Courtney rolled over onto her side rubbing her stomach gently, hoping that would soothe her sudden fit of nausea. She glanced at her alarm clock sighing when she realized it was only about 4:30 in the morning. Bolting up Courtney ran to the bathroom bee lining for the toilet.

It was the sound of her retching that woke Duncan up. Rubbing his eyes, he trudged to the bathroom leaning over Courtney's hunched frame to pull her hair from her face. When she was done she reached up and flushed, before moving to lean heavily against the bathtub. Her face was flushed and covered in a fine sheen of perspiration. Duncan felt terrible; her first trimester pregnancy symptoms had recently kicked into full gear making Courtney, and thus Duncan, quite miserable.

"Feel a little better now?"

"No, not really. I honestly don't even know what I'm throwing up anymore because there can't be anything left in my system," Courtney grumbled.

"Well, it could be worse," Duncan tried to soothe, pushing a sweaty strand of her hair behind her ear.

"How? I'm throwing up every ten minutes, and that's only if I'm lucky, I'm in a constant state of fatigue, and my back aches all of the time."

"I'd carry the kid to help you out if I could, but we both know that's impossible."

Courtney stared at him for a minute before bursting out into laughter; Duncan quirked an eyebrow inquisitively.

"It's just that I'm picturing you pregnant and it's an absolutely fabulous visual," Courtney was able to get out between laughter.

"Glad I'm amusing," Duncan smirked. "You know I was just trying to be a sweet, attentive husband and I get laughed at. I think I'm just gonna go back to bed."

Duncan pretended he was really upset, and was even able to hold back fake tears, before huffing and prancing back into the bedroom. Several minutes later, after brushing her teeth and washing her face, Courtney joined him in bed. She adjusted her pillow before snuggling up against Duncan's back.

"Thanks for holding back my hair."

"Don't mention it, Princess. What time do we need to be at the doctor's?"

"Ten," Courtney mumbled sleepily.

Duncan sighed, "So we need to be there in five hours? Ugh. Try and get some sleep."

His statement of concern was met with a short snore.

"Seriously who reads this crap?"

"Stop and put those down," Courtney demanded.

Duncan put down the stack of parenting and women's health magazines he was holding, deciding it would be safer if he just looked around the room and didn't speak. He had always hated doctors and anything related to them, but he wanted to be there for Courtney and their unborn baby. Besides it wasn't like Courtney got into this situation by herself.

When their name was called the couple was ushered into one of the rooms with an ultrasound machine in it. Courtney replaced her shirt with a paper one and took a seat on the paper covered table. Duncan grimaced when the smell of antiseptic hit him; he really hated anything related to the medical business.

A few minutes later, which felt like an eternity to Duncan and Courtney, their doctor walked through the door with a bright smile plastered on her face. Dr. Anne McGuire had been Courtney's gynecologist since she was old enough to go to one. She was middle-aged and radiated maternal warmth. She had been with the couple through both miscarriages and had Courtney's extensive medical history on file.

"Hi Courtney it's great to see you again," Dr. McGuire said, pulling her into a hug, she then stuck her hand out to Duncan. "Nice to see you again too Duncan."

She walked over to the ultrasound machine and turned it on.

"Gotta wait for this baby to warm up. Why don't you go on and lie down and get comfortable. Are you nervous?"

"Of course," Courtney admitted, fidgeting with her wedding band; it had become a habit of hers when she was nervous or uncomfortable.

"You have every right to be, so I hope to give the both of you some good news today. Now this'll be cold."

Dr. McGuire rolled a jelly coated appendage of the ultrasound machine around Courtney's bare stomach. For several minutes she hit buttons and played with colors and sounds. It seemed to be taking a long time, putting Courtney and Duncan on edge with fear. A few more seemingly random buttons were hit before Dr. McGuire turned to her patient and her husband, spinning the screen towards them as she went.

"Congratulations, here's the first glimpse of your baby."

The screen showed a small body, no bigger than a plum.

"Oh my God," Courtney whispered, holding Duncan's hand a bit tighter and lacing their fingers together.

"It's our baby," Duncan smiled. "It's so small."

"Well from the looks of it Courtney's about ten weeks along, so it appears you'll be getting a very special Christmas present."

The couple nodded slightly to engrossed with the image on the screen to do much more.

"I can print it out for you, you know?"

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Dr. McGuire chuckled and hit the print button. "So I'm going to need to see you in a couple of weeks for another check-up. Preferably four weeks from today, but three would be fine as well."

"Why can't we hear the heartbeat?" Courtney questioned.

"That's nothing to worry about. There can be a number of reasons why, but I believe it's simply the way the baby is facing right now. So please don't stress about it, you should try to alleviate any stress you can control."

"Okay, if you say so. You are the doctor."

Dr. McGuire handed Duncan the printouts and shut down the machine, while Courtney wiped off the jelly that covered her stomach.

"Hopefully I will see you both then; it's so nice when the father comes too. Congratulations."

With that the doctor left the couple to bask in their joy. Courtney slipped her shirt back on and smiled fondly at Duncan who was gazing at the printouts. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She stood on her tiptoes and placed her head on his shoulder, looking down at the picture with him.

"I just can't believe it," Duncan stated.

"I know it's pretty incredible."

"I have this overwhelming urge to frame this and put it on our wall."

"Yeah, no, you're not doing that, but you can hang it on the fridge if you want."

"Oh I will. Do you know what this means?" Duncan questioned pulling her around so she was in front of him. Courtney shrugged, unsure of where this was going.

"This is proof. Proof of our new life and our new beginning."