A Beautiful Forever

chapter 34

Paige

Sitting in the waiting area of the hospital a few days later, I watch as Elliot nervously bounces his leg and skims through a magazine.

He flicks it back on the table and huffs out his breath. “How long is this going to take?” he asks impatiently.

I shift uncomfortably in my seat. “I don’t know but I hope we’re called through soon – my bladder is so full that I think I might burst if

they don’t see us in the next few minutes.”

A woman comes into the waiting area with a clip board and a file in her hand, “Paige Larsen?” she calls out.

“Thank god,” we say in unison.

The ultrasound technician leads us to a room and gestures for me to lie on the chair in the middle of the room. Elliot stands by me,

looking fretful and expectant. As soon as I’ve lifted my shirt to expose my belly, he captures my hand in his and holds it tightly, his

eyes darting around taking in everything in the room.

“So how far along do you think you are?” the technician asks.

“20 weeks,” Elliot says, jumping in, he has grilled me thoroughly for every detail about this pregnancy, I think he knows more than I do

now.

I laugh at his nerves and the technician smiles. “A nervous father to be?” she asks.

“Very!” I laugh.

“Alright, well let’s get this baby on screen,” she suggests.

The gel is surprisingly warm as she squeezes it over my stomach and uses the transducer to slide it around. An image looks like it’s

zooming in and out on the screen at first until she slows her movement, and the picture becomes something discernible.

“There you are little one,” she says as my eyes fill with tears while I’m watching the screen.

“Wow,” Elliot breathes from beside me. “That’s our baby Paige.”

I nod my head, beaming. “It’s beautiful!”

The technician moves the transducer around my stomach and shows us different part of our baby's body. It's moving around so

much, and I can’t believe I can’t feel it more than I do, I only get fluttery feelings – like butterflies in my stomach. When she finishes

taking the necessary measurements, she turns to us and asks us if we’d like to know the sex.

Elliot and I look at each other, unsure how to respond, “Should it be a surprise?” I ask him.

He looks unsure but says, “Yeah; I think a surprise would be best.”

“Ok? You’re sure?” I check.

“Yes, we’ll wait.”





Elliot


I'm on a complete high right now. I just saw my baby on the screen, and it’s perfect. Everything seems fine, the baby’s healthy. Paige

is healthy. I’m on cloud nine. We’re walking out of the ultrasound area together with our printed strip of photos in hand. You can

clearly see the baby’s face, hands, and feet. It’s so amazing to me that the baby in this picture is inside Paige’s body right now.

We walk arm in arm to the elevator bay and travel down to another floor. Because of Paige’s upbringing, she is a risk for pre and

post natal depression, so it was recommended that she see a counsellor throughout her pregnancy and the early months after the

birth. She booked her session to start shortly after the ultrasound, so we’re heading to the waiting area for that. After she is called in,

I have plenty of time to sit and think while I wait for her.

A week ago, I was in Australia, pining away for Paige and praying that she’ll still be in love with me and this week – I have everything

I wanted and more. I can’t believe I’m going to be a father. I didn’t think I was ready for kids, but with Paige – I want everything.

I’m so glad that she’s getting counselling now. I'm not so glad that her mother is in her life – I harbour more than a bit of resentment

towards her over the way she treated Paige but if Paige wants to have a relationship with her, then I’m supportive of that - especially

considering they are all in counselling together. It gives me great hope that everything is going to work out for us.