Growing
Lizzie awoke but did not immediately open her eyes, she rolled slowly over and put her arm out. Expecting to feel Jamie but feeling only bed she finally opened her eyes to see his side of the bed was empty. Propping herself up on one arm she looked over his pillow and read the time on his alarm clock. Realising how late it was she quickly got out bed and went to the bathroom. Once she had finished she walked out of the bedroom and could hear that Jamie was in the next room. She walked the two steps down the hall and leaned against the doorframe of the room that was to be the nursery. She saw Jamie sitting on the floor assembling the crib with Stella sitting beside him. Stella jumped up and came over as soon as she saw Lizzie standing in the doorway.
"Good morning." Lizzie greeted her as she leaned down and gave her a scratch behind the ears.
"Morning." Jamie replied not looking up.
"I was talking to her." Lizzie grinned, Jamie looked up and smiled.
"I couldn't sleep so I came in here to get some more stuff done, you looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you." He explained.
"That was sweet of you but you were supposed to wake me, remember?" She smiled and placed her hand on her rounded stomach.
"Oh, the appointment." He remembered jumping to his feet.
"What time is it?" He asked starting to worry.
"It's just after ten now, we can still make it we'll just need to hurry." She answered.
"I'll just go and grab a quick shower." He told her as he walked over to her.
"I need one too." She mentioned as he reached her.
"I guess we'll have to shower together." He grinned as he slipped his arms around her waist.
"Yeah, cause that won't make us late." She retorted sarcastically as she broke into a grin.
Thirty minutes later Jamie stood, freshly showered and dressed, combing his hair in the bathroom mirror. He paused when he heard an odd sound coming from the next room, upon hearing it again he placed the comb on the counter next to the basin and left the en suite. When he entered the bedroom he saw Lizzie groaning as she tried to do up the top button of her loosest pair of pants. He watched while she continued struggling for a few more seconds before sighing in frustration and giving up.
"Having trouble?" He commented as she plopped down on the edge of the bed.
"Yeah." She frowned as he made his way over.
"You think maybe it's time to going shopping for maternity clothes." He suggested gently as he sat beside her on the bed.
"I guess." She grumbled, Jamie smiled and put his arm around her shoulders.
"You're the only woman I know who doesn't relish an opportunity to go shopping." He chuckled.
"I know, I'm a weirdo who doesn't like shopping." She confirmed still frowning.
"Yeah but you're my weirdo." He squeezed her a little, placed a kiss on the side of her head and managed to coax a smile out her.
"Look at it this way, it's a chance to buy yourself lots of soft, stretchy, comfortable clothes." He submitted, playing on his wife's penchant for loungewear.
"That could be fun." She thought aloud as she began to visibly cheer up.
"Do you think you can find something in there you can wear?" He asked looking over at their wardrobe.
"I just need a minute." She replied as she stood.
"Okay but it needs to be a literal minute, we're pushing it for time." He told her as he glanced at his watch then watched her wriggle out of her pants.
"I think you look great like that." He commented, staring as she walked over to the wardrobe in only her underwear, when she reached it she turned around to face him.
"I know you do, that's how we got in this situation in the first place." She grinned at him running her hand over her stomach and Jamie laughed.
They managed to make it just in time for their appointment, not even having time to sit down before the doctor called Lizzie's name. They greeted their obstetrician then she lead them down the hallway to her office.
"So Lizzie, how have you been since I last saw you?" Dr Jacobs asked as the three of them took a seat.
"Mostly good, I have had a bit of back pain and some indigestion and heartburn." Lizzie reported.
"That's all to be expected at this stage of pregnancy. You might want to try chewing some sugar free gum after eating, it can help with the indigestion and heartburn." Dr Jacobs recommended.
"And a back rub never goes astray." She added smiling at Jamie, who nodded.
"Before we go any further I'll just get you to do a urine sample." Dr Jacobs smiled and handed her a small plastic cup, Lizzie took it and headed out of the office. Jamie and Dr Jacobs made small talk about the baby for a few minutes until Lizzie returned.
