Banks

My hands shake as I run the test a second time, and get the same result.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Understanding Tia’s blood work has been challenging from the beginning, because of her father’s injections. But looking at her hCG levels, I know one thing for certain, Tia is carrying more than one child.

I sit back in my seat and drag my hands through my hair, then rub them over my face. I’ll have to do an ultrasound to confirm it, but I’m almost a hundred percent certain that she’s carrying twins. At least one of whom is a girl, based on the antibodies that Tia’s body is already creating at increased rates.

“Fuck,” I scream, tossing my coffee mug across the room. It shatters when it hits the wall, just as Salinger walks through the door.

“What’s wrong?”

I try to control my breathing, but I can feel something inside me unraveling.

“I can save her,” I say, more to myself. “It doesn’t matter. I can still save her.”

“You’re scaring me.”

“We have to go.” I push my chair back, start gathering my things, and shove a portable ultrasound into my bag.

“Banks,” Salinger says when I start towards the door. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know for certain... but... fuck.”

Salinger walks towards me. “Is something wrong with the baby?”

“No. I don’t know. She’s carrying a girl.”

“That’s good news then.”

“Except that her hormones are off the charts.”

“Meaning?”

“I think she may be carrying twins.”

Salinger’s face pales. “Shit.”

“I won’t know for certain until I do an ultrasound.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

We gather my equipment and load it into Fallon’s truck. I triple check everything, not wanting to miss anything that will slow us down and make us head back to my lab.

We drive back to the compound in silence.

As we pull to a stop in the driveway, Salinger glances over at me. “Whatever the results, you’ll help her. I know you will.”

I close my eyes briefly.

“Just...” Salinger lets out a shaky breath. “We can’t show her that we’re afraid.”

“I know that.”

“Good. Then get that look off your face, because you’re scaring the shit out of me.”

I nod and reach for the door handle. “You might want to tell each of the men the same thing.”

The house is quiet when we enter.

“Tia?” I call out, lugging in the case holding the portable ultrasound machine. I hang up my coat, trying to think of how this is going to play out. I know Tia’s going to lose it.

We’ve talked through the treatment plan for a female fetus. But if she’s carrying twins everything we’ve accounted for goes out the window.

Which means more time lost. My research obsolete.

It can’t be twins. We can’t afford to lose more time. It’s already not enough.

“Banks.” Salinger rests a hand on my shoulder. “You got this, man.”

“Right,” I say under my breath. The only thing I have is bad news. It kills me knowing how Tia has been so adamant about keeping the house a positive zone.

“Where is everyone?” Salinger calls as we walk through the house. I follow him into the kitchen and we see everyone is outside on the patio.

“What is it?” I ask, stepping toward Tia. She turns, waving us over. Her face lit up as if it’s Christmas morning. “It’s a doe with her fawn.”

I give her a soft smile. “You’re adorable.”

“No,” Giles says. “That is adorable.”

I step closer, resting my hands on Tia’s shoulders. It’s true, it is fucking cute.

Tawny fur with white spots, barely able to walk on his tall spindly legs, his mother right beside him, urging him along.

When the mother finally jumps over a snow drift, her baby follows close behind, Tia exhales. “That was so sweet.” She laughs, looking around at her burly ass men. “You’re all so good at humoring me. I know you’ve seen deer a thousand times... it’s just...” She blinks back tears. “Gosh, I’m a mess today. I keep crying over everything.”

“You’re pregnant. I think it comes with the territory,” I tell her, taking her hand and leading her back to the house. Once we’re inside, I ask everyone to stay.

“If you don’t mind, I want to do a routine ultrasound. Here, now.”

“Why here?” Tia asks, a frown on her face. I hate that I’ve erased any of the pleasure she had only moments ago.

“I noticed something in your hCG levels, and I want my eyes on it before anyone else.”

She swallows, looking around the room. “Okay. Just give me a moment and I’ll be back.” She steps toward the hall, then turns to me. “Should I be worried?”

I give her a small shake of the head. “No, Tia. Not when you’ve got six men of Alaska right here by your side.”

When she’s gone, Fallon turns to me. “What the fuck is going on?”

I swallow, terror taking hold of my heart.

“We need to be strong for Tia, no matter what happens next, understood?”

They nod, seeming to realize they will know more soon enough, and that the most important thing is providing our wife with the support she needs.

A few minutes later, Tia is on the couch in the living room with her feet pulled up on an ottoman. She lifts the hem of her shirt and I apply a gel to her bare stomach.

“It’s cold.”

“Sorry,” I say. “But that will be the most unpleasant part of this.”

She nods. “I’ve had these before. My father wanted to do a twice-yearly measurement on the uteruses of the women at Saint Augustine’s.”

“All of them?” I ask, my brows furrowed having never heard this from her before.

“Well, not all of them. Only five of us. He tracked the women who had been there since before their first cycles.”

“Why?” Emerson asks. I have a feeling he’s the least informed about her twisted father.

“I don’t know. I think he wanted to expand them?”

“Expand your uterus?” Fallon asks, eyes raised. It’s clear this topic is not his forte.

“I never asked why,” Tia says. “One of my thousand regrets when it comes to my dad. I never asked enough questions, especially the ones that pertained to me.”

“Hey,” I say, knowing she’s getting lost in her head. Right now she needs to be grounded. I take her hand in mine and squeeze it. “That’s the past, remember? Let’s focus on the now. And right now, you’re going to hear your baby’s heartbeat for the very first time. That’s a good thing, Tia. Okay?”

She nods. “Okay,” she says breathlessly, as I adjust the volume on the ultrasound machine, making sure the screen is viable to everyone. Then I press the wand low on her abdomen and gently move it around.

My jaw tenses as I focus. When I pick up the sound of a heartbeat, Tia’s eyes go wide, but I quickly shake my head. “That’s your heart. It’s not as fast as the bab--” My words stop as I get another signal and a grainy image fills the ultrasound screen.

The blurry image begins to clear.

The heart beats loud.

The men around me clap and cheer. Tia’s beaming.

But then.

Then everyone stops, and become as quiet as when they watched the doe and her fawn on the snow-streaked lawn.

It isn’t one four-chambered heart staring at us.

It’s six.