《Star in the Sky》 Chapter 1 April, 2011 Today is an exciting day, a day like no other. Tasha and Mark were at the doctor¡¯s¡ªnot for being sick, nor for your regular check-up¡ªthey¡¯re having an ultrasound. You see, for years they were struggling to get pregnant. But for the first time in her life, Tasha is pregnant. She and Mark were very excited to be first-time parents¡ªbut what if something is wrong? No, everything will be okay. ¡°Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Price, you¡¯re going to be having twins,¡± Dr. Watson said, looking at the screen. ¡°Wait, there are two?¡± Tasha asked. Dr. Watson nodded and pointed at both fetuses, ¡°Even when they¡¯re still this tiny, you can still see them both. As you can see, one is here, and the other is here.¡± Mark smiled and nodded. ¡°We¡¯re going to have two bundles of joy in our life, Mark,¡± Tasha said with happy tears in her eyes, she was smiling from ear to ear. ¡°Yeah, we are,¡± he smiles a bit more. ¡°On good news, even though it¡¯s only been six weeks, they look healthy,¡± Dr. Watson said, calmly. Tasha sighed with relief, ¡°Good, thank you, doctor.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± he said with a smile. Then they got into the car. ¡°I¡¯m glad that appointment went well,¡± Mark said softly. ¡°I¡¯m glad too, at least they¡¯re healthy, am I right?¡± Tasha said with a chuckle. ¡°Yeah, if they weren¡¯t...I wouldn¡¯t know how I¡¯d feel, honestly,¡± he replied. ¡°Same here, same here,¡± she said with a sigh. Mark started the car and started driving home. Most of the ride was quiet, but not for upsetness, they were more content than anything. Nothing can make Tasha, or even Mark, upset. They were going to have twins. Nothing could be better. By the time they got inside their small condo, their dog, Moose, had run up to them excitedly and jumped onto them. He¡¯s a 2-year-old shih tzu with gray patches on his mussel, ears, paws, and body. ¡°Hey Moose,¡± Tasha smiled and patted his head, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go say hi to Mark?¡± Tasha chuckles to herself. Mark just smiles and shrugs, ¡°I¡¯m good, I don''t want to deal with him being excited for now. I¡¯ll be going to take a nap.¡± Tasha smiles back, ¡°Have a nice nap, dear.¡± They didn¡¯t do much the rest of the day. They mainly watched movies with Milo cuddling with them. They didn¡¯t have too much planned -- other than work that is. Plus, Mark still had college to go to. Tasha wishes her family lived closer. The closest family she had was her sister, Janie. However she and her family lived three and a half to four hours away, and Tasha was going to be busy for work. The next few weeks flew by. Tasha was now 19 weeks pregnant, and she was getting ready for her next ultrasound appointment. She started to talk to Mark as she was putting her makeup on, ¡°I¡¯m really excited for the appointment today.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Mark said, walking out of the closet while putting a shirt on. ¡°Yeah! We¡¯re going to find out the gender today,¡± Tasha smiled widely, ¡°I hope we have two girls.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Mark asked. Tasha looked up from her makeup-doing and smiled, ¡°So I can dress them up! But if the twins are boys, that¡¯ll be okay.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± he smiled, ¡°I hope they¡¯re a boy.¡± After a while, they drove to the office to get the ultrasound done. Tasha smiled at the lady at the desk and waved, ¡°Hello! I¡¯m here for my appointment.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Okay, could I have your name, please?¡± the receptionist asked politely. ¡°Tasha Price,¡± she answered. Mark just stood quietly, he had no reason to say anything, after all. ¡°Okay! Thank you, Mrs. Price, please sit down and Dr. Watson will get you and your husband shortly,¡± the receptionist smiled. Tasha nodded, ¡°Thank you, ma¡¯am!