To Part 11
Back to Story Menu
He sank to the floor beside her, matching tears gleaming in his hazel eyes. "A baby? You're pregnant? That's why you've been so tired?"
She nodded. "Mm hmm."
"The fainting?"
Another nod, a smile, and fresh tears. "Mm hmm."
"All the tears?"
"Yes! Oh, Peter! We're having a baby!"
His arms wrapped around her, and he kissed her as he hugged her to his chest, choking out, "You're all right? You're really all right? Oh, God! You don't know what I went through on the way over here!" He started to laugh, even though it came out more of a sob. "A baby? Oh, Sweetheart! I love you. Do you have any idea how much I love you?" He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, and her lips in a frenzy of relief and joy.
The doctor interrupted them by clearing his throat. "I…um… have another appointment soon. If you want this ultrasound, we'd better get started."
Peter stared up at him, startled. "Ultrasound? What for?"
Albin grinned at him. "Your wife is hard to convince. She won't believe me when I say everything is fine, so I'm going to prove it to her with a sonogram. She wanted you to be here to see it with her, so we waited for you."
Clinging to one another, the couple scrambled to their feet. Peter helped Kacie up onto the table, and Dr. Albin settled her into position before using the intercom to call in an ultrasound technician to assist with the procedure.
"We're going to use a transvaginal scan," he explained. "Kacie, I need you to relax as much as you can while I insert the probe. You may experience a little discomfort, but the more you relax your muscles, the less you'll be bothered by it." He smiled, and nodded at the technician who entered the exam room and took her place at his side.
Kacie announced firmly, "If it shows me that my baby is all right, it won't hurt at all." Gripping Peter's hand tightly, she flinched only slightly at the intrusion of the instrument.
Albin conferred briefly with the technician as he watched the monitor screen while he carefully adjusted the position of the probe.
"Do you want a picture of the sonogram, or a videotape?" he asked, even though he was sure he would know the answer.
"Both," the couple responded in unison, looking excitedly at one another.
Peter watched the monitor in awe, and Kacie barely let herself blink as the doctor indicated what he saw. "There's the head. Right here you can see the spine. And right here?. That's your baby's heart beating." Albin studied the screen carefully and asked, "Do you have any idea when conception could have occurred?"
Peter flushed a beet red and stammered, "You-you-you mean could we say when we...I mean...how often we..." His mouth opened and closed uselessly.
"I think I know when," Kacie said softly and smiled in remembrance. Rubbing her thumb over Peter's hand, she hypothesized, "I'll bet it was when we were in Florida. There was just something different about that last night when we…"
"Kacie!" Peter interrupted her, completely mortified.
"Which would have been about three months ago," she finished lamely in a small voice, her face nearly as red as Peter's.
Controlling their amusement at the couple's embarrassed reactions, the technician and Albin nodded. The doctor pointed at the monitor. "The CRL and BPD are consistent with that. The femur length is about 1.5 centimeters, so I would say that thirteen weeks would be pretty close."
"You're sure everything's OK?" Kacie sniffled anxiously, wiping at tears with one hand and keeping a death grip on Peter's fingers with the other. "It won't be like last time?"
"Kacie, you are the healthiest patient I've ever had, a textbook example of how to take care of yourself before pregnancy. You don't smoke, you don't drink, you rarely take any kind of medicine other than herbal remedies, and you're in great shape." He grinned. "And from the way the two of you are blushing, I feel safe in saying that you have a very happy and healthy relationship with your husband, both physical and otherwise; you both want this baby." He threw his hands up in the air. "For crying out loud, girl, what do I have to say to convince you?"
Peter and Kacie laughed at his theatrics, but listened closely as he gave them more information, ticking off the points on his fingers. "The fetus is properly located in the uterus, the blood flow in the placenta is strong..." Albin stopped in midsentence. "Wait. Wait. I know!"
