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(seven)

march (two months ago)

ashton rested his hands on eliza's stomach. he could feel a solid bump. it wasn't very big, but it was there. a baby. ashton moved his hands and placed his head on the baby bump. "can you feel her kick?"

eliza, who had been almost asleep, opened her eyes. her hands moved to ashton's head and began stroking it. "how are you so sure it's a girl?" she asked, her voice heavy with near-sleep.

"i don't know," ashton said. "i just think it's a girl. do you think it's a girl? mother's intuition, you know," he quipped.

"not sure. sometimes i picture a little girl with my eyes and your hair, and other times i can see a boy that looks just like you."

"mmm," ashton murmured contentedly. "but back to my original question. can you feel her or him or it kick?"

eliza exhaled peacefully. "sometimes. i'm thirteen weeks along, which is pretty early to start feeling kicking, but i can. it's called quickening."

"quickening," ashton said. "interesting." he heaved a sigh and then stood up, offering eliza his hands. "are you ready?"

she took his hands and he pulled her up. "yes," she said.

ashton led her out of the blue room in his basement and up the stairs. "anne! we're ready to go," he called.

anne hurried out of the kitchen. she smiled at ashton and eliza. "are you?"

they nodded.

"then let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"it's going to be cold," the technician said. he pulled on a pair of latex gloves and grabbed a bottle of ultrasound gel. eliza lifted her shirt, exposing her belly. ashton marveled at the little bump in the center of her stomach. there was a baby in there. his baby.

eliza flinched as the technician started to rub the gel on her lower torso. ashton, who was holding eliza's hand, began to rub soothing circles with his thumb. eliza squeezed his hand.

the technician began to move the wand over her stomach. the screen next to eliza began to show a grainy black and white image. a thrumming sound filled the room. eliza's grip on ashton's hand tightened.

"that's the baby's heartbeat," the technician said. "here's the head. and there's the arm...look, it's waving." he sounded very bored, as if he'd done this hundreds of times. which he probably had. "do you want to know the sex?"

"yes," ashton and eliza said in unison.

"okay. just let me check...congratulations," the technician said in a rather non-congratulatory voice. "it's a boy."

eliza turned to look at ashton and smirked. "a boy."

ashton fake pouted, but he couldn't hold off a smile for long. he kissed eliza's cheek. "i don't care if it's a boy or a girl. as long and he or she is healthy." ashton turned to the technician. "he is healthy, right?"

the technician moved the wand around some more and squinted at the screen. ashton couldn't really make much out of the blurry images on screen. he could see the head, but he couldn't decipher which blob was the arm and which was the leg, and he definitely couldn't tell where the penis was.

"he's a little small for thirteen weeks, but he appears to be healthy. we'll do some measurements and take a closer look. would you like a picture of the ultrasound?"

ashton nodded, as did eliza.

the technician moved the wand and pressed a button. "that will print in the checkout area; they'll give it to you as you leave." he turned off the monitor and the wand. he handed eliza a towel and said, "congratulations again, and have a nice day."