“…Eddie, relax,” Margot whispered from the examination chair. “They’re just doing an ultrasound.”

Eddie was on edge, and everyone in the room knew it. The doctor spent half her time soothing him when her attention should have been solely focused on Margot, but he couldn’t seem to stop drawing the focus away. He tried to relax, and wound up nearly coming off of his stool in the process.

“Here you go, sweetie.” Another nurse entered and brought him a cup of water. Eddie accepted, but tried to offer it to Margot first; she just shook her head, looking bemused. He downed it in one gulp and crumpled the cup in his fist.

“You took that water like you take your shots,” Margot noticed.

“I just...I guess I wasn’t expecting this,” Eddie said. How was he supposed to tell Margot, laid out and vulnerable, that this ultrasound was something out of the ordinary? Why didn’t the doctor say as much? Wasn’t that her job?

Margot raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said you read up on all this stuff?”

He didn’t want to alarm her, but he now felt as if he had no choice. “I did. All my research indicated that normally the first appointment doesn’t require an ultrasound.”

“Doctor?” Margot turned her head. “Is that true?”

The doctor smiled at them both kindly. “Yes. Your partner really has done his research. But since you’re further along in your pregnancy than most women normally are when they come in for their first appointment, I wanted to get an idea of what we’re looking at. Development-wise, Miss Daley, your baby is in perfect health. Would you like to listen?”

“Listen?” Margot repeated curiously. “To what?”

The doctor’s smile broadened. Before Eddie could parse all his recently acquired knowledge to know what she might mean, the doctor turned and adjusted something on her monitor. She kept the instrument she held pressed gently to Margot’s stomach.

A hypnotic, rhythmic thrum filled the room. Eddie glanced from Margot to the speakers near them and back, and could tell that she was equally confused. “Is that...my heartbeat?” she asked.

“I’m using an advanced version of the fetal Doppler,” the doctor explained. “Not every clinic has a setup like this.” She indicated the speakers occupying each corner of the room. “It’s a little dramatic, but I think it’s appropriate for this moment. I don’t just want expecting parents to hear their child’s heartbeat; I want them to be able to feel it.”

The steady pulse resonated in the room. As Eddie listened to it intently, holding his breath for any sort of irregularity, he found that the sound was starting to feel as if it came from within him. Was his own heart beating in time with the heartbeat of his child?

Was this how Margot felt at night, lying awake in bed alone, listening? He suddenly ached to be there with her in those moments.

“It’s her.” Margot looked at him, eyes shimmering. “It’s our baby, Eddie.”

“It’s still too early at this stage to tell the sex,” the doctor noted. Eddie knew that, but he didn’t voice any doubts about Margot’s certainty. He believed her statement as much as she appeared to believe it herself. A daughter, he thought in wonder. My daughter.

He reached for her, but Margot’s hand was already moving off the table to seek his hand. They met halfway, interlocking their fingers; Eddie felt the warmth of their touch flow through him as their baby’s heartbeat filled the room with its steady pulse. For the first time, he found himself trying to imagine all the lullabies he might sing to her. He hadn’t conducted any research into the matter, and couldn’t remember the words to the low refrains his own mother had once sung to him. Whatever he came up with, he knew that it would never inspire a similar feeling to what he felt in this moment. This was his own daughter’s lullaby to him.

“And here you can see the baby on the screen,” the doctor invited. Both their heads turned together to observe the sonogram. Eddie thought he had known what to expect, having browsed through galleries upon galleries of pictures online already, but his heart still gave a jolt when he saw the tiny figure tucked in close to itself. It was a similar sensation to seeing someone you thought you recognized after spending too long apart. He didn’t know how else to describe it.

“Can we get a printout?” Margot sounded short of breath. Eddie glanced down at her quickly to make sure nothing was the matter, and saw that her expression was as awestruck as his own. He assumed that was the reason she struggled to form words now.

He squeezed her hand.

“Of course.” The doctor smiled. “I’ve already ordered copies from the lab. Before you go, though, I did want to take a moment to talk with the two of you about Margot’s blood pressure.”

“Her blood pressure?” Eddie was already on high alert. “How is it? What’s wrong?”

“Eddie,” Margot murmured. “Let her finish.”

