“Don’t play,” he warned. “I can’t take jokes like that.”
I smiled wide as tears began to splash onto my cheeks.
“I’m not playin’. We’re havin’ twins. Look.”
Sally pointed Baby A and Baby B out to us both, and before we knew it, the whole room was crying. Even Ash was discreetly rubbing at his eyes and calling us all crybabies, which made us laugh.
“I don’t know how it was missed at your twelve-week scan, Branna,” Sally said, dabbing her cheeks with a hanky.
“It was a brief scan with Taylor,” I said, feeling like I was floating. “And from what was pointed out to me, it did look like just one baby.”
“Maybe one twin was hiding behind the other,” Ash suggested. “That’s happened two other times this year when the mother’s had early scans.”
“Will they be like my brothers?” Ryder asked me.
“No, because your brothers are technically fraternal twins.”
Ryder blinked. “No, they’re identical.”
“They have different hair colour,” I said flatly. “Identical twins would have the same melanin levels, so they can’t have different hair colour.”
My husband frowned. “Branna, apart from their hair, they are the same. They literally have the same face.”
“I know that,” I assured him. “To the world they are identical, but in medical terms, they’d be classed as fraternal twins based on their hair colour alone.”
“How can they looked the exact same if they aren’t identical?” he questioned, unconvinced. “They don’t just look similar; they have the same everything just not the same hair.”
“They are just one of nature’s loopholes, I guess. They are the exact same but with different hair colour. I’m just sayin’ that accordin’ to science, they’d be classed as fraternal.”
Ryder whistled. “Never tell them that; they think they’re identical.”
“I won’t say a word.” I chuckled as I looked at the screen then at Sally. “I’m confident our babies are identical, but can you confirm it?”
Sally nodded. “They’re identical, honey.”
“How can you tell?” Ryder questioned as he took the seat next to the bed I was lying on and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly.
“Fraternal twins are like any other siblings; the only difference is they share a womb. Identical twins come from the same egg thus share the same DNA pattern. There is no membrane dividin’ your twins, and they’re sharin’ a placenta meanin’ they come from the same egg that has split,” Sally explained. “I’ve seen scans like this hundreds of times over the years, and this one is textbook for identical twins.”
Ryder exhaled a deep breath. “Can you tell their gender?”
“I can.” Sally hesitated as she glanced between us. “Branna is sixteen weeks and four days along, and they’re both in the perfect position for gender to be determined and confirmed. Would you like to know?”
I had planned not to find out, but that was before I found out we were having bloody twins.
“I want to,” I admitted to Ryder. “Do you?”
He quickly nodded, making me laugh as I looked at Sally. “We’d like to know, please, Sal.”
“You’re havin’ identical twin boys.” She beamed with a clap of her hands. “Congratulations.”
“Boys,” I whispered.
“It really is Dominic and Damien all over again,” Ryder replied, his grip on my hand tightening.
“Bollocks,” I spluttered.
My husband laughed. “You can say that again.”
“Bollocks,” I repeated, and laughed when Ryder laughed harder.
Sally and Ash left the room without us even noticing because we were so wrapped up in one another and the news we were having twins. Identical twins.
“Oh, God,” I managed to say through the happy tears that flowed. “I’m goin’ to get huge.”
Ryder laughed and hugged me to him. “I can’t believe this, Sweetness. Twin boys.”
I couldn’t wrap my head around it either.
“Two kids down,” I said offhandedly. “Three to go.”
Ryder laughed again and squeezed me so tight it almost hurt.
“I swear I will take care of all three of you,” he vowed when he pulled back and stared at me. “I never thought I’d have this life.”
“Me either. We’ve hit the jackpot.”
He kissed me, and then kissed my stomach. For an hour, we talked, still in shock, but kept crying and laughing when we were overcome with happiness. Sally and Ash popped in every so often to check on me, and they even took some blood to run tests once I mentioned how laboured my breathing had been over the last few weeks along with my tiredness. Once the babies woke up and started moving about, my heart relaxed.
Both my and Ryder’s attention was turned to the door when it opened not long after Sally went on her break.
“Dr Harris.” I smiled. “Great to see you.”
“Branna.” He smiled warmly then shook Ryder’s hand. “Ryder.”
“How are you?” I asked after he gave me a hug.
“I’m great,” he said, but frowned at me. “You aren’t doing so hot, though.”
I winced and looked at the chart in his hand.
“You got my bloodwork back already?”