Chapter 12
Doubled Surprises
TWO MONTHS LATER……
"I look fat." Elizabeth complained, looking in the mirror.
"No, you don't." Conner corrected, from where he was sitting on her bed.
"I look ugly."
"You look gorgeous."
"I look pregnant."
Conner shrugged helplessly. "Sorry Liz. Can't argue." She was just over four
months along, and it was becoming very apparent that she was pregnant.
She sighed, and finished tying her hair up in a bun. "I know, I know. Almost
everybody at school has figured it out."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I've even gotten asked about it." Conner
agreed, then changed the subject. "So, how are you feeling this morning?"
"Oh, okay." Elizabeth said, setting her brush down on the counter, and
walking over to him. "I feel sick, but at least I don't feel like I'm going to throw up."
"That's too bad." Conner said, wrapping an arm around her as she sat down
next to him. "So, what time's your doctor's appointment tomorrow?" He gave
her a quick kiss.
"It's at ten thirty." A slightly worried expression crossed her face. "You
don't have to work, do you?" Although Conner liked his jobs at Music Stop,
he'd had to work fairly long hours, and it had prevented him from being
around all the time.
"No," he reassured her. "I made sure that I had the day off."
"Oh, good." Elizabeth said, smiling. "I wanted you to be there. Otherwise,
I'd have to have Jess or mom come. No, thank you."
Conner laughed at the expression on her face. "Your mom and Jessica aren't
that bad, are they?"
"No, but I'm glad that you're the one that's coming not them." She shrugged.
"Besides, I'll be able to get a sonogram, so we'll know whether or not the
baby's a girl or a boy."
"I like the sound of Conner Jr." Conner said in a mock serious voice as he
messed with her blond hair.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Just a little vain, aren't we?" she asked dryly, batting away his hand. "No, seriously. What names do you like?"
"Hmm" Conner said, thinking. "I'm really not good at those type of things. That's a woman's department."
"Oh, what are you? Sexist?" Elizabeth teased, lightly punching him in the
arm. "What do you think about Sarah? If it's a girl, that is."
Conner smiled. "Sarah. I like it. Then I like Elizabeth as a middle name."
"Really?" Elizabeth said, surprised yet flattered.
Conner shrugged. "If it is a girl, why not give it part of your name?"
"Conner…"
"Sarah Elizabeth. If it's a girl, that's what it'll be." Conner said firmly.
"Okay, okay. Then what if it's a boy?" Elizabeth asked.
Conner's brow furrowed in concentration. "John?"
"For real?"
"No, not really. Umm Gordon?" Conner shook his head. "No, I don't
want it to sound like a vegetable or something."
Elizabeth giggled slightly at the look that crossed his face. "Okay, what do
you think of James?"
"No." Conner said immediately. "Edward?"
"No, that's dad's real name, and I'm in no mood to name the kid after him." Elizabeth said, smiling.
"Okay, Adam?"
"I like it." Elizabeth said, leaning against his chest. "It's really cute."
"Yeah." Conner agreed, teasing with the end of a few strands of blond hair. "Adam it is."
**************************************************************
"Stupid alarm clock," Conner muttered under his breath on Saturday morning.
He'd forgotten to turn it off from his weekday wake up times, and it
had woken him up at six thirty. Hence the reason he was mad at it.
Oh well, now that I'm awake, I might as well get up, Conner thought,
crawling out of bed. He grabbed a pair of jeans from off the floor, and a tee
shirt from the floor before he walked into the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later, Conner walked out, freshly showered and changed.
He looked at the clock. Quarter to seven. He figured that Elizabeth would at
least be up by seven, her usual weekend wake up time. Conner decided to
leave his room in it's state of disarray and go downstairs and get breakfast.
No sooner had he stuck a bagel in the toaster and poured himself some coffee,
Conner heard Elizabeth walking down the stairs. Still in her pajamas, she
looked tired and a little pale.
"Hey baby, good morning. Are you feeling all right?" he asked her, concerned.
"Ever had a freight train hit you?" Elizabeth grumbled. "I'm sure that it's
about equal to how I feel this morning."
