered words of support and encouragement over and over as he kissed her cheek and slid his arm under her neck as she started to weep.
“Smile, Ellie,” Jerry said. “This is for the twins. They’ll never know this wasn’t the happiest day of your life because we’ll tell them how much they were wanted from the minute we found out.
Her lips quivered. “Give me a second,” she said. Ignoring the aches, pangs, and throbbing misery from her body, heart, and head, she wiped the tears from her face. She ran her fingers through her hair and pulled it forward over her neck. She opened her eyes as wide as possible, and smiled as big as she could.
“That’s my Ellie,” Jerry said. He took several more pictures. “You know Wynn is a great name for a girl or a boy.”
“She’s ready to go,” Derek said. “Stay with her until I get there.”
“She’s going to have a really hard time getting rid of me,” Jerry said. “I love babies. I can already see two pairs of matching boxing gloves in their future.” He lifted her up and carried her to the door.
Derek slid his hand behind her neck. He kissed her. His tongue slid between her teeth and stroked her tongue. His hand glided over her breast. His lips lifted from hers. “I love you. I’ll see you in a couple hours.”
Jerry carried her out of the room and down the hall. “Derek is excited. He’s going to help, and you’ve got me too. Garrett and Cade will come around.”
I doubt Cade or Garrett will have anything to do with me. “How long until my head stops hurting?”
“A week. You’re staying home from work if I have to stand over you all day long, every day.” He opened the passenger side of the minivan.
“I finally sold my house. Cash buyer. I have to be out in two weeks.”
He exhaled. “You’re not going to be in any shape to do that. We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry about it now. You have to heal.”
Yeah. I can’t do anything but worry. I have to be at work. I can’t lose a day of profits.