Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“She is,” Dr. Louis confirms. As she explains all the parts to him, the only thing I can do is stare at the screen. I move my hand up to wipe away a tear, silently telling our baby how much I love them.
“It’s okay,” Theo whispers softly and then moves his face to me. I hold my breath, thinking he’s going to kiss my lips, but instead he kisses my forehead. “It’s all good. The baby is perfect.” The room is dimly lit, but I can see the huge smile on his face. “She’s perfect.”
“We don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy.” I look at Dr. Louis.
“I can’t get a clear picture,” she says, “but what I can say is everything looks like it’s going good.” She presses two more buttons, and ultrasound pictures are printed out.
“That is for you.” She hands them to me and takes a towel to clean the gel from my stomach.
“Thank you.” I sit up as she wheels away from me and turns on the light. “I want to see you in a month. Congratulations, you two.”
“Do we need to do anything to make sure she’s okay?” he asks, and I sit up. I’m looking at the picture in my hand, too distracted to pay attention to what they’re saying. It makes it so much more real. My free hand goes to my stomach in reflex, as if to hold him or her.
Dr. Louis steps out and quickly returns with a folder of information, which Theo takes for me.
“Thank you again for squeezing me in at the last minute, Dr. Louis. We should get going.” Theo helps me down, and I look at him, then at Dr. Louis. “I’ll call the office later to make my next appointment.”
“See you later,” she says. “I’ll be at the hospital this evening.”
“Um,” I hold up my hand to tell her that we’re not telling anyone.
“Your secret is safe with me,” she quickly adds, then glances at my belly. “But it won’t be a secret for much longer.”
When we walk out of the office and make it to his truck, Theo gets in and looks over at me. “Do you think . . .” He starts and then stops, and I can tell he’s nervous.
I reach out to touch his hand. “Do I think?”
“It’s okay if you say no,” he rushes out, “but do you think I could get one of those pictures?”
Tightness forms in my chest. “Of course,” I quickly say. “I’ll cut one as soon as I get home.”
He smiles, and neither of us says anything for the rest of the drive home, processing the appointment and the situation we’ve found ourselves in.
“You going to take a nap now?” he asks me as he turns into the driveway. I nod. “Okay, I won’t keep you. I’ll get the picture tonight.”
I lift my hand to the handle. “Thank you for taking me today.”
“It was the best fucking day of my life.” His voice is booming, the grin on his face from ear to ear. The crinkle at the side of his eyes is pinching. “Thank you for letting me come with you.”
“You’re welcome.” I linger for a second. “I’ll text you later.”
“Have a nice nap,” he says as I get out and shut the door, not turning around and heading straight into the house.
The nap never happens, and I have to wonder if it’s because I’m so excited from everything this morning. When I finally give up and head to the kitchen to grab a snack, I pick up my phone. “Do you think I should text him now or when I get to work? I don’t want to text him at all. But I know he’ll worry about you.”
I pull up the text thread and type.
Me:
Hey, it’s me. I’m alive.
“Is that good or too morbid?” I’m erasing the words when it pings in my hand.
Theo:
Good morning, or afternoon, really. How did you sleep? Did you eat?
I smile as my finger runs across the screen of my phone.
Me:
Good afternoon. I’m doing so much better. Just had a sandwich.
I press Send before I change my mind, and the phone goes off again right away.
Theo:
What time did you wake up?
“Uh oh,” I mumble. “Do I say I didn’t sleep?”
The phone rings in my hand, and I see it’s him. “I can’t not answer.” The phone rings again. “He’s going to probably freak out if I don’t answer.” My finger slides right, and I put the phone on speaker. “Hello.”
“Hey,” he says. There’s music and a saw buzzing in the background, then I hear a door close on his end, and it’s quiet. “Sorry about that, I was in the middle of the jobsite and figured it would be better to call you than play text tag.”
“That’s okay,” I reply.