Alicia wiggles her toes and sighs. She hasn't been able to just look down and see them for a little bit now, her pregnancy finally showing to the point that she feels more like she's waddling than walking whenever she moves through the house. She straightens when there's a soft knock at the door. "Come in," she calls, and the doctor comes inside, shutting the door behind her before smiling at Alicia.
"Hello, how are you today?" she asks, already bustling around the room and collecting a few things.
"Fine," Alicia says. Then, "Large."
The doctor pauses, then laughs, casting a glance over at her. "Sometimes it does seem to happen overnight, doesn't it?"
Alicia sighs, then nods, a hand resting low on her stomach, where the baby is currently kicking. "Yes, yes it did." She leans her head back and stares up at the ceiling. "This little one is currently kicking, I don't know if it likes being here."
The doctor comes back over towards the cot and hums. "Maybe, maybe not. But it'll be over soon and momma and baby can go home and rest."
Alicia sighs softly, missing Ricardo. "That sounds nice," she murmurs. He'll be home soon, she reminds herself. Within days. She struggles against the tears welling in her eyes, hormones making everything so raw and close to the surface these days. "I'm sorry," she whispers when the doctor notices and clucks softly in concern. "Just... hormones, I think, and my husband is away for work right now, and... yeah I'm just kind of a mess."
The doctor shakes her head and lightly rubs Alicia's shoulder as her breathing slowly relaxes. "No worries," she says, and Alicia wishes she could see the woman's smile. "Whenever you're ready, we can take a look at your child. That may cheer you up?"
"Yes," Alicia breathes, her lips curving up into a beautiful smile under her mask. "It definitely would."
With this thought in mind, she calms relatively quickly, and the doctor begins to set up the machine. Alicia trembles a little when the doctor instructs her to raise her shirt, and exhales when the gel slathered over her skin feels a little colder than she remembers from the last time. The doctor is as gentle as she can be when she presses the wand against her, looking for the clearest angle on the baby she can find, but it's irrelevant because within moments, Alicia is staring at her baby, so much more defined than the last time she saw it.
"Oh," she breathes out, fresh tears welling up in her eyes, happy ones this time. "Look at that. Hi, baby." She closes her eyes for a few minutes, wishing again and again that Ricardo was here to witness this with her. "You look so amazing."
The doctor hums and examines the baby, then turns a knob and the baby's heartrate speeds through the room, Alicia gasping softly at how strong and fast it sounds. "Baby looks perfectly healthy, and the heartrate is absolutely how it should be at this stage." The doctor smiles and gives Alicia a few more moments to gaze adoringly at the image of her child. "Whenever you're ready," she says softly, and their eyes lock, Alicia nodding slowly. "Before I turn this off, there's one question. Do you want to know what you're having?"
Alicia swallows heavily and stares at the image of her and Ricardo's child and thinks. Thinks about how she's all alone, how the nursery Sofia's been working on while Ricardo's been gone is neutral colors, perfect no matter what, about how both she and Ricardo had agreed they'd be happy no matter what their child was. "No," she finally decides and the doctor nods, handing over a couple tissues so Alicia can clean the gel up.
The screen goes dark, the doctor pressing a couple of buttons to print out images of the ultrasound. "Here you go," she says, smiling down at Alicia as she hands over the picture.
Alicia handles it delicately before looking up at her with a wavery smile. "Thank you so much."
"I'll give you a minute, and the nurse will come back with your release papers, alright?" The doctor smiles. "I don't think we'll be having another of these appointments before your due date, unless something comes up, but you have my number and please call at any time if something feels off. Alright?"
"Yeah," Alicia says softly, pulling her shirt down and sitting up with a little help from the doctor. "I definitely will. Thanks again."
The doctor smiles at her. "Any time. Bye, Alicia."
"Goodbye," she says softly, watching as the woman takes her leave. She stares down at the ultrasound picture and sighs. "Just you and me again, little one." She presses her hand against her stomach again, wishing she could properly touch the fluttering baby within.
The nurse comes relatively quickly and Alicia drives home, a pained look on her face when she walks inside to find it completely empty- Ricardo still at Mike's guest house, Sofia leaving a note on the counter saying she's gone out to pick up some groceries she'd ordered and would be back soon. Alicia's shoulders slump as she attaches the ultrasound to the fridge next to the first one she'd had done months ago before she slips into the bathroom, taking her clothes off as she goes and dropping them into the hamper set aside for any outing done since the pandemic started. Slipping into the tub, she turns the shower on- careful not to get it too warm- and stands under the stream of water for as long as she can stand to, before slowly lathering up, finally getting rid of the residue of that gel making her skin itch.
