He asked me all the normal doctor questions. I just wanted this to be over so I could go home. I just wanted him to give me a prescription and make me feel better. While I was thinking about what I was going to watch on TV as I laid in bed and recuperated from the bug, Dr. Hudson grabbed my knee and asked the question that made me get really nauseous again. “When was your last menstrual cycle, Loralei?”
Oh my god! I hadn’t even realized it. I had been so upset over what happened to Declan I hadn’t even thought about myself.
My mouth was so dry. I could barely get out a response, but I finally said, “I’m not really sure.”
Then Dr. Hudson asked a question that made me even sicker. “Is it possible? I mean, is there any way you could be pregnant, Loralei?”
Oh my god! At that point my mom was looking at me with tears in her eyes. I think she already knew what I was trying so hard not to answer.
After what seemed like forever, I responded, “Yes, I could be.”
When we had sex, Declan and I hadn’t used protection. Everyone told me you couldn’t get pregnant the first time, and I was so naïve, I believed them. So, after a simple blood test Dr. Hudson informed me that I was pregnant. He guessed my due date would be around the end of March. That would be about right.
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“Mom!” Mags screamed at me from across the field.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?”
“Sammy hit me and then he hid my iPod!”
“Sammy!” I screamed. “Give your sister back her iPod right now!”
“But, mom, she bit me.”
“LIAR! I nipped you. I didn’t bite you. You little wuss.”
“Don’t talk to your brother like that, Mags.” Oh my goodness, these kids were going to be the death of me, but I really didn’t know what I would do without them. I had fulfilled my destiny, well almost. It had been done just a little out of order though.
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I had my babies on March first, exactly eight months to the day of the accident. They were preemies, and they were so tiny. Margaret (Mags) Louise Sharp weighed 3 pounds and 9 ounces, and her brother Declan Samuel Sharp Jr. (Sammy) weighed in at a whopping 4 pounds 8 ounces.
Mags was born with blonde hair like me, and Sammy had black hair like Declan, but both babies got Declan’s amazing blue eyes. My dad told me at the hospital right after they were born, “I know I’m prejudiced, but those are the most beautiful babies I’ve ever seen.”
“Well, Gramps, I would have to agree with you. My babies are the most beautiful babies ever born!” They really were the most beautiful little creatures. I couldn’t believe Declan and I had made these two little perfect pieces of us.
Sammy looked just like Declan. Mags had his eyes, but she looked more like me. Sammy was a little Declan. He was a mischievous little brat, but he was my brat.
I graduated high school in May, a year early but my mom had homeschooled me all through the pregnancy, and I was ready to be done with that part of my life. I was a new mom of twins, and I just needed to be done with school, so I worked my butt off and got it done. My parents decided I should just spend time with the babies for the first year.
I continued to live with my mom and dad, and my babies made everything better. After I lost Declan, I could hardly get out of bed, but once the twins came and I saw those crystal blue mischievous eyes looking back at me, I just melted. They were ours. We made them. And now I would always have a part of Declan with me.
I had been managing the family farm since I was eighteen years old. When my dad told me I was ready, I didn’t believe him, but apparently he was right. The farm had always made a living for our family, but once I took over we bought a couple of the surrounding farms and started to really do well for ourselves.
The twins and I moved into one of the old farmhouses we bought when we added on to the farm. It was a big two story white farmhouse with a porch that wrapped all the way around it. My dad and Uncle Max helped me remodel it, and now it is the home I always dreamed of having. The kids had plenty of space to run and play, and they definitely made good use of the over 20,000 acres we owned. Grandpa Max had built a huge playhouse in our backyard with a castle on one side for Mags and a fort on the other for Sammy.
Grandpa Max and Granny Louise loved the twins so much. I had caught Granny Louise crying while watching Sammy play on more than one occasion. It was such a blessing to have them so close to us. The kids got to spend a ton of time with them, and I think that really helped them not miss Declan so much. The twins were that last remaining piece of their son, and they couldn’t have loved them anymore than they did. My kids were blessed with two amazing sets of grandparents.
Mags was a little shy and quiet around strangers, but I thought she would come into herself soon. Sammy was already a star basketball player, and he was only nine years old. He had played since pre-school and he was a natural, just like his dad.
Emma and Eric had been great friends to me. Eric had taken on so many of the duties that a father would normally handle. He helped me teach the kids how to ride a bike, he taught Sammy how to play basketball,
