The next chapter is here! Enjoy!
2 Months Later…
Mia was sitting on the couch in front of the TV.
She was watching one of her favorite TV shows while munching on her latest cravings of pretzels dipped in Nutella. She's unsure why, but lately she had been wanting to try and dip pickles in the Nutella to see how they taste.
Aerin was currently utilizing her office; he had been busy writing his story now since the end of the summer.
Now it was Mid-October, Halloween, which she considered her favorite holiday was just around the corner. She already had a costume picked out for Sasha's Halloween Party that was on October Thirtieth.
At first, he was unsure about it, but she eventually talked Aerin into getting a costume too, seeing as he was also invited.
When they went to pick out their costumes together, she wasn't very surprised at his choice of a costume. It was a knight's costume complete with thin, fake body armor that went around the torso, and he also got a fake sword to go with it.
For a little while, she wasn't sure what she wanted to be. It was only when she started binge watching one of her favorite shows earlier this month did, she get an idea. It was ironically the same show she was currently watching, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
So, she decided she would go as Buffy. Mia went and got a wig with dirty blonde hair, a fake stake, and a flimsy cross necklace to go with the ensemble.
It should be pretty interesting, seeing as she's pregnant. But then, there weren't many characters out there that she could be, that were pregnant.
She was currently around four months along now. At her earliest doctor's appointment, they calculated the time of conception was somewhere in July.
Then they pegged her due date somewhere in late March.
Aerin was fascinated by the ultrasound machines and thought it was amazing that they could actually see the baby inside its mother, before it was born. It also brought a soft smile to his face when they would turn the speakers, and you could hear the baby's heartbeat.
According to the doctor, the heartbeat was strong and steady, and the baby was growing at a normal rate.
Mia was doing everything she could to take care of herself, this included keeping up on her already healthy diet and taking prenatals and vitamins.
Of course, the Nutella she was eating for a snack right now was not exactly healthy. But sometimes, cravings were hard to curb, and she had been craving sweet things now since late summer.
Thankfully, she was only hit with bouts of morning sickness a tiny handful of times. Though she hasn't had any bouts now for about a months. The last bout of morning sickness she had was about Mid-September. For a while there, she made sure to have a couple bottles of ginger ale in case the nausea became too much.
Not being able to stem her curiosity any longer, Mia got up from the couch with the Nutella jar and pretzel sticks and headed back into the kitchen.
She placed them on the table, then went to the fridge and pulled out the jar of pickle chips. Then she grabbed a small plate out of the cabinet and grabbed a spoon.
Mia brought the items back to the table and she took a couple of scoops of Nutella out of the jar and put them on the plate. Then she pulled out a few pickles and placed them on the other side of the plate.
Afterwards, she took the snack back to the couch in the living room and sat down with it.
Before she could reach for a pickle and dip it in the small mound of Nutella on the plate, Aerin came walking in.
She turned to him with a smile, and he returned the smile as he walked over to where she was on the couch. He then leaned down and placed a small, soft kiss on her lips.
She returned the kiss, that only lasted a few seconds before he pulled away.
"I can tell you have been eating Nutella again." He teased.
"Can't help it, it's good. Now, I'm trying a little experiment because for some reason it suddenly sounds good." She explained.
His gaze flickered from her face to the plate in her hands. He saw a glob of Nutella on one side, on the other was…pickles?
"No…please tell me you're not going to dip those pickles in the chocolate." He says.
Mia gave him a wide smile.
"Yep, and you came just in time. I haven't tried it yet. I had just walked back in her with this plate not a few moments before you walked in." She said.
"Lucky me. But please don't. If there are two things that should never go together it's those two things you have right there on your plate." He told her.
"Says, who? It's not written in a law book anywhere. At least none that I know." She joked.
"I'm sure if you research enough, you will come to find it probably is in one somewhere." Aerin jokes back.
"Well, either way, I'm still trying it." Mia stated.
Then she picked up a pickle chip and went to dip it in the Nutella.
She made eye contact with him, before putting it in her mouth. Then she watched him scrunch up his face and look away. Something that made her chuckle a little.
"Hey, it's surprisingly not all that bad. I kind of like it. I think I'll have some more." She says.
