"Any severe headaches?" Amelia shakes her head.

"Blurry vision?"

"No."

"Loss of balance?"

Another shake of the head.

"Alright Mrs. James," the young nurse types a few things into the computer. I find it amusing the way her voice shakes with nerves, she must be new. "Dr. Kingsley will be in here in a few moments to do an ultrasound and I will send your neurologist in when she leaves."

"Thank-you." My wife smiles while I give only a nod.

Then we're left with nothing but the clock ticking on the wall to fill the silent void.

"Are you nervous?" I ask her after watching her wring her hands for a solid five minutes.

"A little." She responds, halting her movements.

"It's okay to be nervous." I pull my chair closer to the bed she's sitting in. "I was freaking out at the first appointment with Theo."

"Could you stop." Amelia laughs and my pacing halts. "You're making me anxious."

"Good, you should join the club." I mutter, returning to pacing. What if something is wrong with our baby? What if..

Someone knocks on the door and Amelia calls for them to come in.

"Mr and Mrs. James." Dr. Kingsley smirks as she enters. "I knew it wouldn't be too long before I saw the both of you in here. The way Cameron was looking at you when your friend had her daughter, I had a feeling I'd be seeing you soon."

Amelia's eye widen and a blush makes its way up her face and I must say, even I feel a little embarrassed.

"Oh, you two," the doctor laughs as she sits down on a stool, wheeling herself to the side of Amelia's patient bed. "There's no reason to be embarrassed that you marriage is healthy. I'm very aware how babies are made."

A chocking sound come from Amelia and I chuckle.

"Well now that the baby is made..." I trail off, looking at the doctor expectantly.

"All business aren't you." Dr. Kingsley, raises Amelia's patient bed. "Alright Momma, can you lift your shirt for me?"

While Amelia grips the hem of her shirt, Dr. Kingsley grabs a clear bottle of blue gel.

"This is just to help the scanner move across you skin more easily." She explains. "It'll be a little cold."

I can't suppress my grin any longer as Amelia inhales sharply when the cold gel hits her skin, causing goosebumps to arise across every inch of her body. In only a matter of moments we're going to see our baby. I reach and take her hand, pressing rapid kisses to it.

The sound of hollow rhythmic beating fill the private hospital room the second the doppler touches Amelia's stomach.

"There's Momma's heart beat, let's try to find baby's." Dr. Kingsley mutters, staring at the small black screen with blotchy grey shown. After I few moments I start to get restless, my grip on Amelia's hand tightening. What's taking so long? Is a heartbeat that hard to find?

My stomach rolls when I see Dr. Kingsley start to squint, as the movements of the doppler quicken. My grip on Amelia's hand tightens even more, and I notice her frown.

"Dr. Kingsley..." I try to keep my nervousness from my tone.

"He won't stop moving." She states, continuing to move the doppler.

Amelia and I both exhale enough anxiety to fuel a high school. I look down at Amelia and I's intertwined hands, trying to will away the nausea that built up. He's moving, he's okay. He-

Suddenly, my head jerks up so quickly I think I pull a muscle, but I'm too wired to notice.

Amelia is grinning at me while Dr. Kingsley types something onto the computer beside her.

"We're having a little boy?" I ask, afraid to believe I heard correctly.

Tears start to form in Amelia's eyes and she simply nods.

"We're having a little boy!" I shout, unable to resist the urge to spring from my chair. "I'm having a boy!" I can feel my ear-splitting grin but do nothing to hide it. A man has every right to feel this way. "Thank-you!" I let my mouth attack Amelia's and she returns my kiss with equal excitement.

We jerk apart when rapid rhythmic beating, like that of horse hooves, fills the room.

Dr. Kingsley doesn't say anything, instead she turns the monitor screen so Amelia and I can see.

"He's so small." I mutter, my eyes transfixed on the screen.

"That's late to be having your first appointment." Amelia interrupts my thoughts and I glance at her.

"You waited awhile to tell me and then I had to leave for business but I wanted to be able to go to the first one."

"Waiting until your fifteenth week of pregnancy," Dr. Kingsley walks into the room. "Was something you were reprimand for, believe me. How are you Amelia?"

"I'm alright." Amelia has a small, genuine smile on her face.

Dr. Kingsley smiles pulling the small chair up to the side of the bed along with her computer. "Okay, I'm going to have you lift your shirt," She says grabbing the bottle of blue gel. "And then I'm going to put some of this on your stomach so that we can hear baby's heartbeat. After that I have to take some measurements."

"Okay," Amelia mutters, reaching for the hem of her shirt. The small bump that quickly formed fills me with pride. Our child is in there.

My hand reaches out before I think to much about it. When Amelia's entire body tenses, I start to pull my hand back but she grabs my wrist.

"I wasn't expecting your hands to be so cold." She whispers softly, pulling my hand to rest at the top of the bump. Instead of moving her hands back their original position by her sides, she rests one on top of mine. When I drag my eyes away from her hand other eyes, she staring at me with such vulnerability it makes my chest ache. Not removing my eyes from hers, I lift her hand to my lips, pressing a light kiss against her knuckles.

I barely hear the doctor say this will be cold as Amelia and just take a moment to ourselves, both silently reassuring each other. Our marriage will survive this, we can trust each other, she's not leaving and there's no way in hell I'm leaving. We will be stronger for our children because of this.

As that thought enters my mind, I kiss her hand again, pulling it to me, before glancing at Dr.Kingsley who clicks a button on the computer. A rapid, fluttering heartbeat is heard and Amelia gasps before laughing. "That's the baby!"

Her excitement makes my chest swell, yeah, we're going to be okay.

An hour later we're sitting in Amelia's favorite Italian restaurant. Amelia is staring at the ultrasound photos. "Are you sure you're okay that we didn't find out the gender?" She asks, not looking up.

"I think a surprise will be fun." I smile at her, pulling my phone out of my pocket when I feel it start to buzz.

Crawford Prep

Amelia must sense the change at atmosphere because she looks up from the sonogram photos and frowns.

"Cameron James." I answer, frowning as well. The school new calls me.

"Mr. James," an agitated voice speaks. "This is Mr. Laketon." I recognize the name of my children's principal. "I'm sorry to have to call you but Ryder has been suspended."

"My wife and I are coming." I grit, flagging the waiter.

Just when I thought things were looking up for the James family.

🥺