Yes! Told You!

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Royal Free London- Private Patients Unit

12 weeks...

Passing the wand over her jellied up belly, Roberta focused on the screen, looking for the baby.

Alexandra, worried and nervous that something was probably wrong with the baby, felt her hands go clammy with sweat. She gripped the sheets laid out on the bed under her to steady her frayed nerves.

Melissa's comforting hand landed on her shoulder, and Lexi turned to see her smiling. In fact, she looked thoroughly amused. "Relax," she whispered. "It's going to be fine."

Alexandra paused for a beat, contemplating whether to be angry Melissa found her nervousness funny, or seek comfort in the smile she was offering. In the end, she took hold of Melissa's hand on her shoulder for strength.

Expelling a deep breath, she turned to the screen in time to hear Roberta mutter a surprised 'oh' under her breath.

"Mrs. Robinson?" Roberta called out quietly, eyes still glued to the screen as she turned it towards them.

"Yes?" she responded in croaky voice as panic began to set in. Was something wrong?

Roberta pointed to a blob on the screen with her free hand. "See that?"

"Yeah," she replied nervously, making eye contact with Melissa for a split second before turning back to the screen. She squeezed the hand she had borrowed from Melissa tighter than before.

"That's a baby."

Alexandra released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and allowed a smile to take over her lips, brightening her previously glum expression.

But Roberta wasn't done. She pointed to another blob next to the first one.

"See that too?"

"Yeah..." she murmured cautiously.

"That's also a baby," Roberta announced cheerfully.

Alexandra felt her heart stop. What? "Wait. Back up," she cut in, suddenly sweaty. "Are you saying that I have... that I'm..." Her voice broke. "Good God!"

"Yes!" Melissa exclaimed with excitement. "Twins; two babies. No wonder mama's been stressed out." Then she looked at Alexandra, wriggling her brows as she crossed her arms over her small bust.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Lexi grumbled.

"Say it."

"What are you even talking about?" She truly didn't know what Melissa was talking about. Her thoughts were racing at a million thoughts per minute; thoughts she was too stunned to put into words.

"I told you you were pregnant with twins."

Alexandra cracked a smile, realizing what Melissa had been waiting for. "Technically, I never said I was not pregnant with two. I just said nothing of that sort has been confirmed."

"Yeah right. But it has been. Right now," Melissa said, moving her hands to her hips and tapping her foot against the floor impatiently.

Surrendering to the inevitable, Lexi sighed. "Fine. You told me so."

"Damn right I did!" Melissa whooped with joy, while Lexi turned to the very amused doctor and shrugged. "I should've bet on this. I'm sure I would've made me some cash."

Exasperated, Lexi turned to her with every intention of shutting her up. But Melissa was so happy she was about to be an aunt to two that she couldn't. Instead, she said, "Rein it in for the moment. We're not done yet."

"Fine."

Roberta measured the first blob - baby, on screen. "This one is about 2.5 inches," then did same to the other, saying, "and the second is 2.4 inches."

"Wow," was all Alexandra could murmur, wiping the happy tear that had fallen down her cheek, her eyes locked on her babies. Trey's babies. She was so amazed at the two more babies she and Trey had created - so much that she couldn't be angry at him at the moment for all he had put her through; for the way he had dragged her name through mud.

Her eyes still fixed on the screen, she noticed a little movement by one of her babies - a barely there movement that the others probably missed - and it brought more tears to her eyes. "It's wonderful, isn't it?" Roberta murmured quietly with a smile, making it clear that she wasn't the only one who'd noticed the movement.

Alexandra could only nod; there was no way she could get words around the emotion clogged around her throat. "As you probably already know, you're 12 weeks pregnant. And as of now, they're the size of a lime."

"A lime," Alexandra echoed. Melissa chuckled at how much surprise was packed in that one word.

"Yes," Roberta confirmed. "At this point, their fingers and toes aren't webbed anymore; they'll be more developed - ten, ten. Their kidneys are working now, and their reflexes are developing as well."

"Wow."

"That's all you're going to say?" Melissa asked, aghast at Lexi's lack of reaction.

"I'm dealing with shock here - in case you don't know what it is," Alexandra sassed.

"You sassy," Melissa said, tsking.

Alexandra stuck her tongue out at her and turned to Roberta. "So 12 weeks..." she trailed off, and Roberta nodded, waiting for the question she knew was coming. "Can I feel them, you know, moving?"

Roberta smiled at her to make her more comfortable. "Though at this time the foetus is fully formed - their major organs, muscles, limbs and bones are all in place - what is left is for them to grow in size and continue developing. So, though they'll be moving a bit, it's too early for you to feel them."

"Oh, I see," Lexi said, looking fondly at her babies on the screen. "So, what are they doing then?"

Roberta manipulated a few keys that zoomed the screen in on the twins. Alexandra could see them wriggling. "They're opening and closing their fingers and curling their toes. Testing out new developments on their tiny little bodies."

"Aww," Melissa cooed, wiping a tear from her cheek. Lexi blinked in surprise at that, then turned when Roberta continued to explain.

"If you poke your belly while looking at them on the screen, you'll most likely see movement. Do you want to try?" Roberta asked warmly, her ever-present smile warming Lexi.

"Yeah... but you do the poking. I don't know what's safe and what isn't."