"I don't think I'll be kissing you for a little while after you just ate that, even more so if you plan on eating more of that abomination of a concoction." He informed her, while still wrinkling his nose.
"Hey, don't blame me. It's what the baby is craving too." She said, as she lightly pats her small, protruding stomach.
Being as petite as she was, the pregnant belly showed more on her at this stage than some others. So far, she has been carrying all in the stomach and nowhere else.
Well, he supposed he couldn't fault her there, because he knew she would never have considered eating such a random mix of food pre-pregnancy.
He sat down next to her and placed a hand on her baby bump, gently rubbing it.
"You may want to finish this snack of yours soon. I checked the time on my phone right before I came out here. We will be leaving in a few minutes for your appointment." Aerin reminded her.
"Damn, time flew today. It's already that time, huh?" She inquired.
"Yes. Though I don't see how it could've gone all that fast, seeing as you didn't do all that much today." He teased.
"Hey, not true. I worked on a chapter this morning. And if memory serves me correct, we went on a short walk along the beach with Tundra not that long ago." She countered.
"Perhaps, but I still did even more. Considering I started putting together some pieces of furniture for the nursery this morning while you worked on your chapter in the office." He replied.
The nursery was in fact formerly the guestroom that Aerin first stayed in when he arrived here.
"You know, Aerin, you don't have to start this soon with that stuff you know. You could've waited at least another couple of months. Don't want to give yourself too much work too soon." She says.
He shrugs, "I wanted to. We have plenty of time right now, why waste it."
"And judging by the few slip of curse words I heard coming from the nursery, it sounds like you may have gotten quite a bit done." Mia said, with an amused grin.
Aerin cleared his throat, "I really only got the highchair assembled." He muttered.
She couldn't help but laugh a little at the awkwardness that came with his admittance.
"Well, at least it sounded like you eventually won that battle because I didn't hear much more cursing after that." Mia said, with laughter still in her voice.
"Oh yes, it was rather brutal, but I survived. Though something tells me the real war will begin when I must assemble the crib and dresser." He joked.
"Don't forget the changing table, toy chest, and bookshelves too." She added, with a smirk.
"Yes, I didn't forget those either. At least the hamper and small trash bin for diapers is not something you have to assemble. You just unpack them and stick them right in the room." He stated.
"Since there is so much stuff though, I think you should let John come here and help you. He's already been through this before and can help you assemble the furniture." Mia suggested.
"While I don't mind the assistance, I don't want to bother him with something like this. I know he works and he's busy." Aerin admits.
She shook her head, "It wouldn't be any trouble at all to him. I'm sure he wouldn't mind either. But let me finish these pickles and Nutella, that way we can get going."
Then Mia picked up another pickle chip and dipped it in the small mound of Nutella and ate it.
"I think I'll go start up the car, so I don't have to watch this display." He says, as he gets up from the couch and grabs the keys out of the ceramic dish by the door and heads out to the garage.
She couldn't help but chuckle a little at that.
Her gaze then shifted to her dog who was lying on the recliner not far from the couch off to the side. He was eyeing her and the food she was currently eating.
"I'm sure you wouldn't mind trying out this combo. Though I'm sorry to say, you can't because dogs cannot have chocolate." She told him.
Of course, this didn't stop Tundra from licking his chops as he still continued eyeing the pickles and Nutella on her plate.
There weren't that many pickle chips on her plate to begin with, so she finished them up pretty quickly, before taking the plate to the kitchen. She rinsed it off really quick, before sticking it in the dishwasher, then put away the jar of Nutella and jar of pretzel rods that were still out on the kitchen table.
By the time she walked back into the living room, Aerin came in through the front door. He spotted her walking over.
"You ready?" He asked.
"Yeah, just need to grab my iPhone and wallet off the end table here." She replied.
Mia swiped them off the table and pocketed them both.
She didn't bother with a jacket, because in Mid-October, it was still warm out with the temperature still in the sixties.
They walked out to the garage together and got into her car.
He got into the driver's seat while she got into the passenger side.
After much trouble and many obstacles, they managed to get him a driver's license just last week. Not only that, but Mia also went to her bank and opened a joint account, put some money in it, and they both put their names on it, so that he would have at least one account.
