when all is said and done | e.d.

epilogue pt. 6

harper
*january 2*

the cold, jelly like goop on my stomach startles me for a second, and dr. jensen must notice.

"do anything fun for christmas? new years?" she asks, trying to distract me. ethan gives me a calming look.

"y-yeah," i stutter. "we spent christmas eve at my parent's house, and then flew to new jersey to be with ethan's family on christmas day. we got back yesterday."

she moves an object on my stomach, looking closely at the screen displayed in front of us. i can't even make sense of the black and white mess that is the ultrasound.

"how was the weather?" she asks.

i laugh. "cold."

suddenly she stops, perching her glasses lower on her nose to squint at the screen.

"what?" i ask, feeling myself think of the worst. "what's wrong?"

"hang on," she says, taking off her glasses entirely. "do you happen to know if a twin gene runs in either of your families?"

ethan immediately lets his head fall back into a groan, causing me to laugh.

twins?! what?

"a-are you saying we're having twins?" i ask.

she smirks. "that's what it appears to be." she points at the screen. "you see that? there's two fetuses."

i don't see anything, but i pretend i do.

ethan sighs, raising his hand a little. "i'm a twin."

dr. jensen smiles. "seems like you carry that gene, and while it usually passes every other generation, i can definitely be passed on in order."

"what about my twin? will his kids be twins too?"

she shrugs. "unlikely, but possible."

is he disappointed about it? my face forms into a frown, and he just notice, because he reaches out to rub my shoulders.

"i'm very happy there's two of 'em," he says softly, kissing the top of my head. "more to love."

"you said you were planning on having a wedding in early march, right?" dr. jensen asks me.

i nod. we've been nonstop planning ever since we got engaged, trying to work it around my slowly growing bump. there's not much there now, but there will be soon enough.

the thing is... we haven't even told our parents about the kid...s?

only grayson. he's the only one i've allowed ethan to tell, and he promised to keep his mouth shut. but, i guess we'll have to tell him it's not just one baby.

"you should be good for then. usually around that time it's smooth sailing. it's really only the beginning and end of a pregnancy that's the worst."

"oh good," i lean my head back. "i was really nervous that it would cause all sorts of complications."

"it shouldn't," she smiles warmly. "you just won't get the traditional champagne toast."

"i'll bring the sparkling grape juice," ethan chimes in, causing both of us to laugh.

*******

i lay in bed, listening to ethan flip through papers and the scratching of a pen occasionally.

"get this," he lightly taps my side, and i turn to him. "remember the blake i'm always talking about?"

i roll my eyes. "how could i forget?"

"listen to what he wrote in his what is love? essay: love is the thing that makes you want to have sex all the time, and usually the other person is on the same page."

i laugh loudly. "what? what's his deal?"

he chuckles. "i don't know, but i'll give him a 97. he only had a few misspells, and i can tell this came from the heart."

"i like hearing about your students," i whisper up at the ceiling.

"they're amazing," he sighs out happily. "every single one of them. i simply cannot name one single student that i wouldn't take a bullet for."

i raise an eyebrow at the challenge. "what about that one kid that said you had weird hips?"

he looks down at me with a smile. "okay, you just proved me wrong. point for you."

i laugh and let my hand fall down to my stomach. that's been happening a lot recently. i'll lay a hand on my stomach whenever i get the chance, really. some mornings i'll wake up and ethan's arm will be draped over me, hand on my stomach as well.

is it a pregnancy thing? i never really paid attention to that area before.

"can you believe we're having twins?" i whisper.

he turns to me again, and sets down his grading pen. "i'm sorry that you thought i wasn't very happy about it. i am, i was just surprised."

"promise?"

he nods. "i promise. i love being a twin, and i'm glad my kids will have the same experiences."

"so... how do we tell our parents? and wedding planning? that's coming up in the near future. we have the save the date but we still need to figure out food and stuff."

ethan and i decided that we wanted a very relaxed and small wedding, since it's really not the biggest priority for either of us. we almost just need to get it out of the way, quite frankly.

every single venue we looked at was books up until pretty much next year, but samantha talked to her wedding friend, and she squeezed us in at this beautiful hall. my family friend is a professional photographer, so i asked them to take photos.

everything is going very fast, but i'm certain it'll turn out okay.

"relax about that wedding. didn't we already discuss this? everything will turn out fine, we still have time."

"two months, ethan! how are we supposed to plan this in two months?"

"most of it already is planned! i don't understand why you're getting so upset with me right now—" he starts to argue.

"well maybe because i don't want it to be a total disaster! this is our wedding."

"and we have bigger priorities," he shoots back, motioning down to my stomach.

oh. that's right.

"i guess everything will be okay," i frown. "i'm just scared it won't turn out the way i want because we're rushing it."

he sighs, finding my hand under the covers and squeezing it. "hey, if it doesn't work out, we can redo it in thirty years."

i giggle a little. "like those old snoozers that renew their vows?"

"yes. speaking of which: i have mine."

"oddly enough, so do i," i wink.

i have a feeling ours will be the same thing.