26. Evie

Chapter 26

Evie

Jenner insisted on driving Paige back to campus since she'd used a rideshare app to get to our house. Before they left, he tucked me into bed, warning me not to get up until he returned.

Reluctantly, I rolled my eyes and agreed. I knew I'd given him the scare of a lifetime last night, but I was feeling a lot better after being pumped full of IV fluids at the hospital and eating a few small meals throughout the day.

Yes, I was pregnant. Yes, it was high risk. But I wasn't made of glass. Women had twins every day. His overprotective hovering was going to get old real fast; he needed to loosen up.

My fingers ghosted over my still-soft belly. If I hadn't seen their tiny bodies on screen, I wouldn't have been able to believe there were two babies nestled beneath the skin. And to discover I'd been pregnant for months without realizing it?

I shuddered, thinking that if I hadn't landed myself in the emergency room, I could've been one of those women you saw on the news who wound up giving birth on the toilet, having no clue they were expecting.

The garage door sounded, signaling Jenner's return, so I shuffled around in bed, working my way to sitting upright in anticipation of his arrival.

His handsome face appeared at the threshold of our master suite, but he didn't enter. Instead, he crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe as he surveyed me.

Smirking, he said, "And then there were three."

"Are we crazy for doing this?" I finally voiced aloud the question plaguing my mind for the past hour.

Jenner shrugged. "Go big or go home, right?"

I huffed out a laugh as he drew closer. "Not really sure that applies in this case since we already have two on the way. We're already going to have our hands full. Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Come on, Evie. We both know it would have killed you to let Paige walk away tonight. She had her world flipped upside down, the same as us when the agency blocked the adoption. The three of us spent months preparing for you and me to be that baby girl's parents. That was the plan until suddenly it wasn't, and while it was a loss for us—one I know you were never going to recover from—Paige still had to face the reality that she had a baby due in less than six weeks who didn't have a home secured. That girl's been through so much already. I couldn't stand by and let her worry that that baby—one we already loved—would end up in the system, or worse, she'd be forced to raise it herself when she wasn't ready to do so."

He sat on the edge of the mattress, and I crawled over to loop my arms around his chest from behind, kissing the nape of his neck. "You're a good man, Jenner Knight. The best I've ever known."

His head turned enough that he could graze my cheek with his lips. "I would do anything for you, Evie. And if that means we go from zero to sixty on this parenting thing, then so be it."

"You think you can make it happen? With so little time left before Paige delivers?"

Jenner nodded. "I'll call our lawyer in the morning. A private adoption where both parties are agreeable should be pretty straightforward."

"Thank you." I squeezed my eyes shut as emotions rose to the surface.

Hearing my soft sniffles, Jenner turned us so he cradled me against his chest, stroking my hair. "I know, baby. It's been a rough week."

I could only manage a nod as all the ups and downs played on repeat in my mind.

"You should probably get some rest," he whispered against the top of my head.

The moment he said it, I was suddenly exhausted and didn't put up a fight as he helped to situate me beneath the covers. Jenner dimmed the lights before stripping down to his boxer briefs and climbing into bed with me.

Sleep was moments away from pulling me under when he said, "Our lives are about to become busier than ever, and if the thought of it is this overwhelming, I can't begin to imagine the reality. And after last night . . . the last week, really . . ." Jenner let out a heavy exhale, and my heart squeezed, knowing I'd put him through the wringer. "I think it's really important that we get you in to see someone who can be your sounding board when life seems unmanageable. We both know I'm not enough."

Tears leaked from my eyes, my voice watery when I vowed, "You're enough for me, Jenner. I love you."

His fingers danced across my cheeks, wiping away the moisture. "I love you too, Evie, but I couldn't reach you this past week. Nothing could. And it was fucking terrifying." After a shaky breath, he admitted, "When I found you last night, there was a split second where I feared that you'd done something to harm yourself. That you'd finally decided that you couldn't live with the pain anymore and ended it."

I shook my head. "I would never."

Brown eyes filled with sadness stared into my soul. "You were in such a dark place. You'd thought you had lost your future. And while I realize I might not be enough for you, you will always be enough for me. Kids or no kids, you are my life. That has never changed. Not when you struggled to get pregnant, not when you left me, and not when we lost the adoption. The thought of living in a world without you in it? It's unimaginable. You are irreplaceable to me, Evie.

"I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I will ever know all you've been through and all you're going to deal with as we move forward, not just with the adoption but with your pregnancy. Having someone else to talk to who can be objective while we navigate this new phase of life can't be a bad thing, right?"

Jenner's hand slid from my face, moving down my body until it came to rest over my still-fluffy belly. "I'm not asking you to do it only for me. I'm asking for all of us."

I sighed, placing my hand over his. "I know it sounds like a good idea, but when they hear about how bad off I was last week, they'll want to put me on medication. And I won't risk anything harming these babies."

