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Dr. Balanger glances at me with sympathy, then nods her head. “It’s twins, Alayna. You’re having twins.”
“Holy shit,” Adam murmurs, his eyes so wide he looks like he’s seeing breasts for the first time.
“Holy shit is right,” I breathe back, dropping my head onto the table and looking at the ceiling.Holy shit is right.
Adam
“Can you believe it?” I ask Lay for probably the millionth time since we walked out of the doctor’s office. Lay chuckles exasperatedly, giving me that look of cute frustration at my repetitive question. It’s just hard to say anything else. I mean it’s fucking twins!
"Sorry," I grumble, not really sorry at all. "What do you think Rhys and Riggs are gonna say when you tell them?"
"I honestly have no idea." Lay sighs, putting the pictures in her purse again. "I don't even know what to think! When I first found out I was pregnant, I wasn't even sure I should have a child. Now I'm having two! At the same time! I don't even want to think about what it's going to do to my body."
"You're stunning now, and you'll be stunning during and after," I promise her, bringing her knuckles up to my lips. "It's also a good thing there's four of us! It means we can tackle two babies, no problem. Having your own harem of men is going to come in handy."
Lay groans, a happily annoyed smile on her pretty face. We pull into the driveway, Riggs already waiting outside for us. The poor guy has been having a hard time being away from any of us since the incident. He's got his own appointment booked with his doctor to talk to them about anxiety. Riggs has been especially paranoid about Lay going anywhere or being out of his sight for long.
Riggs comes to the truck, helping Lay down from her side and tucking her under his arm. He nods at me in greeting, totally not caring that he's stealing our girl from me. That's okay, though, I got to be the first one to know about the twins. Rhys and Riggs have gotten so many of her firsts, I'm happy to finally have one up on them. It seems stupid to be in competition with them, and it kind of is, but I can't help it. I've been feeling like the odd one out for a while now and I'm tired of it.
"How did it go?" Rhys asks from his spot on the couch. He looks rough, and the black and purple bruises mixed with the huge line of stitches is difficult to look at. It reminds me that I should have done better that night. I should have protected everyone instead of throwing a fit like a damn child.
"It went--" Lay starts then stops, biting her lip as she thinks about what to say. "It went weird. I'm still pregnant!"
Riggs and Rhys both grin widely, excitement running through the room. "Why was it weird, though?" Rhys mumbles.
"Well, I'm super pregnant. Like more than one baby, pregnant." Lay talks really fast, almost stringing her words together before throwing the pictures at the guys.
Covering my mouth with my hand, I laugh as silently as possible at the looks on their faces. Lay is ready to book it from the room as Rhys and Riggs just stare open mouthed; one at the pictures and the other at Lay. My laugh comes out harder, everyone in the room turning to glance at me in confusion. Lay giggles quietly before a huge eruption of laughter explodes out of her. Rhys and Riggs join in, and soon we're all laughing our asses off.
Once the humour dies down, the tension from before is completely gone. Lay sits on the loveseat, patting the spot beside her for me. Riggs joins Rhys on the large couch, and we talk for a while about what it will mean for us to have two babies in the house. Lay brings up sleeping arrangements and we all pause.
"I think it's about time we move Dec's stuff up to the attic or something. His room would probably work best as the nursery," Rhys comments, sitting forward in his seat. "It's probably the most centralized room that isn't taken. I figure Lay can just keep sleeping with us, and her old room can be turned into an office for her. With your bar, you'll want somewhere at home to also work, especially with the babies now."
"That's true." Lay pushes out her bottom lip and plays with it between her fingers. "We went through all of Dec's stuff already and put it in boxes, didn't we?"
Riggs nods, popping his knuckles and standing up. "Yeah, but they're all just sitting in his room still. Maybe, I'll go move a couple. It'll give me something to do for a bit. I've been feeling a little useless. That way we can also see the room a little emptier, and it won't feel so much like taking Declan's room."
"I'll help." I stand up as well, following Riggs out of the room as Lay asks Rhys about his appointment.
Riggs and I make our way to Dec's room, neither of us talking on the way. It's been a while since we've even acknowledged the room was here, the loss of Declan still fresh. With the recent shit from Kevin Jennings, it's kind of reopened the grief of losing him. Cleaning out his room helped us come to terms with his passing last time, and I'm hoping this time is the same. Especially since it's for two new additions to our family. Giving them Declan's room is kind of like passing on some of our memories of him to the next generation of the people who loved him the most.
"I'll grab these two if you want to grab that big one," I instruct Riggs, pointing to the box of journals by the closet door.
"Sounds good." Riggs picks it up and heads down the hall to the attic hatch none of us have ever touched before. "This is it, right?"
"Pretty sure it is," I respond with a shrug. "Let's pull it open and find out. Shit, we need a ladder."
"I've got one here," Rhys says, coming up behind us. "I figured you guys wouldn't remember to grab the ladder, and I was right."
Sticking my tongue out at him, I grab the ladder from his hands and push it up into the opened attic space. Rhys gets ready to climb it, claiming I shouldn't with my prosthetic and Riggs needs to lift the boxes up. Spotting the ladder instead, I roll my eyes at Rhys' logic. Yes, I have a prosthetic, but at least I don't have a fucking concussion. Damned idiot.
"Motherfucker!" Rhys yells at the top of the ladder, Riggs and I both checking to make sure he's not falling or if he hurt himself. "He was living in our fucking attic!"
My blood runs cold, the question falling from my lips even though I'm sure I already know the answer. "Who?"
Rhys looks down at me, rage making him shake from head to toe. "That piece of shit, Kevin Jennings. He has pictures up here of her, ones from before with Declan."
Riggs slams his hands against the wall, his fists clenching tighter with every word that comes from Rhys' mouth. "There's dried blood, dead roses, and a fucking black wig! How in the actual fuck did Jarrod and his team miss this?"
