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THE FLUORESCENT LIGHTS IN THE doctor's office were making Joshua's eyes sting.
He rubbed his eyes then surveyed the office that he was in, located close to Chelsea.
Ayoluwa was laying down on the cushion that was apart of the exam table, her crop top showing off the tattoo she had on the side of her body, a little under her ribcage and her loose gray sweatpants pulled down the tiniest bit.
Joshua took a look over at her and chuckled a little at a memory.
Ayoluwa turned her body to face him, a curious expression on her face, "What?"
"You still wear the waistbeads?" Joshua asked, his eyes skimming over the blue, brown, and yellow waistbeads from previous years before landing on two new ones, red and black.
"Yeah, when I can." Ayoluwa replied as both her hands rested protectively over her now slightly protruding abdomen, "Have you given any thought to the name Victoria if the baby's a girl?"
"Victoria... Vicki..." Joshua trailed off then shook his head, "All I can think about is that girl from The Fairy Oddparents. I don't want anyone calling our kid Icky Vicky or some shit like that."
"Okay then do you have suggestions? It can't be just me." Ayoluwa replied.
"I've been giving suggestions, they're just for a boy." Joshua pointed out.
"We are not naming this kid Josh Jr," Ayoluwa snickered causing Joshua to do so as well.
"I think we should go the music route and name our kid after artists like your sister did. We should..." Joshua smiled, "If it is a girl, we should name her India and if it's a boy... I don't know, Nasir after the rapper?"
Ayoluwa was quiet for a second, "India or Nasir Palmer, I fuck with it. Let's put in a pin in that just in case we don't come up with something better."
"Hold up, hold up, hold up. Shouldn't the baby get my last name?" Joshua leaned forward in the seat he held on the side while they both waited for the doctor, an amused smile on his face.
"No. Fuck the patriarchy." Ayoluwa replied with a laugh.
"I'm the dad." Joshua reminded her.
"So?" Ayoluwa pressed then flipped some of her locs over her shoulder, "I'm the one doing all the work!"
"You have like what? Six maybe seven more months to say that before we split everything for eighteen years." Joshua shook his head.
His eyes fell on her bare torso and Joshua slowly rose from the seat and walked over.
Ayoluwa raised one plucked eyebrow at his proximity, "What's up?"
Joshua sighed then tucked both lips in for a second, "Can I...?"
"Can you what?" Ayoluwa asked.
Joshua cleared his throat, "Can I, um, see? I know that you're still not showing all the way right now but I would still want to... I never got the chance to actually..."
Ayoluwa blinked a couple of times before grabbing Joshua's left hand with her butterfly tattooed covered one and placing over the lower half of her stomach.
With no hesitation, Joshua lifted his other hand to her midriff and then spread all ten fingers over her skin, effectively covering her belly button.
His kid was in there.
Our kid is in there.
The thought alone flicked tears to Joshua's eyes but he kept his hands on her, watching as Ayoluwa's abdomen rose and fell to the beat of her breathing.
"Are you.. Josh, are you crying?" Ayoluwa's voice was light but surprised.
Joshua let out a short chuckle as he removed his hands, then nodded, "Yeah, I am."
Ayoluwa extended her arm towards his face, clearly ready to wipe off his tears then thought better of it and pulled her hand back.
The door opened and a white woman who looked to be in her late thirties with dark brown, almost black wavy hair and matching eyes, "Hi! I'm Dr. Mason. I'm your OB."
Dr. Mason extended her hand towards Ayoluwa first, who shook, then to Joshua who returned the handshake then sat on a rolling stool he found on the side of the exam table.
"So I understand that this is your first prenatal doctor's visit?" Dr. Mason asked as she looked through a manila folder then she glanced up between them.
"Uh, yeah," Ayoluwa began in a sheepish tone and Joshua rubbed the back of his neck, "I found out kinda late."
"That's alright. Let's hear the heartbeat, shall we?" Dr. Mason put down the folder and strolled closer to the parents.
"When will we find out the gender?" Joshua questioned.
"Well, you just started your second trimester with the fourth month so most likely your next appointment in a month or so," Dr. Mason spread some clear ultrasound gel around on Ayoluwa's torso before pulling the ultrasound machine towards her and sitting down on another stool on Ayoluwa's right side.
"That's not gonna hurt the baby is it?" Joshua blurted.
Ayoluwa dropped her hand down and pinched Joshua's knee, "Stop asking stupid questions!"
Dr. Mason simply laughed, "It's alright. It's alright. No, this won't hurt the baby."
"This..." Dr. Mason pushed a blue and white probing tool over Ayoluwa's stomach and a fuzzy black and white screen showed the outline and space of a baby in a womb, "Is your baby! And..."
Dr. Mason leaned over and tapped a few buttons on the machine and then the sound of a steady heartbeat filled the room.
Joshua bowed his head and closed his eyes like he was performing a fervent prayer when Ayoluwa's soft hand slid itself into his dominant one and then squeezed lightly.
The room was silent, only allowing the drumlike heartbeat bounce off of the walls.
Joshua could feel his tears finally flowing down his cheeks like a river and only had enough wherewithal to lightly squeeze Ayoluwa's hand back.
