“Yes, you got me,” Phillip said.
“Okay, Lucy’s on too. Can you tell her what you told me?”
There was a pause.
“You haven’t said anything?” Phillip said.
“I—couldn’t,” her mom said.
Phillip took a deep breath. It sounded like radio static when he blew it out.
“Well, all right. Hey, Lucy,” he said.
“Uh … hey, Uncle Phillip.”
“I’ll get to the point, kiddo. I ran your blood work,” Phillip continued, “and, honey, uh … you’re pregnant.”
Lucy nearly dropped the phone.
“What do you mean, I’m pregnant?”
“What?” David said, and walked over to her.
His eyes were full of hope.
“I …,” Lucy said.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” her mother said.
David grabbed her phone and pressed speakerphone.
“That’s not possible,” Lucy said at her phone with a hint of anger. “I told you—in confidence, Uncle Phillip”—she glanced at her mother through the window and cringed—“that I had a miscarriage.”
“I know you did,” her uncle said.
Lucy turned away from the window. She didn’t want to see what her mom was feeling.
“Well, I wasn’t lying about it, believe me,” she said.
“I don’t think you were,” Uncle Phillip said.
“Then what are you …”
“You were pregnant with twins.”
Joy and heartache swirled within Lucy. David hugged her and didn’t let go.
“I can’t believe it. I’m gonna be an uncle.” David said with wonder.
Since the first day of school, she’d always been afraid of what was around the corner, but now Lucy could see a future with David stretching out before her and the fear wasn’t there. Still, her mind reeled.
“Uncle Phillip, it doesn’t make sense to me,” Lucy said.
“It’s not that uncommon. A lot of pregnancies start out as twins,” her uncle said. “To put it simply, early in your pregnancy there were two fetuses, and at some point—”
He coughed, and cleared his throat.
“The weaker one died.”