The next morning, Justin wakes up early and puts on his sweats. He heads for the studio to finish the painting he had started last night. Figuring that Brian will need as much sleep as he can get this morning, he tiptoes out of the room. Unbeknownst to Justin, Brian is already awake. “Don’t go Justin. Let’s bathe together.”

“Brian, I thought you were sleeping.”

“Guess again.” They both laughed.

“Okay.” Justin slipped his sweats off. He then wheeled the chair over to Brian and put a pillow on the seat so that Brian’s sweaty flesh wouldn’t stick to it. Then they got into their huge bathroom. The bath had a contraption that would swing him into the bath water and lower him in. Now ensconced in the bath, Justin added some oils to the water. Then he got in as well. He sat down on Brian’s legs facing him so that they could kiss. They kissed as Brian washed Justin’s back and then Justin reciprocated.

As they continued to kiss and wash each other, Justin asked, “Are you excited about today?”

“I was excited and nervous about last night. Today, I feel more anticipation of the pictures and hearing the heartbeat. It is truly a miracle to hear a baby’s heartbeat.” Brian’s eyes took on a faraway look which caused Justin to smile. He felt the same. They continued to kiss. Brian’s hand went to Justin’s appendage and he gripped it with a soapy hand. He moved along the shaft with expertise. Justin was moaning with his head tossed back. He loved Brian’s hand on him, in him, anyway he could get him. Stimulating him to hardness, Justin went for the ride. It seems that Brian still had that amorous spirit. Brian stopped stroking Justin and Justin sighed. Brian lifted Justin up and then Justin knew what Brian had in mind. He slipped down taking in Brian’s shaft as he set about riding Brian. He knew Brian couldn’t help him this way but Brian needed it. Justin happily took care of his man, thrusting up and down forcing the shaft to slide in and out of him, gripping it at all times and eliciting sounds from Brian with each thrust down upon him. It didn’t take long for them to get to the point of climax. Brian gripped Justin’s dick in his hand and his thumb swiped across the slit and that was all the encouragement Justin needed. He came with a force that took Brian with him. The little escapade had started the day out right. What could go wrong now? Each thought. Justin finished washing off and got out of the bath to start up the lift. Brian gripped on as he was lifted up and out of the tub. Justin dried Brian off before he was deposited in his chair again. Next, they dressed casually. They were not going into the office today.

Marie was ready for them. Breakfast was hot and full of various nutrients. Eggs, bacon, sausage, strawberry pancakes, orange and guava juice, with added strawberries and whip cream on the pancakes. The two boys were hungry. She loved watching Brian devour food. It had taken the accident to get him to eat a more varied diet. At firs,t that had been nearly an impossible task to get Brian to change his dietary rules but then Daphne told him if he wanted to heal he would need all the foods in a balanced amount. It had worked. Brian found he was able to get back to his original weight but then he no longer gained weight. He stayed steady so he continued to eat Marie’s cooking. Besides, it was great food.

“Seems you never got to paint this morning. It is almost time to head over to Daphne’s.”

“I know. I have all day.”

“Not if I can help it.” Brian winked.

Cynthia was already there waiting for them. She had spent the time talking to Daphne. She was already in a hospital gown for the test.

“About time. Let’s get this test done. I want to hear the heartbeat.”

Daphne strapped her to the fetal heart monitor and then she put lotion on her belly. She moved the tool around her belly. They saw two heads, two bodies, twins. The heartbeat for one was the fast thumpa, thumpa of a baby’s heartbeat. It sounded perfect. Moving the monitor over, they heard another sound. It was thumpapa, thumpapa, thumpapa. Daphne’s face went serious. She checked the equipment. The one baby was fine but the other sounded like an extra beat or an echo. This was not a good sign. Did the child have an irregular heart? Daphne knew more tests were in order. This was supposed to be a joyous day. She printed out several pics for the three parents. She made herself one.

“I honestly am not sure what is wrong. I would like to take some more tests. Other than the heart sound, everything seems okay. Do you want to know the sex?”

“No, we would rather not.”

