Sam shook his hand and answered in a small voice, "Hi."
The man was gorgeous. And Sam was stunned into silence. When they told her the girls would be seeing Dr. Jack O'Neill, Sam didn't know what she was expecting him to look like, maybe old and overweight, maybe tall and lanky. But this man was neither. He was the right height with the right build and the right everything. By the time Sam came back to herself Emma was already chatting with the cute doctor. Thank God for Emma; the girl could talk your arm off on any given day.
"Well, you just keep practicing on all your dolls and then you'll be an expert at giving check-ups with that awesome kit you've got there," Dr. O'Neill said to Emma.
Sophie had long abandoned Sam's lap to hop on the exam table next to her sister and listen to the doctor. too. He glanced in Sam's direction and she looked back at him with a genuine smile. He was obviously good with children. Of course he is Sam, he's a pediatrician, she chided herself.
"Ok, which one of you princesses wants to go first?" He asked the girls and they shot up excited arms.
"Me!" they both said, beyond excited, and Sam laughed out loud. What an incredible turn of events.
Dr. O'Neill piped up, "Ok, ok. I know how to decide." He put his hand on his chin and pretended to think. "Now, if I had to guess, I'd say that you were born first," he said pointing at Emma. The girls just stared back at him clearly clueless, and Dr. O'Neill looked at Sam who nodded.
"They don't know. But yes, Emma was born first," Sam confirmed.
"Aha!" said Dr. O'Neill triumphantly. "That means that it's only fair if we let your sister go first, since she was born second." This elicited a frown from Emma but a huge smile from Sophie. He started on the exam and Sam watched him closely, listening to her heart, checking ears, mouth, throat, etc. He looked at Sam after a minute and said, "The first twin to be born is usually in charge, more assertive, talkative, that kind of stuff. It was just a lucky guess." He said nonchalantly, while thumping what looked like a tiny hammer on Sophie's knees. Oh, that comment peaked Sam's interest immediately.
"No, you're right… absolutely right, actually. Emma is definitely the mother of the two." Then Sam added, "Do you know a lot about twins?"
Dr. O'Neill asked Sophie to lie down and explained to her that he was going to lift her top and poke at her belly. "Well, I see a lot of twins here at the practice and I've picked up on a lot. I know you were interested in seeing Dr. Ketter; she is raising her twin grandsons and probably knows more about the daily life with twins. Sorry you got stuck with me, but if you ever need to know something I don't already know, I'd be happy to ask her opinion on your behalf."
He answered her so calmly, so comfortably, and all the while examining Sophie with such precision, that Sam replied, "No, of course not. I'm sure the girls will be happy being stuck with you," Sam said, making air quotes with her hands on the word "stuck." And not just them.
He examined each of the girls, pausing in between to type his notes and wash his hands. Then he produced two purple suckers from a mysterious pocket and the girls were overjoyed. Dr. O'Neill had saved the day. "Now, you girls sit here and practice with your kit while I talk to your Mom for just a minute, then you can be on your way," he said to them and then sat on his stool and rolled it closer to where Sam was sitting.
"Ok, Mrs. Hanson. The girls look great from what I can tell. Their ears are clear, strong little hearts and lungs. Now, I don't have their medical history yet to know how they are doing on their growth. What we'll do is get all their records transferred over from their previous physician, and then I'll have a better idea of how that's going the next time you come in. From their stats today I can tell you that they look like the average healthy three-year-old. " He paused and let her respond.
"That's great, thank you," Sam said. "Sophie isn't a great eater. Well, neither of them really likes to eat vegetables or anything remotely healthy, but I still try. Emma seems to have a better appetite, always has, but Sophie eats like a bird. Sometimes I don't know what to do about it."
He nodded and gave her sound advice on the nutrition that the twins should be following. Sam was surprised by some of his clever ideas of how to incorporate what he called "reject vegetables" into their diet, like spinach, beets, and cauliflower. Apparently they were super brain foods that aided in the cognitive and neurological development. Sam wrote some things down on the tiny notebook she carried in her purse. She felt dumb in these matters of parenting. Shouldn't she know to just mash up some vegetables and hide them in the girls' spaghetti? I guess that must come from something my mom never got to teach me, Sam thought, sadly.
When Sam was done asking questions he got back up and addressed the girls. "Now, I hope not to see you anytime soon, but if you do get sick, just tell Mom to bring you in, ok?" The girls nodded emphatically, their suckers still stuck in their mouths.
"Pleasure to meet you all," he said, then extended his hand again to Sam, "Mrs. Hanson, the nurse will be in shortly with their flu mists."
Sam shook his hand, not wanting to correct him. "It was nice meeting you too." She said, because technically she still was Mrs. Hanson. I guess I always will be, she thought.