becoming {h.s} | {b2}

CHAPTER TWO

— CHAPTER TWO —

september, year one.

"Can you lift up your shirt for me?" Heidi asks as she snaps her gloves on. I'm in my scrubs, so moving my clothing around is relatively easy. I lift up the light blue material and shimmy my pants down a bit to give Heidi as much access to my stomach as possible. Will is sitting beside me, his hand clasped tightly in mine and I can't help but smiling.

We're at the five-month marker in the pregnancy and today is the day that we find out the gender, officially. All along I've been adamant that it's a girl, and Will has been adamant that it's a little boy. Neither of us is relenting in our beliefs. That being said, when we were walking in, Will said that he wanted to be surprised by the gender. I threw something of a fit in response. Every once in a while I throw these perfectly timed fits in which I tell him that as soon as he is the one carrying a baby around for nine months, he'll get to make these choices. Relatively quickly he backed down. He's rather good at amending situations. Honestly, I don't think I've ever met a man who is as good at apologizing as Will. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine and told me that he can never say no to me, anyway.

The ease by which he spoke got me to thinking about a couple of days ago when I spent the night down on the couch in the living room with Harry. We'd had something of a quarrel earlier—deciding it was necessary to paint a wall in the living room for a pop of color. I wanted a blue color and Harry wanted orange. Neither one of us gave in and instead the wall resulting in a spattering of blues and oranges mixed together in an oddly satisfying combination. Following our expended efforts, we collapsed on the couch. Harry was drinking tequila straight from the bottle and describing the taste for me. It had been a long day already, and I was yearning for some tequila at the end of the night. We got to talking and Harry asked what it was like having Will wrapped so tightly around my finger. At the time I hadn't known what he had meant. At least, not to this degree.

But now I get it.

"This is going to be a bit cold," Heidi warns, the both of us laughing. These are all the things that I say to other people. She tucks a loose strand of her sleek black hair behind her ear before she squeezes some of the gel onto my stomach. The second it comes down on me, I jolt a bit. I do every time.

"You alright?" Will asks, suddenly on high alert.

"I'm fine," I squeeze his hand tighter and he smiles at me before fastening his eyes to the monitor.

Heidi is approaching my stomach with the wand and presses it down on my stomach and waves it around a bit while she looks for the best angle of the baby on the screen. "Alright, Gracie. Why don't you tell me what you see?" Ever the teacher, Heidi uses my own sonogram as a teaching moment as the image begins to work in front of the both of us. My eyes scan the picture that is coming up. Reading ultrasounds was odd work at first, but I've grown more and more used to it with each passing day. "Are you looking for the gender?"

"We are," I answer quickly, hoping to put in my two-cents before Will gets involved and says no. Beside me he laughs quietly but says nothing in opposition.

"Alright," Heidi nods her head as the image finally becomes clear enough for me to read. "Tell me what you see." She holds her hand in place once she finds the best angle. Ever the teacher, she looks at me expectantly, but with the patience she would have looking at any given patient.

I study the image in front of me and lick my lips as I stare at it. A million and one thoughts are running through my head as I look for the million and one potential deformities but the longer I stare, the more I come to the same conclusion: my little girl is perfect. "She's... perfect." The words come from my lips as a sigh as I reach out to try and touch the screen but my fingers fall flat. A proud expression is on Heidi's face and I turn to look at Will.