"I'm sorry I couldn't be there."
"It wasn't important.
"It was and I should have been there."
"You think this troubles me?"
"It troubles me."
"You had other matters to attend to."
"Nothing that was more important."
"But more pressing. I know you wanted to be there and it bothers you that you missed it, but your work is important. You didn't change anything by not being with me, but you were needed at work."
"I just hate that I missed it. I won't get that back. Never. The first time we get to see our first child." He reached out to touch the image on the screen. There wasn't much to look at. And yet it was everything to look at.
"I know," she kissed his arm where it reached near her face for the screen. "There will be many moments one of us is going to miss."
She turned in his arms, away from the screen and towards him, her arms winding around his torso to press him closer, her ear pressing against his chest to listen to his heartbeat. She could hear he was excited, the normally slow thrum of his heart sped up just enough for her to notice.
"Some moments we will both miss."
"Yes." It was a reality they both had to face, especially in their line of work. Neither one of them was ready to just forget everything else and stay at home for good. "We'll be there when it counts."
He dimmed the screen just enough not to bother them at night. Kathryn understood his longing. There was nothing palpable for him, nothing to feel or see yet. This recording of their little blotch of a child was the first sign of life within her womb that he could grasp.
"I love you," she whispered sleepily as she snuggled into him.
"I love you too." Kathryn couldn't help but grin at the thought that she could no longer tell if he meant too or two.