Chapter 5

The soonest the OB could see us was a week later. Greg had meeting after meeting so he wasn't able to tag along, which made him very disappointed. I promised to video call him while I was there and that I'd bring home as many ultrasound pictures as I could.

I checked in for my appointment and provided the urine sample. It was cold in the waiting room and I sat looking around and all of the other women with their own growing bellies. I looked down at my own, for the first time in years I had a roll, my thighs spread out in the chair and squished together. I had had to go up a pant size and my shirt felt tight around my middle. I instinctively placed my hand over my womb and imagined myself in a few months with a big round belly. I immediately felt wet and took some deep breaths, Greg would get it when I got home.

"Nicole Bastian?" The nurse called out from the door that led to the back hall.

"I'm here," I said rising to meet her.

"Right this way mama" she said with a smile.

She took my vitals and had me step up onto the scale.

"How tall are you mama?" She asked as she balanced the scale.

"5'3, last I checked."

"168, 5'3. Got it mama, you can get down now. Let's take you to your room."

I began to blush but followed her down the hall. I thanked her as she told me the doctor and sonographer would be in shortly. She directed me to undress from the waist down and gave me a sheet to cover up. I did as I was told and sat on the exam table. I texted Greg but didn't hear back from him, he was probably in another meeting. I put my phone down, disappointed, as there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

"Good morning mama, or should I say afternoon?" the doctor said with a chuckle, "how are we feeling today?"

"I had the flu a week or so ago. I have been more tired than normal but otherwise I've been well. I'm excited to meet my baby."

"Of course! I just need to ask you a few questions and then I'll send you over to meet them."

After about 15 minutes I got dressed and was led down the hall to the ultrasound room. Greg still hadn't texted back but he saw my message. I was getting annoyed but understood. He had been on a big project and was avoiding going into the office as to hide his gain. He wanted to shock them but it came at the price of more and more video meetings.

The sonographer came in after me. She was nice but I could feel her silently judging me which was odd.

"My name is Nurse Sutton, can you lie on the table and unbutton your pants? How are you today?" she asked flatly.

"I'm doing well, how are you?" I asked meekly, doing as I was told.

"I'm fine. This will be a little cold." Nurse Sutton then drizzled gel over my belly. She grabbed the wand and placed it on my belly. I could hear lots of sounds as she moved it around searching for the baby. It took her a bit but soon I saw it on the screen.

"There you are. Tricky little one aren't y-..." She paused.

I looked on the screen. I had heard the heart beat but then the noise changed and soon you could hear two heartbeats.

"I haven't... Hold on. I need to.... Everything is fine. I need to grab the doctor really quick."

I was confused. I'd only seen them for a moment and was in disbelief. Two babies?! I couldn't believe it. I texted Greg asking if he was still in a meeting. He read the message and started typing but stopped. I waited for what felt like forever. The doctor and Nurse Sutton came in and closed the door. The wand was replaced on my belly and Nurse Sutton found them again. Clearly, two babies were seen on the screen but one looked different from the other.

"Oh, well I can see why you called me in Val. This is indeed an incredible thing. Congratulations on your twins mama!"

"Twins?!" I heard from the doorway. Greg's large silhouette darkened the doorway as he stood there with a bouquet of flowers and balloons. I smiled while I waved him in. He walked in towards placed the small counter at the back of the room. I watched as he moved around the room. His belly had rounded out and was very noticeable as he hadn't been out shopping since we began this journey. At his peak, the tightest part of his XL shirts were around his arms and chest, now it stretched to envelope his beer gut and pinched his flabby arms. His pants were tight around his butt and pinched his love handles. He jiggled with every step but he wore it well on his large frame. I admired my handy work and took mental notes for later.

"It seems we have two babies here but they're at different stages of development." The doctor said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Is that bad, doc?" Greg asked, appearing at my side. His belly brushed against my arm as he reached for my hand and gave me goosebumps.

"Not exactly but it does make this a bit higher risk. It looks like you're about 8 and 4 weeks along. You'll have to be on bed rest as we get later on in the pregnancy, mama. Twins are already high risk since they tend to come early and we can't risk Baby B leaving before we're out of the danger zone. We'll shoot for 38 weeks of gestation but try for 32 at least."

Nurse Sutton kept glancing at my husband and me. I could tell she was holding back by her expression but her eyes told me everything I needed to know. I thanked them both and got myself cleaned up. Nurse Sutton printed out multiple sonograms and handed them to Greg. She lingered and almost said something but decided against it. They left to give us some privacy and told us to head up front when we were ready. I sat on the exam table as Greg looked off dazed by the news.