"Great, while you're on your feet why don't we have you hop on the scales." Dr Jacob said as she took the sample from Lizzie and placed it on her desk. Lizzie nodded, took off her heavy sweater, left it on her seat then followed the doctor over to the scales. She stepped on and she and the doctor looked down at the screen.
"You've gained a good amount of weight since we last weighed you but not too much, I'm happy with it." Dr Jacobs smiled and noted Lizzies weight on a notepad. Lizzie stepped off the scales and she and Dr Jacobs walked back over to her desk.
"Next we'll take your blood pressure." Dr Jacobs stated as she took a seat and picked up the blood pressure monitor from the corner of her desk, as she undid the cuff there was the loud sound of ripping Velcro. She placed it around Lizzie's arm, pressed the start button and the cuff began to inflate until it was tight around Lizzie's arm. It stopped for several seconds before slowly releasing the pressure on Lizzie's arm.
"Good, your blood pressure is normal." Dr Jacobs read from the screen and made more notes on the notepad before removing the cuff.
"Okay, so now that you're twenty weeks we're going to measure your fundal height." Dr Jacobs informed them.
"The size of your baby bump." Jamie restated.
"I read that book too." Lizzie smiled, giving him a look.
"Let's head over to the table." Dr Jacobs smiled as she gestured to an examination table against the far wall. Lizzie got up and headed over while Dr Jacobs retrieved a measuring tape from the top drawer of her desk. As she turned towards the examination table she saw Jamie had stayed seated, she nodded for him to follow her and he smiled and stood up. Lizzie lay down on the table as Dr Jacobs unfurled the measuring tape. She placed one end at the bottom of Lizzie's ribs, placed it over her baby bump stopping at her pubic bone. Placing her fingers where she stopped Dr Jacobs lifted the tape measure and read the number, Jamie and Lizzie looked at her expectantly.
"Huh, right in the middle." Dr Jacobs observed, Lizzie and Jamie looked at her questioningly.
"There's a healthy range for fundal height at twenty weeks and you are exactly in the middle." She explained as she smiled reassuringly at them then turned and made another note in the notepad.
"Just average." Jamie teased and Lizzie grinned. Dr Jacobs placed the notebook on the table beside the bed then picked up the Doppler machine.
"Time to hear the heartbeat." She smiled as Lizzie lifted up her top. Dr Jacobs turned on the machine then placed the wand on Lizzie's stomach. After moving it around for a second the rapid pulsing sound of the baby's heartbeat filled the room. Jamie and Lizzie smiled at each other as Dr Jacobs read the baby's heartbeat on the small screen.
"That is a good strong heartbeat." She smiled as she removed the wand. She put away the Doppler and made a final note on the notepad then nodded for Jamie and Lizzie to return to the chairs over by her desk. Lizzie put her top back down and Jamie helped her up and off the table then they walked over to Dr Jacobs' desk and retook their seats. The room fell silent as the doctor typed her notes into Lizzie file, added a few observations, saved the records then turned her attention back to Jamie and Lizzie.
"At twenty weeks it's common to have a second ultrasound. It's not strictly necessary and it usually comes down to the individual obstetrician's personal preference. I like to do a twenty week scan, just so I can have a look at how everything's going and take some of the baby's measurements. So, would you like to see your baby?" She asked them, Jamie and Lizzie nodded excitedly.
Dr Jacobs led Jamie and Lizzie down the hall to the ultrasound room, where Lizzie lay on the bed and Jamie stood beside her. Dr Jacobs turned on the machine and while she made a few keystrokes Lizzie lifted up her shirt. Once the machine was ready the doctor picked up a bottle and turned to Jamie and Lizzie. She upended the bottle and squirted a little bit of cool blue gel onto Lizzie's stomach then put the bottle back. She placed the wand on Lizzie's stomach and they all heard the familiar repetitive noise of the ultrasound. Lizzie and Jamie looked at the screen and after a few seconds their faces lit up as their baby came into view.
"There we are." Dr Jacobs smiled as she moved the wand to give Jamie and Lizzie the best view of their baby.
"Wow." Jamie breathed as he watched the baby begin to move around on the screen.
