Page 145 of Gracefully Yours

Even when he turned on the shower and stripped my clothes.

Even when he dried me off and pulled a clean t-shirt of his over my body.

Even when we curled up in our bed, Brownie laying at our feet and Daniel holding me tight.

Even when we whisperedI love youin the darkness of our room.

It was everything I’d ever wished for—and more.

CHAPTER36

Charlotte

MAY

“Charlotte Bradford?” A voice called. “You can come on back.”

“You ready?” Daniel murmured to me as I stood up, weaving his fingers through mine.

Even with positive test results, the last two weeks of waiting for this appointment had been grueling, knowing that a million things could still go wrong.

“With you by my side… For anything,” I agreed as we walked into the room.

The nurse got us settled in, took my blood pressure and asked a series of questions before letting me know the doctor would be in soon.

“Knock, knock,” my OB said, opening the door. Her brown hair rested against her stark white coat, and she gave me a friendly smile. “Charlotte?”

“That’s me.”

“And this must be Dad?”

Daniel nodded, extending out his hand to shake hers. “I’m her husband, Daniel.”

“It’s great to meet you both. I’m Dr. Richardson, but you can call me Miranda.”

“Hi.”

“How have you been feeling?”

“Oh, you know, the usual…” Fatigue? Check. Sometimes I felt like all I wanted to do was sleep, but also I kept waking up in the middle of the night to pee, or tossing and turning in bed. Morning sickness that just wouldn’t quit it? Check.

I quickly recounted my symptoms to her, leaning into Daniel’s touch as he slowly rubbed up and down my back. But even if I was nauseous all day—I was happy. Because this was everything I’d wanted—dreamed of.

“If you want to lift your shirt, I’ll take a look and see how you’re measuring, plus we’ll see if we can see anything, okay?”

I’d purposefully worn a flowy top for this reason, and I rolled it up, revealing my flat stomach.

“This might be cold,” she warned before squirting the ultrasound gel on my abdomen and pressing the wand against my skin. Dr. Richardson focused on the screen as she moved the device around, looking at

“What are you doing now?” Daniel asked, watching her work.

“Taking a few measurements to get an idea of the gestational age,” she answered, her eyes on the screen as she moved the wand over my stomach. “We measure from the top of the head to the bottom because that’s the most accurate way to determine your due date.”

“Baby’s measuring at about 8 weeks and 3 days, so your due date should be somewhere around December 20th.”

That seemed pretty in line with what I’d estimated based on my last period.

“And there’s your baby.” She turned around the screen, pointing at the small, almost-human like blob that had appeared.

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