Another Krista & Rizzo for your reading enjoyment…it's their first look at their baby…
"All set?" Rizzo asked his wife as she struggled to tie her shoes. She was about four months along now, and her belly was beginning to make some tasks harder.
"Yep," Krista told him, rising from the couch. "Ready to see our baby?"
He smiled broadly. "You better believe it!"
He helped her out to the car and opened the door for her. When they arrived at the doctor's office, he helped her out of the car and into the waiting room, telling her to take a seat while he told the nurse they were there.
"I'm not that fragile, you know," she told him for what seemed like the millionth time.
He smiled. "I know. I just want you to take it easy. You were so sick for a while…"
She grimaced, remembering how severe the morning sickness had been for the first trimester. "That, thank goodness, is over now. I'm really okay."
"I know…"
Krista shook her head smiling. He had always been protective of her, but had become more so since they found out about the pregnancy.
When it was their turn, a nurse led them back to a special exam room.
"Not many private offices have these yet, but Doctor insisted on getting one," the nurse told them, gesturing to the ultrasound machine in the corner. "There's just something about being able to see you own child before it's even born…"
Krista and Rizzo looked at each other and smiled.
"Okay, go ahead and change into the gown and hop up on the exam table. Doctor will be in in a few minutes."
The nurse left and Krista began to undress.
"Do you want me to go outside while you change?" Rizzo asked.
Krista laughed. "Honey, you're my husband. You've seen everything there is to see…"
He smiled a little shyly.
"And besides," she continued, "pretty soon you're going to have to help me change my clothes."
He laughed as the doctor knocked on the door.
"Ready for me?"
"Come on in," Krista said.
The doctor came in, examined Krista, asked her a few questions, then rolled the ultrasound cart over to the exam table. "Okay here we go…"
He lifted Krista's gown and squeezed some cold goo on her exposed belly. He picked up the wand attached to the ultrasound machine and planted it in the goo. A picture flickered across the screen, and the doctor moved the wand around, examining the baby and trying to find a good angle.
"There we go…" He stopped moving the wand pointed to an area of the screen. "There's your baby."
Krista and Rizzo looked at the screen, then at each other. She smiled softly and took his hand. His eyes shone brightly and the expression on his face said it all.
"Do you want to know the gender?" the doctor asked after a minute.
Husband looked at wife and they read each other's thoughts.
"Yeah, we do," Krista said.
"You're having a little girl," the doctor smiled. He flipped a switch on the ultrasound machine. A rapid pulsing noise filled the room. "That's her heartbeat."
That put Krista over the edge and a tear slid down her cheek. "Our little girl…"
Rizzo leaned down and kissed her, brushing the tear away. "Our little girl."
The doctor smiled quietly, loving this part of his job, and let the couple look at their child for a few minutes more before switching off the machine and cleaning Krista's belly off. "Everything looks great—she's normal size and well developed…a healthy baby girl. She should start moving around soon, too."
Krista and Rizzo both grinned at that. "That'll be fun," he said.
The doctor laughed. "For you. But for Krista it'll get old when the little one starts doing gymnastics at 2am every morning."
Krista smiled at the thought, sniffling a little. "Well, thanks Doc," she said. "See you in a month?"
"Yes," he nodded. "I'll see you in a month."
The doctor left and Krista got dressed. Rizzo helped her off the exam table rubbing her belly gently.
"Now you're never going to let me do anything, are you?" she asked him laughing.
"I'll try and be good," he laughed back.
That evening they sat together on the floor in their living room, Rizzo leaning against the couch with his arms around Krista, who was leaning back against him. His hands rested on her abdomen and the smile he'd worn at the doctor's office remained on his lips.
"So what are we going to call our little baby bear?" he asked.
She placed her hands on his. "Well, she's Italian, Cuban, and Irish. Think we can work all that in?"
He laughed. "Actually I think we can. Spanish and Italian are a lot alike, so we just need to pick out something Latin to cover those…"
"And something Irish to complete the package."
They sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes. "What about Angela?" he asked after a while.
"It's pretty, but Angela Eruzione?" Krista smiled. "She sounds like mob boss's daughter."
He laughed. "Well, she is part Italian…"
"How about Donna?"
"If we name her Donna I'll have that Richie Vallens song stuck in my head every time I see her."
It was Krista's turn to laugh. "It's a good song!"
"Yeah, but not for our daughter." He couldn't help but grin as he spoke the last words. "Kathleen?" he went on. "That's a nice Irish name."
"And the name of my niece," she reminded him.
"You have too many nieces…"
"That happens when you're one of eight children."
"Are we going to have that many?" he asked.
She grinned. "How 'bout we see how this pregnancy goes, then we'll talk."
He laughed again. "Okay." He thought for another minute before an idea struck him. "Why don't we use your middle name, snowflake?"
"Teresa? It's a nice name, but I don't want to name our daughter after me…"
"It fits the bill, though. The way it's spelled is the Spanish way, which is also the Italian way." He nuzzled her neck. "And I'd love our daughter to have her mother's name."
She laid her cheek against his. "You really want to use Teresa?"
He kissed her neck softly. "Yeah."
She didn't have to see the look on his face to know how much it meant to him. "Maybe as her middle name?"
"All right."
Krista smiled. "You really could talk me into anything, couldn't you?"
He kissed her again. "It's okay…you could talk me into anything, too."
"What about her first name, then?"
"Hmmm…something Irish…Erin?" he thought out loud.
"Erin Eruzione?"
"Yeah, okay, not Erin."
"Kelly is a family name…" she suggested.
"Kelly Teresa?" he asked, shaking his head.
She wrinkled her nose.
He kept trying. "Catriona…Cate…Caitlin…"
"I like Caitlin…" she chimed in.
"Caitlin Teresa Eruzione." Rizzo felt a movement under his hands. "Was that…?"
"She moved," Krista said smiling.
He nuzzled her again, gently rubbing her belly, and was rewarded with another flutter under his fingers. "That's her?" he asked quietly.
"That's her. I think she likes the name…"
He didn't say anything for a moment, and Krista turned in his arms. What she saw tugged at her heart. There was her husband, feeling his child move for the first time, a smile on his lips that was laced with happiness and left him totally unable to speak.
"Oh, honey…"
He looked down at his wife. "That's our little girl…" he managed in a husky voice.
She took his hand in hers and played with his wedding band. "Caitlin…our little baby bear."
He kissed her softly. "I love you so much…" he whispered. "My snowflake…my wife…and now, the mother of my child…"
"I love you too," she whispered in return, kissing him again. "You're going to make such a good father."
"You think so?" he asked uncertainly.
She looked at his hand still tenderly caressing her abdomen. "I know so."