A thought struck me, and I let out a loud gasp, hands flying to cover my face as I groaned, "Oh my God."

"Evie, what's wrong?" Jenner's voice took on a high-pitched quality in his panic. Even though I couldn't see him, I could feel his hands roving over me, searching for a potential source of pain. "Talk to me, Evie," he begged.

"Vegas." The word was barely audible with my mouth covered. "And Christmas. Fuck!"

Jenner's hands stilled. "What?"

Peeking through my fingers, I found my husband kneeling over me, a concerned expression etched across his face.

"Such an idiot," I muttered.

Jenner's eyes slid closed, and he took a deep breath. "I'm gonna need you to elaborate on that. Which one of us is an idiot?"

I scoffed. "Here I am, worried about the effects of pharmaceuticals on our unborn children, when a week ago, I was partying it up in Sin City, having such a good time I practically mauled you in an elevator and then got sick and blacked out poolside."

"Babe," he said on an exhale, leaning down to cup my face so I couldn't avoid looking at him. "You didn't know you were pregnant."

"It doesn't matter!" I shouted. "You think that's going to erase any kind of damage my ignorant actions caused? This is probably our only shot. What if I messed it up already?"

One of his dark red eyebrows rose. "Okay, let's slow it down for a minute. We're about to take on three infants in the next few months, and you're worried about getting another chance? How about we focus on the hand we've been dealt first."

I gritted my teeth. "Don't you dare be a smartass right now, Jenner Knight. You know what I mean."

"I do." He nodded. "But we just saw them this morning and were told they were perfectly healthy."

Fear had my chest tightening and my lower lip wobbling. "What—what if they were wrong? What if they're not healthy? And I'm the one who did something to hurt them?"

Lowering his head, Jenner dusted his lips over mine. "God would have to be a real sick fuck to give us this gift, only to take it away. He owes us one after the hell we walked through to get here."

"How can you still believe in someone who let us suffer for so long?" I whispered.

"How can I not? If the world went without suffering, we'd never truly appreciate the good things when they happened. Sure, we've endured more than our fair share, but it's evening out now. We're being showered with blessings and will have three beautiful children to raise, even if it's not quite the way we imagined it when we were younger and first began trying to create a family."

I eyed him skeptically. "You really think that's how it works? That the big guy in the clouds runs some kind of system of checks and balances?"

The corner of Jenner's lips quirked up. "Why not? After thinking I'd never see your beautiful face again, never get to hold you in my arms, you found your way back to me, and now everything is how it should've always been."

"So, what? You think this was all some sort of test? To see how much we could handle before we broke?"

"No. But I do think there was a guiding hand when all those small-town country adoption agencies turned you down. When you had no other options, something—or someone—led you back here."

Rolling my eyes, I muttered, "You're crazy."

A teasing smirk crept onto his face. "Maybe I'll sign us both up for therapy."

"A comedian, too." I tried and failed to bite back a smile."

Satisfied I was no longer spiraling, Jenner resumed his position, lying by my side. "Seriously, though. I'm sure everything is fine. But tomorrow, when we follow up with your doctor, we'll voice our concerns."

"Yeah," I breathed out, still uncertain I hadn't caused our babies harm.

"Hey." He gently cupped my cheek, turning me to face him. "No matter what, they're our kids, and we are going to love them. Okay?"

Jenner's confidence and unwavering love were the only things that could settle my mind enough to fall asleep. But he was right. There was nothing we could do about my past actions; the only thing we could do was tackle any ramifications head-on.

"Everything looks great." Dr. Roberts wiped the ultrasound gel from my exposed stomach.

"Really?" I was still in a daze at seeing our little miracles wiggling around for the second time in as many days.

"Really," she confirmed with a nod as I pulled my shirt down.

"And I didn't hurt them by overindulging during the holidays and while on vacation a couple of weeks ago?"

Dr. Roberts grasped my hand. "You're not the first woman to not know she was pregnant right away, Evie. From what you've told me, it's not like you're the type to have a daily glass of wine to unwind at the end of the day, but instead, you engaged in a few instances of social drinking. Like I said, they look perfect."

Jenner's hand squeezed my shoulder, and his breath fanned my ear as he whispered, "Told you."

I shot him a glare, but my relief at hearing the babies were healthy outweighed my annoyance at his self-assurance.

"Now," Dr. Roberts began, pulling away and reaching for the tablet containing my patient chart. "Let's talk about what you can expect with a multiple pregnancy."

Jenner whipped out his phone, ready to take notes. He wasn't the type to do anything by half-measures and would likely follow the doctor's instructions to a T.