"That bad, huh?" Conner asked, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Do you feel
up for some breakfast?"
Elizabeth sighed. "No thanks. I'll eat later." She gave him a kiss and walked
over to the kitchen table and sat down.
Conner felt sorry for her. She'd been sick more often then not, and for the
most part kept a good attitude about it.
Grabbing his bagel and putting it on a plate, he picked up the cream
cheese and sat down at the table, next to his girlfriend. "So ready for your
appointment today?"
"I guess. It'd be my luck to puke on the doctor or something." Elizabeth said dryly.
Okay, Conner now knew exactly how bad she was feeling. The only time she ever got like this was when she felt like a piece of crap two times over.
"Hey, it can't be that bad." He said, trying to make her feel a little better.
"I know. I'm probably getting really irritating," she said, "So if you
want, just ignore me."
"Hey," Conner said immediately, "I know you feel horrible. You've got the
right to complain." He smiled, and reached over and placed his hand on
her hand.
Elizabeth gave it a quick squeeze. "Thanks." She said, smiling slightly.
"Liz, if you don't feel well, why don't you go upstairs and lay down
for awhile?" Conner said, looking deeply into her blue green eyes. "I'm not
trying to get rid of you, but I think you'd feel better if you slept a little longer."
"Okay." Elizabeth agreed, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Make sure that
I'm up by nine, okay?"
Conner nodded. "I will." And with that, she walked up the stairs.
****************************************************************
"It was so funny!" Jessica said laughing as she told Melissa of her shift
at House of Java the night before. "And to make it worse, Jeremy was
standing there, drenched with coffee, when this old lady comes up. She must have been really hard of hearing, because she yelled, 'What did you do, sonny?
Have an accident?'"
Melissa looked at Jessica for a second, their eyes met, and both cracked up
in gales of laughter. "Omigod," Melissa said, choking back tears. "What I
would give to have been there! What did Jeremy do?"
"He just stood there, beat red. I was trying so hard not to laugh that I was
practically gagging." Jessica said, wiping away some tears she'd gotten from
laughing, "And then Ally made it worse. She'd heard everything, and walked
out and said, loudly, "Jeremy, why don't you come back here and get
cleaned up? I thought that you could control yourself now!' I feel so bad for him!"
Melissa cracked up all over again, tears running down her face. Before she
knew what was happening, she was about to fall backwards off her bed. She
grabbed for the sheets, but it was too late. Melissa landed in a heap on the floor.
Jessica laughed for a second, then stopped. "Are you okay?" She asked,
offering an arm. Melissa grabbed it and pulled herself up. It was only then
that she realized that Jessica was starring hard at her shoulder. Her tee shirt sleeve had crinkled up when she fell.
"What's that?" Jessica asked, motioning.
"Nothing." Melissa said quickly, pulling her sleeve down over the dark reddish-brown scar that spanned a good part of her left shoulder. She hadn't
wanted anyone to see that. "Just a scar from a cheerleading drop in junior
high." She said, lying through her teeth. Jessica didn't look convinced.
"That's pretty bad. Are you sure that's what it's from?"
"Really Jess, it's nothing." Melissa said, almost as if she was trying to convince both Jessica and herself. "Nothing at all."
****************************************************************
"Liz, sweetie, wake up. Conner said gently shaking her shoulder. He was
sitting on the edge of her bed, where she was sound asleep. "Baby?"
"Huh?" She said groggily, not yet opening her eyes. "What?"
"You told me to wake me up." Conner said simply.
"Yeah," Elizabeth sat up halfway, and opened her eyes to look at him. "Thanks."
"Feeling better?"
Elizabeth nodded, and turned so she could lean against him. "A little shaky,
but nothing serious."
"Sure about that?" Conner asked, his green eyes still filled with concern.
"I'll be fine as soon as I get a shower."
"Okay, I'll trust you." Conner said, leaning in and giving her a kiss.
"You go ahead. I promised Sandy that I'd help her with her geometry
homework."
"You do that. I'll come down in a little bit."
Just over twenty minutes later, Elizabeth stepped out of the shower, quickly
toweled off, and then slid on some jeans and an old SVH sweatshirt that
had been four sizes too large when she got it.
