CONVICTED (Completed)

-23-

DOMINIC ALEXANDER

"Everything looks amazing..." our midwife said after wiping off the ultrasound gel from Zahriah's stomach. With eyes of excitement; Zahriah glanced up at me and smiled. I took her hand into mine and kissed the back of it before leaning over to peck her lips. "And you guys don't want to know the gender as yet, right?"

"Oh, we do." I nodded.

"No, we don't." Zahriah wagged her finger and said, "We want to have a gender reveal."

I rolled my eyes, "for what reason?" I smirked. "It's just us, my mother, Chubbs and Jason."

"I don't care, it's all about the experience. There's no telling whether or not this will be my last child."

"Oh, trust me; it won't be." I licked my bottom lip while sizing her up.

"Boy, please." She waved me off as she sat up in her bed; giving our midwife a knowing look. "Like I was saying, I really do want to enjoy this experience and having a gender reveal is something I have wanted for a long time." She explained with a pout.

"It's a beautiful moment being surprised." The midwife added, "a little gender reveal wouldn't hurt."

"Do you know Zahriah?" I raised my brow, "aint nothing about to be little, even though it's just the five of us back here. Well four, because I'm assuming, you'll be giving the honors of planning to my mother."

Zahriah nodded, "yes sir. I have already asked her; all she needs is the envelope with the lucky gender."

"Oh boy," I placed my hand against the side of my cheek. "My mom and Zahriah, this is about to cost an arm and a leg. I can already see it."

"An arm and a leg that you can afford, dad." Zahriah blew me a kiss, then returned her attention over to the midwife. "So, the answer is no; we don't want to know but I would love to have you give the envelope to our mom please."

"Sounds great." She nodded. "I'm going to write it down and hand it to her on my way out."

"Perfect, she should still be in the kitchen making dinner." Zahriah said, climbing off of the bed. "I'm going to go pee!" she announced, pulling down her shirt. Once she got up onto her feet, she leaned over and cupped my face, giving me a kiss. "Trust me, this gender reveal is going to be worth it."

"Mhmmm." I hummed against her lips and gave her ass a light tap, before she let go and made her way over to the bathroom.

I helped the midwife gather all her things, and get them downstairs. We were grateful for the fact that she was mobile. Although, I knew I was good out here in Miami; Zahriah still wasn't comfortable with being out and about so instead, I brought all her needs to her. We had settled on a home birth and a lovely midwife that made this experience comfortable for her. It had just been a few weeks since she made her way down to Miami and I knew it would take her a while before getting over all the trauma from ATL. So, this was really the least I could do.

Apart from that, things were great both between us and with life in general. Finally, things were starting to feel normal again. Having my family around made everything so much easier. I was making money, I was in a comfortable home, I had Zahriah by my side and a child on the way. After years and years of being confined constantly; I never thought that I would've seen this day. So, I treated every single one like it was my last, constantly giving thanks for the present moment.

Immediately, the smell of my mother's cooking began to invade my nostrils and I could barely pay attention to what the midwife was going on and on about. I knew it had something to do with keeping Zahriah's stress level down however, it was something she usually briefed me on because no matter how much she told Zahriah; Zahriah did not listen. Her stress was causing her blood pressure to continue to rise, which wasn't the best for the baby at all. I blamed it all on her transitioning after everything that took place, but at the back of my head; I knew it what the main issue was.