Chapter Twenty Eight

"Okay, so you just said 'it's a' and then trailed off," Jack said, laughing. "So what is it?"

Dr. Fields smiled at us. "It's a girl."

Jack and I looked at each other. "Oh my god," I smiled, and Jack hugged me tightly.

"We're having a girl," Jack looked like he was in shock. And I understood why; all of a sudden, this was so real! We were having a baby girl. "Oh my god."

"Here's a new ultrasound picture." Dr. Fields handed us each a copy. She wiped off my belly and put away the machine. "I'll let you both go."

The doctor walked out of the room. "Oh my god," Jack wrapped his arms tightly around me.

"We're having a baby girl," I cried. I pulled away and put my hands on Jack's neck. "Are you happy about this?"

Jack smiled. "Oh, I'm thrilled." He placed his hands on my belly and laughed. "Our daughter."

It was bedtime, and we were still thrilled about the news. "I hope she looks like you," I smiled as Jack helped me back into bed. "I hope she has your blonde hair and blue eyes."

"I hope she has your smile and beautiful features," said Jack as he pulled the blanket over my legs. "And I hope she's smart and kind and strong like you are."

"She's going to be perfect," I placed my hands over my belly.

Jack smiled and kissed my belly. "Of course she is."

Jack climbed into bed next to me. "What if I screw her up?" I asked. "What if I raise her wrong and she ends up a murderer or serial killer?"

"What?" Jack asked. "Rose, that's ridiculous. You're not going to screw her up."

"Well, what if she hates me?" I asked. "I hated my mother. What if she hates me the same way?"

"That's not going to happen," Jack told me.

"But seriously," I looked at Jack, and he could tell I was nervous. "What if I mess her up?"

"Number one, We're going to figure out how to be parents. And she's going to be great," he promised me. "And number two, you'll know exactly what to do because of your mother. She was a perfect example of what not to do. So, whenever you think about what to do in a situation, think about what your mother would do, and do the opposite."

I laughed and looked up at Jack. "I'm really scared, Jack." I paused, trying to find the words. "This whole time, I've been so focused on the pregnancy: what to eat, what to do, what to expect. And today, finding out that we're having a girl, it finally registered that there will be a next part. The part where we have a real live baby that needs a mother that knows what she's doing!"

"Do you really think that any first time parent thinks they know what they're doing?" Jack asked. "Of course they don't! They figure it out as they go."

"And if we don't?" I asked. "You can't seriously tell me that you're not terrified."

Jack nodded. "I was. I was really scared. But then I saw this." I picked up a small onesie that Nina had given as a gift. "Something this small cannot possibly be that scary."

I nodded, all of Jack's words starting to register.

"And one other thing," said Jack. He took my hand. "The most important thing a mother has to do is protect their baby. And you've already done that time and again. You're ready."

I smiled and gave him a kiss. "Thank you."

"Of course," Jack smiled. He kissed me again and smiled. "So, do you want to talk about the baby's room?"

"I wish we could go to the store."

"Oh, Rose, once again you underestimate modern technology." He pulled out his computer. "We can find things online and have them sent here, or we can find stuff, and then I can pick them up for you."

"We can just order them online." I put my head against his shoulder, and we started to order baby furniture, clothing, stuffed animals, everything. Who knew babies needed so much stuff? "That's a lot of money."

"It's okay," Jack smiled. "We need this stuff. Plus, we can swing it." Jack checked out from the site. "So what else do we need?"

"We have everything we need, but I was thinking we could put up a cute wallpaper in her room, maybe hang up her name on the wall?"

"Her name?" Jack arched his eyebrow. "What should we name her?"

"I have no idea," I shook my head. Really, I had an idea, but I didn't know if I liked it yet.

Jack arched an eyebrow, noticing that I was holding back. "Really? Not a single idea?"

"Well, one," I looked down embarrassedly. "It's kind of unconventional."

"What about us is conventional?" Jack asked.

I looked at Jack and smiled. "Coraline Maya Dawson." Jack smiled, I think liking the name. "Wait, there's a reason why."

"What's the reason?" Jack asked.

"Coraline means 'heart' in old English, and Maya means 'ocean' in Hebrew," I smiled. "Heart of the Ocean."

"It's the perfect name. Her name sums up how we fell in love," Jack smiled. "I love it."

"And we can call her Cora for short, after Cora from Titanic."

Jack held back his tears. I thought it was so perfect, so fitting for us and our daughter. "It's perfect." Jack got on his stomach and moved his lips closer to my belly. "Cora, this is your daddy. Your mommy and I love you so much."

My heart melted as I stroked Jack's hair and smiled at him. "I love you."

"I love you too," Jack smiled. "And I love the baby, and I love the name." He smiled and stroked my cheek. "And to think, you almost didn't tell me."

"Good thing I did." Jack slid back up on the bed and gave me a kiss. "And I guess I won the bet."

Jack laughed. "You did."

•••

It was a few days later. All of our baby orders had arrived, and Jack was slowly putting them in the baby's room. Today, Jack and I were going to put the room together. And when I say 'Jack and I', I mean Jack, since I was still supposed to be taking it easy.

Jack assembled the rocking chair in our bedroom while I was in bed, and then we went to the baby's room to start assembling the rest of the furniture. I sat on the rocking chair, folding the baby clothes while Jack built the changing table, the chest of drawers, and started putting up the wallpaper. "So do you want to put up 'Cora' or 'Coraline'?"

"Coraline is a lot of letters," I said. "What do you think?"

"Four letters could look really good over the crib." Jack looked at the wall. "Yeah, I think Cora."

"Works for me," I smiled. "Cora it is."

By the end of the day, the whole room was ready. "Wow." Jack looked stunned by how amazing it looked.

"Jack, this is beautiful," I looked around the room. There was a faded, light pink wallpaper, a wooden crib all set up with a mattress and little pillows, baby books, a wooden rocking chair, a changing table, and everything else the baby could possibly need. "You outdid yourself."

"Oh, come on. You're the one who figured out what we needed and how to arrange it," Jack wrapped his arms around my waist. "This is perfect."

"Now all we need is the baby," I giggled.

"Just three more months."

"I wish she could come now," I sighed. "I'm tired of the anticipation. I just want to hold her in my arms. You know?"

Jack smiled. "Me too."