Michaela
The waiting room was filled with happy couples, which was strange since there had only been a few women at my previous appointments. Or maybe I just hadn’t noticed. But now, with my ever-growing belly, I had never felt more alone.
I wished I’d stayed with Mo last night. But being manhandled by his security and shoved by his fans had made me want to sleep for a hundred years and protect my belly from the world. On the ride back to Ansel’s house, I realized I should have told him that instead of shutting down his suggestions. I didn’t want to hang out with other people, no matter how “low-key.” Mo promised to be my burrow, and I should have taken him up on that.
Instead, I sat here waiting, alone. Yael had texted she was running late, but I hadn’t heard anything from Mo. Luckily, the sonographer was also running late.
Fifteen minutes past my appointment time, a nurse called me back. At the same time, Yael came running through the door, frantic.
“I’m so sorry! Am I too late?” Her head swiveled back and forth, scanning the waiting area. “Where’s my brother?”
“You’re not too late. They just called me.” Yael kissed my cheek, and we followed the nurse back to the ultrasound room. “I have no idea where Mo is. I texted, but I haven’t heard anything.”
Her eyes flared. “Are you shitting me? I assumed he was in the bathroom or something. He’s not here?”
“I assumed he was with you.”
Her phone was in her hand as I lay down on the table. “Nope. I ended up spending the night on the other side of the city, so I drove here separately. I’m sure he’s on his way, probably stuck in traffic.”
“Are you really sure? He was mad at me last night.”
She glanced up from her phone. “Mic...he’s coming. He has to be.”
But he didn’t come. No matter how long Yael paced the small, dark room, she couldn’t make her brother appear. When Megan, the sonographer, finally entered the room, it was a half hour after the appointment had been scheduled to start. There would be no more delaying.
Mo was missing this.
Yael settled into the chair beside my bed and held my hand. She whispered she was sorry, and I whispered back I was glad she was here. Which was true. I liked her and her fierceness. She was a warrior, and she’d make a great aunt to this baby. If it turned out Moses would be a failure as a dad, at least Yael would be there.
Megan ran through everything she’d be checking on the ultrasound, then asked if I’d like to find out the baby’s sex. I’d been set to say yes, but paused.
“Weren’t you planning on finding out?” Yael asked.
“Only because Mo wanted to. Now…”
She stroked my hair, giving me a soft smile. “Do you, girl. If you don’t want to know, then don’t find out.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to know.”
She nodded. “You wanted to find out with him?”
“Yeah. It sounds dumb, but yeah.”
“It doesn’t sound dumb at all. You should be in this together. I’d murder him if I didn’t want him to be alive to take care of the baby.”
That made me laugh. “Thanks for being considerate.”
Megan started the ultrasound, measuring thigh bones and pointing out various parts. We listened to the heartbeat for a long while, and she took what seemed like a hundred pictures of the four chambers. Then she moved onto the head, taking what seemed like athousandpictures.
Below my belly button, I felt little flutters that corresponded with movement on the screen. “I felt that.” My throat was tight with awe, and my eyes were wide with wonder.
“Baby likes to dance, just like you,” Yael said.
Megan told us before she started she wouldn’t be able to tell us if everything was as it should be, but Dr. Gupta would come in and go over the results. When she finished the scan, she gave me a gentle smile, printed out a few pictures for me to take home, then left to get the doctor.
“Well, that was scary,” I said, letting out a long breath.
“Cool as shit, though.” Yael wiped tears from her eyes. “Can’t believe he missed this.”