“Kierstie Weston?” a nurse calls out. We stand up and I follow Kierstie over to the nurse. We all exchange pleasantries and she leads us to a room, to wait for the doctor to come in. She gets Kierstie situated on the table-bed thing, points me to a chair next to it, and says the doctor should be in shortly.
“You look deep in thought over there, mister. Something on your mind?” Kierstie asks me, with an upturned eyebrow that she gets when she’s trying to figure me out.
“Just that I really want to change your last name sooner rather than later, gorgeous, and am working on a plan.” I kiss the hand that I’m holding, needing to touch her.
She smiles at me, but the door opens before she can say anything. Dr. Hargrave walks in and closes the door behind her. She smiles at us and looks at the chart for a moment. She looks to be in her thirties, maybe early forties, and has what can only be described as kind eyes.
“Well, Kierstie, I see you brought someone with you this time. Is this the dad?”
Smiling at her, Kierstie confirms I am and makes the introductions.
“Well, let’s see how your little one is doing and maybe if they’re not shy, we can see what you’re having. My nurse will be in afterward to get some blood for the tests we discussed last time.” She looks at me and adds, “It’s routine for this point in the pregnancy. We want to make sure everything is good and stays that way.”
She then gets to work and turns on the machine that sits next to the table. She moves Kierstie’s shirt and pants a bit and squirts a liquid on her stomach.
“Let’s see if we can find the little one.” Dr. Hargrave starts pushing the wand-thingy on her stomach. After less than a minute of looking, she turns a button and a thumping sound is heard. Kierstie squeezes my hand.
“That’s the heartbeat. Nice and strong.” Holy shit. That’s our baby.
Kierstie
Looking at Shane, his eyes are glassy. He’s holding back tears. Hearing our little one makes this whole thing so much more real. Dr. Hargrave turns the machine toward us and a video shows our baby.
“Well, it looks like she’s cooperating today.” Wait. What did she say?
“She? We’re having a girl?”
Dr. Hargrave looks at me with a smile. “Yes. You two are having a girl.”
I look over at Shane and see tears coming down his face. He looks at me and smiles the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.
“We’re having a little girl. A little you.” He leans in and gives me the gentlest kiss. If I didn’t believe he was all into this before, his raw emotions right now just sealed it.
Dr. Hargrave finishes getting measurements and prints out two sets of pictures for us. She tells us she’ll see us in a month and the nurse will be back in a few minutes for the blood draw.
I look back at Shane as I start to sit up and fix my clothes. He’s still got the biggest grin on his face. I reach out to him and he stands up, moving in front of me.
“We’re having a girl, babe. What do you think of that?” He kisses my forehead before touching his lips to mine and placing his hands on my stomach.
“Gorgeous, I couldn’t be happier. I hope she’s got your smile, your eyes, and your passion for your friends and family. She’s gonna be strong because look at the women she’s gonna have around her. She’s gonna have so many uncles and a grandpa wrapped around her little finger from the moment she’s born. Thank you for giving me the family I was too scared to even wish for. I was planning something more spectacular, but I have to admit, I ain’t a romantic guy. I can’t wait anymore after this.”
Wait, what is he doing?
“Gorgeous, I love you with every ounce of me. I will love you till there’s no more breath in my lungs and my heart gives its last beat. Will you make me the luckiest man ever and agree to marry me? I have a ring at home for you.”
Unable to stop the stream of tears from falling, I realize in this moment how perfect his proposal really is. It’s right. It’s just us in this moment in time. Through all of our getting to know each other and finally sharing our news with everyone, the heart of it is just us—one boy and one girl.
“Yes! Yes, though I think I’m the lucky one getting to marry you and be your wife. You’re already spoiling me and taking such good care of us. I want to spend all of my tomorrows with you. I love you with all that I am.”
Shane kisses me and I feel all of his love in the kiss. We break apart as we both hear the nurse outside and take a second to wipe our tears.
The nurse comes in and gets the blood she needs and sets up our next appointment. As we walk back toward the truck, Shane suggests we pick up lunch on the way back to work. He knows my brothers won’t care if I eat at my desk. The man is smart. He stops at the mini mart on the way back that has the good chicken strips and Jojos, the world’s best battered potato wedges. He grabs a side salad to go with it and enough fry sauce and ranch to adequately dip each bite like I require. He even picks up more Lemonheads and Red Hots. This lunch will make his daughter very very happy. Okay, me too. I don’t wait and eat a piping hot Jojo as we make the quick trip back to the shop.
As soon as Shane parks the truck, we both get out, him insisting on grabbing the food to bring in. When I open the door to the shop, I see it looks like a full house, but not of customers. It’s every single member of my family, and Shane’s too.
Ma is the first one to speak.
“Well, did you find out what you’re having?”
