“What do you want for breakfast?” she asks, looking over her shoulder. She looks beautiful in nothing but one of my shirts and a pair of large socks that slouch around her ankles. Her hair is a mess, and the way the sun is shining through the window makes her look like she’s glowing; or maybe she is glowing. I can’t wait until her waist expands, showing off her pregnancy. I never thought that I could love her any more than I already did. Now, knowing she’s carrying my child has elevated every feeling that I have ever had for her.
“Whatever you want, baby,” I tell her, when I see her raise her eyebrows.
“How about French toast?”
“That sounds good,” I say, watching her fill up the coffee pot with water, worried about what I have to do next.
“Baby, you don’t need to make coffee. I’m not going to drink any this morning.”
“Its fine,” she shrugs. “I’m going to drink it.”
“You can’t.” I cringe, me—fucking Trevor Mayson—cringing when giving my slip of a wife the news, afraid of her reaction.
“What do you mean ‘I can’t’?”
“Well, you’re not supposed to drink coffee during a pregnancy.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope, you can have decaf though. Just, right now, we don’t have any.”
“Oh, okay.” She turns off the water, going to the fridge, leaving me kind of stunned.
“Are you alright?”
“Fine, just hungry. Can you get my cell phone for me so I can call the doctor and see about setting up an appointment?”
“Absolutely.” I smile, thinking that Asher is full of shit. Liz didn’t seem to care at all about not having coffee.
Liz
Three months later
“Will you please calm down? You’re making me nervous.”
“I can’t sit down. We’re finding out what we’re having. What if we’re having a girl?”
“Trevor, you know that it’s a fifty/fifty chance.”
“I know, but I don’t know if I could handle having a girl. Look at Asher. He has all girls, and November is pregnant with another one.”
“It will be okay.”
“I don’t feel so well,” he grumbles, sitting down next to me. I want to laugh, but I know that he is really afraid about this. I mean, when Asher and November found out that they would be having yet another girl, Asher freaked out. November said that the doctor had to give him something to help calm him.
“Mr. and Mrs. Mayson, if you could come with me,” the elderly nurse says, leading us to a room at the end of the hall. “You’re going to need to change into this.” She hands me a paper robe, and instructs me that once I have it on, I should get up on the bed. Once the door is closed, I start to get undressed. Trevor is frowning the whole time.
“What now?” I ask, exasperated.
“Your doctor is a man.”
“Yeah, you know this. You have met him before.”
“You never had to get completely naked before.”
“He has to check me this time.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it either, and I’m the one who is going to have someone looking at me down there. So can you please just relax? You’re making this harder on me.”
“Sorry, baby. I just really don’t like people seeing you.”
“You do know that when I go into labor, there will be a lot of people in the room.”
“Baby,” he groans, leaning his head back. “You’re not making this any better.” I’m laughing when my doctor walks in.
“How are you feeling today, Liz?”
“I’m doing really well.” I lean my head to the side, look at Trevor, and smile.
“Good to hear. Today, we’re going to be giving you an ultrasound to make sure that everything looks like it should; we can also find out the sex of the baby if you’re interested.”
“Yes, we would like to know what we’re having.”
“Good. Well let me just get everything set up, and we will get started.” I nod and hold on to Trevor’s hand. Once Dr. Spark has everything in order, he has me lay back on the bed, and place my feet in the stirrups. “I need you to relax for me,” he says. I do my best and feel a slight pressure down below. Then he stands, putting the samples that he took on the counter, and allows me to lay my legs out straight as he starts spreading a large glob of gel on my small bump. He runs the small device over my stomach, and after a few seconds, the fast swoosh of our baby’s heartbeat fills the room. Trevor holds my hand a little tighter, leaning closer to me so he has a clearer picture of the monitor.