Page 69 of 7+Us Makes Nine

“Are you ready to find out what you’re having?” the doctor asked.

“I’m so excited I can’t stand it,” Catherine said with a smile.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to go ahead and take the time to do a thorough ultrasound. Not just to identify the gender, but to also check and make sure the child doesn’t have any deformities or developmental issues we should know about.”

“What does that entail?” I asked. “Because Catherine is trying to keep this as natural as possible.”

“And trust me, I admire that. My wife was the same way. All it’ll require is maybe five extra minutes.”

“Are you okay with that?” I asked.

I wrapped Catherine up underneath my arm as she nodded.

“That’s fine. As long as it’s for the good of our child, I’m okay with it,” she said.

“Good. Then let’s get you set up,” the doctor said. “Are we going upstairs? Or are we doing it down here?”

“I figured I’d save you some trouble,” Catherine said. “We can go into my room. It’s at the back of the house.”

“Perfect. I’ll roll my stuff in.”

“Here, let me help,” I said.

I helped the doctor get all of his stuff in as Catherine went back to go lay down. We found her lying on the bed with her shirt rolled up, and the doctor shot me a look. I knew what he was thinking. It was the same thing I’d been thinking for the past month.

Catherine looks bigger than she should.

But I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her that.

“All right, this gel might be cold. But let me know if it’s too cold. I ca

n try to warm it up a bit,” the doctor said.

Catherine jumped as it hit her skin, but she didn’t complain. I sat next to her head, holding her hand tightly within mine. I laced our fingers together and I could feel her trembling. She had done such a great job of keeping her pregnancy as healthy as possible. She was even trying to stave off her cravings, even though I kept encouraging her to indulge at least once. I got her to eat a doughnut she kept salivating over, but that was about it.

“Ready to see your child?” the doctor asked.

“Oh yes,” Catherine said breathlessly. “I’m ready.”

The wand hit her skin and I squeezed her hand. My eyes stayed glued to the screen, knowing this would probably be the only time I’d see them before Catherine gave birth. He moved the wand around her small protrusion and I focused as hard as I could, not wanting to miss a thing in case the extra five minutes flew by quicker than I figured they would.

Then, I saw the doctor furrow his brow.

“What is it?” I asked.

“What?” Catherine asked.

“Hold on,” the doctor said.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Doctor?”

“Just give me a second…”

“Doctor. Talk to us,” I said.

“Well, we have our answer,” the doctor said.

“Answer to what?” Catherine asked. “What’s going on?”

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