“Well?” She asked, her hand going to her hip.
Bryce cleared his throat, finding his voice. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Lateisha laughed and grabbed his hand again pulling him out the door. He longed to pull her to him and wrap his arm around her shoulder, but it would have to wait. He just had to make her see that being without him was not an option.
*****
Nerves gripped Lateisha’s gut as she waited for the doctor to call her back. She wasn’t sure why she was so anxious. It wasn’t her baby. She resisted the urge to rest her hand over her stomach, an action she had to resist a lot as of late. It wasn’t wise that she still hadn’t signed the relinquishing of parental rights form. She wondered silently why Bryce hadn’t mentioned it lately. Stealing a glance his way, she drummed her fingers on the chair’s arm. This place took forever. An unsuspected wave of nausea gripped her and she swallowed hard. Now was not the time to be sick.
“Are you alright?” Bryce asked, looking at her with concern.
“Just a bit nauseous. I wish they would hurry up.” Lateisha gripped the arm of the chair, willing the nausea away.
When it seemed she may actually have to run to the bathroom, the door swung open and the perky nurse from the last visit called her name. Lateisha sighed and stood up, the motion making her even sicker. Without thinking she grabbed onto Bryce’s arm to steady herself.
“Is she alright?” The nurse asked, running to her side.
“Nausea,” Bryce said, guiding Lateisha back to the room.
“Oh dear! I’ll see what we have for her in the back. Get settled in the room and I’ll be right back.”
Bryce helped her onto the table and she smiled at him as a way of saying ‘thank you.’
“Can I get you anything?” He asked, his eyes filled with concern.
Lateisha shook her head, and then regretted it. “I just need to lie down a minute.”
Five minutes, a Zofran and ginger ale later and Lateisha felt well enough to continue. She glanced at Bryce, who didn’t take his eyes off of her the whole time. His eyes were creased with worry and Lateisha felt bad for making him worry about the baby.
“Morning sickness is normal, Bryce. The baby is fine.” She wanted to reassure him so that he wouldn’t worry. For some reason, him worrying made her upset.
The expression on Bryce’s face changed from worry to irritation. “I wasn’t worried about the baby,” he whispered harshly in her ear.
Lateisha’s head snapped around so that she was facing him. He was worried about her? The nurse and doctor returned after letting Lateisha and Bryce have a minute so that she could recover and Lateisha schooled her features to neutral so that they wouldn’t think something else was wrong.
“So, are we feeling better?” The doctor asked.
“Yes we are,” Lateisha answered with sarcasm in her voice.
Bryce jabbed her in the leg with his elbow and she smirked. The damn perkiness was getting on her nerves.
The doctor, seeming to not have heard or ignoring her, reached for the portable ultrasound machine and whee
led it towards where Lateisha lay on the exam table. A few minutes passed as they adjusted the wand and on the black and white screen appeared a little blob that resembled a gummy bear.
“Is that the baby?” Lateisha asked, surprise and something else taking over her.
“That’s it,” she said, adjusting the machine.
Suddenly a rhythmic thumping filled the room and despite all of her control Lateisha gasped, bringing a hand to cover her mouth, and a tear slipped from her eye.
“And that’s the heartbeat,” the doctor pressed a button, which Lateisha assumed was record and minutes later a few photos printed out.
Bryce took her hand and she looked at him; a strange emotion passing between the two of them. That was when Lateisha knew she was in trouble. She was falling for him and this baby.
*****
Bryce watched Lateisha’s face as the sound of the baby’s heart beat filled the room. A feeling he didn’t want to identify so soon filled his chest. Without thinking he grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. The look she gave him melted his heart but Bryce maintained his composure. The sound of his child’s heartbeat was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard and Bryce wanted to shout from the rooftops that he was having a baby, with the most beautiful woman alive. Shaking his head to clear the crazy thoughts, but not abandoning them altogether, Bryce slipped his hand from Lateisha’s just as the nurse handed them both an ultrasound picture.