"Twins." Greg said breathily. He smiled and turned to me.

"Twins! Soon my belly will look just like this." I said playfully as I poked him in the bellybutton. He recoiled with a chuckle and placed his hands protectively over his belly.

"Leave my dad bod alone, I'm going to need it apparently!"

I laughed and grabbed my things.

"What are you doing here though? I'm happy you came but I thought you had meetings?" I asked as we walked up front.

"I did, but then my afternoon meetings were cancelled due to issues on the client side. I took the rest of the day and rushed over. I bought these downstairs in the gift shop. Did you like my surprise?"

"Of course I did! Did you like mine?" I replied with a laugh.

"Well yeah! But we're going to have to take extra good care of you from now on."

We made our next appointment and headed out to our cars. We planned to meet at home and kissed goodbye. On my way home, my stomach growled. I had been so excited, I forgot to eat. I took the long way home and grabbed a meal from my favorite burger place. It came with a cheeseburger, large fries, and a large drink. I was overcome with an urgent need for a milkshake and onion rings as well and asked for extra mayo. When I got home I could see Greg rushing to the front door. I parked my car in our driveway, grabbed my bags of food and two drinks and headed inside. Greg nearly knocked me over as he ran back outside.

"Hi honey" he said, out of breath.

"Hey babe, what's up?" I asked, trying to maneuver around him to get inside.

"I, uh, forgot my meal in the car. I'm gonna grab it." He said as he brushed past toward the car. I went inside, placed my things on the table, and made a beeline for the trashcan. I opened it and giggled.

"'Forgot your meal', huh?" I asked, pulling out two still warm receipts from the garbage can. He'd done a double stop at a burger joint and taco stand. Greg shifted anxiously from one foot to the other as he held his bag from the taco place. "One triple decker with cheese, fries extra large, and a large orange soda from Jack's burgers and 8 carne asada tacos with the works, 3 Al pastor, and a large horchata from Jaime's? My, my how your appetite has grown with you my little piglet." I said slyly. I knew he'd been sneaking food but this was way more than anything he'd done before. Greg was bright red. He was still struggling with feeling embarrassed and I knew it but teasing him was his favorite part.

"I-i could say the same to you. 'One cheeseburger, large fries, and a large drink with a milkshake and onion rings?' Thats way more than you ever eat. Is some of that *burp* for me?"

"No, the babies want what they want." I sat down and Greg joined me. His shirt rode up as he sat down as the material was straining against his bloated form. He looked massive sitting there unwrapping his tacos. We both tucked in and all you could hear were moans and chewing as we both savored each bite.

I tore into my burger as Greg took huge bites out of each taco. He reached down to unbutton his pants when a look of panic ran across his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked through a mouthful of fries.

"My button is... It's gone. I must have popped it just now." He got up to look for it and a loud ripping noise sounded as he bent down to look under the table. He stood up quickly and covered his butt with his hands. I was soaked. I knew his clothes were tight, but here was proof. He pulled his pants down and threw them towards the garbage can.

"Oh well" he said as he sat back down to eat in his underwear. O had finished my burger and fries and was working on my onion rings, slathering them in mayo. It was delicious to me but I could hear a voice in my head thinking this was a weird pregnancy craving. I slurped them down with my milkshake and finished off my soda. Greg had demolished 5 tacos but slowed down significantly, half of his drink gone. He sat back in his chair and rubbed his belly. It was tight as a drum and his shirt had ridden up above his naval. My belly made me go from looking 3 months pregnant to 5 but I wasn't complaining. I rested my hand the top of my belly and watched as Greg explored his roundness. He was dazed and falling into a food coma. I reached over and raised a taco to his mouth.

"No please... Mmf I'm choo fwull" he said biting into the taco.

"Shhhh.... You can finish these big boy. I know you can." I said and forced another bite into his mouth. I lifted his horchata to his lips and he took a few sips before gulping down his mouthful. "That's it piggy. Just 5 more to go and then we can go lay out on the couch."

Greg nodded and accepted another bite as I slowly fed him his remaining tacos. He chewed slowly, like a cow with cud, and moaned softly as he rubbed his belly. He coaxed out a burp as he finished off his last taco.

"I don't think *urp* I can mmf-- I can get *BURP* up"

I cooed at him and rubbed his belly before helping him over to the couch. He collapsed onto it and sprawled out like a beached whale. I sat and began massaging his belly. He burped a few more times before he dozed off and snored softly. His bloated form was a huge difference from the man I married and I was ecstatic. I forgot how much I loved doing this but knew that now I had two more excuses to blow him up.