AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She looks away again and sighs, sniffling as she does. “I don’t want to do a gender reveal because it’s one more thing for my mom to miss out on. It’s going to be hard enough to go there and tell whatever version of her about it. This just… sucks. I’d finally hit a point where it was easier to go and visit her. I knew how to frame it in my mind, and just focused on spending time with her, even if she wasn’t the mom I remembered. Now all I can see is what she’s missing out on. WhatI’mmissing out on.”
I wrap my arms around her, pulling her to me. “I’m sorry. I know this is difficult for you. If you don’t want to find out the gender or want to come up with a different way to do the baby shower, we can.”
She shakes her head. “No. I’ll go nuts if I don’t find out. And I don’t want to miss out on things, either. I want to have a baby shower and celebrate with our friends, and—” She laughs, seeing the huge smile on my face. “What?”
“You saidour.Our friends. Not my friends. Does that mean we’re finally indoctrinating you into the cult?”
“Maybe,” she says with a smile. “I’m slowly getting used to this. It helps that the girls have me in a group text with them whether I like it or not. It’s fun. Having this many people around who truly seem to care is still new to me, but I like it.”
“Good,” I say, pressing my lips to her cheek. “Because I want you to know how loved you are. Not only by me. My friends adore you. My mom has already branded you another daughter.”
She laughs and climbs onto my lap, happier now. “I already know your mom loves me. She told me before you did.”
I throw my head back against the couch. “Wow, she stole my thunder, huh?”
“By like a month.” My mouth drops, and she runs her finger over my bottom lip. “Apparently I’m very loveable.”
“Of course you are.” Leaning forward, I kiss her neck. “Tell me what I can do to make this easier on you, and I’ll do it.” I’d do anything for her, give her anything. My heart, my life, my kidney. Whatever. If it makes her happy, that’s all that matters to me.
“You make it easier.” She rakes her fingers through my hair and kisses my jaw. “There are so many things you can do to help me.” She lightly rolls her hips against mine, and I fight back a groan. “Right now, though,” she says, climbing off my lap and standing up, “there’s only one thing I need. To enjoy one final pee before I start filling my bladder for the ultrasound.” She smirks and heads for the hall.
“Mean,” I say, hanging my head as she walks away.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she calls as she goes.
I look down at the semi visible under my sweats. She’s going to give me blue balls, but I don’t care. She’s happier now, and that’s all I want, to ease her pain as often as I can.
“Before we get started, do you want to know what you’re having?” the ultrasound tech asks.
I glance at Amelia, letting her decide. “Definitely,” she says, not missing a beat.
“Dad?”
“Absolutely,” I say, squeezing Amelia’s hand.
“Okay, then. Let’s get started. I’ll be taking measurements and looking at the anatomy. I’ll point things out as we go.” She squirts some gel on Amelia’s exposed stomach.
“Oh, warm,” Amelia says with a laugh.
“Much better than cold,” the tech says, then she presses the wand onto Amelia’s stomach, and a second later, we get a glimpse of our baby. “Feisty,” she jokes as the baby swipes an arm across the screen.
“I felt that,” Amelia says.
I take her hand and watch raptly. This scan is so much different from the one she had at ten weeks. This time, it really looks like a baby. A miniature version, but a baby. I’m trying to stay cool, but there’s a swell of emotions building inside me. We’re halfway through. A few more months and that baby will be in my arms. I don’t know how to process that. I take another deep breath, but it’s futile because she moves the wand and hits a button, then the sound of our baby’s heartbeat fills the room.
There is nothing like the sound of hearing your baby’s heartbeat. The first time we heard it, I was blubbering. Now? I’m not doing much better.
Amelia reaches over and sweeps her hand over the side of my face.
“146 beats per minute. Absolutely perfect.”
She hits a button and the whooshing sound is gone. She moves the wand around, then smiles. “Well, that’s quite a show,” she says as the baby moves again. “And I think…” She adjusts the wand. “Yep. There it is. Or isn’t. Congratulations, you’re having a baby girl.”
“A girl?” Amelia breathes, then she looks at me, but I can’t speak. We’re going to have a baby girl. It’s official. My heart now lives outside my body in the hands of my girl and my daughter.Daughter.“Babe,” Amelia whispers, pulling on my arm.
I wipe my eyes and lean down to kiss her. “I love you.”
“Love you too,” she says, then hands tightly clasped, our eyes drift back to the screen as we take in every image of our perfect baby girl.