"That's fine." Roberta poked firmly, but not too hard to hurt, and yes, the babies wriggled - probably trying to get comfortable. A huge smile broke out on her face. "As I said earlier, their reflexes are developing."

"That's crazy," Lexi said in amazement, "and they're so tiny."

Roberta chuckled while Melissa sniffled, trying to keep her tears at bay. "Tiny or not, they're amazing. My idiot of a brother has no idea what he's missing by letting you go. I think I've fallen in love with them already."

"Yeah?" Alexandra said with an amused smile, ignoring the part about Trey letting them go. If she thought too much about it, she would probably break down, and all the bottled up emotions will come spilling.

"Definitely," she confirmed, wiping the tears that had spilled. It amused Lexi to no end because she was crying even more than the one carrying the babies, but she decided not to mention that lest she get called a bad mother.

Roberta smiled, feeling just how strong their friendship was. And now, Melissa was going to be an aunt to her best friend's babies. That deserved tears of joy. "What are your symptoms like?" she asked Lexi.

"The usual - morning sickness which is easing up a bit. I always felt like it was too much because in my previous pregnancies, I didn't have it that bad." Melissa squeezed her hand; proud she was able to talk of the lost pregnancies as they were - things of the past.

"It can be very stressful, especially when you're carrying twins," Roberta said with a smile so infectious Lexi smiled back. "Twins mean double the joy, but also double the symptoms." When Alexandra groaned, she added, "But, in the end, it'll all be worth it."

"I sure hope so." She and Melissa both knew she wasn't referring to the babies being worth it; she knew just how precious babies were. She was hoping she'll be able to carry them to term this time and hold them in her arms.

"But is that all?"

"There was a bit of spotting, but the doctor who last checked me told me it was normal for pregnancies, and that it fine since the coloring was pink," she replied, shifting a bit to get comfortable.

"That's good. You'll have to give me a way to contact the last doctor who checked on you - I hope you don't mind - because I'll need to access all your previous medical files so I can take proper care of you and the babies. We're trying to make sure none of what happened in the previous pregnancies occur again," she finished with a smile.

Alexandra smiled genuinely, not bothering to question how she knew of her past miscarriages. "Thank you. I appreciate that a lot."

"It's my pleasure," Roberta replied, returning the smile. "Would you like to listen to their heartbeats?"

"Yes," Melissa replied eagerly, shrugging innocently when Lexi looked at her questioningly. "I'm excited to hear it. I never got to accompany you on the previous ones so..."

"We'll use a fetal heart doppler as it is less intrusive," Roberta informed, moving to a drawer and bringing out the device. She put some gel on the probe itself and passed it over Lexi's belly, listening for their heartbeats.

In a few seconds, the room was filled which double of fast heartbeats, and Alexandra found herself falling in love with them all over again. "You can keep listening while I go get her the list of vitamins and medications she'll be needing," Roberta told them, passing the doppler to a super excited Melissa.

* * *

After Roberta came with the list of medications, she got Lexi some tissues and finally separated a pouty Melissa from the babies. Sad, Melissa had asked if there was any way she could get one for their personal use.

Her joy when she was told it was possible had been palpable, and she took Roberta's contact information since she had offered to help Melissa get one. In her head, Melissa wanted to be able to listen anytime, but she wanted it so Trey would also be able to hear when he finally got over himself.

They left the hospital through the back, just in case. Alexandra didn't wanted to be plastered all over TV stations and in the tabloids for leaving a hospital. Considering she'd left that night's dinner unpacked and had left the baby onesie on the floor, Trey might put it together.

They got to a pharmacy and got the drugs with only a few people recognizing them. They didn't pay any attention to it till coming out when they were done, only to get harassed by the paparazzi. It was a struggle getting through them - especially without Trey's security team helping.

They kept firing questions at them; some which made them know they hadn't been as stealthy as they thought they had been when going to and leaving the hospital.

'Alexandra over here!'

'We hear you visited the hospital. Are you alright?'

'How do you feel being the first woman to break the heart of world-famous business mogul Trey Robinson?'

'Do you truly not love your husband anymore?'

'Is it true that you're getting divorced?'

'Do you think it's good you lost your previous pregnancies? Because otherwise your children would've been pulled in both directions?'

'Would you still have cheated if you had kids with your husband?'

All the questions were intrusive; questions that made her break down in tears as soon as she was in the safety of their car. She couldn't wait for the truth to come out so she would stop being harassed. Eventually, she did stop crying, but her mood had been dampened. Just looking at the sonogram of her babies made her cry even more.

Two reasons.

First being that the babies reminded her of the one she created them with, the same person who had made it his aim to personally make her miserable because he was miserable as well. The other was that it broke her heart knowing that if this situation wasn't resolved quickly, her babies would suffer ridicule growing up in the spotlight.

She went straight to her room when they got to the house and locked the door, the pictures clutched to her chest while she cried. Melissa stayed out of her way, allowing her to cry. She only came in from time to time with a pack of tissues, and food for her to eat for the babies' sake. At night, they watched a few movies and she felt better than she had years or so.

But then she remembered she'd left clues of her pregnancy all over and resolved she had to go for the rest of her things.

That was for another day, but in the moment, she was content spending some quality time with her best friend - something she hadn't done much of since her first pregnancy.