“Well, shit. I’ll have to think of something.”
“Levi, you don’t have to do that. I was half-kidding.”
I pointed. “Half-kidding being the key word there. Are you gonna invite your brothers down for the big dinner? I would really like a chance to apologize to your brother.”
“I’ll invite them, but they are busy. So, I’m not sure if they’ll make it or not.”
“Let me know if they can. I can fix up two of the rooms in a rush if they want to stay the night or whatever.”
“I’ll call them tomorrow.”
I secretly hoped my brothers would be able to make it. Even if it was for a day or two. I missed them so much. And these babies were gonna need their uncles in their life. The thought caused me to choke up, but I blinked back the tears. It sucked I didn’t have much family to enjoy this experience with. I was looking forward to catching up with Aubrey and Chance because hiding this secret had been excruciating. Even though Chance and Aubrey were Levi’s family, I made Aubrey swear not to tell Levi where I was when I initially left. She kept her word.
But it so happened I ran into Levi at that Halloween party and my heart hadn’t stopped beating furiously when I was around him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
RYLEE
It was time for another checkup with the babies. My doctor was having me come in every two weeks since I was high risk. I was close to being twenty weeks, so I was really showing.
“Let me get the door,” Levi said pulling the door to the doctor’s office open for me. “Go ahead and sit. I’ll check you in,” he told me.
Levi doted on me, and we were already in the process of setting up the nursery for the boys. And lately, we’d been toying with some names. We liked Liam and Tanner so far. But I was afraid to finalize their names until I was able to see them and determine if the names matched them. The theme for the nursery was zoo animals. Levi was even more excited about being a dad. He wanted to raise the boys right.
Moments later, we were called back, and after a few minutes, I got up on the bed and laid down so the doctor could do another ultrasound. She was quiet for a long period of time while looking at the screen and then she sighed.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“It looks like you are having Twin to Twin Syndrome.”
“What is that?” Levi asked, concerned as he held my hand.
“It’s when the twins share one placenta. There’s an imbalance in the blood exchange. One twin gives away more blood than it receives. And this poses a problem. Then the recipient twin receives too much blood, which leads to complications.”
“Can you fix it?” I rushed the words out.
“Let’s do a few more tests and see what the best action is.”
Levi griped my hand with both of his. I couldn’t lose these babies. I couldn’t. I was so scared until the doctor could tell us more.
“Everything is gonna be okay,” Levi reassured me.
“I hope.”
After a few more tests, I was provided with some answers.
“Okay. We’ve looked at everything, and it looks like you are in a severe stage of this.”
I interrupted her. “What does that mean?”
“Your best bet is to have laser surgery to correct the issue. It’s not too invasive so you would stay overnight so we could monitor you, and then if everything is okay, you’ll go home. But please talk about this between you both.”
“Is there another option?” I asked.
“The other option is complete bedrest, and we monitor the progressions of the twins. But personally, at this stage, I would recommend surgery. I can give you a few moments or you can wait and call back with your decision.”
“Give us a few.”
The doctor exited the room, and I sat up to straighten myself. “What do you want to do?” Levi questioned.
“I think she’s right; surgery is best for the survival rate of both babies. I can’t lose these babies. They might be the only ones I can have at this stage in my life.”
“I agree.”
“But we have that dinner planned and everything.”
“Don’t worry about that right now. Let’s tell the doctor our decision and get the surgery scheduled.”
“Okay.”
God, I was so nervous and scared. What if something bad happened? I couldn’t think like that now. My babies needed me.
The doctor came back in, and we explained our decision.
“All right. We will schedule the surgery.” She looked over her calendar. “How’s three days from now?”
“Perfect.”
“Don’t worry, Mama. Everything will be okay,” she reassured me.
I took a deep breath and tried to be calm as one can be, but I was a bit terrified.
“They will give you all the information when you check out. Hang in there. We have an exceptional team of doctors.”
That put me a little at ease.
We checked out, and I got all the paperwork I needed.
“I can’t believe I went in for a regular checkup and I’m walking out, needing surgery.”
“I know. It’s a bump in the road for us. I’ll be there every step, okay?”
“Okay. I love you so much,” I told him, and it felt like it’d had been forever since I told him I loved him.
“I love you so much. We’ll get through this.”
“I know.” And I had to believe that. There was no other choice in the matter.
Levi looked at his phone. “Looks like the pictures came through. Once we get home, we can go through them.”
“Awesome.”
I needed something to take my mind off this surgery.
Once back