“It’s high.” The doctor took a seat on the stool opposite from the two of them. She levelled a look at Margot that made Eddie feel immediately confirmed in his worry. “Much higher than I’d like it to be.”

“Oh.” Margot’s eyebrows drew together in bewilderment. “That’s strange. I’ve really been trying to take it easy recently.”

You’ve been working even longer and harder hours than usual at the firm, Eddie corrected her privately, but he had the presence of mind to keep his thoughts to himself for the moment. He could discuss his concerns with Margot once they were alone.

“Wonderful,” the doctor said. “I would advise you to step up your efforts even more. I’ll have my nurse leave you with a list of activities you might consider pursuing – and staying away from.” She rose to finish typing in one last note. “Overall I’m encouraged by our checkup, Miss Daley. The baby is healthy. That being said, do be sure to take steps to monitor your pressure and destress your life even more. I look forward to seeing you a few weeks from now.”

“Understood,” Margot cut in before Eddie could comment. She pulled her shirt down and maneuvered herself toward his side of the table; he was on his feet in an instant with a free hand to cradle her elbow, the other her waist. She slipped down to the floor and smiled up at him. “Ready to go?” she beamed.

Once they had collected their sonograms and confirmed the details of Margot’s next appointment, they reconvened on the sidewalk outside of the clinic. They looked at one another.

“Wow,” Margot said.

“Wow,” Eddie agreed. “Is it just me, or is it all so…?”

“So much more real now?” she offered.

“I’m glad to hear you say it,” he replied seriously. “Margot, I think we really need to take the doctor’s instructions to heart. You’re pushing yourself too hard, the same way you always have. It’s not good for you, and it’s not good for the baby.”

Margot waved him off. “I’ll be fine, Eddie. Really. I’m going with the flow of things, and that’s exactly what the doctor prescribed. In fact, I bet my blood pressure is better than usual since I stopped worrying about what the future holds.” She smiled, and Eddie couldn’t resist reaching out to touch her hair. He had never looked at Margot as someone who was fragile before, but now he couldn’t help it. It was like carrying his baby had reframed her, somehow, into someone more precious and breakable than he could have ever imagined the old Margot Daley being.

“I admire your new lease on life, Margot, especially after everything that’s happened to us these past few months. Please don’t think that I don’t,” he said. “But what if ‘going with the flow’ isn’t enough? We have to plan these things out.”

“Plan for the worst, you mean,” she said. She drew back a little from his touch. “You don’t think I can take care of myself on my own. Is that it?”

Eddie shook his head in exasperation. “That’s not it. That’s not it at all!” He wanted to shout his denial to the rooftops, but shouting was probably the last thing he needed to be doing right now. If Margot was going to accept her environment as it was, then Eddie was going to do his best to control for anything that might go wrong. Whether she knew it or not, he was going to make certain that she lived in a safe, comfortable bubble for the duration of this pregnancy. It’s what a good man, a responsible man, was meant to do. And he was certain it’s what her father would want to see.

Margot's eyes narrowed. "You know, Eddie, this controlling side of you is really starting to wear on me. It's like the moment I got pregnant you got it into your head that I'm completely helpless without you. I'm not. And I resent being treated like a child when I'm expecting a child of my own."

Margot might as well have pulled a whip out of her purse and administered thirty lashes, right then and there. Eddie actually felt the blood drain out of his face, as if it was rushing to some other part of his body that required attention… or as if it just didn't feel like sticking around to witness his humiliation.

For a moment, Margot looked as if she wanted to add something else. Eddie leaned forward, hoping for an opening to ingratiate himself once more—but she whirled on her heel and stalked down the sidewalk to hail a car. He didn't follow. After hearing her words, he knew better than to attempt to try. Margot wanted to be heard, not reconciled with.

As the cab pulled away, with her in it, Eddie was left standing on the curb alone to contemplate his options. He felt like he was constantly navigating a maze these days, coming up against wall after wall of outside expectations. Margot wanted him to go with the flow, but how could he? This was the test that had been placed before him, and he had to prove himself now more than ever. It was sink or swim for Eddie Jameson. It was time to finally earn the esteem of those closest to him by any means necessary.

And if that meant stepping in to guide Margot’s flow, then he was prepared to do whatever was necessary to keep them both above water.