“Maybe it is the equipment though it isn’t doing it for both babies. I would like to have you see a specialist.” Cynthia had rubbed off the lube and Cynthia was getting into her dress.

“We will pay for whatever is needed. Will the baby survive?”

“First we have to find out what is wrong. Please give me a chance to figure it out. The two babies each have two arms and two legs. There doesn’t seem to be any other abnormalities. The heads are perfect size.”

“Cynthia, don’t worry. We are in this together” Brian said in a soothing voice. He could see Cynthia was barely holding it together. “We will go to the specialist together. We will find out what is wrong together.” Brian kept emphasizing the word together so Cynthia would realize she wasn’t alone in this. Daphne called Dr. Tom Flint and talked him into seeing Cynthia today. He had just had a cancellation right before she called.

“Dr. Flint will see you in an hour. I was lucky. He just had a cancellation. This is the address. I suggest you get there as soon as possible.”

Justin looked at the address and knew it would take a while to drive there. “Brian, I will bring the van around. Just wait here with Cynthia. Daphne, are you coming with us?”

“I have another patient in fifteen minutes. I will try and be there before Cynthia goes in.”

“Okay.” Justin left to get the van.

Brian put Cynthia on his lap and held her and let her cry. “We will get through this.” He wiped her tears with a handkerchief that he had. His heart was also breaking but he stayed strong for Cynthia. He hoped it wasn’t a major problem. He would fall apart later. He also was worried about Justin. Justin showed his emotions. He hoped that he was numb right now and that the news hadn’t hit him completely.

Justin drove up at that moment. Brian’s hopes were dashed. Justin’s eyes were red. He had been crying. At least he was allowing his feelings out. All the more reason to hold back on his own feelings. They needed his strength.

They made it there in plenty of time. Time enough to fill out the paperwork and still wait for Daphne. Daphne arrived just as Cynthia was being called into the doctor. They all got up to go with Cynthia.

Nurse Pammie spoke. “Only the patient goes into the examining room.”

“Excuse me, Pammie but I am her doctor and I believe we are all going in.”

“No buts. We. Are. All. Coming. With. Cynthia.” Daphne emphasized each word. She was not backing down.

“Okay, you can go in, but the men should stay out.”

Brian spoke up. “Do you keep the father of the babies out?”

“Well, no we don’t.”

“Then we all go. Justin and I are the fathers of her babies.”

“But…but how?”

“Do I have to give you a lesson on how babies are made?” Brian gave her his smirk. She dutifully blushed.

Pammie knew she was losing. She sighed as she ushered them all in. Daphne helped Cynthia into a gown. Cynthia was trembling from fear.

“Calm down Cynthia. We will know something shortly. I am here to help you understand any medical jargon he throws at you. He said he will be doing the ultrasound and fetal monitor again. He needs to know what is going on. He is very thorough.” Cynthia nodded. She feared she would cry again if she opened her mouth. She was trying to calm down. Brian had rolled over to her and was rubbing her hand in circles like he so often did for Justin. He could tell that it was having the needed effect.

“Hi. I am Dr. Flint. Hear you gave Pammie a hard time. I told her that I expected all of you.”

“Thank you doctor.” Brian said graciously.

“Well, I have seen many relationships but I think you take the prize. Daphne filled me in on the facts. Now let’s see if I can alleviate any of your fears. I am glad I could see you so quickly. Anything for Daphne and her friends.”

“Thank you.” Justin spoke.

“We chorus that.” Daphne and the others said in unison. Dr. Flint laughed.

“Now let’s get down to business. “Cynthia, I hear you had a scare this morning. Let’s see what the problem is, if there is a problem at all. Lie down. Cynthia got herself comfortable. The doctor immediately attached the fetal monitor. He moved it over her womb. Again they heard the perfect thumpa-thumpa of the one baby. “This one sounds perfect. He moved it around again to find the other baby. Again they had thumpapa-thumpapa.