He went over to a drawer, pulled out a stethoscope, and placed the bell of the instrument on Kacie's lower abdomen, moving it around and listening intently. When satisfied, he connected an amplifier to the stethoscope and flipped a switch. He turned some dials, and the room was suddenly filled with a rapid and rhythmic swish-thump. "That's the sound of your baby's heart beating."
Peter listened in rapt absorption, overwhelmed by a sudden surge of love, pride, and protectiveness. {That's my baby. Growing right now. Living right now!}
A matching look of wonderment was on Kacie's face as she watched the ultrasound and listened to the corresponding heartbeat. Closing her eyes, she laughed through her tears.
Albin cleared his throat gruffly and asked quietly, "Have I convinced you yet?" He removed the probe and completed the cleanup process, before turning off the amplifier and putting away the stethoscope.
Peter looked down at Kacie through a curtain of moisture. He reverently laid a hand on her still-flat stomach and choked, "We're having a baby, aren't we?"
"I know," Kacie admitted sheepishly. "But until I can feel our baby, it's just so...reassuring...to see this." She sat next to him on the couch, feet tucked under her, leaning her head against his shoulder as they cuddled.
Peter hit 'play' and tossed the remote on the coffee table, taking Kacie more securely into his arms and rubbing his cheek against her hair. "I gotta admit, every time I watch this I just think about how incredible it all is, how incredible YOU are."
Kacie laughed happily. "We'll see how incredible you think I am when the ugly mood swings hit, and I wake you up in the middle of the night to go get me something nutty to eat, or the baby's kicking keeps me awake and I keep you awake."
The tape turned itself off when it reached the end, and automatically started to rewind. Peter took Kacie's hand and spoke intently. "You." She watched his eyes with adoration as he caressed her cheek with his fingertips. "You could ask me for the moon, and I would move heaven and earth to bring it to you."
She pulled his head down to kiss him tenderly. "I'm glad we decided to wait until tomorrow to tell anyone else." She kissed him again, more warmly this time. "Tonight is just for us."
He started to nuzzle her neck, and she nipped at his ear lobe. Hands started to roam and gentle kisses soon deepened to become passionate, until Peter abruptly jerked away.
Kacie frowned in mild annoyance. "What's the matter with you?"
"Well, Honey, maybe we shouldn't." Peter's look was comically worried.
She grinned at him cheekily. "Do you think that I would do anything that I thought might hurt our baby?"
"Well, no, but…"
"And you were there when Dr. Albin said there were no restrictions for me at this time?"
"Yeah, but…"
She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Peter-r-r. He meant no restrictions on ANYTHING."
He stared at her dubiously, shaking his head. "I just don't want to do something that might…"
"You won't," she interrupted, eyes gleaming devilishly. "Well, I guess we could just make sure we don't get, um, overenthusiastic."
Peter slid a few inches away from her. "And-and-and you need your sleep. He also said you should get at least eight hours of sleep every night."
Kacie turned her wrist and flicked a glance at the watch strapped there. "Which gives us at least an hour, if you quit stalling."
He started to make one last objection, but she captured his head with her hands, and quickly covered his mouth with hers, distracting him with her tongue.
They broke apart from their kiss and she got to her feet, tugging on his arm as a signal to join her. Sliding her hands around his head, she growled, "If you think I'm going to give up making love to you until the baby's born, you're nuts! Besides, there's gonna be plenty of times I just won't be in the mood. You'd better make the most of this, Mister."
He gave up then and swept her up into his arms, starting to carry her off toward the bedroom.
"What're you doing?" she asked huskily, nibbling at his throat and the underside of his jaw.
"I figured I better do this while I can still pick you up," he teased, pretending to struggle with the burden in his arms. "OW! You bit me! There better not be a bruise there in the morning! If I go to work tomorrow with something that looks like a hickey, I'll never hear the end of it!"
She giggled and kissed the sore spot tenderly. "I warned you about ugly mood swings. You better watch that smart mouth of yours."
"Smart mouth, huh?" he challenged as he toted his willing captive off into their bedroom. "Give me a few minutes, and we'll see if you're still complaining about my mouth."