Troubling Secrets

Disclaimer: I don't own Dawson's Creek or any of its characters.

Summary: At the last ultrasound, Joey and Pacey discover that they are having twins. This leads to the discovery of a secret in Pacey's family - possibly the reason his family considers him a screw-up.

Chapter 1

Joey's due date was in two weeks and today was the last ultrasound appointment. Pacey took the day off from the Icehouse and Bessie took Evie and Kyle for the day.

The short ten minute ride to the hospital was spent discussing baby names. "You know Pace," Joey started, "this baby is due in a measly fourteen days and we still haven't decided on a name."

"What are you talking about Jo? I thought since you wouldn't let me name Kyle, we were going to use Pacey Jr."

Joey rolled her eyes. "As much as I love your name, this baby needs to have his own identity. The name "Pacey" would be way too much for our son to live up to. Besides," she said, "you're one of a kind… we wouldn't want to change that would we?"

"Really?" Pacey asked with a grin, "You think I'm one of a kind?"

"Yes Pacey, you are," Joey told him. "Now would you please get moving? I'd like to be at this appointment before our nameless son is born."

"Yes ma'am."

A few minutes later Pacey pulled into the hospital's parking garage. He helped Joey out and together they headed into the building. They were a few minutes early so after checking in with the receptionist, the couple sat down to wait for Joey's name to be called.

It wasn't long before the couple was in the examination room with Joey's OB-GYN Dr. Peterson. "So Joey, according to your file, you're due in two weeks… how are you feeling?"

"Like crap to put it simply," Joey replied. "I can't sleep, my feet are killing me and so it my back. Is it just me or am I three times as big this time?"

Dr. Peterson smiled. "You're feeling just like you should be Joey. It's all part of being pregnant; you should know that by now." She paused for a second to look down at Joey's records. "As for your size, it's possible that you're slightly bigger this time. This baby could be a little larger than Evie or Kyle was."

"Oh okay," Joey said looking up at Pacey who gave her a reassuring smile.

"Are you ready to see your son for the last time before you meet in person?" Dr. Peterson asked, turning on the machine and getting it ready.

Pacey and Joey looked at each other. "Absolutely," they answered simultaneously.

Dr. Peterson laughed. She pulled back Joey's shirt revealing her enlarged abdomen. "Here comes the gel," she said.

Joey tensed as the coldness hit her skin. "Can't you warm that up first?" she asked eliciting laughs out of both Pacey and the doctor.

"Sorry Joey but no we can't."

Joey sighed in response and watched the monitor as Dr. Peterson swirled the wand around looking for the baby.

"Here we go," she said. She pointed to the screen. "Here's his head, an arm, a leg and the other arm and leg." She frowned for a second.

Joey didn't miss the facial expression. "Is everything okay?" she asked with a worried tone.

The doctor smiled, "Yeah. Do you want to hear the heartbeat?" she asked.

"Yes!" Pacey answered enthusiastically

"You really like that don't you?" Dr. Peterson asked smiling. When Pacey nodded she continued, "Most fathers do." She flipped a switch and the room was filled with noise.

"Uh Doc?" Pacey asked, "That's not what it sounded like a week and a half ago. What's going on?" There was worry in his voice that Joey immediately picked up on. She looked up at Dr. Peterson with the panic evident in her eyes.

"Everything is fine," she assured them. "This just confirms my suspicions."

"Okay Doc," Pacey said scratching his head, "You've lost me."

"Well this funny sounding heartbeat is either one heart beating twice a fast or two hearts beating alternatively. Also look here." she pointed at the screen again. "Your baby either has an extra set of arms and legs or…"

"Twins?" Joey asked bewildered.

"That's what it looks like!" Dr. Peterson said with a huge smile on her face.

"Wait what? How? Why?" Pacey was firing questions out left and right with apprehension very evident in his voice.

Joey was a little calmer than her husband. "What I think Pacey is trying to say is why are we just realizing this now? How did the second baby stay unnoticed for the past eight months?"

"Well it's not uncommon for unborn babies to hide behind each other from time to time. It just so happens that every time we did an ultrasound, the larger baby hid the smaller one."

Pacey recovered enough to ask, "Why didn't both heartbeats show up before?"

"I'm not quite sure," Dr. Peterson admitted, "but my guess is that the smaller baby has a weaker heart beat and since he or she was further from the wand, it couldn't be picked up or it was too faint to be heard."

"Everything looks okay though right?" Joey asked.

"Yes. The second baby is just smaller but looks healthy and normal otherwise. But that leads me to a question - do you want to know the gender of your surprise baby?"

Joey looked up at Pacey. "It's up to you," he said.

"Are you sure? When it was Evie you said the same thing and them you whined for a week because I decided I didn't want to know." Joey replied.

"Jo, I mean it this time - I promise."

Joey narrowed her eyes. "You better be sure - if not, you're going to answer to me and I don't think you want a hormonally imbalanced pregnant woman on your case…" she warned making Dr. Peterson laugh. Pacey threw his hands up in defeat but Joey ignored him and turned to the doctor. "Since we already know we have a boy, I think we can wait a few weeks to know the other baby's gender. Besides, it will make it that much more interesting when we choose names." With that Joey turned to glare at Pacey.

"What?" he protested.

"Wow Pacey, you're not doing so well today," Dr. Peterson teased as she shut off the machine and started putting everything away.

"Tell me about it," he muttered.

"Okay now on a serious note," Dr. Peterson started, "Few twin pregnancies last to full term - you could go into labor at any time now, Joey. Under no circumstances are you to be left alone until after you deliver. Also I don't want to put you on bed rest but you have to stay off your feet as much as possible that means Pacey, you will be doing all the cooking and cleaning until the twins are born. Joey shouldn't be getting up unless she needs to use the bathroom, she goes into labor or there's some kind of unforeseen emergency. Do both of you understand?" The couple nodded solemnly. "Do you have any questions?" Joey and Pacey shook their heads. "I have one for you," she said.

"What's that," Pacey asked.

"Do either of you know if you have twins in your family? There's no real reason other than it's interesting to know…"

"I don't think so," Joey said thoughtfully, "I'll talk to Bessie though." She turned to Pacey. "What about you Pace? Didn't you say something about your grandfather on your dad's side being a twin?"

"Yeah, but I'll see what else I can find out."

"Okay," Dr. Peterson said. "It looks like we're done here. I'll see you in hopefully two weeks. You two have a nice day and have fun telling your family."

"Thanks for everything Doc," Pacey said, shaking her hand.

"No problem. That's what I'm here for," she smiled. As the couple walked out she called after them. "I almost forgot!" When they turned, she continued, "Congratulations!"

TBC

A/N: This was just a light fluffy first chapter but I guarantee it won't last. Also I need some more ideas for names for the babies. There's one boy but the other gender is still unknown so I'll need some girl names too. I'll try to mention all the names I get so everyone gets recognized. Thanks for the ones I've already gotten. Please leave me some reviews!