Temptation [h.s.] ✔

Chapter 57.

this chapter broke my heart into a million pieces bye

"Ready?"

I nod at the sonographer and hold my breath. My IV pole is standing awkwardly next to me on the bed and Harry's on the other side. He's gripping my hand so tight that I think he's cut off all circulation to my fingers.

"This will be cold," the sonographer says right before spreading the gel over my stomach.

Cold my ass. It's fucking freezing!

She smiles at my hiss of breath and presses a button on the machine. She grabs the ultrasound probe and wiggles it over my pubic bone, coating it in gel. Then she pushes down firmly and the screen in front of us fills with fuzziness.

"There's the placenta," she says, showing a big blob. "And baby is... Ah, right here."

Tiny.

It's so tiny.

And I can't look away.

"Baby has a good, strong heartbeat," she says, zooming in. "Right there."

Beat. Beat. Beat. Beat. A tiny, dark hole in the chest of my baby is its heart beating away.

Inside me.

A small leg kicks out gently and I take a deep breath. The sonographer says something about measurements, but all I can focus on is that tiny little flutter going on inside me.

The baby jerks, a whole-body movement, and a tear rolls out of my eye.

Holy hell. That's my baby.

A real baby.

Harry's grip on my hand tightens even more as he lifts it and kisses my knuckles. "Wow," he breathes, his voice thick.

I don't even think I can talk right now. I've never been so amazed by anything in my whole life. It's incredible that the most mesmerizing thing I've ever seen is a tiny baby on a screen.

"You're nine weeks and four days," she says. "Your due date is... Ah. Christmas day."

I chew the inside of my cheek. Of course it would be. Harry doesn't do anything by half.

She takes the probe away from my stomach and instructs me to wipe the gel off my stomach.

Harry does it for me, drying it with a clean piece of tissue. I roll my hospital gown back down, thankful I put on my big panties yesterday.

"Here," the sonographer says, handing me three squares.

I look down at the still photos of the baby and smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She smiles.

Harry helps me into the wheelchair and I grab my IV pole. He wheels me out of the room and into an elevator after thanking the woman himself.

"Baby," he says, brushing the photo with his finger.

"Your baby."

"Our baby." He looks at me firmly then straight back at the image. He looks at it even as he pushes me out of the elevator and back to my room.

A nurse holds the door open for him, a knowing smile on her face. I sit on the bed, still clasping the pictures, and he puts the wheelchair to the side of the room.

"You look like you're in love already," I tease.

His lips tug up into a half grin. "How could I not be? The baby is a part of you."