And Then They Were Five
CM (Reid/OC {MelissaMartinReid})
#5 in the series
K+
Part One, Something in the Water
"Oh my God, we're gonna need another genius onesie!" was the first thing that came to her mind when they saw the clear image on the ultrasound computer monitor of not one, but two baby Reids.
Spencer was momentarily speechless. The idea of impending fatherhood was already novel to him. He'd married Melissa and become Daddy to Melissa's Anna only months ago. Several weeks earlier, when Melissa had told him of this pregnancy, he'd become overcome with elation. And now it was plainly obvious that there were two babies, he felt quite simply like the luckiest man alive.
"Oh, crap," the ultrasound technologist—her nametag said Kristin—exclaimed, startling Spencer and Melissa back to the moment. "Whoa, I'm sorry," she continued, a worried look on her face. "We're not allowed to discuss the findings with the patient, the doctor does that. I assumed you already knew you were carrying twins."
"Well, it would explain why I'm so fat already," Melissa complained.
"Oh, for Pete's sakes Melissa, not again," Spencer shook his head, grinned and leaned down to kiss her, "You. Are. NOT. Fat!"
To Kristin he reassured, "We won't let Melissa's doctor think you broke protocol, I mean, it's obvious there's two when you look at the monitor."
"Baby A's heartbeat," Kristin said as the sound came through the speaker. She moved the probe across Melissa's belly to her right side for fifteen seconds; stopped and applied more gel to it then tried again. After another fifteen seconds, Kirstin took the probe and recalibrated it, then tried again. Melissa's heart was in her throat. She'd been holding Spencer's hand and was now digging her nails into his palm as her anxiety heightened. Moving left, the rapid thumping was heard again. Spencer looked from Melissa to the monitor. Baby A was moving, the tiny arms swished back and forth and Spencer was convinced he'd just been waved at. Again, the technologist tried the right side of Melissa's belly and finally she smiled and exhaled the breath she'd been holding.
"And there's Baby B, looks like he or she might be in behind the sibling," said Kristin as the second heartbeat finally came through clearly.
Melissa breathed a sigh of relief. Both heartbeats were strong and healthy. Kristin asked if they wanted to know the genders. Melissa and Spencer exchanged a glance, and then he answered:
"I'd rather just know that they're healthy."
Smiling, she answered in a positive tone that confirmed this in no uncertain terms, "Well I'm gonna have to leave that for the doctor to discuss with you."
She left the recording playing for them while she saved a few files and made some notations, and then told them she'd be back momentarily.
"You can get dressed, Melissa, I'm just gonna go make a copy for you two to take with you," she closed the examination room door behind her.
"Spence?"
Spencer's eyes never left the monitor. The movement of the babies fascinated him. He counted fingers and toes—twenty of each—and traced his own index finger along each baby's spine. He noted eyes, ears, noses and smiled when the recording reached the part where Baby A had waved at him.
"Yeah?" he replied, eyes still on two babies.
"I wanna know."