Treading Water (35 page)

She squeezed her eyes closed and a tear
leaked from one of them. “Much.”

He kissed her cheek and discovered dampness.
“Hey! What’s wrong?”

Taking a moment to pull herself together,
she turned to him. “How do you feel about his, hers, and ours?”

“
I don’t get
it.”

“
We have yours, we have
mine, and now it looks like we’re going to have one of our own.”
She watched the comprehension light up his face.

“
Really?
”

She nodded.

He hugged her tightly. “Andi,” he
whispered.

“
I’m such an idiot. During
the hotel chaos, I stopped taking my pill, and I discovered it
after the opening. We agreed we weren’t going to—”

“
Who cares what we
agreed?”

“
I can’t believe how stupid
I was.”

He chuckled and cuffed her chin. “I’m so
glad you were stupid.”

She looked over at him. “What if…”

“
What, honey?”

“
What if this baby is deaf,
too?” The worry had been on her mind for days.

Jack raised himself up on one elbow and
caressed her face. “If that happens, we’ll deal with it together,
and we’ll love him or her as much as we love all the others. I’d
never leave you alone like he did.”

“
I know.”

“
The only thing you need to
be worried about is taking care of yourself and the baby.” He
kissed her cheek and then her lips. “I love you, and I’ll love our
baby. You can count on that.”

She felt the last of her reservations
evaporate as he held her tight against him.

“
A baby!” he said. “What a
great way to end the year! I can’t wait.”

“
It takes a few months, you
know,” she said, amused by his delight.

“
When can I tell the
world?”

“
Can we keep it our secret
for a while? I’m superstitious.”

“
Do I have
to?
”

“
You can do it.”

“
I can do it for you,” he
said, kissing her, “but it won’t be easy.”

Chapter 26

Jamie surprised them with lobsters to
celebrate New Year’s Eve and his first anniversary with Frannie.
Jack and Andi had offered to babysit so they could go out for their
anniversary, but they preferred to stay home with the babies.

After dinner the kids went off to watch a
movie until the midnight festivities. Jack followed Jamie upstairs
to check on the sleeping twins while Andi helped Frannie clean up
from dinner.

“
No wine for you tonight,
Andi?” Frannie asked.

“
Not in the mood.” Andi
avoided Frannie’s probing stare as she dumped lobster shells into
the trash. She hadn’t had any wine in more than a week, but in all
the holiday craziness, no one had noticed.

“
Since when are you not in
the mood for wine?”

“
My stomach was bothering
me earlier.”

“
Kind of like my stomach
was bothering me that day at your house when you thought the same
thing I’m thinking?”

Andi’s heart began to race. “What’s
that?”

“
You’re pregnant, aren’t
you?”

“
Who’s pregnant?” Jamie
asked as he returned with Jack right behind him.

Jack laughed. “I don’t believe it! You
didn’t even last a day!”

Andi wondered how she’d ever expected to
keep a secret in this group.

“
And you thought
I’d
be the weak link,”
Jack added.

“
I didn’t say a word.” Andi
tossed a look at Frannie. “She guessed.”

Frannie clapped her hands. “I knew it!”

Andi shushed her. “I’m only like five
minutes pregnant, so we aren’t saying anything for a while…or we
weren’t going to.”

Frannie hugged her. “We won’t tell, will we,
Jamie? I’m so glad our kids will have a cousin almost the same age.
Congratulations, Jack,” she said, hugging her brother.

“
Bit of a surprise, old
man?” Jamie asked Jack.

“
Just a bit, but a good
one.” Jack put his arm around Andi. “The best kind of
surprise.”

“
God, I hope you’re not
sick like I was,” Frannie said with a shudder.

“
I wasn’t with Eric, so I
probably won’t be this time, either.”

That turned out to be wishful thinking. Andi
was so sick one day that Jack stayed home from work because he was
afraid to leave her alone. He called Jen to let her know Andi
wouldn’t be into work. They’d had no choice but to bring Jen in on
the secret. Fortunately, her assistant was happy to cover for her.
They’d told the kids she had a stomach bug but would have to tell
them the truth if it kept up much longer.

Jack ran a cold cloth over her face after
she was sick again. “Let me call the doctor.”

“
No.” Even her voice was
weak. “I don’t want to end up in the hospital.”

“
But you can’t keep
anything down. I can’t stand this. It can’t be good for you or the
baby.”

She started to get up from where they sat on
the bathroom floor. “It’s stopped now. I want to go back to
bed.”

“
Wait.” Scooping her up, he
was alarmed by how light she was. He carried her back to bed and
tucked her in with an extra blanket since she was shivering. She
was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, and he prayed the
vomiting had passed—for now.

Except for Frannie, he’d never heard of
pregnancy making anyone as sick as Andi had been for weeks now.
Clare was never sick with the girls, and Andi hadn’t been with
Eric, either. While she slept, he went downstairs to call
Frannie.

“
How’s she doing?” Frannie
asked.

“
Not so good. I don’t know
how much longer this can go on.”

“
Months, I’m
afraid.”

Jack groaned. “I can’t imagine that.”

“
Try to get her to
eat—anything. Just a few crackers and some ginger ale or something
like that. I found it helped to feed it, as odd as that
sounds.”

“
I don’t think she could
keep it down.”

“
It might be time to call
Dr. Abbott.”

“
She’s afraid she’ll end up
in the hospital.”

“
I felt better after. Maybe
you should call her anyway.”

“
I think I
will.”

“
Let me know if you need
anything. I know how miserable this is.”

“
Thanks, Fran.”