After towel drying her hair, Elizabeth pulled it into a neat French braid,
and then slipped on her old tennis shoes. She didn't look great, but she
didn't look bad, either. Elizabeth walked down the staircase and into the kitchen, where Conner and Megan were sitting together, huddled over her geometry book. Conner heard her coming and looked up and smiled, but continued to explain the problem to Megan, so Elizabeth just walked over to the cabinet to get something to eat.
Five minutes later, she could tell that the tutoring session had ended,
because Conner walked up on her from behind and wrapped his arms around her.
"Is my girl feeling better?" He asked, pulling back and turning so he could face her."
"Much." Elizabeth said, and looked down at her wrist to her watch.
"Nine forty. We'll need to leave a little after ten, okay?"
"Just tell me when," Conner said, as he tore off a piece of the
blueberry muffin that she'd gotten. "And we'll go."
******************************************************************
Later that morning, Elizabeth leaned against Conner as she waited for them to
call her in for the sonogram. She'd already been through all the standard
tests, and was feeling sick again. As soon as this was over, she would
be more than ready to go home.
"Ms. Wakefield? Mr. McDermott?" a short, balding man with graying hair
and wire rimmed glasses asked, holding a clipboard. Conner stood
immediately, and Elizabeth followed right behind him as they walked over to the
laboratory doctor. "My name is Dr. Ryan Zimmerman, and I'll be caring for you
today."
He smiled warmly. "You kids make a cute couple. Why don't you follow me,
please?"
After they were seated, Dr. Zimmerman bustled about the room, preparing
this or that. "So, Elizabeth, you're four months along, eh?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sure that after today you'll know what sex your baby will be. Plan
things accordingly." Dr. Zimmerman said, motioning for her to lean back on
the table. Five minutes later, he began the process, Elizabeth and Conner both
watching the screen at the images. "Now let's see can you see the heartbeat
there?"
he asked, smiling, and showing them were it was coming from.
Then he frowned, "Well, I'll be" he made a few adjustments, and then
smiled brightly. "Congratulations. You're going to be having twins."
Doubled Surprises
TWO MONTHS LATER……
"I look fat." Elizabeth complained, looking in the mirror.
"No, you don't." Conner corrected, from where he was sitting on her bed.
"I look ugly."
"You look gorgeous."
"I look pregnant."
Conner shrugged helplessly. "Sorry Liz. Can't argue." She was just over four
months along, and it was becoming very apparent that she was pregnant.
She sighed, and finished tying her hair up in a bun. "I know, I know. Almost
everybody at school has figured it out."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I've even gotten asked about it." Conner
agreed, then changed the subject. "So, how are you feeling this morning?"
"Oh, okay." Elizabeth said, setting her brush down on the counter, and
walking over to him. "I feel sick, but at least I don't feel like I'm going to throw up."
"That's too bad." Conner said, wrapping an arm around her as she sat down
next to him. "So, what time's your doctor's appointment tomorrow?" He gave
her a quick kiss.
"It's at ten thirty." A slightly worried expression crossed her face. "You
don't have to work, do you?" Although Conner liked his jobs at Music Stop,
he'd had to work fairly long hours, and it had prevented him from being
around all the time.
"No," he reassured her. "I made sure that I had the day off."
"Oh, good." Elizabeth said, smiling. "I wanted you to be there. Otherwise,
I'd have to have Jess or mom come. No, thank you."
Conner laughed at the expression on her face. "Your mom and Jessica aren't
that bad, are they?"
"No, but I'm glad that you're the one that's coming not them." She shrugged.
"Besides, I'll be able to get a sonogram, so we'll know whether or not the
baby's a girl or a boy."
"I like the sound of Conner Jr." Conner said in a mock serious voice as he
messed with her blond hair.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Just a little vain, aren't we?" she asked dryly, batting away his hand. "No, seriously. What names do you like?"
"Hmm" Conner said, thinking. "I'm really not good at those type of things. That's a woman's department."
"Oh, what are you? Sexist?" Elizabeth teased, lightly punching him in the
arm. "What do you think about Sarah? If it's a girl, that is."
