I giggled. “You’ve seen pictures before.”
The baby wiggled on the screen, and the men around reacted with absolute delight. “Pictures can’t dothatjustice,” Thomas said.
The ultrasound tech’s smile was much more genuine now. She may not understand our dynamic, but she could appreciate the wonder that the men were experiencing. “Would you like to hear the heartbeat?” she asked.
Hearing the seemingly too-fastthump-thump-thumpwas my favorite part, and I knew it would be theirs too. “Please,” I said.
The tech pressed something on her computer, swirled the wand against my skin, and then that wonderful sound filled the room. “It’s so fast,” Jake said, awed. “Is it supposed to be that fast?”
The tech checked the rate. “It’s sitting at 145,” she said. “Might be a little fast for an adult, but for the fetus, it’s perfectly healthy.”
Healthy. That word made me glow. “We’re going to check to see if the baby is growing correctly, right?” I asked and couldn’t keep some of the anxiety out of my voice.
“Absolutely,” she said. The wand moved again, and she pressed harder here and there to get a better picture. She pointed out the length of the baby’s arms and legs, the size of its head and heart. “Everything is looking good here,” she said. “Your doctor will confirm, of course, but nothing is jumping out at me.”
The tension in my chest eased. My bloodwork, to this point, had been perfect, and I had been having what my doctor called a textbook-perfect pregnancy... but there was always a lingering doubt that something would go wrong. From the moment I took that pregnancy test, I worried that the other shoe would drop, that I would be left devastated. To hear that our baby was growing exactly as it should... tears welled in my eyes. Jake wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Crybaby,” he murmured teasingly in my ear.
“Do you want to know the sex?” the tech asked, looking at me.
I nodded. We weren’t planning an elaborate gender reveal. Ryan and his family would be coming to the house later for dinner, and I mentioned bringing Adrianne and her family along as well. Having a houseful would be more than plenty to celebrate. I felt no need to drag it out.
The tech pressed down again, reminding me that I had filled my bladder as instructed so that they could get a “good picture,” and she smiled. “This little one isn’t hiding anything today,” she said. “I’ve got a perfect picture.”
I looked at the screen, but it was hard to make out what it all meant. Other than the outline of the baby as a whole, it was a lot of guesswork as to what we were actually seeing. “And?”
“Congratulations on a healthy baby girl,” the tech said.
The men around me cheered, and the tears that had been threatening to slip free finally did. We were having a girl. Howperfectwas that? Zach leaned in and pressed a kiss to my hair. “You’re amazing,” he murmured to me. “Absolutely amazing.”
I wanted to argue that I hadn’t done anything, not really, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the image on the screen. I could hear the printer to the side spitting out more ultrasounds that I would be adding to the collection that was already on the fridge at the house.
“Congratulations again,” the tech said, pressing the black and white images into my hand. “I’ll let you get dressed, and then you can stop and see the receptionist on the way out.”
She bade my men a goodbye and made herself scarce. As soon as the door closed, they fell into me, wrapping me into a hug where I couldn’t tell whose hands were whose. It was the kind of hug that made me feel both safe and fully encompassed by them. “I love you,” I said to them. “I love you so much.”
“We love you, baby,” Jake said, and Zach and Thomas hummed their agreement.
Zach reached for a paper towel and helped me mop the gel from my stomach. It left a tacky film that I would probably feel for the rest of the day, but I didn’t mind. Not after such a wonderful surprise. “Let’s go home,” I said. “Everyone will be over later for pizza.”
Thomas steadied me as I climbed off the table, and I tried not to look awkward as I readjusted my clothes. I couldn’t resist touching my belly, and soon, there were three more hands, bigger than mine, cupping me as well. Although the baby’s kicks weren’t super noticeable at this point, I felt the small swish of her moving and smiled. “She likes when you touch me,” I said. “She keeps rolling over.”
“I can’t wait until she’s big enough for us to feel,” Thomas said. “I can’t wait for that.”
I snorted, imagining myself even rounder than I was already becoming. “I can,” I said. “I’ll look like I’m smuggling something under my shirt by then.”
“You’ll look even more beautiful than you do now,” Zach insisted.
“Sure,” I said, rolling my eyes. Before they could continue to pet and praise me, which they would until I extracted myself from them, I hurried them out of the ultrasound room, and we headed home to get ready for our guests.
* * *
“How are you feeling?” Tinsley asked me, touching the baby bump.
“I’m fine,” I said with a little shrug. “No nausea, and I’m not as tired as I was during the first trimester.”
Tinsley nodded. “The second trimester is pretty magical,” she said. “The third semester is the absolute worst.”
“I got this vision of me as a whale while we were at the doctor’s,” I confided. “I’m not looking forward to it.”