It was something they were able to successfully do a couple of days ago because by then he had an I.D. to show them so that he could have an account there. He also signed up for a couple bank credit cards to have on hand.
The process may have been going slow for them so far. But at least they were getting there. Soon, she would like to take him to the car lot to get his own car. This way they had their own separate vehicles.
The windows in the car were down, letting in the warm, yet crisp Fall air.
As Mia stared out the open window, letting the soft breeze touch her face and blew through her long locks, she recalls the reaction her family had when her and Aerin finally shared the news with them early last month.
At first, just as she thought, they were all very surprised at the unexpected news.
It took some time, but eventually, their shock wore off and they were all happy for the couple. Her parents and brother knew for a very long time that this was something Mia had wanted since she was young, and that was eventually meet someone, marry, and have a family.
While her and Aerin weren't married, they still were in a very serious relationship and starting a family together. Something they were excited about.
In the beginning, she was nervous regarding her pregnancy because she didn't know what to expect.
Thankfully, both her mother and sister-in-law were very insightful on the subject and would answer any questions she had while giving her tons of advice.
John was even giving advice to Aerin.
Of course, Aerin didn't really need it. Seeing as this isn't the first time being a father for him. Still, he appreciated it and was polite about any info her brother gave him.
For all knows, parenting here could be very different from how it is on Middle Earth.
The former father of orcs was most of all grateful and happy about the fact that this child will be born into a loving and safe home and not down in some deep, dirty, and dark dungeon where life wasn't always safe for them.
"So, you think the baby grown some, since the last ultrasound you had?" He asks, as he drove them to her OBGYN.
"I believe so. Seeing as the last time I went was not too long after the pregnancy was confirmed and at the time they pegged me at just being around eight weeks along then. If we calculate right, I'm around fourteen weeks now." She surmised.
"So, it could be around 3.5 inches big now. At least that is what I read in one of the books on pregnancy we bought not long ago." He ascertained.
"Yeah, you have seen a kiwi fruit before. It is roughly around the size of that." Mia told him.
"Still amazing they can tell that and see it within you. But then, I like to think I have been here long enough now to notice just how great the technology is here on Earth." Aerin says.
They chatted a little more, until they finally pulled up to the doctor's building and pulled into a parking spot.
Afterwards, they got out and walked into the building together.
The pair walked right up to the service desk where there was a nurse sitting behind it. She looked up and smiled when she saw them approach the front of the desk.
"Hey, Mia. You're here for an appointment with Dr. Stanton, right?" The nurse inquired.
"Yeah, a four o'clock ultrasound appointment with her." Mia confirmed.
"Ok, just sit down for a moment and we'll let her know you're here." The nurse told them
"Thank you." Aerin said.
They went and sat down in one of many cushioned chairs that were lined up in a couple of rows next to each other.
About ten minutes went by, before one of the nurses opened the door to the waiting room and called Mia's name. Her and Aerin both got up and walked over.
"How has everything been going so far?" The nurse asked the pair as they followed her down one of the halls to a room.
"Doing good so far. Thankfully, the morning sickness seems to have gone away. Haven't felt nauseous now for the last several weeks." Mia replied.
"Good to hear it. I always thought that was one of the worst parts of pregnancy. I had it very bad with one of my kids, lasted well into the sixth month of pregnancy." The nurse tells her.
'Yikes! No thank you!' Mia thought.
"And here, I thought the worst part were the crazy and revolting cravings. Just before we arrived here, she was dipping pickle chips in Nutella. Had to quickly vacant the premises before I got nauseous and vomited." Aerin lightly jokes, with a small smirk.
Mia rolled her eyes, while the nurse laughed.
"Yeah, sorry to say, that comes with the territory. Believe me when I say, there are even worse cravings out there than that. I once had a pregnant patient that would slather some peanut butter on brussels sprouts and eat that. Another woman would get a stick of cheddar cheese and stick it in a jar of mayonnaise." The nurse shared.
Ok, even Mia thought those cravings were downright nasty. She didn't even have to look Aerin to know he was thinking the same thing.