She tips her face up and closes her eyes, letting the water beat down against her, and she finally cries. She's still weeping silently when she gets out and dries off as best as she can, padding morosely to her bedroom and sinking into the soft sheets and extra wide pillows, hugging them to her tightly as she slowly dozes off, her brows still furrowed, tears still dripping down her chin.
She's shocked to wake up to pitch darkness, squinting around through blurry, matted shut eyes, to realize it's well after midnight. And something is pressed against her- something warm, and breathing, and... She tangles her fingers with his and lifts his hand up to her face, kissing his palm, and Ricardo huffs a soft laugh against her shoulder before she sits up sharply and looks, jaw dropping when she realizes it wasn't a dream or something. "You... you're here," she breathes and he leans up too, gently stroking her face.
"Yeah," he murmurs. "It's been two weeks and I couldn't wait any longer." He pulls her closer and kisses her, hungry and desperate, and she moans, clinging to him.
"Ricardo," she cries, and he makes soft noises, kissing her tears away. "I... I..." She's breathing heavily, each kiss and touch from him leaving her shaky and needy. "I saw the doctor earlier."
He smiles at her. "I saw the ultrasound." He shifts and presses a low kiss to her stomach and she flushes, realizing she's still only in that crumpled towel from her shower earlier. "This little one is growing quite well, aren't they?" He moves back up to kiss Alicia again, cradling her face in his hands. "We'll be meeting them so soon, it's ridiculous."
She hiccups softly and rests her face on his shoulder, still crying softly. "I missed you so much."
He rubs her back, rocking her gently in his arms. "I missed you too," he breathes into her hair. "Come on, Alicia left you a plate, and I warmed it up before I came in here. She heard me come in and came out to greet me, said she didn't want to wake you for dinner."
Alicia's stomach grumbles loudly as he brings the plate over from its spot on the bedside table. "Oh," she groans, staring at all of her favorites that Sofia had clearly gone out of her way to bake just for Alicia's post-appointment meal. "Now I feel awful for not waking up enough to join her. This looks amazing."
Ricardo hums, running some chicken through a soft creamy sauce that neither of them know the exact recipe for and hovering it over Alicia's lips. "She didn't mind, I think she knew you needed the rest more than anything. It's an exhausting time for you. Don't worry about it." He feeds her patiently, the chicken, and potato wedges dipped in ketchup, and glazed snap peas, with a strawberry milkshake washing it all down.
"I, I know, but-" She falls silent as he holds more food to her lips, waiting until she bites into it. "Ricardo-"
He leans in and kisses her, sighing softly at the pleasant combination of her and the subtle spices of the food running against his tongue as he teases her, making her momentarily forget the food still waiting on the plate not that far away. "Stop worrying, Sofia understands," he reiterates, and Alicia sighs, eyes fluttering as he forks some peas into her mouth.
"Oh my god," she moans. "Sofia's such a good cook."
"She is," Ricardo smiles, stealing another couple of kisses for each bite until the plate is cleared, and the milkshake is drained. "How are you feeling?" he asks, lazily stroking up and down her stomach.
"Amazing," she whispers, adjusting her towel and leaning closer to him. "Now that you're home." Her brown eyes are intent as he reaches out for her, hands resting against her bare skin and sending a sharp thrill up her spine as he stares at her. "Ricardo..."
He hums and settles back against the pillows, drawing her towards him. "Yeah?"
She moves eagerly, toes pressing into his knees as she hovers over him, brushing her sleep-mussed hair over her shoulder and resting her hands on his chest, fingers trembling as she unbuttons his shirt and tilts her head, staring down at him with hooded eyes when he toys with the towel, teasing and slow as he slips it off of her body. "I love you so much."
He smiles up at her, hands gentle despite the tension pulsing through both of them, as he assists her with buttons and zippers and whatever else, eventually sighing loud and slow as she carefully straddles him, searching his face. "I love you more than that," he finally manages, lips trembling and twitching as he reaches out and cradles her face once more, stroking her lips, along her cheeks.
She nuzzles into him and breathes shakily, smiling down at him. "I don't think that's possible," she informs him, words coming out rushed and messy as her focus is strained in too many directions.
He watches as she kisses his palm and bites her lower lip, eyes darkening when he touches her again. Oh, he thinks, but it is.