“I see what has you alarmed Daphne. Let’s take an ultrasound again.” The babies had moved since earlier. They were both facing forward but as they moved inside the womb, Dr. Flint saw something different. He had looked at Daphne’s picture of the babies and now he was looking at something different. The one baby looked perfect but the other seemed to be sporting four legs, two of which were turned the other way. Could it be? Could the echo be another baby whose heartbeat was in tune with the other?

“Daphne, look at this.” Daphne looked and gasped. It certainly did look like another baby was there. Her gasp alarmed the boys and Cynthia.

“Brian, Cynthia, Justin, look at the picture. The baby I was concerned with now has four legs. I think the baby is okay. We have a third baby cooking in the oven. The heartbeats seem to be in near sync with each other. The other baby is behind the second one perfectly so that we didn’t see it earlier.”

They all heaved a sigh of relief. Dr. Flint printed a picture for each of them. As the doctor was about to disconnect the ultrasound, the babies moved again. The doctor face changed as he glimpsed for the last time at the picture. Now it became clear. The two babies were conjoined. They moved as one.

“Ah, Daphne, we have a problem after all. The seriousness of Dr. Tom’s face brought concern to the others. What was wrong now? They all thought.

“Daphne looked at the babies and gasped. Sure enough they were conjoined. The question was how badly. They still couldn’t see where they were joined.

“Daphne turned to her friends. “The good news is that there are three babies, and the bad news is two are conjoined. We will have to watch carefully and see how badly they are conjoined. This is a little more than I can handle. I will go to all your appointments with Dr. Flint but he is the expert with these complications. Cynthia, this means that we will have to do a c-section on you. No way will you be able to bring two babies out at the same time. I’m sorry.” Daphne said the last with tears in her eyes.” Cynthia had so much wanted healthy babies and now this.

Brian was the first to come out of the daze they were feeling. Why hadn’t the eggs completely separated? He thought. “Cynthia, we will get the best help we can. You will have whatever you need.”

“I know. I will be the first in my family with triplets. But why?”

“That is the age old question Cyn. You have the family there to help you. You are not alone.”

“You sound like a broken record.”

“Yeah, I know, but you need to hear it. You have back up.”

“Since you are here, why don’t we do an amniocentesis as well?”

“The needle is long.” Cynthia rasped out with wide eyes.

“I know. Let me give you a local so that it won’t hurt as much. I will also need to take blood.”

“Tom. I just did a full blood workup this week. I can send you the results.”

“Could you send me everything?”

“Actually, I have my file in the car. I forgot it trying to get here in time. You can have one of your staff make copies.”

“Sounds good. Then we will be on the same page.”

“I will want copies of all your files as well for each visit.”

Dr. Tom agreed. “I will have to see you more often than usual at this point in your pregnancy because of this complication.” He printed out pictures of the three babies for each. “ Make an appointment for next week. We will keep a close eye on your babies. Things will work out.”

“Don’t promise what you can’t be certain of doctor. We don’t know how they are conjoined. I know that sometimes a baby may die to save the other. So don’t give us promises that you may not be able to keep. I only expect honesty and forthrightness.”

“Okay Brian, if that is what you want.”

“Yes it is. I don’t believe in platitudes.”

Daphne was helping Cynthia dress behind a dressing screen. In a low voice she said soothingly, “We will talk more when we get back to the mansion. I will explain some things to the three of you.

Brian is right. Sometimes, one has to be sacrificed to save the other and sometimes, they both can be separated successfully. We can’t or shouldn’t think about that until we know more.”

“Daph, isn’t it true that most of the time some organ is involved that can cause problems? I watched the discovery channel.”

“Let’s just go home and then get a handle on all we learned today.”

“Okay.”

The doctor had left the room to take care of another patient. Brian smiled at Cynthia and Daphne. “Ready to go home and eat something. Marie has a spread ready for lunch.”

“I am not sure if I can eat right now.” Cynthia replied.

“You need to eat. You are eating for four now.” Brian interjected.

“Four!” It just registered. “I am going to get so fat.”

“No! You are going to be more beautiful than ever.” Brian assured his friend. “We have to tell the others what is happening. You might have to go on leave sooner than we planned. We will play it by ear.”

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