Conner smiled. "Sarah. I like it. Then I like Elizabeth as a middle name."
"Really?" Elizabeth said, surprised yet flattered.
Conner shrugged. "If it is a girl, why not give it part of your name?"
"Conner…"
"Sarah Elizabeth. If it's a girl, that's what it'll be." Conner said firmly.
"Okay, okay. Then what if it's a boy?" Elizabeth asked.
Conner's brow furrowed in concentration. "John?"
"For real?"
"No, not really. Umm Gordon?" Conner shook his head. "No, I don't
want it to sound like a vegetable or something."
Elizabeth giggled slightly at the look that crossed his face. "Okay, what do
you think of James?"
"No." Conner said immediately. "Edward?"
"No, that's dad's real name, and I'm in no mood to name the kid after him." Elizabeth said, smiling.
"Okay, Adam?"
"I like it." Elizabeth said, leaning against his chest. "It's really cute."
"Yeah." Conner agreed, teasing with the end of a few strands of blond hair. "Adam it is."
**************************************************************
"Stupid alarm clock," Conner muttered under his breath on Saturday morning.
He'd forgotten to turn it off from his weekday wake up times, and it
had woken him up at six thirty. Hence the reason he was mad at it.
Oh well, now that I'm awake, I might as well get up, Conner thought,
crawling out of bed. He grabbed a pair of jeans from off the floor, and a tee
shirt from the floor before he walked into the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later, Conner walked out, freshly showered and changed.
He looked at the clock. Quarter to seven. He figured that Elizabeth would at
least be up by seven, her usual weekend wake up time. Conner decided to
leave his room in it's state of disarray and go downstairs and get breakfast.
No sooner had he stuck a bagel in the toaster and poured himself some coffee,
Conner heard Elizabeth walking down the stairs. Still in her pajamas, she
looked tired and a little pale.
"Hey baby, good morning. Are you feeling all right?" he asked her, concerned.
"Ever had a freight train hit you?" Elizabeth grumbled. "I'm sure that it's
about equal to how I feel this morning."
"That bad, huh?" Conner asked, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Do you feel
up for some breakfast?"
Elizabeth sighed. "No thanks. I'll eat later." She gave him a kiss and walked
over to the kitchen table and sat down.
Conner felt sorry for her. She'd been sick more often then not, and for the
most part kept a good attitude about it.
Grabbing his bagel and putting it on a plate, he picked up the cream
cheese and sat down at the table, next to his girlfriend. "So ready for your
appointment today?"
"I guess. It'd be my luck to puke on the doctor or something." Elizabeth said dryly.
Okay, Conner now knew exactly how bad she was feeling. The only time she ever got like this was when she felt like a piece of crap two times over.
"Hey, it can't be that bad." He said, trying to make her feel a little better.
"I know. I'm probably getting really irritating," she said, "So if you
want, just ignore me."
"Hey," Conner said immediately, "I know you feel horrible. You've got the
right to complain." He smiled, and reached over and placed his hand on
her hand.
Elizabeth gave it a quick squeeze. "Thanks." She said, smiling slightly.
"Liz, if you don't feel well, why don't you go upstairs and lay down
for awhile?" Conner said, looking deeply into her blue green eyes. "I'm not
trying to get rid of you, but I think you'd feel better if you slept a little longer."
"Okay." Elizabeth agreed, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Make sure that
I'm up by nine, okay?"
Conner nodded. "I will." And with that, she walked up the stairs.
****************************************************************
"It was so funny!" Jessica said laughing as she told Melissa of her shift
at House of Java the night before. "And to make it worse, Jeremy was
standing there, drenched with coffee, when this old lady comes up. She must have been really hard of hearing, because she yelled, 'What did you do, sonny?
Have an accident?'"
Melissa looked at Jessica for a second, their eyes met, and both cracked up
in gales of laughter. "Omigod," Melissa said, choking back tears. "What I
would give to have been there! What did Jeremy do?"
"He just stood there, beat red. I was trying so hard not to laugh that I was
practically gagging." Jessica said, wiping away some tears she'd gotten from
laughing, "And then Ally made it worse. She'd heard everything, and walked
out and said, loudly, "Jeremy, why don't you come back here and get
cleaned up? I thought that you could control yourself now!' I feel so bad for him!"