He hung up and stared at the phone for a
minute before he picked it up again to call the doctor. Andi
wouldn’t be happy, but he wasn’t risking her or the baby.

Jack went back upstairs and found her awake
but still in bed. He brushed her hair back from her face. “How you
doing?”

“
I’ve been
better.”

“
I called the
doctor.”

She whimpered. “I told you not to.”

“
I’m worried, Andi. You
have to be dehydrated by now. Dr. Abbott wants me to bring you
in.”

She began to cry. “I don’t want to.”

“
Honey, think of the baby.
Frannie was much better after she was in the hospital. Let them
help you.
Please
.
I can’t stand seeing you so sick. It’s scaring me.”

A sob hiccupped through her. “Okay.”

Jack got her dressed and into the car
without her doing a thing, which was just as well since she
couldn’t have anyway.

Dr. Abbott took one look at Andi and ordered
IV fluids.

Frannie had recommended the doctor to Andi,
who was now almost through her sixth week. They’d postponed their
trip to the Virgin Islands until she felt better, and the one-year
anniversary of the day she moved in with Jack had passed without
fanfare earlier in the month.

“
Not feeling too hot,
Andi?” Dr. Abbott asked after the nurses had settled Andi into a
bed.

“
No,” Andi said.

“
We’ll do what we can to
help you, but you’ve got another few weeks to go before you’ll
start to feel a lot better.”

Andi groaned.

“
Weeks?
” Jack asked.

“
I’m afraid so. Moms who’re
this sick are often stuck with it for the first trimester. But
we’ll get you some fluids to help you get your strength back. I
also want to do a quick ultrasound to check on your little one.
Nothing to worry about, though. Be right back.”

Andi reached for Jack’s hand. “I hope the
baby’s okay.”

“
I’m sure he’s
fine.”

“
You’re quite sure it’s
a
he
.”

“
There’s
no way
it can be another
girl.”

“
Actually, there’s a
fifty-percent chance.”

“
That much?” He brought
their joined hands to his lips. “I’m so sorry you’re going through
this, honey.”

“
This is what I get for
being stupid.”

He chuckled as a nurse wheeled in the
ultrasound machine.

The doctor came back a few minutes later to
take a look. She tilted her head and moved closer to the
screen.

Jack never had seen anything resembling a
baby on those screens, and this time was no different, but he could
make out a strong heartbeat. And then he saw another one. He looked
up at the doctor just as she looked down at him.

“
So Frannie tells me twins
run in your family,” she said with a smile.

“
That’s what my mother
says,” Jack stammered.

“
Looks like she’s right.”
The doctor pointed to the screen so Andi could see. “One heart
there, another there.”

Andi let out a gasp and
tightened her grip on Jack’s hand. “
Two?
”

Amused by their shock, the doctor held up
two fingers. “Although, if they’re identical, it’s sheer luck, not
heredity.”

Jack let out a long deep breath he hadn’t
realized he was holding.

Andi eyes were riveted to the screen. “Can
you tell whether they’re boys or girls?”

“
It’s still early—you’re
right at six weeks. This one here could be a boy.” She pointed to
the screen. “But don’t buy anything blue just yet. They look great.
Their heart rates are very strong, and they seem to be growing,
despite how sick Mom’s been. That means we have to make sure you’re
getting what you need, Andi, because they’ll take what they need
from you.”

“
She can’t keep anything
down,” Jack said, still trying to comprehend that there were two
babies.

“
We’ll do what we can for
you while you’re here. In about four or five weeks, you should
start to feel much better.”

“
I hope so,” Andi said, her
eyes still glued to the monitor.

“
Will she be able to carry
twins?” Jack worried that Andi’s willowy frame wouldn’t be able to
withstand the weight of two babies.

“
The last couple of months
will be tough, but she’ll be fine.”

The doctor left them, and Andi turned to
Jack, her eyes wide with disbelief. “First Jamie and Frannie and
now us,” she marveled. “What’re the odds?”

“
I can’t believe it. We had
no idea how strong the twin gene is in our family.”

“
Oh my God, Jack! We’re
going to have
six
children!”

“
Two are technically
adults,” he reminded her. “I was all set for five. What’s one
more?”

“
It must’ve happened the
night of the gala.”

“
Which is entirely fitting,
since the hotel brought us together, and now it’s brought us the
twins.”

They told the kids the news when Andi ended
up in the hospital for several days to treat the dehydration. Like
Frannie, Andi felt much better after she was released and soon
turned a corner where she was sick in the morning but better by
noon. By April she finally felt well enough to go on their
long-postponed trip to the Virgin Islands.

The night before they left, Andi called her
mother to tell her about the babies.

“
Twins?
”

“
That’s what they tell me,
Mother. Apparently, they run in Jack’s family. Remember last summer
when his sister had twins? Ours will be born just about a year
after theirs.”

“
You’ll sure have your
hands full.”

“
I hope you’ll come be part
of it. I’ll need your help.”

“
I’ll be there, Andi, and
I’ll bring Auntie Lou with me. Will you still send Eric out this
summer?”

“
Jack will probably bring
him. I’ll be disappointed to not get to see you, but I won’t be
going too far from home by then.” Eric planned to spend two weeks
with his grandmother in July, and Andi had promised him he’d be
home long before the babies were born in late September—if she made
it that far.

“
We’re looking forward to
it.”

“
So is he. Well, I’d better
go. Jack and I are leaving tomorrow for a week in the Virgin
Islands we’ve had planned since December. I’ve been so sick with
this pregnancy we couldn’t go until now.” She hadn’t told her
mother she’d been in the hospital, knowing how she’d worry. “But
I’m much better now and looking forward to lounging in the
sun.”