¡± Tasha and Mark sat down on the floral patterned chairs. They weren¡¯t the most comfortable chairs, but that''s okay. They shouldn¡¯t be sitting there too long. Dr. Watson is usually pretty strict when it comes to him being late. He¡¯s rarely been late to one of his appointments. Even if it¡¯s just a normal check-up. After a few minutes, Dr. Watson walked to the waiting room, ¡°Tasha Price?¡± Tasha and her husband stood up. ¡°Hi, Dr. Watson!¡± Tasha smiled, walking up to him. Mark was walking close behind, just doing a little nod as his own little ¡°hello¡±. ¡°Hello Mr. and Mrs. Price,¡± He smiled, leading Tasha and Mark to the room, ¡°How¡¯s the past few weeks been?¡± ¡°Good,¡± Mark said. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been pretty good! We¡¯ve just been brainstorming different names for the kids,¡± Tasha added. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great! What do you two have in mind?¡± Dr. Watson asked. ¡°Either Lennard and Liam or Roman and Rowan if they¡¯re boys. Luna and Lucia for sure if they¡¯re girls,¡± Tasha answered. Dr. Watson opens the door to the ultrasound room, ¡°Those are great ideas! Which ones are you two leaning towards?¡± Dr. Watson held the door for Tasha and Mark. ¡°Thank you, Doctor,¡± Tasha walks in, with Mark following closely behind, ¡°And I personally would like Lennor and Liam. What about you, Mark?¡± Mark just shrugs without saying anything, ¡°You¡¯re going to be giving birth to them, you choose.¡± Everyone in the room started to laugh. Then Tasha laid down on the bed, lifting her shirt to reveal her belly. She had the ultrasound gel put onto her stomach, so now the ultrasound is ready to start. The doctor pressed the ultrasound probe onto Tasha¡¯s stomach. ¡°Would you like to know their gender?¡± asked Dr. Watson. Mark looked at Tasha in his way to say ¡°You choose¡±. ¡°Hm¡­yeah, I¡¯d like to know,¡± she answered ¡°Okay, Okay,¡± He looks at the screen, ¡°Looks like they¡¯re boys¡­¡± Tasha nodded, slightly disappointed she wasn''t going to have two baby girls. But that¡¯s okay, life happens. ¡°...Oh..?¡± Dr. Watson said to himself, focusing on one of the two fetuses. Tasha looked slightly panicked when he asked, are her babies okay? ¡°What is it?¡± Mark asked, ¡°Is something wrong?¡± ¡°Something doesn¡¯t look right¡­we need to change what ultrasound we¡¯re doing so I can take a closer look,¡± Dr. Watson said, surprisingly calmly. ¡°Hm¡­okay,¡± Tasha said. He spent roughly five minutes looking at the screen once he switched, ¡°It looks like Holoprosencephaly for the one on the left, the baby on the right looks normal.¡± Tasha and Mark looked at Dr. Watson, and each other, confused. Tasha opened her mouth to ask. ¡°Holoprosencephaly is caused by a failure of the prosencephalon, also called the embryonic forebrain, to divide into double lobes of the cerebral hemisphere,¡± Dr. Watson said, ¡°You have the option to abort him if you need to.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not doing that,¡± Tasha was somewhat angry about that comment. He nodded, ¡°Well, that¡¯s the end of the appointment, you two may head home now,¡± he didn¡¯t seem to want to continue the conversation. Tasha and Mark were home, and Tasha was thinking about what Dr. Watson said. It was just spinning round and round. She just couldn¡¯t get it out of her head. ¡°Why do you think he¡¯d want to suggest something like that?¡± Tasha was annoyed by this, ¡°It just feels so cruel!¡± Mark nodded, ¡°Yeah, I agree; I wouldn¡¯t want to possibly lose one -- or both of our children.¡± Tasha nodded, tearing up slightly, not knowing what she wanted to say. She looked down, and stopped pacing for a moment, ¡°It just feels so¡­heartbreaking.¡± Mark nods, waiting for her to continue rambling. ¡°I¡¯m just saying, I wouldn¡¯t want to give away, nor would I even consider killing them for being different,¡± she said, ¡°That would just be cruel of me! Why would I ever¡­!¡± Tasha was just angry at that point. She would never want to do that, ever. Tasha felt that if she did ever, ever, abort the children, the guilt would follow her like a pack of snakes. Tasha had a lump in her throat, she just couldn¡¯t take all this, ¡°Would someone really abort their child over a disability?