At the time, she still thought there was
only one baby.
I wanted to be angry.
I wanted to ask why this had happened so soon.
But then I looked at my daughter and realized that what she needed most at that moment was my support.
So I hugged her.
Then I hugged Nathan.
And I tried to accept the new life waiting for all of us.
But Rose wasn’t finished.
She smiled nervously and said:
“There’s one more thing.”
She held out her left hand.
There was a ring on her finger.
“Nathan proposed to me. I said yes.”
For the first time since hearing about the pregnancy, I allowed myself to think that maybe everything really would be okay.
Then, a short time later, Rose had an ultrasound appointment.
I went with her because Nathan had to work.
I remember sitting beside her, nervous but excited, when the doctor looked at the screen and smiled.
“Well,”
she said, “it looks like you’re going to need two of everything.”
Rose stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
The doctor smiled again.
“Twins.”
Rose immediately covered her mouth with both hands.
I started crying.
Not because I was sad.
Because suddenly everything felt twice as real.
Two babies.
Two cribs.
Two tiny lives.
Two grandchildren.
When Nathan found out, he was shocked for a few seconds.
Then he laughed, hugged Rose and said:
“I guess I need to work twice as hard now.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Because he did exactly that.
I let them live in my house.
I gave them one of the spare rooms for the babies.
We chose paint together.
We bought two small cribs.
We started collecting tiny clothes in pairs.
Sometimes I would stand in the nursery doorway at night and imagine myself holding one grandchild in each arm.
Rose seemed
happy.
Nathan began working longer hours.
And for the first time in a long time, I thought:
“Maybe everything is falling into place.”
But now I know that peace existed only on the surface.
A few weeks later, something happened that made me question everything I thought I knew.
That day, I left work earlier than usual.
On the way home, I stopped at a store.
I bought diapers, two little blankets, some baby clothes, and two tiny stuffed toys because I couldn’t bring myself to buy one without the other.