"As you can see the there's the head, the abdomen and two arms and two legs." Dr Jacobs pointed out. As they continued to stare at the screen they saw the baby become more active, moving its arms and legs. Lizzie could feel the movement so she took Jamie's hand and placed it on her stomach close to the ultrasound wand, he felt the the movement from inside Lizzie's stomach and took his eyes off the screen.
"Ah and now we can see four perfectly formed fingers and a thumb." Dr Jacobs smiled as the baby lifted its arm and opened its hand, Jamie's eyes quickly went back to the screen.
"Okay, I'm just going to take the baby's measurements." Dr Jacobs told them as she turned the screen to face her. Jamie took a seat and he and Lizzie waited as Dr Jacobs moved the wand around and clicked keys on the ultrasound machine.
"As you probably know now that you're twenty weeks we can find out the sex of the baby. Would you like to know what your having?" The doctor asked after several minutes had passed. Jamie and Lizzie looked at each other and smiled before looking back at Dr Jacobs.
"No, we'd like it to be a surprise." Lizzie told her.
"Okay, great. Well in that case we are all done here." Dr Jacobs smiled as she cleaned off the wand and placed it back in its holder then handed Lizzie a paper towel. Lizzie wiped the gel off her stomach, pulled down her top and Jamie helped her off the bed, as she put her jumper on Dr Jacobs handed Jamie an ultrasound photo of the baby.
"Lizzie, I'm very happy with all of your numbers and the baby's measurements are all well within normal range for twenty weeks. Yours is so far a very normal, healthy pregnancy, so you just keep doing what your doing." Dr Jacobs reassured Lizzie as she walked Lizzie and Jamie back to the reception area.
"I'll see you again in four weeks." Dr Jacobs smiled and extended her hand to Lizzie.
"Okay, thank you Doctor." Lizzie returned the smile as she shook the doctors hand. Once she had finished she expected Jamie to say something but he was silent. She looked over and saw him staring at the ultrasound picture.
"Jamie. Jamie!" She said his name louder the second time and he finally looked up.
"Oh, right, thank you Dr Jacobs." He smiled a little embarrassed as he quickly shook her hand.
Once Lizzie had paid for the appointment and booked another one she and Jamie headed out of the clinic and started towards the car.
"So do you want to doing some shopping for the baby and then get lunch or do you want to have a slightly early lunch now?" She asked as they slowly made their way down the sidewalk. Getting no reply she turned to Jamie and saw he was once again staring at the ultrasound picture. She chuckled then gently yanked the picture out of his hand.
"Hey!" He looked up surprised then went a little red when he realised he'd been distracted by the picture again.
"You were talking to me weren't you?" He asked and she nodded.
"Just trying to sort lunch." She told him.
"Well, we could have lunch now, though it is a little early or we could do a bit of shopping for the baby first." He thought aloud as he glanced over at her.
"That's what you said when I wasn't listening, wasn't it?" He guessed from her face, she nodded and laughed.
That evening Jamie, smelling something good, followed his nose to the kitchen and found Lizzie standing at the counter adding some salt and pepper to a saucepan, as he made his way over to her he saw she was shifting her weight back and forth from one foot to the other.
"Something smells good." He remarked as he reached her.
"I'm making the sauce for the ziti." She informed him as he stole a tiny handful of grated mozzarella from a chopping board on the counter. As he ate it he noticed she had begun to hold her lower back and he realised she was in pain. He quickly went and stood behind her, moved her hand away and began to rub her lower back.
"What are you doing?" She asked him as she felt his hands moving over the spot on back she had been holding.
"Giving you a back rub, doctors orders." He reminded her as his hands continued to knead her lower back.
"Feels good." She smiled, leaned back against him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"There are other ways I can make you feel good." He whispered in her ear suggestively.
"Really? With me looking like this?" She sighed, recalling her struggle to get dressed earlier.
"Hey, you are growing another human being inside you and you are still beautiful, sexy and desirable to me, always will be." He assured her as her wrapped his arms around her, rested them gently on her stomach and placed a kiss behind her ear. She chuckled and he started kissing a trail from the sensitive spot behind her ear down her neck.
"Jamie, not now, I'm cooking dinner." She laughed and gently swatted him away.
