I grab Karrie’s hand, bringing it to my lips. The tears are now rolling down my cheeks. My child. Mine.
“Now, you see this?” She points to a small blob that looks like it’s a pea. “That’s your baby.” She starts clicking on things.
My eyes zoom in to what is the smallest pea I’ve ever seen, but it’s mine. Mine to love, mine to protect, mine to teach. The smallest thing and I would give my life for him or her. I would give everything I have just to make sure this baby is okay. Not only that, I would give them everything, I would move heaven and earth for their mother. The woman who loves me, the woman who stood in a room and fought for me, the woman who held my hand with her shoulders square and her spine straight. The woman who will carry my child, the woman who will be the best mother to our child.
“So I’ll give you a paper for you to bring to your ob-gyn. You should make an appointment as soon as possible,” The lady says something and a couple of pictures come out of the machine. “Here you go, this is the first picture of your child.” She smiles while giving Karrie a towel.
“You can go and change. The doctor signed off, so you are good to go,” she says while she closes the machine and leaves the room.
I stand here looking at the black and white paper in my hand. “I’m going to change. I’m exhausted and I want to go to bed.” One glance at my watch says it’s almost four a.m.
I text the driver that Doug said is waiting for us outside, letting him know we are being discharged. Karrie comes out of the bathroom, throwing the hospital gown on the bed. “Ready?” she asks me, turning to walk out.
“Where are you going?” My head tilts to the side.
“I’m leaving. She said I was discharged.”
“We need the nurse to come with a wheelchair. You can’t walk downstairs.” I walk to the bed to press the button for the nurse.
“I don’t need a wheelchair.”
“Can you please get a wheelchair?” I smile at the nurse.
She blushes at me. “Of course.”
“What would you like me to tell your child about you?” She crosses her arms over her chest.
My eyebrows pinch together.
“Because I’m about to kill you if you continue this way. You need to relax. I’m fine. I’m pregnant. People get pregnant all the time. It is just the way it is.”
“Babe.” I walk to her, wrapping my arms around her. “I just want you and the baby to be okay. It’s not too much to ask, now is it?” I kiss her neck while she hums.
“Here we are.” The nurse comes into the room with the wheelchair.
I grab it from the nurse. “Your chariot awaits, my lady.” She tries to hide her smile but sits down in the wheelchair. “See, was that so hard?” I ask her, wheeling her downstairs to the awaiting car.
By the time we get home, the sun is almost coming up. I carry Karrie inside because she fell asleep as soon as we started driving. Walking upstairs to our room, my mom is waiting on the stairs from where my room was.
“Honey, are you okay?” she asks with Cooper walking down the stairs. From as far back as I can remember, the minute they became a couple, where she went he was right behind her no matter what. When the twins were born, he did every single feeding with her. If she was up in the house, he wasn’t too far away.
“Yeah, all good. We got a picture of squirt.” I smile to myself. “I’ll show you when we get up.” I smile to my mom and Cooper. “I’m going to have a baby. I’m going to be a dad.” I smile so big it is hurting my cheeks.
She smiles at me, brushing a tear away. “I know. I’m going to be a grandmother.”
“You’re a GILF,” Cooper says, kissing her cheek. “Now let’s go to bed, please. I’m exhausted and I swear to God if the twins get into any trouble I’m sending them to military school.” He looks at my mother who nods at him.
“You know military school is where they sleep there, right? You can’t just see them when you want. It’s almost like boarding school,” my mother tells him as I watch his eyebrows pinch together and the vein in his forehead comes out. “That’s what I thought. Let’s go sleep, granddad.”
I undress Karrie and slide into bed right next to her, and it’s only a matter of seconds before I’m snoring.
The smell of bacon and coffee fills my nose. Raising my head, the bedside clock says it’s almost two p.m. Karrie’s side of the bed is empty. I rush out of bed, going to the bathroom, and then rushing downstairs to the kitchen. She’s sitting on the stool at the island wearing her white bathrobe while Cooper sits on the stool next to her and my mother is at the stove cooking.