Chapter 27

Amanda

I reached over and took Nathan’s hand in mine, squeezing it tightly and smiling at him. My legs dangled over the edge of the examination table. We were at the first doctor’s appointment, waiting for the ultrasound tech to come in. I was really nervous, but I was excited to see our baby for the first time. Nathan had been talking about it all morning, and I found it so adorable how well he adjusted to the idea of being a father. There was never any pause, and he had jumped right in with both feet, researching, looking online, and finding out everything he would need to know in the coming months. He was the first person awake that morning and had rushed me out of the house because he was excited to see the baby.

We looked up as the door opened and a small older woman walked into the room. She smiled kindly at the both of us and walked to the back, grabbing my file. I looked over at Nathan and squeezed his hand again, giving him an excited grin.

“Good morning,” she said. “My name is Eleanor, and I will be your ultrasound tech today. This is your first well visit, correct?”

“Yes ma’am,” I said, smiling.

“Exciting,” she said. “You will get to see that baby for the first time and, hopefully, hear a heartbeat.”

“Will this hurt her?” I asked.

“No.” She smiled. “I’ll be super gentle. Just go ahead and lie back on the table, and I’ll get you all set up.”

She turned on the machine and got the wand ready. I laughed to myself, watching Nathan’s eyes grow big as she rolled a condom down the stick and lubed it up. Once she was inside, she moved it around quite a bit, measuring different things and taking pictures of the inside of me. Finally, it was our turn. She turned the monitor toward us and pointed to what looked like a little bean wriggling on the screen.

“There’s the baby,” she said excitedly.

Instantly, my whole body went calm, and I looked up at Nathan with tears in my eyes. He had teared up, too, and bent down, grasping my hand and kissing it. We watched as the little life inside of me moved to the beat of its own drum. She clicked a button, and we could hear a muffled beating.

“And that is its heart beat,” she said, smiling. “So, strong.”

“Do you hear that?” I asked through tears.

“I do,” he whispered. “It’s perfect.”

She took a couple pictures of the baby and printed them out for us. We sat there staring down at the little baby on the paper. She finished up all of her measurements and then cleaned me up, letting me know I could get dressed and get ready for the next part. I pulled myself up on the examination table, and Nathan got up, bringing my clothes over and helping me get dressed. He was always so careful and caring toward me, and I could tell that he was going to make an amazing father.

After I had gotten all my clothes on and washed my hands, I sat down in the chair next to him and looked at the pictures in awe. Neither one of us could believe how much of a miracle it was to be pregnant. Everything seemed so real at that moment, but instead of being nervous or scared, I was really excited.

“Can you believe we are going to have a baby?” he asked, shaking his head. “It looks so funny, but I love it already. When do we find out whether it’s a boy or a girl?”

“Not for a few more months,” I said. “Everyone says the time flies by, though.”

“I’m sure that it does,” he said. “I just want to enjoy every moment of it with you.”

I smiled and leaned in, giving him a kiss. I looked up at the door as the nurse stuck her head in and smiled. Nathan put the pictures in his wallet and helped me up out of the chair. I was perfectly capable of functioning on my own at that point, but he was very attentive. It would definitely come in handy when I was too big to lift myself out of chairs.

“You ready to get your blood taken?” the nurse asked.

“Is anyone ever ready for needles?” I laughed nervously.

“It won’t hurt,” she said, leading me down the hall into another room.

The nurse was gentle and quick, and before I knew it, we were heading in to talk to the doctor. Nathan introduced himself and shook the doctor’s hand excitedly. The doctor looked pleased that my mentality had changed so much since the last time he saw me. We learned about what to expect at the appointments, the different tests that could be performed, and then Nathan asked him a barrage of questions. It was really adorable, and I appreciated how much he wanted to be involved. He wanted to know every detail of what he was supposed to be doing. I could see the amusement on the doctor’s face. He ended the conversation by promising Nathan he would talk to him about the delivery in detail when the time got closer.

When we were done, they gave us a bunch of reading material and set our next several appointments. We walked out of the doctor’s office on cloud nine, heading over to a café down the street to eat lunch. I was starving by the time we got there, and I was really glad that I had my appetite back. In fact, it had come back times three. We sat down and ordered our food, and Nathan pulled out the pictures again.

“I can’t even express to you how excited I am,” he said, beaming. “Seriously, this is the best thing ever, besides you, of course.”