"You're in a unique situation where you've skipped over the first trimester and are barreling down the track toward delivery. As I'm sure you're aware, twins are less likely to make it to full term. Even when they do, we like to induce, or plan a C-section—depending on the babies' positions and your personal preference—no later than thirty-seven weeks to limit a chance of fetal mortality."

I sucked in a sharp breath, reaching blindly for Jenner's hand to serve as an anchor against the paralyzing fear gripping me in a chokehold at the thought of losing one or both of these babies.

Thankfully, my husband was steadfast, his warm palm sliding along mine, not flinching when I gripped him tight enough to cause pain.

Dr. Roberts continued, "So you're looking at less than twenty weeks between now and delivery. From what I can tell, these little buddies are identical. They're sharing a placenta, even though they have different amniotic sacs. This poses additional risks because they share a blood supply, which requires more frequent monitoring."

"What kind of risks?" Jenner asked, concern lacing his tone.

I squeezed his hand as if to say, Not helping, babe.

"What we'll be watching for is to make sure that one of them doesn't begin stealing more resources from its twin." Even though she was laying out some serious information, Dr. Roberts chuckled. "Consider it a test run to see how well these two decide to share before they make it out of the womb."

"Is there anything we can do to limit the risk?" Jenner was all business.

"Unfortunately, there isn't. But with frequent monitoring, we should be able to catch any issues—if there are any—early."

"How frequent?" I dared to ask.

She gave me a bright smile. "You're going to be sick of my face by the time we're through, but on the bright side, you'll get tons of extra peeks at your little ones. We'll do a scan every two weeks until you hit thirty-two weeks, then once every week after that—if you make it that far—until delivery."

Swallowing, I mused, "That's a lot."

"It is," she agreed. "But it's the best way to head off any issues at the pass." Dr. Roberts set the tablet down on the countertop resting along the wall of the exam room. "Now, I want you to listen to me very carefully, Evie. If, at any point, something doesn't feel right, I don't want you to hesitate to call the office—or the on-call line if it's after hours—before getting yourself to the nearest emergency room to get checked out. Too many moms brush things off, thinking it's silly to get checked out over every little twinge or gut feeling. But I want you to promise me you won't second-guess yourself and get to a hospital straight away."

She must have seen the panic her stern demand caused because she softened. "I'm not going to sit here and scare you with a laundry list of extremely rare potential complications. Just know that I'd always rather we be overly cautious and send you home with it being a false alarm. Okay?"

I let out a shaky breath, gripping Jenner's hand tighter. "Okay."

"And I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but try to keep stress levels to a minimum." When my eyes shot to Jenner's over my shoulder, she added with humor in her voice, "I know hockey games can have your heart rate spiking, but try to remind yourself that it's just a game."

"Um." Chewing my lower lip, I confessed, "It's not that."

"Oh?" One of her dark eyebrows rose.

Jenner answered for me. "We also happen to be adopting a baby expected to be born next month."

Dr. Roberts's face transformed into one of stunned disbelief.

Yeah, welcome to the party, doc.

"As you can probably imagine, Evie's pregnancy came as an even greater shock as we'd begun to explore an alternative path to parenthood."

"Well." She huffed out a laugh. "When you two decide to do something, you make sure to go all out."

"Apparently." My free hand slid over my belly.

"I don't recommend the type of sleep deprivation that comes with a newborn during a high-risk twin pregnancy," she remarked. "So, Dad is going to have to step up for nighttime feeds. And might I suggest a night nanny for when he travels? I have several we've had patients work with in the past that I can recommend."

A night nanny? That seemed a little excessive.

I was sure I could handle getting up once or twice a night with our daughter when Jenner was on the road. Paige wasn't due for another six weeks, and there was the possibility with a first baby that she'd go past her due date. That would put us at the end of March or early April. Sure, the Speed were playoff-bound, but they didn't have any trips remaining that were very far away or for extended periods of time. The West Coast trips were out of the way, which was a blessing right about now.

"Sure. Wouldn't hurt to have a list. Just in case," I replied.

"Perfect. I'll make sure they have that ready for you when you stop up front to make your next appointment. In the meantime, I want you to stay on top of eating—even if it's smaller, more frequent meals—and drinking lots of water. Rest when you feel tired, but light exercise will do you good."

"Thank you, Dr. Roberts." Jenner stepped from my side to offer her his hand to shake.

"It's my pleasure. You two have been ready to become parents for a long time, and I'm glad it's finally happening." She gave my shoulder a squeeze on her way to the door. "See you in two weeks."

I could only manage a nod with how my mind was racing. This was a lot to take in, even before you added in the baby girl we had promised Paige we'd raise.

Just wait until my mama heard about all of this. She'd always warned me that I had a tendency to bite off more than I could chew, and one day, it was gonna land me in a heap of trouble.

But so long as I had Jenner by my side, I knew we could handle it. Or at least, that was the hope.