Page 167 of Sebastian's Baby

“My little bambina,” I say quietly.

“Okay, I’m going to move on to those important measurements now,” Kim informs us.

I squeeze Lita’s hand, and she looks up at me with tears in her eyes as well. I know that she loves our baby girl as much as I do.

“Are you crying because you’re happy or just because you owe me fifty thousand dollars now?” Lita teases me.

I’d forgotten about our bet and I laugh as I lean down to kiss her. I’m so happy right now that I can’t even bring myself to be disappointed that I’ll miss out on fifty thousand kisses from Lita.

Kim starts to measure the length of the baby’s arms, legs, and body. She chats away with us as she does and runs through what each measurement means.

Eventually, Kim says, “Okay, let’s check out the heart now. Want to hear the heartbeat again?”

“We actually bought a Doppler, so that Sebastian could record the sound. I’ve done it a few times, but I’d never say no.”

“You wouldn’t be the first patient to admit they bought a Doppler online,” Kim tells her with a smile.

Then she starts to look at the baby’s heart. “So, I’m just doing some measurements to see how your baby’s heart is growing.”

She presses some buttons, and the sound of the baby’s heartbeat fills the room. I smile down at Lita and then turn back to look at the screen again.

Kim goes back and starts measuring the heart again, but she’s stopped talking to us. I look at her, and she has a deep frown on her face. My blood turns to ice in my veins as she retakes the measurements. Her body has gone stiff, and her jaw is tense.

“Is everything okay?” I ask while frowning at her.

She swallows heavily, then turns to smile at me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “I’m just getting some measurements of the heart, and then I think that I’ll get Dr. Watson to come in and have a second look at the measurements I’ve taken.”

She quickly turns back to the computer screen in front of her, and I can’t breathe. Something is wrong with our baby, and I don’t think I’m going to be able to handle whatever she tells us. Lita is gripping my hand, and I look down at her to see my own fear reflected in her expression.

After another couple of minutes of tense silence, Kim forces a smile at us again and says, “I’m just going to get the doctor, and we’ll be right back.”

As soon as she’s left the room, Lita bursts into tears and says, “Something’s wrong.”

“I know, princess.”

I’m gripped by fear, and I realize that I probably should have sugar-coated that for Lita. I just can’t right now because I’m too scared to think straight.

Lita is still crying, so I look around the room and see a tissue box on the desk nearby. I pull my hand from Lita’s so I can walk over and get them before I hand them to her. She wipes at her tears, and I bend down to kiss her as I take her hand in mine again. She clutches it tightly as she balls up the tissues she’s used in her other hand. The door to the room opens, and both Dr. Watson and Kim walk through it.

“Hi, Lita and Sebastian,” Dr. Watson says to us. “It’s lovely to see you again.”

“What’s wrong?” Lita asks immediately.

“Kim was just having some trouble with a few of the measurements of your baby’s heart. I’m just here to double-check them and make sure the ones that she took were correct.”

Bullshit.

Something is terribly, terribly wrong. I’m certain of it. My throat closes over, and I can barely pay attention to the doctor retaking all the measurements again as I think about it. My little bambina, who I love so much. I want her to be okay. I want that future I imagined, and I am terrified that I’ll never get it now.

Dr. Watson starts the heartbeat going and leaves it running. I listen to the beautiful sound again but pay more attention to it now. I watch the doctor and sonographer, taking in their reaction to the sound as well.

I hear the off-beat that wasn’t there any of the other times I heard the baby’s heartbeat. It would be barely imperceptible, except that my brain is tuned to beats and timing, and it combines with the reaction of the medical staff who are equally trained to hear this.

“Do you hear that?” Kim asks Dr. Watson quietly.

“Yes, I do, and your measurements were correct,” Dr. Watson says.

Lita moans and starts crying heavily again. I squeeze her hand, and I want to know what the fuck they have found and why our baby’s heartbeat is off now.

---