Chapter 52- Congratulations! It's a...

At three in the morning, Lightning woke up. No apparent reason, he just woke up. It was pitch black in the room. He turned over and tried to go back to sleep, but he heard a crying sound. He looked over at Sally to see her crying in her sleep with a pained expression.
"Sally." He said, gently shaking her shoulder. She let out a painful sounding moan.
"Sally." He said louder.
Her eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright. She was hyperventilating.
"You okay?" Lightning asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She took a shaky deep breath and wiped the tears off her cheeks.
"I'm fine." She said, through a few tears that had gathered in her eyes.
Lightning took her hand. "You don't look fine." He said gently.
Unfortunately, that statement did not have the effect that he wanted it to.
"What is that supposed to mean!" Sally demanded, thinking that he meant she was getting fat.
Lightning was surprised. "I meant...you're crying. You were moaning in pain. Not exactly the definition of 'fine'." He said, trying not to upset her further.
She shook her head. "I don't know, Lightning." She said, her voice breaking as more tears fell. "It hurt so bad!"
Lightning was confused. "What hurt?" He asked, completely bewildered. She leaned up against him and tried to calm herself down.
"In the stupid nightmare I had..." She started, "I went into labor. And that was only a dream! How am I supposed to handle the pain in real life if I couldn't even do it in a dream?"
Lightning pulled Sally close and stroked her hair. She was crying hard.
"Shhh. You'll do fine, Sally." He comforted. "Besides, that was just a dream. It wasn't real."
Sally let out another sob.
"Shhh." Lightning said, running his fingers through her hair. "You're alright, Sweetie. It was just a dream."
Sally sobs decreased to sniffles, and she laced her fingers with Lightning's.
"Do you promise to stay with me when I'm having it?" Sally asked, a twinge of desperation in her voice. Lightning opened his mouth to speak, but was thinking. He could not STAND the sight of blood. He would literally pass out. But she needed him. And he would give his life for her happiness and comfort.
"Of course." He replied. "I wouldn't miss it." Sally smiled slightly and hugged him tighter. "Thank you." She whispered. He kissed her forehead, then gently laid her back down on her pillow. He put his arm around her and held her so her back was against his chest.
"Goodnight, Stickers." She said, closing her eyes.
"Goodnight, my lovely." He replied, then tried to get some sleep. They had to go to the hospital in the morning for Sally's first ultrasound. Tomorrow they would find out if they were having a boy or a girl.

The next morning, Sally was sitting next to Lightning in the waiting room of the obstetrics office. What if there was a problem with the baby? She tried to calm her shaky nerves by taking a deep breath. Lightning noticed this and put an arm around her.
"Nervous?" He asked.
She gripped his hand. "A little."
He kissed her hair. "You'll do fine." They continued To wait. Ten minutes later, The door to the waiting room opened and Alice stepped in.
"Sally?" She said.
Sally looked at Lightning and smiled nervously before intertwining her fingers with his, and walking over to Alice.
"Follow me." She said, holding the door open. They followed Alice down a long hallway. Sally noticed a bulletin board on the wall, holding hundreds of pictures of babies.
"They were all born here." Alice explained. "And all of them were born healthy and just fine."
They continued to follow alice until they reached the door of room twenty. Alice opened the room and they went inside. In the room there was an examination table, a tall machine, and a television screen on the wall, hooked to the machine. There were also cabinets and a sink and anything that you'd find in a normal office. Alice turned to Sally.
"Alright, Sweetheart." She said. "I need you to get up on the table and find a comfortable position, on your back."
With Lightning's help, Sally got on the table and settled with laying on her back, but also holding Lightning's hand as he stood beside her.
Alice washed her hands, then got two things out of the cabinet and set them on the table. She hooked one of them up to the machine, with a wire.
"Okay." She said. "This is what we're going to do. Sally, I'm going to take this," she lifted up one of things she had gotten out of the cabinet. It appeared to be a tube of ointment. "And rub it over your stomach. It'll basically be what lets me see inside. Then I'll take this, " She lifted the other item, which resembled a wand. "And move it over your stomach. The picture of the baby, should appear on that screen. Alright?"
Sally took a deep breath. "Alright." She said, squeezing Lightning's hand.
Alice smiled. "Okay." She said. "Now just lift your shirt to just above your baby bump."
Sally did this, and Alice opened the tube.
"This is going to be cold at first." She warned, "But then it should warm up from your body heat."
Alice began to rub the ointment onto Sally's stomach, causing her to shiver.
"You're not kidding about cold, are you?" Sally asked.
Alice chuckled.
"Nope." She said, rubbing more on. " But everyone is shocked at it the first ultrasound." She lifted the wand-like tool, and moved it over Sally's stomach, gently pressing. They all looked at the screen. At first, nothing showed, but then an image began to flicker into view. Lightning smiled. His baby. He could see his baby. He began to tear up. Similar thoughts ran through Sally's mind.
"Look, Stickers." She said through joyful tears. Lightning bent and kissed her forehead. "I'm looking, Sal."
Alice continued to move the wand, getting a few different views, then she looked back to them.
"Do you want to see the 3D version?" She asked. They nodded. Alice flipped a switch, and the screen changed. Now they could see the full shape of the baby.
"Awww." Alice said. "It looks like it's mommy." She said, causing Sally to smile superiorly up at Lightning.
He rolled his eyes, teasingly."Alice?" He asked. "Is it a boy or a girl?" Alice looked back to them.
"I'm going to go look closer at the pictures, and find that out right now." She said. She turned off the machine, then took a cloth and wiped the gel off of Sally's stomach.
"I'll be right back." She said cheerily, before leaving to go inspect the pictures. Sally sighed in a relieved way and looked back at Lightning.
"Wow." He whispered.
Sally squeezed his hand. "Soon we'll be holding that baby." She whispered. Lightning laughed a little and kissed her again.
They waited in silence till Alice returned a few minutes later.
"Alright." She said, coming in the door. "I looked at the pictures. Your baby is one-hundred percent healthy and is exactly the weight and size it should be at this point." She paused as they held their breath, waiting for the news that affected everything.
"Congratulations, " Alice said. "It's a boy."
Sally and Lightning both smiled hugely and shared a kiss.