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“It’s called a superfetation pregnancy and . . . it’s incredibly rare. If I remember correctly there are less than a dozen documented cases worldwide. Although it’s possible it occurs more frequently in multiple pregnancies and just goes under the radar as a normal pregnancy.” The doctor had Googled - actually Googled - the term and was reading to her from the results. She’d been as shocked as Olivia had been to see two two embryos on the monitor where a mere two weeks ago there had only been one.
“Basically you became pregnant while . . . pregnant. We know that two weeks ago you were pregnant with only the one embryo. Since then you must have gone through another cycle in your menstruation and became pregnant again . . . I’m not an OB/GYN but I think -”
As the doctor babbled on, all sound became static. She wasn’t listening to the doctor. She wasn’t listening to anything. All she could do was look at the two amniotic sacs on the ultrasound machine.
That was Ed’s baby. The larger of the two had to be Ed’s baby. She’d known about her (and in her heart she knew it was a girl) for two weeks. It was the new baby that had her stunned silent. Because that one was Elliot’s. It had to be Elliot’s.
What the hell had she gotten herself into?
Four Weeks Earlier
“We’ll always have Paris,” Ed said with a little squint before his expression morphed to a tender smile. “You know I’ve always wanted to say that.” The breeze on the pier picked up and Olivia shivered even under her many layers of clothes. Despite the cold the sun still shone through the clouds and what did that say about her own emotions? There was a place in her heart that the sun could not reach. A piece of her soul that only Ed had ever touched.
She wanted to say more. She wanted to tell him she loved him. She wanted to tell him she wished she’d taken a chance with him. She wished he was her husband and not some other woman’s. There were regrets in her heart that could never be undone. Ed had moved on. He’d once held his hand out to her, asking her to share his life and she’d let fear run him off. Now he stood in front of her, lost to her in two ways. To another woman and to the spectre of death. Even if one could be undone it did not erase the other. It was twin pain in her heart. Did she regret that she was not allowed to love him or did she regret that she was about to lose him for the second time?
Instead of giving voice to those thoughts she pulled him into a hug and held on for dear life. It wasn’t enough. Goodbye wasn’t enough for her. Ed had six months, maybe a year left to live. It wasn’t enough.
If it were possible to hold onto a single moment then she would choose this one. For all the pain and destruction this moment was causing her she would still choose the warmth of his arms that cut through to her heart. She would choose the pain of this instant than the wreckage that would come when he said goodbye for the last time.
When he began to pull away Olivia only held onto him tighter. “Stay,” she whispered and she felt him relax his body against hers again. He let her hold him as long as she wanted. She wept onto his shoulder and didn’t care who in the park saw her. They didn’t know how much heartbreak she was going through.
“Come with me, Ed,” she whispered into his ear. “Come home with me.” She pulled away enough to look at his face. His expression wasn’t one of shock or disapproval like she might have expected. Ed was nothing if not upstanding. And she knew he hated cheating.
But his expression was soft and sad and full of love. “Are you sure?” he asked as he reached up and stroked some strands of hair away from her face. Her whole body leaned into the feel of his touch. “Is that the kind of goodbye you want?”
Fresh tears appeared in her eyes. She didn’t answer him with words but leaned in and kissed his mouth. He didn’t pull away. He wrapped an arm around her and cupped her face. And he gave in to her kisses. Their lips met and it was soft and sweet and she poured all her love and the passion she held for him into it.
“Come home with me,” she repeated, almost begging him for this one last moment of love shared.
“Yes.”
It wasn’t forever, but she would take what he could give her.