¡± ¡°Some people may be cruel that way,¡± Mark nodded, but his frown turned into a soft smile, ¡°But you aren¡¯t like that, and I¡¯m not like that. We¡¯re keeping them both, so you don¡¯t need to be upset about it anymore.¡± ¡°Thanks, Mark,¡± Tasha smiled slightly, wiping her tears off of her face, ¡°I guess even after I announced this to the family, the thought of that just leaves me wanting to cry.¡± ¡°I know it does,¡± Mark put his arm around his wife¡¯s shoulder, ¡°But it¡¯s all going to be okay, just remember we are never going to.¡± Chapter 2 It had been four more months since one of Tasha¡¯s babies was diagnosed with Holoprosencephaly. So what did she (and eventually Mark) do during those four months? They poured their hearts and souls into researching Holoprosencephaly, and about asking Dr. Watson about it. Tasha researched it to learn more about it since she had never heard of it before that visit --and neither had Mark-- before that initial visit. Here are the notes Tasha wrote over the past few months about Holoprosencephaly: Tasha feels that she has learned plenty enough to understand what she was going to be going through with, what should be, one of her sons. ¡°Hey, Mark?¡± Tasha looks over at her husband, ¡°Do you know how much hospital bills would be? Or how often we could have to go? Estimates are fine.¡± ¡°For the cost, roughly $2,000 yearly, and I think general hospital visits would vary depending on when it¡¯s needed. But we would need a good few of doctor¡¯s visits, as you should know,¡± Mark said, as he looked up from his phone. Her doctor gave her mostly the same information when she and Mark had asked him. When it came to bills, he said it depended on the need of the child with the condition, for all their needs are different, and it would be difficult to make an estimate (funny enough, Mark did find an estimate, so it couldn¡¯t have been that hard, thank the internet) but his input was still helpful, nonetheless. Tasha nodded and looked back down to her notebook, writing down what he had said. She felt as if she was putting herself into a lot of stress because of this. Or she¡¯s just overthinking it. Tasha knows she¡¯s doing this for a good reason. She absolutely knows she¡¯s doing this for a good reason. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. She¡¯s doing this for her children. She just wants them to be okay. Mark does too. He¡¯s about as worried about this as Tasha is. Mark just has a better poker face than Tasha does. ¡°Well..,¡± Tasha shifts her weight on the chair, ¡°Why don¡¯t we go to dinner tonight? It¡¯ll be a nice break. Especially for you since you have to worry about all this and your schoolwork.¡± Mark smiled, looking over at her, ¡°Yeah, that would be nice, I¡¯d love to go. How about a movie too?¡± Tasha nods without saying a final word. Finally, a relaxing time from the last few weeks. What had happened in the past week had been extremely stressful for her anyway, wouldn¡¯t be good enough for her in the long run. ¡°I¡¯ll, uh, go get ready,¡± Tasha smiled to try to make herself happier, in a way, ¡°You should go do that too.¡± ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯ll make myself more presentable,¡± Mark laughs to himself. You know, Mark always tended to make little jokes. No matter what situation he is in, really. Not unless the situation is super serious, of course, but he still likes to joke around, nonetheless. Tasha had put on a nice skirt with black leggings underneath with a black, long sleeved, shirt. She felt like she looked pretty already¡ªeven without putting on makeup or really doing her hair¡ªshe, for the most part, felt like herself, Tasha loved it. She took about an hour to finish her makeup and her hair combined¡ª30 minutes for each, roughly¡ªand walked back into her bedroom. ¡°I¡¯m finished, we can go now,¡± Tasha smiled, and it was more genuine this time, so there is no need to worry. ¡°Alrighty,¡± Mark stood up from the bed, ¡°Let''s go, I¡¯m getting pretty hungry already.