Page 63 of Loving Winter

I think I like this new life of mine. It feels as though each day gets better than the last.

EPILOGUE

Winter

Three MonthsLater

Sittingin the waiting room still makes me jittery with nerves. After all Gabriel and I have been through together, I don’t know why it still makes me anxious. But it’s our last check-up before we leave town, and I just want to hear that everything is right and normal with our baby.

“Winter?” Dr. Russ asks as he pushes the door open between the waiting room and the back hall.

“Hi,” I say, rising quickly.

“Come on back.”

Taking Gabriel’s hand, I follow the doctor down the hall and into an exam room on the left.

“How are you feeling today?” he asks as he closes the door behind us.

I slide onto the exam table, that paper crinkling noisily beneath me, as Gabriel takes up silent sentinel behind me. By now, after several follow-up appointments, Gabe has started to relax around the doctor. He’s less defensive than he was during our first exam, though he still remains stoically silent during my appointments.

“Feeling good. I’ve finally stopped throwing up,” I say optimistically. I have to say, that’s been a massive relief. While I constantly want to eat, I’ve had to form a tactic on what I eat and when so I can accommodate what types of food might be okay coming back up.

“That’s good. Now that you’re officially in your second trimester, your morning sickness should be gone. However, you might experience some heartburn,” Dr. Russ says knowingly.

I groan. That’s not what I want to hear.

“Staying hydrated will be a big help,” he says, pressing the stethoscope to my back beneath my shirt and asking me to take a few deep breaths.

Then he has me lie back and lift my shirt for the ultrasound. He clicks on the machine as I comply. Smearing a healthy amount of cold, slimy goop onto my belly, the doctor then takes up his wand and slowly tracks it across the small but apparent bump that’s formed in the last several months.

I look down at it with a strange sense of pride. While I was self-conscious about it at first, worried that Gabriel would stop finding me sexy as I slowly lost my curvy figure, all those fears and anxieties have melted away. If anything, I think Gabriel finds me more attractive with a baby bump.

And as we wait for Dr. Russ to do his check, I smile up at Gabriel. A tingle of excitement ripples through me at the intense gaze he gives me.

The machine begins to woosh with the healthy sound of our baby’s heartbeat. So different in contrast to the quiet thrum we heard on our first visit.

“Everything is looking great so far. Baby’s healthy and happy. Sleeping currently.” Dr. Russ points to the distinctive figure that appears on the screen this time. “There’s the head. Feet,” he explains, circling each area.

This time, I can see it. Our baby. It’s starting to look like a miniature person, and tears sting the backs of my eyes. Gabriel squeezes my shoulders in silent support, his lips resting on the crown of my head as he stares at the screen along with me.

“Would you like to know the sex?” Dr. Russ asks.

“You can tell already?” I ask in wonder.

The doctor chuckles. “With fairly good certainty.”

Glancing up into Gabriel’s eyes, I silently ask if he wants to know. I’m suddenly dying to find out. He gives me a subtle nod, his hand sliding down my arm to interlace with my fingers.

“Yes,” I say, unable to hold back my smile.

“See right here?” Dr. Russ says, using his pen to be accurate as he points at the screen. “This says you’re going to have a baby girl.”

My heart swells with wonderment as those words sink in. Looking up at Gabriel, I want to see his reaction to the news. While I had silently been hoping for a girl, I’m not sure if he might have secretly been hoping for a boy. Whenever I asked, he said he would be happy with either. But now, as I look into his blue eyes, I see an overwhelming joy that immediately brings tears to my eyes.

“We’re having a girl,” he whispers, bringing our clasped hands to his face and pressing a kiss to my fingers.

I nod, unable to speak with the lump of emotion stuck in my throat.

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