With the morning sickness almost completely gone, Ava seemed to be eating everything she could find. She had a particular craving for tomatoes and had taken to carrying a Ziploc bag full of cherry tomatoes everywhere she went. Spencer smiled as he noticed her reaching into her stash as they sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office.
There were a few toys in the center of the room, but Matt showed no interest in approaching the other children that were playing with them. Instead, he sat close to Ava's side. "Momma, why are you always eating those?" Matt asked.
"The baby wants them," Ava said, smiling and leaning down to kiss Matt on the forehead.
The nurse appeared at the doorway and called, "Ava Reid?"
Spencer followed as Ava took Matt by the hand and led the way to the hallway. There was an extra bounce in Matt's step and it was clear he was excited. "I'm the big brother," he told the nurse.
She smiled at him and went over a list of questions with Ava as they walked down the hall. Yes, the morning sickness was gone. No, she didn't have any unusual bleeding. Yes, she was drinking plenty of fluids.
Matt grew more and more hyper as the technician started to set up for the ultrasound. He asked, "What's that?" at least seven times before Spencer lifted him carefully onto his lap. Spencer felt a lot better and he was confident that he'd be allowed to progress to crutches soon.
Ava smiled at her husband and son as the ultrasound began. Matt was amazed by the image when it appeared.
Spencer was fairly enthralled as well. On the screen, in black and white and grey, was his child. The baby was moving a bit, touching it's hand to it's face. He let out a shaky breath and was surprised at the tear that slipped down his cheek. He wiped it away before it was noticed.
"Everything looks normal," Ava said.
The ultrasound technician snickered. "You doctors make the worst patients."
Ava laughed softly and then glanced at Spencer and Matt. "Alright, well I'll look away and you can tell us if it's a boy or a girl."
"Give me a second," the tech said. She made a humming sound. "Come on, baby, cooperate…"
They waited in silence for what felt like forever.
Finally, the verdict came. "It looks like…it's a girl."
Spencer felt for a moment that the world stood still. It was like a thousand thoughts at once hit him. He was overjoyed to think that soon there would be a baby girl in his arms. He hoped that she would be beautiful like Ava. He was sure she would be. Then fear crept in. He knew all to well the dangers that little girls faced in the world. He could only hope to protect her from the majority of it, but he knew it was unrealistic to think he could shield her from everything, though he desperately wanted to. There was one thing he was sure of. His daughter would never have to be afraid or want for anything. She was being born into an incredible family.
Ava took Spencer's hand and they both looked at Matt. The little boy seemed captivated, watching the baby moving on the monitor, but he hadn't really shown a reaction yet.
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Matt was a bit sad when the lady said that the baby was going to be a girl. He'd really wanted a brother. He looked at Spencer and Ava and they both looked very excited. He couldn't really understand why. It was just another girl, like all of his cousins.
But as he watched the baby moving around on the screen, he started to feel a bit different. That girl in his momma's belly wouldn't be like his cousins. He would teach her how to play with dinosaurs and how to throw balls for Harvey. His sister wouldn't play with stupid Barbies and make-up. She would play chess with him and maybe she would be on his side when the cousins were being mean.
The one thing he was sure of was that he would always be there for her. He knew how the bad men sometimes liked girls and he didn't want his sister to be one of them. He watched how his sister wiggled around and he got scared. What if something bad happened? He didn't want to think about that. He decided he wasn't going to let that happen.
He looked at his parents and smiled. They looked very happy and he knew he was happy too. It wouldn't be so bad having a sister.
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Ava grinned at the prints of the ultrasound. She knew she had a long night of phone calls to make, but she wasn't lacking energy at all. She felt like she was ready to do anything and everything.
She was a surprised that Matt was incredibly excited. Her adopted son insisted on telling every person he saw that he was going to have a little sister. Spencer seemed overjoyed and she was glad to see him smiling so much.
In that moment, walking out of the clinic, she felt like her life couldn't be any more perfect.
A/N: Yup, it's a girl (: Let me know what you think.