¡± Tasha laughed, she enjoyed being around him a lot¡ªbut that should be obvious since they were married. She felt she could ignore her worries about her children for the next little while, hopefully. Not unless Tasha could stop thinking about it of course. One of her kids getting a medical diagnosis¡ªbefore they¡¯re born, too¡ªis just worrying, especially since this disorder will cause the child to be disabled, for life. Tasha didn¡¯t want her kid to have a disability, to be frank no mother would. But, there was another thought that was prominent. What if God chose for this to happen? Maybe to teach everybody a lesson¡ªher a lesson¡ªbut not because she did something wrong, but to help her, and even Mark to be better. Tasha knows her and Mark are already nice people, at least she¡¯d like to think so, but this is so they can just to improve, to see a different point of view, to learn what it¡¯s like to have someone with a physical disability in their own lives. God wasn¡¯t testing her because she was being cruel, or sinning in some way shape or form, but, like it¡¯s been said before, this is going to make her a better person, for the fact of just becoming a better person. Chapter 3 December, 2011 Now, it was time for church, and Tasha was two weeks away from her due date¡ªand was absolutely ecstatic, so was Mark, even if his emotions didn¡¯t show. And Tasha was never so excited for church, never ever. One of her friends, Mary-Anne¡ªwho was sitting next to her¡ªsaid, ¡°You¡¯re due soon, right?¡± ¡°Oh, uh, yeah!¡± Tasha laughed, ¡°These two babies are an absolute blessing.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, twins! And didn¡¯t you use your dog Milo to announce it at your family reunion?¡± asked Mary-Anne. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Yeah,¡± she points her head to Mark, ¡°Me and Mark here thought it would be a very great idea.¡± ¡°Hello! Good morning to you all!¡± said the Bishop, officially starting the Sacrament with an opening prayer. After an hour or so, it was time for the church classes, Tessa and Mark headed to their Sunday School class. This year we focused on the Book of Mormon, and today we were talking about Mormon chapter 6 verse 8. ¡°Okay,¡± smiled the teacher, ¡°everyone go to Mormon chapter 6 verse 8, and let¡¯s read it together.¡± Well, let''s just say that went swimmingly. After today, Tasha felt more confident with her decisions of keeping her disabled child. He deserved a life. Both of them did. Chapter 4 It is now Friday, December 16. Tasha had woken up in a good amount of pain. She had pain like this before, however, this felt different. It didn¡¯t feel like one of those practice things that bodies tend to do. It felt like fire, in a way. Tasha wanted to claw off her entire lower body. It felt like her body was trying to kill her. All the pain was in Tasha¡¯s abdomen, groin, and her back. Those places burned and screamed. Tasha shook Mark awake, ¡°Mark! Wake up! Hurry!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± he said in a groggy tone, ¡°What''s wrong, honey?¡± ¡°It¡¯s time!¡± Tasha sobbed, ¡°It hurts so bad.¡± He stared at her in shock for a minute, then immediately pulled himself up. Tasha followed him to the car, and they sped all the way to the hospital. Mark ran himself and Tasha to the receptionist, ¡°Miss, we need a doctor! My wife¡ªTasha¡ªshe¡¯s in labor!¡± ¡°Okay,¡± said the receptionist, ¡°Quickly, first and last name.¡± ¡°Tasha,¡± she muttered, ¡°Tasha Price.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll send an emergency message to our staff,¡± the lady said. All Tasha could do was nod and it was not long before Tasha was put onto a wheelchair and then a bed. After a while, the doctor said, ¡°We¡¯ll have to do a C-Section. Tasha, is that okay with you?¡± She nodded, ¡°As long as I, and my children, are healthy, then yes.¡± She got rolled into the surgery as Mark walked over with them. After Tasha was out, the surgeon made a very intricate cut above Tasha¡¯s pelvic area. The first child, Child A (Mike and Tasha have not decided who is Liam and who is Lennard) was the first kid to be taken out. He was the one with Holoprosencephaly. He was quickly cleaned off and placed into a hospital baby casket. Then, Baby B was taken out, and was having breathing issues, so he was cleaned and taken to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). Tasha had been rolled into her room, and woke up after a few hours. Mark turned to her and asked, ¡°You doing okay?