"Please, don't say anymore, you may give her ideas." He said, with a cringe.
"Hell, no! I doubt my cravings would get that extreme. Not to mention, I don't like brussels sprouts or mayonnaise. Plus, so far, all my cravings have been for sweet things and none of those foods are sweet." Mia stated.
"So, developed a real sweet tooth with this pregnancy, huh?" The nurse inquired as she opened one of many doors on the right and let them in.
"Yeah, which is surprising, because being a former professional ballerina, our diets tended to be pretty strict. To the point, I hardly could indulge every now and then in sweets." Mia says.
"Yes, and now look. It's coming with a vengeance." Aerin teased.
"No shit." Mia countered, as she hopped up on the examination table.
The nurse thought their interaction was cute and amusing, as she got some of the equipment ready.
Then she proceeded to take down some of Mia's vitals before they were to do the ultrasound. The nurse took her blood pressure, listened to her heart, and took her temperature.
"Alright, we're all good here, I'll go let Dr. Stanton know you're ready for her." The nurse told her, as she placed the stethoscope back around her neck.
When she left the room, Mia leaned back on the reclined examination table and relaxed.
Aerin pulled a seat over, sitting by the table and reached out to hold her hand. He gently ran his thumb over her knuckles, while she lightly grasped his hand in hers.
They weren't waiting for very long, before the doctor came walking back in with the nurse.
"Hello Mia, how are we feeling this afternoon?" Dr. Stanton politely asked with a friendly smile.
"Great. Everything is good. I'm lately finding amusement in grossing out my boyfriend with my latest choice craving of pickles dipped in Nutella." Mia jokes, while Aerin grumbled as he ran a hand down his face.
The doctor and nurse found it amusing.
"Yes, I've been there too with my husband during at least one of my choice cravings as well." Dr. Stanton stated, with an amused smirk.
She then pulled over the ultrasound machine while the nurse turned on the laptop screen, setting it up.
Then the doctor had Mia lift her shirt up over her stomach and they undid the button and unzipped a little of her capris and peeled them down a little.
Afterwards, she came over with a tube of gel and squirted some onto her bulging lower abdomen. The stuff was cold, but Mia adjusted pretty quickly to it.
Then Dr. Staton brought over the wand that was connected to the ultrasound machine.
Once the screen on the machine turned on, she placed the wand over Mia's lower abdomen and started to slowly move it around.
Both Mia and Aerin's gaze went to the screen that was pretty clear and saw the baby appear on the screen.
It clearly was much bigger than it was the last time and more developed. The shape of the head, body, and limbs were more prominent now than they were a few weeks back.
Every now and then, the nurse would press a couple buttons on the laptop keyboard, and when she did, the angle of the picture would shift.
"Getting some really good candid shots here. Sometimes, we get babies that can be quite camera shy." The doctor says, as she continues moving the wand around and glancing back at the ultrasound screen.
"So, they really like the camera then?" Mia lightly joked, as she and Aerin continued looking at the screen.
"Yes, it appears she does." Dr. Stanton stated.
"It's a girl?" Mia asked, with a small smile.
"Yeah, getting some good closeups here. Enough that we can identify the gender." The doctor replied.
"Even when she's this tiny?" Aerin asked.
"Yep, sometimes there are instances we can tell even earlier than this. Especially, if you have certain blood test done very early on, they can tell that way too." Dr. Stanton explained.
That was all very fascinating to him, how they can tell these things. Even better that they can see 'her' clearly on the screen as she develops and grows during the months leading up to birth.
The ultrasound went on for a couple more minutes.
Afterwards, they turned it off. Though not before printing out some nice pictures of the baby and giving them to the happy couple.
Both Mia and Aerin gazed down at the pictures with warm smiles on their face.
They can made out her cute profile in a couple of them and there were at least three that were a full frontal, showing her little face and the front of her little body. Already, you can see her eyes, little button nose, and mouth.
In one picture, it looked like she was making a face, kind of like she bit into something sour.
But the one Aerin was drawn into that made his heart soften was the one he saw of her where she had her thumb partially in her mouth, making it appear like she was sucking on it.
"I think this one is one of my favorites." Aerin told Mia as he pointed to it.
