“Sure, honey. The more the merrier.”
We follow her down a long hallway before entering the ultrasound room. It’s a large room with a couch off the side and a large recliner next to the ultrasound machine. The only other thing in the room is a large projector pointing down from the ceiling. When I sit down in the recliner, I notice that the large wall in front of me is a screen for viewing.
“Here you go. Place this sheet over your lap. That way we don’t flash everyone in the process.” She laughs and helps me cover up.
I look over to Axel and see the nervous anticipation on his face. He smiles at me and grabs my outstretched hand.
“Love you,” he mouths to me.
“Love you too,” I return.
“All right Ms. West. Let’s get you ready.”
I smile at Axel one more time when I see the frown on his face over the use of my last name. He was not happy with me when I told him that I wanted to wait for the baby to be born before we got married. He grudgingly agreed when I bribed him with sex.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be married to Axel, just the opposite. I couldn’t wait to be Mrs. Axel Reid, but it just felt right that our baby be there with us. When I sat him down and explained my reasons for wanting to wait, he wasn’t so upset anymore, but that didn’t mean he was happy about it.
“I’m just going to do some measurements before we take a look and see if this little one wants to make an announcement today, okay?”
I nod my head, too engrossed with the image of our baby on the large screen in front of us. Axel squeezes my hand, and I hear him let out a shuddered breath.
“Amazing,” I hear Greg whisper to Dee, who is too busy sniffling in her tissue to answer.
When the baby’s heartbeat fills the room, we all seem to pause in amazement. It never fails to fill my heart with joy to hear that fast-paced beating.
“You ready, Mom and Dad?” she asks us with a smile.
“Yes,” Axel says quickly before I can open my mouth.
I look up at her and smile. She gives me a wink before turning her attention back to the screen.
“Well, will you look at that? Someone isn’t shy at all.” She laughs to herself, and we sit there all looking at the moving little image on the screen.
It doesn’t take long for us to see what she was talking about. Right there, larger than life, is my son just letting it all hang out. Axel lets out a loud whoop and jumps up from his chair. He leans down and gives me a kiss before slapping hands with Greg. I laugh at their antics and wipe the tears from my face.
Axel comes back to my side and leans over me. Taking my face in his hands and pushing his nose up to mine, he rubs his nose against my own, and the smile that takes over his face makes my heart speed up.
“We’re having a boy,” he says. “You’re giving me a son.” He places a soft kiss to my lips and briefly closes his eyes. When he opens them, they are so full of love and happiness. “Making my dreams come true, Princess. Making my life worth living. Love you so much, baby.”
I grab his head, and push my face up to his, and give him a kiss that I hope expresses my feelings.
“I love you, Axel.”
The rest of the appointment passes in a blur. Axel continues to hold my hand and shake with his excitement. He is itching to get out of this room so he can scream to the world that he is about to have a son.
When we finish, the technician hands us some prints and he scoops them up before I can even take them, thanking her while looking down through the images. He is like a kid with a new toy. Completely enamored.
I go up to pay and Axel steps outside, immediately jumping on the phone. Chances are, the whole state will know when he is done that we are having a boy.
I finish paying and turn around to find Greg standing behind me.
“Happy, baby girl?”
“More than you could even imagine.”
He smiles and throws his arm around me and gives me a quick hug.
Axel turns, sees him, and pauses in his conversation. “Hands off, Cage!”
Greg laughs and drops his arm.
“Let’s go! The gang is meeting us at Heavy’s to celebrate my boy!” he yells across the parking lot.
The only thing I can think of is that I put that peacefulness in his tone and together we are finally where we are meant to be.
EPILOGUE
5 Months Later
Axel
I have been running around all day trying to make sure everything is in place for tonight. It’s Izzy’s birthday, and between anxiously waiting for our son to decide to come and dealing with the memories that still plague her around this day, it was turning out to be a nightmare.
So far, the only highlight of today was seeing the blinding smile on her face when she woke up. Other than that . . . anything that could have gone wrong has.
The caterer is late, the cake hasn’t shown up, and the birthday girl will be here in an hour.