“Aww thanks, honey.” I smiled. “And I am finally excited about it as well. It is definitely a different experience having you here with me.”

“Have you thought about baby names at all?”

“Not really,” I said. “I was still trying to get through the nausea when I finally got to tell you. I have always liked the names Nicole or Ava for a girl.”

“I like Ava,” he said. “That’s nice, and Nicole is great, too. I’ve always liked Brant, Preston, or Nicolas for boys’ names. They always seemed to be really nice guys with their heads on their shoulders.”

“I really like Nicolas,” I said. “That was my great grandfather’s name.”

“How about Elva?”

“Oh, God, no.” I laughed, thinking about that guy that Lindsey set me up with. “That is a disaster waiting to happen. You might as well name him Brock if it’s a boy. He will be a jock with a big head.”

He laughed and choked on his coffee. “My dad wanted to name me Brock, but my mom wouldn’t have it.”

“That is because she is apparently a very smart lady,” I said. “I don’t think I could have taken you seriously if Brock was your name.”

“That’s because I would probably drool on myself.” He laughed.

“I really think that Ava or Nicolas could be our winners,” I said, smiling. “I thought it would be really hard to pick out names, but it seems that we are on the same page as usual. Well, except for the whole Elva thing, but I’ll pretend that you never said that.”

“I appreciate it.” He laughed. “And I agree. Ava if it is a girl, and Nicolas if it is a boy.”

“Well, now that that’s settled,” I said, laughing. “God, I am starving. I want to eat everything on their menu.”

“You are the most adorable pregnant person,” he said, smiling.

“You can’t even tell I’m pregnant yet,” I said, pouting.

“They can’t, but I know, and I think it is so adorable,” he said. “I might have to just keep you pregnant.”

“Oh, God, please don’t,” I said, swallowing a gulp of water. “So, have you thought about whether you want a boy or a girl?”

“A boy, of course,” he scoffed. “I want to teach him all about life, show him how to make things, and do whatever normal little boys do. Of course, I want him to make his own choices, too. I don’t expect him to take over the company, but he can if he wants to.”

“What if it’s a girl? Can she take over the company?”

“Of course,” he said. “But it’ll be a boy. What about you? Do you want a boy or a girl?”

I sat there imagining my life in both scenarios, both as a mother to a little girl and the mother to a little boy. It was the first time I had really thought about it. I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for, and then, I imagined brushing my daughter’s hair, watching her snuggle up to her daddy, and making a life with her.

“I think I am hoping for a little girl,” I said. “You can have daddy/daughter tea parties, and I can braid her hair.”

“But I don’t know anything about girls,” he said, pouting. “I know a little about women, but what I know won’t be any help when raising one. On top of that, I know how guys think, and I’m likely to push her into being a nun.”

“That’s so silly.” I laughed. “If she is anything like me, she would never survive as a nun. She would be way too defiant and mouthy.”

“This is very true,” he said with wide eyes. “We should just have two. One of each.”

“With your luck, it would be two daughters.” I laughed, watching the waiter set our food down in front of us.

“You are more than right about that,” he said, shaking his head. “I would be surrounded by women all day long.”

“In reality, I don’t really care whether it’s a boy or girl, as long as it is healthy and happy,” I said, smiling before shoving a forkful of pancakes in my mouth.

“I agree, but I hope it inherits my eating manners.” He laughed, making fun of me.

“I’m very mannerly,” I said with a full mouth.

“I see this,” he said, laughing. “I just want us to be a happy family, and I would be super blessed if I had a little girl that was as amazing as her mom. My life will be complete either way.”

“And I feel the same about you,” I said. “This baby, if it is anything like you, will be one of the best men I know. I feel so lucky that you are part of my life and that I can count on you being an amazing father.”

“I’m going to do my best,” he said, smiling.

“We can learn together,” I replied.

I sat there eating and talking more about the baby, the nursery, and all the things that we were going to have to buy. I felt completely at peace, knowing that Nathan was going to be there for us no matter what. Life had really turned around, and I knew that it was going to be perfect between us from then on out. We had been through torture being separated by forces that we did not see coming, and I would never let that happen again. Just hearing him tell me how much he loved me, how excited he was, and how thankful he was that we worked things out let me know that he was never going to let us separate again, either.

Maybe true love was real, and I just had to wade through all the bullshit to finally realize it. I knew one thing for sure, I had finally gotten my own happy ending, and it was even better than I imagined. Love was even better than I could have imagined.