¡± Tasha nodded, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not hurting anymore, just sore.¡± ¡°Baby A, our oldest twin is the one with Holoprosencephaly,¡± Mark informed her. ¡°Oh goodness, is he okay?¡± Tasha asked, panicked. ¡°Better than expected, he¡¯s not expected to live more than a year, but with how he is, he¡¯s as healthy as a horse,¡± Mark answered, ¡°It¡¯s Baby B that¡¯s having some issues.¡± Tasha gasped, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°He¡¯s having troubles breathing, when you¡¯re more healed up and recovered, we can see him,¡± he sighed ¡°They¡¯ll bring in Baby A in an hour.¡± Chapter 5 ¡°Here¡¯s Baby A, Tasha and Mark, congratulations,¡± the nurse smiled, handing Baby A to Tasha. Baby A had a cleft lip, where there was a space in the middle of his top lip and he had a cleft palate. ¡°Will the gap in his lip hurt him, or make him sick?¡± Tasha asked the nurse. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Well,¡± the nurse said, ¡°If he¡¯s able to eat or speak, he will have trouble with both. And some children with a cleft palate have trouble with their teeth.¡± Tasha nodded, ¡°Thank you nurse. I¡¯ll sit here for a while with him, if that¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Of course, dear,¡± she smiled, ¡°I¡¯ll let you and your husband have some quality time with him. Chapter 6 Late December, 2011 Both of the children had finally been able to go home, and they had decided on who was who. Liam is Baby A, and Lennard is Baby B. ¡°So?¡± Mark said, ¡°What should we do now?¡± ¡°We sho¡ª¡± Tasha tried to speak but Lennard started crying, ¡°Oh, baby¡­¡± Tasha had picked up Lennard and bounced him, ¡°Mark, do you know what Lennard wants?¡± Mark shrugs, ¡°No clue, maybe he wants food?¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Tasha ran over to the fridge since she had bought some formula for quick food moments like this, and she fed him. ¡°Mark, could you give Liam his special formula we got from the hospital?¡± Tasha asked, and he did so. Mark had put the food into Liam¡¯s feeding tube that went into his nose. Tasha sighed, holding both Liam and Lennard now, ¡°I wonder what being a new parent is going to be like, since we now have our children now.¡± ¡°You have all those parenting books,¡± he shrugged, ¡°Or you can call your sister, Amethyst. You know her and James have two kids¡ªKody and Luka.¡± ¡°Yeah, but she¡¯s so far away, we live here in Salt Lake City when she¡¯s in Saint George,¡± she said, annoyed. Then the conversation was interrupted by Milo, their shih-tzu. ¡°Milo, you still got to meet your brothers,¡± laughed Tasha, ¡°Come here, buddy.¡± Chapter 7 February, 2012 ¡°What should we do for Valentine''s Day, Mark?¡± she looked over at him, as she¡¯s bouncing on her yoga ball with Liam so he would actually go to sleep that night. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have time for that now,¡± Mark looked down, ¡°We have a disabled child, and Lennerd would be a handful with and without Liam.¡± ¡°We should hire a babysitter, or a nanny, or something,¡± Tasha argued. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Mark sighed, ¡°I think it¡¯d be better to just stay home, Valentine''s Day is too close to find a nanny we both like and trust.¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re right,¡± she looked down, ¡°At home date after both¡ªLiam mainly¡ªis asleep?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d be good enough,¡± Mark laughed, ¡°If Liam actually sleeps without being bounced.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your turn for Liam, right?¡± Tasha asked. He smiled, ¡°Yeah, you got to sleep tonight, and I don¡¯t have school tomorrow, I can survive not sleeping for a while.¡± Tasha laughed and smiled, ¡°Thank you.¡±