She shifted her gaze to the one he was pointing at, and she couldn't help but smile at the cuteness of it.
It certainly made her appear more baby-like than a glob of cells, or barely formed fetus only a few weeks prior. It was pretty amazing how fast babies do develop during this time.
"Yeah, I think it's utterly adorable too." Mia agreed.
It wasn't much longer before they thanked the doctor and nurse.
Then they went ahead and made their next appointment in the coming weeks, before leaving the OBGYN building with the special little pictures of their baby.
The couple chatted a little on the way back home.
Once they arrived back at the house, and went through the front door, they both retreated to the couch to look at the pictures a little more. It was here; they found the time to study her little features more.
"Even at this age, I think she's already starting to look like you." Mia teased.
"I think it's still way too early to tell. She's still not close to finishing developing yet to make such a deduction. Though in this one picture here, it does look like she is already attempting a dance move. Must get that from you." He joked.
"At least we have an idea that she will be active. It seems like in each picture, she's striking a different pose." She replied, with amusement in her tone.
"So, this means not only will we have to watch the dog when he get's the zoomies, but we'll have to watch her too as well?" He inquired, in a teasing tone.
"Probably, because for all we know, she'll be chasing him all over." She said.
"That would imply she may go straight to running rather than walking when she learns how." Aerin stated, with a smirk.
He had a few children in the past that were like that.
While some were laid back and rather took their time with things, some of the others were very active with energy they could barely keep contained.
Each one of them was unique and he loved them all. Just like he already loves this child and is excited to meet her when she comes.
Then when she does, they will make many more new and special memories.
Thinking about that actually made him remember something.
He shifted his gaze to Mia, "Wait here a moment, I just remembered I picked up something special the other day. Tess was the one to suggest it and I happened to think it was a lovely idea."
"Ok." She replied.
While he went and got up from the couch and walked down the hall to their bedroom. Mia got up and went into the kitchen and got out a pair of scissors from the drawer and brought them back to the couch. Then she started to carefully cut the pictures out.
There were two sets. Both were in columns of two with three pictures in each column. Which meant there were twelve of the little square pictures in all.
He came walking back out just as she was finishing up cutting them apart. Then she placed them one behind the other in a neat little stack.
She turned her gaze to Aerin when he walked over to the couch, carrying something in his hand.
He sat down and handed the object in question to her with a small smile.
"Figured, we would get one eventually. As I said before, Tess suggested it was a good idea to get one sooner rather than later." He tells her.
Mia took the medium size square and realized it was a little photo album. The cover was white and had a cute little picture of a baby in the center. Written in elegant gold letters above the little square picture were the words, 'Memories are made Here'.
A large smile slowly appeared on her face as she continued looking at the cute little photo album, before turning to face him.
Then she wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a big hug.
"Thank you, I love it." She told him.
A soft smile appeared on his face as he wrapped his arms around her.
"You're welcome." He replied.
After a few more moments, they pulled back from the hug, then Mia opened it to look at the many blank pages that had a thin sheet of plastic over the white square sheet.
"I believe these pieces of paper are removable." He told her, while gesturing to the square white sheets on each page.
"Yeah, these thin pieces of plastic are more like sleeves. The opening is usually at the top, that way you can stick your fingers in and slide the pictures in that way. Though I don't think I want to take these out and get rid of them. They are good to have so you can write little messages and dates on it right next to the picture." She explained.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
"We should start with these pictures here. I'll go grab a pen." She says.
Then Mia got up and went into her office to grab a pen out of the pencil holder on her desk.
When she got back to the living room, she sat down and pulled the first white square piece of paper out and started writing on it. Once she finished, she placed it back into the plastic sleeve and started carefully placing the ultrasound pictures in there and made sure they lined up with her message.
The end result was adorable.
Next to their favorite ones, she had written down next to them, 'Our Baby Girl, 14 weeks. 10/22/25'.
"Looks perfect, Mia." Aerin told her as his eyes shifted over the message that was partially surrounded by a few of the ultrasound pictures. They were small enough that they could fit in about six at a time on one page.
Already, it looks like they have already made their very first memory, with their unborn child. The first of many more to come.
Until Next Time