First Scan
Rory lay on the bed in the hospital room. She was not a fan of hospitals because they had always meant that either her or someone she cared about were hurt. Her mind flashed to the several instances involving the man beside her. But now her hospital visits concerned their baby. Her top was pulled up to reveal her stomach. She had been a little conscious about showing her scar to the sonographer but she had paid no mind to it. Stephen sat on the seat next to her and held her hand. He had pulled the seat as close to the bed as was possible. The screen before them was blank at the moment.
"Ok, Mrs Dene," the sonographer said happily. "I see from your notes that this is your first pregnancy. Would you like me to explain how this works?"
Rory nodded. "Yes please."
"Ok," the sonographer continued. She showed Rory a tube of gel and a small hand held device. "I put this gel on your stomach. It helps the transducer with the scan. This is the transducer. I move this across your tummy and then this screen will let us see your baby."
Rory smiled and nodded. She laughed nervously. "Ok."
"It may be a little cold," she said as she opened the tube.
As she placed the gel on Rory's stomach, Rory flinched a little from the cold. She giggled as the transducer was rolled across her skin. It tickled a little. The sonographer turned on the screen in front of them and Rory and Stephen looked at each other with nervous smiles before looking back at the screen.
It blinked on like a tv did. She saw the outline of her uterus and she thought that was weird. And then they saw it. Both Stephen and Rory gasped quietly. It was tiny, only about 7cm big. They could just make out a tiny head, hands and feet. It looked like it might be sleeping. That was their child. They had made that little life they could see on the screen. A night of love and passion had given them this beautiful little baby. They both sat staring at the screen, staring at their baby, in silence and in awe.
Stephens hand squeezed Rory's and she squeezed back. He was smiling and biting his lip. He looked at Rory and found that she was crying gently, tears slipping down her cheeks uncontrollably. He lay his head on top of hers and felt her nestle into his shoulder. The sonographer was smiling. She spoke gently, wanting to keep the calm atmosphere of the room intact. "Would you like to hear the heartbeat?"
Rory looked at her wide eyed. "You can do that?"
The sonographer smiled at her gently and nodded softly. She pressed some buttons out of Rory's view. Then a small, quiet beat filled the room and Rory sobbed out loud. Her hand tightened around Stephens. He, meanwhile, had lost the fight with his own tears. After a few moments of listening to the baby's heartbeat, the sonographer turned the sound off and froze the screen. She took the transducer away from Rory's stomach and wiped the gel away. She looked at the screen again. "Your baby looks perfectly healthy and is developing at a steady rate. From the rate of growth and the date you conceived, I estimate your due date to be September 4th." She looked to the crying couple. "I'll give you both a few minutes."
Rory nodded, speechless for eh first time in her life. Stephen smiled up at the sonographer. "Thank you."
She smiled as she left the room. When the door shut, Rory wept happily. "Stephen, that's...that's our..."
He laughed through his own tears as they looked at the frozen image on the screen. "I know. That's us Rory. That's you and me and our love for each other. We made that."
"September," she whispered. "We're going to meet our baby in September."
He looked at her and bit his lip, smiling because he thought he knew what she was about to say. She continued, looking away from their baby to him. "We met in September."
"Yeah," he whispered back, drying his eyes, "we did."
"It's perfect. Everything is perfect."
They gazed at each other. Stephen couldn't handle it anymore. He caught her lips in a kiss and broke it just as gently. They cried against each other silently, happily.
Rory gently turned her head back to the screen. "I can't wait to show the others this sonogram."
He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her hand again. "Rory?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."