Eagle (A Loki love story)

Chapter 122

It took Helen a minute to grow accustomed to the machine, how hard to press and where exactly the baby was, but then things went along quickly. She had the screen turned away from us as she did her initial examination, to avoid revealing the gender accidently. During this time, however, she made little noises and notes to herself that only served to wreak havoc on my nerves.

"Ok." She began at last, "Do you want the good news, the bad news, or the worse news?" Both of us stiffened up.

"Start with the good news."

"The good news is that the baby is alive and well. I'm not seeing any growth abnormalities."

"And the bad news?"

"I think I'm seeing wing bones on here." Loki's grip on my hand tightened.

"What's the worse news?"

"There are two parts here. So, from what I'm seeing on here and based on x-rays and ultrasounds we've taken of you in the past, your interior structure is slightly different."

"How so?"

"I can't quite explain it, but from what I can see, a C-section birth would be very dangerous, because it involves moving other organs out of the way. You organs are positioned differently, and any number of unforeseen complications could arise. Secondly, you have a pair of major blood vessels very close to where the typical incision would be made. If even one of those gets nicked, you'll die." An involuntary whimper rose from my throat and Loki's other hand clasped around mine.

"But you aren't certain about the wings?"

"No, they only show up from one angle here, but I had to let you know that there's a possibility."

"Is there any way to print pictures? Eir is going to want to see the important points of this scan."

"Yes. I'm also making written notes for her and I've sent some images to the printer already. But I want to end on a positive note." She changed her angle and turned the screen towards us, "There's your baby." The image on the screen was black and white, and certainly not 4K HD, but we could still see the it. Our baby. After all these months of carrying, I thought I was prepared for this moment, but now that this moment was actually here, I was quickly brought to tears. I couldn't tear my eyes from the screen, even when I felt Loki's lips on my cheek, kissing away the tears.

"My love, my beautiful darling. You're perfect. Our baby is perfect." He placed our clasped hands over my belly. The image wasn't a still, the baby was moving a bit, making little twitches and other tiny movements.

"That's some more good news." Helen pointed them out, "Muscles are starting to function, so you'll start to feel it soon."

"How soon?"

"Less than a week, I would say." I squealed and Loki broke out into an all-out grin.

"Did you hear that? It's going to be ok. The baby's going to be ok." Helen passed the wand to Loki.

"I'll get those images from the printer for you and make sure they came out ok. Try not to move the wand too much or you may see the gender on accident.

"Got it." She pressed one more button and a fast, rhythmic sound was suddenly audible over the speaker, making my heart stop.

"Is that..."

"Your baby's heartbeat." Helen confirmed, before stepping out of the clean room to give us some privacy. Loki had tears in his eyes now too.

"I love you. I love you so much. You've been here for me this whole time and I have been...less than grateful."