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After smearing her stomach with cool gel, Ellie pulled the ultrasound equipment over and sat in a tall stool next to the table. She pressed the wand on Harper’s stomach, and Harper swallowed hard, suddenly nervous about what she was going to see.
“You feeling okay?” Ellie asked, as though she could sense her unease. “There’s no need to be worried, this is all normal.” She moved the wand around again. “And your baby is growing beautifully. You want to see?”
Harper nodded. “Yeah.” She felt a little breathless. Ellie moved the screen around so Harper could see it. It was mostly black, with a white grid around it and white shadows in the center.
“This is the head,” Ellie murmured, pointing at the round shape, and suddenly the outline of the baby became clear. Harper could see her nose, lips, and rounded belly that dwarfed her stick-like legs. Her little arm moved, and Harper held her breath, emotion building up inside her like a tidal wave.
“Is she really okay?” Harper asked. Her chest felt so full it might burst.
“Everything’s great. Can you see the heartbeat here?” Ellie asked, pointing at a tiny dark circle in the baby’s chest.
Sure enough, the circle was rhythmically moving. A little tiny heart inside a little tiny baby. Harper’s throat tightened.
When she turned her head, she saw James staring at the screen, his lips open, his eyes wide. He swallowed hard, making his Adam’s apple bob.
“I’m going to take a few measurements,” Ellie told them, pulling the screen back around so it was facing her. “And then I’ll print you out a photo to keep. You want one or two?”
“Two,” James said quickly. He looked at Harper with a strained smile. “If that’s okay with you.”
“It’s fine,” she said, nodding at him. Their eyes connected and it felt like a jolt of electricity shooting through her. He was staring at her the way he’d stared at the screen, and the intensity in his gaze took her breath away. Slowly, he smiled at her, and she felt herself smiling back.
She wondered if the baby could feel her racing heart.
“There you go,” Ellie said, sliding the prints inside two cardboard envelopes. “Your baby’s first portraits. One for mom and one for dad.” She passed them over. “Have you thought about finding out the sex?”
Harper nodded. “I’d like to know.” She caught James’s eye. He shrugged. It’s your choice.
“Well there’s no rush. It’s hospital policy not to look until the next ultrasound. It stops too many false gender reveals and you suing us.” She grinned again, and wiped Harper’s stomach with a paper towel, then pulled her top back down. “Let’s go have a seat again, and you can shoot as many questions as
you’d like at me.”
James reached for Harper’s hands and helped her down from the table, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the big smile on his face.
Maybe this was going to work out after all. He hadn’t said as much, but James seemed as excited about this baby as she was.
In six months’ time they were going to be parents. For the first time, the thought didn’t scare the hell out of her.
* * *
“Would you like to come inside?” Harper asked James as he walked her to the front door. “Caitie has a kick-ass coffee machine. And maybe we can fill in the medical history form Ellie gave us.”
“Sure.” James nodded. He was standing right behind her and she had this weird feeling of not wanting him to leave yet.
She slid her key in the lock and pushed the door open. As they walked in, James put his hand on the curve of her spine, the same way he had in the examination room.
“So this is my room,” she said, as they passed the first door on the left of the hallway. “I’d show you but it’s a mess.”
“And there was me thinking you’d be a KonMari freak.”
Harper laughed. “I don’t have time. Anyway, it’s not that bad, just stuffed with clothes.” She pushed the handle down, opening it. “See?” she said. “You don’t have to worry, I’m not a candidate for a hoarder show.”
Her clothes rack was bursting with dresses. Every time she wanted to go to bed she had to brush past them; it was like walking through the wardrobe into Narnia.
“Wow.” James raised an eyebrow. “You’re not wrong. That’s a lot of clothes.”
“These are all samples. I’m planning on taking them to a few boutiques, and see if they’ll stock my designs.” Harper shrugged.
“So you work in here, too?” James asked, his gaze landing on her sewing desk. It was clearer than the rest of the room – just her trusty machine and all her thread.
