Pesh leaned forward expectantly as Megan opened her mouth. They were interrupted by the sound of Emma’s voice. “Oh thank God. I’m so glad you two are on .”
Her anxious tone was the only thing that could have torn Pesh’s attention away from Megan. He glanced from Emma to Aidan, who was grimacing and rubbing his head. “What happened?”
Emma replied, “He fell and hit his head,” at the same time Aidan grunted, “Nothing.”
Megan stepped forward and went over to Aidan. She gasped as she surveyed him. “Ankle, your pupils are huge!”
Pesh took his penlight out of his coat pocket and went to Aidan. As he flashed the light into Aidan’s eyes, he grimaced. “Yeah, they are. What exactly happened?” He made sure to direct his question to Emma since she appeared to be the only one being honest.
“We were at my OB’s for our first ultrasound.”
Pesh’s eyes widened. “Ultrasound…you’re pregnant?”
“Again?” Megan questioned by his side.
The concern for Aidan on Emma’s face washed away and was replaced with a beaming smile. “Yes, I’m eight weeks.”
“Why didn’t you say something at dinner Sunday?” Megan asked.
“Well, I only found out two weeks ago, and we wanted to wait to tell everyone until we had the first ultrasound.”
Megan’s blonde brows creased. “So what does the ultrasound have to do with Ankle hitting his head?”
Emma pursed her lips and cut her gaze over to Aidan. “Would you like to tell them?” When he shook his head and then winced, Emma sighed. “When they hooked me up to the fetal monitor, they thought they heard two heartbeats. At the word ‘twins’, Aidan passed out and hit his head on the counter and the floor.”
While Pesh quickly turned a laugh into a cough, Megan wasn’t so tactful. She burst out laughing. “You seriously passed out during the ultrasound?”
Aidan scowled at her. “In my defense, it wasn’t quite the ultrasound yet.” At Megan’s continued laughter, he shrugged. “It was pretty mind-blowing news.”
“Oh Ankle, honestly.”
Aidan turned to Pesh. “So am I going to stand around all day getting shit, or are you going to examine me?”
Pesh nodded. “Of course. Your pupils are definitely a matter of concern.”
Glancing at Emma, Aidan said, “Just wait for me here.”
“Okay.”
Pesh motioned for Aidan to go into the first examining room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Aidan lunged for him, grabbing the lapels of his white coat. “I need a vasectomy. Today.”
Pesh fought the urge to laugh at the absurdity of the situation as well as Aidan’s desperation. “Okay, let’s get you to sit down. You’ve obviously been through a lot of trauma in the last hour.”
Aidan plopped onto the examining table. He buried his head in his hands and groaned. “What a f**king nightmare of a day.”
“Does your head hurt?” Pesh asked.
“A little.”
“Any nausea?”
“Maybe.”
Pesh furrowed his brows. “What do you mean, maybe?”
Aidan raised his head. “If you’re asking if I’m nauseated now, the answer would be no. I’m not. But on the other hand, if you’re asking if I get nauseous thinking about the fact that Emma could have been pregnant with twins, and I would have had three kids under two and in diapers…” Aidan shuddered. “Then yeah, I get really f**king nauseous, and the room starts to spin a little.”
Easing down on his stool, he rolled over to Aidan. “Take a deep breath for me, okay?” Aidan’s chest expanded as he inhaled and exhaled. “Again,” Pesh instructed. After a few cleansing breaths, Pesh cocked his head at Aidan. “Better?”
“Yeah, a little,” Aidan croaked. He jerked his hand through his hair. “Are you going to get me a referral for a vasectomy?”
Pesh held up his hand. “I’m confused. If you know that Emma isn’t having twins, why do you want to have a vasectomy?”
“Because twins run on both sides of our families. Pop was a twin, and Emma’s uncles are twins. It’s like we have a genetic bull’s-eye hovering over us. We can barely be in the same room without conceiving, so it’s just inevitable that she’ll get pregnant again, and then I’ll have four kids…maybe even five.” Aidan swallowed hard as some of the color drained from his face. “I can’t be a baby making machine.”
“Actually, most recent studies still conclude that identical twins can happen to anyone, whereas, fraternal twins are the result of the mother producing two eggs in a single cycle. This tendency to create multiple eggs is passed from mother to child. Given that Emma doesn’t have a non-identical twin, you are fairly safe.”
Aidan tilted his head, his expression one of confusion. “So you’re saying I don’t have to worry about that?”
“Without knowing Emma’s full genetic history, I couldn’t say, but it sounds like a no—at least for fraternal twins.”
After processing Pesh’s words, Aidan shook his head. “Like it really matters about the twins. We’re still way too fertile together. I need to stop this before it gets out of hand.”
“And what does Emma think about all of this?”
A red flush entered Aidan’s cheeks. “Um, well, I haven’t actually mentioned it to her.”
“You don’t think your wife needs to know about such a life-altering decision?”
“Well, of course I’d tell her before I went in for the surgery.”
As Pesh crossed his arms over his chest, he couldn’t help wondering just how hard Aidan had been hit in the head. “You cannot seriously be sitting there saying that.”
Aidan stared at Pesh for a moment before he groaned. “Oh man, I’m being a giant, selfish tool about this, aren’t I?”
Pesh smiled. “Pretty much.”
Aidan rubbed his hand over his eyes. “It’s just…being a father is f**king scary sometimes. I worry about Noah constantly, and now there’s another baby in the mix. Plus, another baby means more time taken away from Emma.” He gave a weak smile. “I love her so much. Sometimes…I just can’t get enough of her, and I don’t want to share.”
“I think that’s a perfectly normal feeling.”