Melissa cracked up all over again, tears running down her face. Before she
knew what was happening, she was about to fall backwards off her bed. She
grabbed for the sheets, but it was too late. Melissa landed in a heap on the floor.
Jessica laughed for a second, then stopped. "Are you okay?" She asked,
offering an arm. Melissa grabbed it and pulled herself up. It was only then
that she realized that Jessica was starring hard at her shoulder. Her tee shirt sleeve had crinkled up when she fell.
"What's that?" Jessica asked, motioning.
"Nothing." Melissa said quickly, pulling her sleeve down over the dark reddish-brown scar that spanned a good part of her left shoulder. She hadn't
wanted anyone to see that. "Just a scar from a cheerleading drop in junior
high." She said, lying through her teeth. Jessica didn't look convinced.
"That's pretty bad. Are you sure that's what it's from?"
"Really Jess, it's nothing." Melissa said, almost as if she was trying to convince both Jessica and herself. "Nothing at all."
****************************************************************
"Liz, sweetie, wake up. Conner said gently shaking her shoulder. He was
sitting on the edge of her bed, where she was sound asleep. "Baby?"
"Huh?" She said groggily, not yet opening her eyes. "What?"
"You told me to wake me up." Conner said simply.
"Yeah," Elizabeth sat up halfway, and opened her eyes to look at him. "Thanks."
"Feeling better?"
Elizabeth nodded, and turned so she could lean against him. "A little shaky,
but nothing serious."
"Sure about that?" Conner asked, his green eyes still filled with concern.
"I'll be fine as soon as I get a shower."
"Okay, I'll trust you." Conner said, leaning in and giving her a kiss.
"You go ahead. I promised Sandy that I'd help her with her geometry
homework."
"You do that. I'll come down in a little bit."
Just over twenty minutes later, Elizabeth stepped out of the shower, quickly
toweled off, and then slid on some jeans and an old SVH sweatshirt that
had been four sizes too large when she got it.
After towel drying her hair, Elizabeth pulled it into a neat French braid,
and then slipped on her old tennis shoes. She didn't look great, but she
didn't look bad, either. Elizabeth walked down the staircase and into the kitchen, where Conner and Megan were sitting together, huddled over her geometry book. Conner heard her coming and looked up and smiled, but continued to explain the problem to Megan, so Elizabeth just walked over to the cabinet to get something to eat.
Five minutes later, she could tell that the tutoring session had ended,
because Conner walked up on her from behind and wrapped his arms around her.
"Is my girl feeling better?" He asked, pulling back and turning so he could face her."
"Much." Elizabeth said, and looked down at her wrist to her watch.
"Nine forty. We'll need to leave a little after ten, okay?"
"Just tell me when," Conner said, as he tore off a piece of the
blueberry muffin that she'd gotten. "And we'll go."
******************************************************************
Later that morning, Elizabeth leaned against Conner as she waited for them to
call her in for the sonogram. She'd already been through all the standard
tests, and was feeling sick again. As soon as this was over, she would
be more than ready to go home.
"Ms. Wakefield? Mr. McDermott?" a short, balding man with graying hair
and wire rimmed glasses asked, holding a clipboard. Conner stood
immediately, and Elizabeth followed right behind him as they walked over to the
laboratory doctor. "My name is Dr. Ryan Zimmerman, and I'll be caring for you
today."
He smiled warmly. "You kids make a cute couple. Why don't you follow me,
please?"
After they were seated, Dr. Zimmerman bustled about the room, preparing
this or that. "So, Elizabeth, you're four months along, eh?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sure that after today you'll know what sex your baby will be. Plan
things accordingly." Dr. Zimmerman said, motioning for her to lean back on
the table. Five minutes later, he began the process, Elizabeth and Conner both
watching the screen at the images. "Now let's see can you see the heartbeat
there?"
he asked, smiling, and showing them were it was coming from.
Then he frowned, "Well, I'll be" he made a few adjustments, and then
smiled brightly. "Congratulations. You're going to be having twins."