Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“Oh, you’re fine where you are. I’ll make sure you see everything I do,” Irene assured us. “Are you ready to meet your little one?”
I fiddled with the top button of my oxford shirt and cleared my throat while Aaron nodded emphatically.
The monitor buzzed to life under the gelled wand on Lena’s stomach. The screen hummed with a whooshing noise.
“What are we looking for?” Aaron asked.
“Your little peanut, and…there he is. Or she.” She hovered the wand and pointed at a blob. “I’ll see if I can get in there and check the sex if you’d like, but it’s still early and I’d hate to be wrong.”
Aaron scrunched his nose and leaned in. “Uh, we haven’t decided if we want to know.”
“You have time. It’ll be more obvious within the next two months. Okay, now…” Irene tilted her head thoughtfully. “I’m going to take a few scans for the doctor and point out a few details for you. Just bear with me.”
I peered over Aaron’s shoulder and swallowed hard, unsure what I was seeing yet completely and utterly transfixed. The second I was sure I could make out fingers or toes, the picture shifted and I was in the dark again. But then…
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum
“What’s that?” I rasped, my voice rough and unsteady.
Irene flashed a sunny grin. “That, my friends, is a heartbeat. A nice, strong heartbeat.”
She was still talking. Something about developing eyelids and ears, but I could only make out every other word.
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum
The sound reverberated in my chest, humming through me like an engine. It was so loud that it clogged my throat, and pierced my eyes. I sucked in a gulp of air and somehow that activated tear ducts…and no, I wasn’t crying.
Or was I?
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum
Holy shit.
There was a baby in the room. Our baby. Our son or our daughter.
Ours.
My nostrils flared as I fought to contain the rogue wave of emotion, my eyes fixed on the tiny beanlike pod on the screen.
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum
Aaron wiped tears from his eyes with a laugh that turned into a sob. He wrapped his arms around me and held tight.
This was real.
Sure, we had thirty weeks to go, and my practical nature wanted to insist that there were a hundred things that could go wrong and that one of us had to be realistic and prepared for the worst. But at the moment, I couldn’t be bothered with reality.
I kissed Aaron’s temple as he reached for Lena’s hand. The three of us shared a tentative smile that morphed into laughter. Aaron said his ears were like mine, I said she had Aaron’s spine…which was ridiculous, so we laughed some more.
Irene wiped the gel from Lena’s belly and stood. “I’ll have photos ready for you at the front desk, along with a video for your records. The next time you have an ultrasound, he or she will look a lot more like a baby. You’ll be blown away by the 3-D imagery.”
“We can’t wait.” Aaron waved as she closed the door.
“What do you think, Dads?” Lena glanced between us, squeezing Aaron’s hand, then mine. “This is good, huh?”
“Incredible,” I agreed. “It’ll be even better once you feel like yourself again.”
“Everyone thinks that’ll be within the next week or two. Just in time for you to share the news with your friends and family.”
That was going to be…surreal.
We’d been on our own through most of this journey, and the idea of sharing this news was both unimaginably cool and a little nerve-racking. Our parents would be over the moon, of course. My mom would go especially bonkers. I’d have to warn Lena about her smothering tendencies and mentally prepare for her to insert herself into everything from decorating the nursery to what type of diapers we should use.
But those were worries for another day.
Today, we could celebrate the little things…like a healthy baby with a strong heartbeat who had no idea how much they were already loved.
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum
eight
“Be prepared. No matter how we play this, we’re going to get it wrong.”
I poured ice into the cooler, straightening the bottles at the top before glancing up at my husband who was busy organizing a tray of condiments. “What do you mean?”
“Your mother will be upset that we didn’t tell her first. My mom will grill Lena till she’s bug-eyed and ready to run for the hills…and somewhere in there, one of them will ask uncomfortable questions about the technicalities of making sure the baby she’s carrying is actually ours.” He gasped and turned on his heels. “Oh, my God. Baby, Matty. Our baby. Look…I’ve got goose bumps again.”
I stood and rubbed his arm, grinning like an idiot—which had pretty much been my default expression over the past two weeks. My friends and coworkers had given me curious looks. A few hadn’t bothered beating around the bush.