Some time after midnight Jamie finally closed the book he had been reading and placed it on the beside table, he saw the time and wondered why Lizzie hadn't come to bed yet. He climbed out of bed and headed downstairs to find her, it didn't take long as when he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw the living room light was on. As he entered the living room he saw Lizzie sitting on the sofa staring at the ultrasound picture they had been given earlier. When he rounded the couch he saw Stella snuggled up right beside Lizzie with her head resting protectively on Lizzie's stomach and smiled, Lizzie heard his footsteps and looked up.
"She does it all the time now." She mentioned as she saw Jamie smiling at Stella.
"She's going to be a great big sister." Jamie smiled as he picked up Stella, took her spot beside Lizzie then placed her on his lap. They both watched as Stella got herself comfortable again then promptly went back to sleep.
"Not tired?" Jamie asked as he placed his arm along the back of the sofa.
"I just got to thinking." Lizzie started as she cuddled into him.
"Uh oh." Jamie chuckled.
"I know, dangerous right?" Lizzie grinned, Jamie remained quiet waiting for Lizzie to tell him what was on her mind.
"I was thinking how this baby is half you and half me." She tried to verbalise her thoughts.
"Sounds good to me." Jamie smiled as he rested his hand on her stomach.
"Yeah, the Reagan half does sound good." She agreed and Jamie realised what had been weighing on her mind.
"Do I need to give you the you-are-not-your-family speech again?" He asked.
"No, but, it just dawned on me that you're going to need to give this baby that speech one day." She sighed as she placed her hand next to his on her stomach.
"What's going to happened when this baby is five or six and he or she comes home from school and has to do the family tree assignment. You and Grandpa Frank will help him or her fill in every slot on the Reagan side complete with wonderful stories about your ancestors. Then he or she is going to come to me and ask me to help fill out the other side, what am I going to say?" Lizzie explained what had been bothering her.
"We'll just go to the teacher and explain why our child can't fill in both sides of the tree." Jamie told her.
"Okay, but what do we tell our child? What happens if our child comes home from school upset because the other kids saw that half their tree is blank and said mean things to them? You know what kids are like." Lizzie wondered concerned.
"Well, I guess we'll tell them that families come in lots of shapes and sizes and that not everyone can fill out all the slots on a family tree but that doesn't mean that they don't have family that love them. Think about it, I'm sure there will be at least a few children in our child's class that come from single parent families who will also only be able to fill out half of the tree. Maybe our kid will be friends with some of those kids." Jamie suggested.
"You're good." Lizzie smiled and Jamie grinned.
"Okay, what about when he or she is older? One day, when they're maybe sixteen or seventeen, they might come to us and want to know the truth about my family. They'll want to know why mom never talks about her family and why they've never met them. We'll know we have to tell them someday so we'll decide to tell them the truth. We will sit him or her down and tell them who my family is, the things they've done and why I cut off all contact. It won't be easy Jamie, learning that's who their family is, that's who they share DNA with, it will make our child question themselves. They'll wonder if that's where I come from, how can that not be part of who I am? Trust me on that." Lizzie unloaded sadly. Jamie stared at her realising that even now, with everything she and they had been through she still doubted herself and it broke his heart. Luckily he knew he had an answer for this one too.
"That's easy." He asserted confidently and she looked up at him surprised.
"If on learning about your family our child has doubts about themselves, if they wonder if having half their DNA coming from very bad people means they are somehow not as good as other people, I'll remind them that the other half of their DNA is Reagan DNA. That they have been raised by Reagan's their whole life and so they will have probably turned out pretty great. If that doesn't convince them, if they need further proof that your DNA does not determine the person you're going to turn out to be, I'll just tell them to look at their mother. The most wonderful person I know." He smiled at her and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She kissed him back then quickly pulled him into a tight hug.
"I love you." She whispered as she hugged him.
"I love you too." He smiled as he hugged her back.
"Okay, so now all I'm worried about is the whole giving birth thing." She told him as she let go of him and sat back.
"I've heard that really hurts." She added making a face, he saw her expression and grinned.
"Yeah, sorry, can't really help you with that one."