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only one of her duties as a paralegal. With her stomach burgeoning, she also had to change to the Navy maternity uniform and her feet ached from all the walking. In the evenings she came home to her apartment and walked up the stairs to fix herself a meal which was barely eaten in her tiredness. In the midst of all that there was Bryce. When he saw her, he pressed for her to move in before the wedding, which was set for right after the Fourth of July. She signed the prenuptial agreement, wanting it in writing that she didn’t need his money. Isa desired to keep her freedom as long as possible and wasn’t ready to give up the apartment she shared with Tawny.
    But even that was changing because, soon after, Tawny informed her that she’d be moving to Italy for a modeling contract that had been offered to her.  It was a bonus that her new boyfriend from Greece was closer if she moved to Italy. For Isa, everything was happening too fast. She was stressed out from work, Bryce, and the fact that the MOS she took to be closer to her friend—the only one she could call family—was now a moot point.
    She wasn’t adapting to all the changes well, and it was affecting every aspect of her life. It became evident one night when severe cramps woke her from her sleep. The pain lanced through her lower stomach and she pressed her hand against the area where she’d felt the first flutters of life. Isa managed to get up and go to the bathroom where she found that she’d started bleeding.  Oh no, please no , she thought in panic. Isa rushed to Tawny’s room, afraid she was losing the baby. She managed to flick the switch on to flood the room with light before collapsing to the floor.
    Tawny sat up, and when she saw Isa on the floor, she rushed over.
    “I’m bleeding, the baby,” Isa gasped.
    “Oh God, oh no!”  Tawny cried, and ran to the bedside table to call nine-one-one.
    From there, Tawny tried to keep her calm and the frantic rush began when the ambulance arrived minutes later. It was hard to lay flat while they worked on her. They ran an IV and she heard the doctors at the hospital order the medical technician to give her some medicine. She felt it burn through her veins and soon the pain dulled and her mind became cloudy.  She could feel Tawny rubbing her hand gently from the other side of her as the ambulance sped through the night.
    “Call Bryce,” Isa managed to mumble before she slipped into the darkness.
    When she woke up, she was in a hospital bed and the room only had a small dim light. Her first thought was the baby and she pressed her hand against her stomach, hoping to feel signs of life.
    “They’re fine,” a low voice said from beside her.
    “Bryce... They?” Her voice was raspy with sleep.
    He held up two fingers with a small smile.
    “But I’ve been to my doctor’s appointment and there was one heartbeat,” she stammered.
    “One of the littler buggers was hiding.” Bryce moved closer.  “They had to give you a sonogram when you were brought into the ER and, peekaboo, there he was.”
    Isa leaned back against the pillow. “Holy crap, and they’re fine? I was in so much pain.”
    Bryce leaned on the metal rail of the bed. “Yes, healthy and strong as opposed to their mother, who hasn’t been taking care of herself.”
    “I’ve been taking care of myself...” Isa began to say.
    He shook his head. “Eh, I’ll let the doctor explain. He wanted to know when you were up. Tawny went for coffee. I’ll be back.”
    She watched him leave. Isa ran her hand over the small mound of her lower stomach and realized why she was showing so much for sixteen weeks.
    “There’s two of you,” she whispered with a smile. “You guys are going to partners in crime.”
    Bryce came back in carrying two cups of coffee and, as soon as he cleared the doorway, Tawny rushed in behind him. She leaned over to embrace Isa and squeezed her shoulders tight.
    “You scared the daylights out of me,” Tawny