Taste (Cloverleigh Farms, #7)(80)

In the chair next to me, Ellie snickered. “Um, you’ve been up close and personal with those bits and pieces.”

“I know,” I said, squirming in my seat. “I just never looked that close. And I’m not sure I need to know what everything is actually called.”

She laughed again. “Relax. You won’t have to see anything today. I’ll be under a sheet.”

I wanted to tell her I wouldn’t mind seeing her bits and pieces—or being up close and personal with them—but it didn’t seem like the right time.

I chose a safer topic. “Hey, did you tell your brothers about the baby?”

“My mom did.” She shrugged. “I don’t think they cared much. Did you tell your siblings?”

“I texted them. My sister was really excited. One brother replied with dude, and the other with fuck in all caps. Several U’s.”

“Sounds about right.”

I glanced down at her feet. “How’s your ankle?”

She laughed. “Swollen, but I can’t blame the fall. Just the baby.”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore?”

“No.” She was quiet a moment. “Have you talked to your dad yet?”

I shook my head. “He’s not interested in listening to me.”

“Gianni, try again.” She put her hand on my arm. “You won’t feel right leaving town without making peace with him.”

“He was mean to me,” I said grumpily.

“He was just in shock. And he doesn’t understand our choices.”

I looked at her hand still on my arm. “I’m not sure I understand our choices either.”

She took her hand away.

“Ellie?” The nurse smiled at us from the doorway to the hall. “We’re ready for you.”

Ellie quickly got to her feet and followed the nurse down the hall, and I trailed behind. We were put into a room, and Ellie was told to undress from the waist down. “Do you want me to leave?” I said hesitantly once the nurse had gone. “I can.”

Ellie sighed. “I guess not. Too late now to worry about getting undressed with you in the room.”

I tried to give her some privacy, but it was hard in such a small room. I turned around, looking for something to distract me, but all I saw was a 3D model of a woman’s reproductive system and magazines with babies and moms on the front. Where the hell were the dads?

“Okay, you can turn around.” Ellie sounded amused.

I spun around and saw her lying back with a blue paper sheet covering her naked lower half—only her hedgehog socks were still on. “Hey, it’s your lucky socks.”

“Yeah.” She wiggled her toes. “I thought we could use some luck.”

“Are you nervous?” I took one foot in my hand and squeezed.

“A little.” She glanced at the screen to her right. “I just want everything to be okay.”

“It will be. I promise.” But suddenly I was nervous too.

A moment later, a woman in scrubs came in and greeted us. “Hi there, Ellie. Ready to peek at your baby?”

“Yes,” Ellie said. “This is the baby’s father, Gianni.”

“I’m Beth, the sonographer.” She smiled at me. “Big day, huh?”

“Yeah.” I stepped out of the way, hoping she couldn’t tell how bad I was sweating. “I’ve never seen one of these before.”

“Don’t worry.” Beth took a seat between Ellie and the screen and did some things I tried not to watch too closely. A moment later, strange, ghostly images appeared on the monitor. “There we go. First things first, it looks like just one critter in there.”

“You mean there was a chance there was more than one?” I asked, my voice cracking.

Beth laughed. “Always a chance. But there’s only one.” The images shifted and swirled on the screen. “Okay, I can see some knees right here, and some feet.”

Instinctively I moved to look closer and took Ellie’s hand. This was unbelievable.

The image shifted again, and something that looked vaguely like the shape of a baby lying on its back appeared. “So there’s the head,” said Beth, “and there’s the bum. And see that flickering? That’s the heart.”

“That’s the heart beating? We can see that already?” My throat was so tight I could hardly talk.

“Yes. Want to hear it?”

“Can we?” Ellie asked.

“Sure.” Beth clicked something, and the room was filled with a scratchy, rhythmic sound. The lump in my throat ballooned, and the screen grew blurry.

“It’s so fast,” Ellie said.

Beth was reassuring. “That’s normal for first trimester.”

Ellie looked at me, and her eyes were wet too. I wanted to say something and couldn’t. I squeezed her hand.

“Can I take a video?” My voice sounded odd to me, weak and raw, like I had a sore throat.

“Of course,” said Beth.

I pulled out my phone and took a video of the screen, capturing the sound of the heartbeat and the graph at the bottom.

Ellie sniffed and looked at the screen again. “Does everything look okay?”

“Everything looks fine.” Beth went on about spine development, organ functioning, length, and weight. But I was mesmerized by the little creature on the screen, by the sound of its heart, and by the rush of feelings it inspired.