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)
I wished I could have asked my mom and my sister or Aaron’s mom and sisters for advice. A little real-experience feedback would have been appreciated. But the doctor had assured us repeatedly that Lena’s symptoms were perfectly normal for a healthy woman in her first trimester of pregnancy, and we weren’t sharing this news until we officially entered the second trimester.
I glanced up as Aaron returned. “How is she?”
“She didn’t lose her lunch this time,” he reported worriedly. “The nurse shooed me away. She’s going to clear a room for Lena and have us join her as soon as she has a gown on.”
I reached for his hand and threaded our fingers. The woman sitting across from us flitted her gaze our way curiously. Fine by me. I hadn’t thought about hiding who I was or who I loved in a very long time. I certainly wasn’t going to start now.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“Fine. Then again, I’m not the one who’s been barfing three times a day for five weeks. I’m also not the one in danger of my skin tone clashing with an adorable shade of violet.” He gnawed his bottom lip as he twisted to face me. “Good news…she gained a pound.”
I grinned. “Really? That’s awesome.”
“Maybe. She lost one last week, so I’m not so sure.”
“We’ll bring it up with Dr. Gwinn.”
“Hmm.” Aaron stared at a point over my shoulder before meeting my eyes.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m just wondering if we’ll still want to tell our friends and families when your parents are here. Maybe we should wait till Lena feels better. I don’t want to overwhelm her.”
I inclined my chin. “That’s two weeks from now. The baby genius Instagrammer says a lot changes once she gets to the second trimester.”
“Baby genius, huh?” Aaron beamed. “You’re cute, Matty.”
“I’m not cute.”
“Adorable.”
I huffed. “I’m not adorable or—”
“Matt and Aaron Mendez-Sullivan?” The cheery young nurse hugging a clipboard stepped into the waiting area. “This way, please.”
Aaron squeezed my elbow as we followed her into a bright office furnished with low cubicles that let in natural light from the bank of windows overlooking the parking lot and a copse of evergreens in the distance. A maze of hallways flanked the hub where nurses and admin coexisted. Too preoccupied to pay attention to directions, we would have gotten lost without a guide.
This was a whole new world to us—pastel tinted and laced with a joyful air I assumed was unique to obstetricians’ offices.
Artistic black-and-white photography featuring parents in silhouette holding their swaddled newborns graced the walls. And women in varying stages of pregnancy passed by in the hallway—some accompanied by partners, some solo, and one brave soul with two kids who couldn’t have been older than five or six.
I smiled at the mother wrangling her active kids and marveled at the idea that we could be just like her one day.
Okay…maybe I wasn’t entirely immune to hope.
“Is the ultrasound set for today?” Aaron asked outside the door with a file marked “Rodrigo/Mendez-Sullivan” sticking out of a plastic holder. “And does the doctor handle it?”
“It is, and Dr. Gwinn will see you afterward,” she replied.
Aaron’s mouth fell open. “Now? It’s happening now?”
“Yes.” The nurse chuckled. “Head on in. Your technician will be with you shortly. And don’t worry, they’ll take lots of photos for you…and video too.”
“Video! Oh…my God, Matty. We’re going to see him…or her.”
I nodded mutely, my mind whirling in a few directions at once as we entered the semidark cramped room.
Lena lay on a raised platform wearing a white gown, her long hair fanned around her like a halo. Her cheeks were hollow and her lips were chapped, but she glowed with vitality and a strength that made her look beautiful.
I set a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Feeling okay?”
She gave a wobbly smile. “For now, yes. Your baby is kicking my ass.”
“I’m sorry you feel like shit.”
Lena patted my hand and closed her eyes. “My mom says it won’t last much longer. But just as I think it’s getting better, my body decides it can’t stand the smell of something I used to love. Like peanut butter.”
Aaron groaned sympathetically. “At least it’s not coffee. My sister is a coffee-holic and she couldn’t drink a drop while she was pregnant with my nephew. She drank black tea instead and—”
Knock knock
“Good morning!” A redhead with twinkling eyes and an ample bosom breezed into the room and sat on the stool in front of the monitor positioned near Lena’s head. “I’m Irene, and you must be the dads to be. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” That was Aaron.
I’d suddenly forgotten how to speak. My head was spinning now, and my heart was doing its best to leap from my chest. I shuffled with Aaron to Lena’s other side, unthinking. My body was too big for this space. I felt like a giant in a dollhouse. It was claustrophobic and—geez, was it hot in here or was that just me?