Epilogue
Adele
“Are you ready to see your baby?” the ultrasound tech asked. She was a middle-aged woman with a no-nonsense ponytail and funky glasses who had carefully and patiently answered every one of my questions. I already trusted her.
And I was more than ready. We’d been here for over an hour already.
Every appointment thus far had dragged on.
If they were going to continue on this way through my entire pregnancy, then we were going to have a problem.
Urine sample, blood draws, exams, talking and talking and talking. Couldn’t we just skip to the good part?
“Finally,” Merry squealed. She had insisted on skipping school today to accompany us to meet her new sibling. She’d been a trooper, reading a graphic novel while we did all the boring stuff.
My heart was in my throat as the tech squirted the goo onto my skin.
We had been waiting for what felt like forever to see this baby.
The early days of the pregnancy had been challenging, to say the least. The surprise of it in the first place, then the morning sickness and, of course, the stress of almost being killed.
But we had made it to the second trimester.
In this moment, I felt completely present. It was time.
“Okay, we’re going to take some measurements, check growth, and get you an updated due date. Sound good?” she asked, moving the wand around my belly.
I squeezed Finn’s hand and peeked up at him. He was leaning toward the screen, one hand holding mine, his other arm wrapped around Merry’s shoulders.
“Yes,” he said, wearing a grin. He had literally been all smiles since the minute we pulled into the parking lot.
Every day, I was amazed and impressed by how he refused to let anxiety run his life.
He somehow managed to balance compartmentalizing with processing things on his own and also through talking them out.
I could learn a lot from him, and I absolutely planned to.
He kept his promises and went out of his way to talk through disagreements. Best of all, he insisted on pampering me any chance he got.
“Okay. Here we are,” the tech said, pulling my attention back to the screen.
There, in black and white, was our little peanut. I could see the head and the legs. “Are those tiny feet?”
“Yes,” she said, clicking the mouse and dragging it across the screen to take measurements.
“See the fingers? And this flutter here? That’s the heartbeat.”
“Hello,” I said softly, already sniffing back tears.
This kid had turned me into a freaking garden hose.
All I did was cry. I had gotten up to pee last night, and when I came back to bed, I found He-Man snuggling with Finn.
I’d bawled so hard I woke Finn up, and he spent a good ten minutes soothing me and murmuring the sweetest words until I dozed back off. God, I was a hormonal mess.
This, though? This was on another level.
I was watching our child’s heart beat. Our baby.
The little person growing inside my body.
Above me, Finn was watching the screen intently.
He, too, was losing a battle with his emotions.
One single tear tracked down his cheek as he smiled at me and squeezed my hand tighter.
“We did this, She-Ra.” He angled over me and kissed my forehead. “This is our baby.”
Twenty minutes later, we made our way back to the parking lot with a whole strip of photos and matching goofy grins.
That was insane.
“I can’t get over how adorable its little feet are,” Merry said, carefully studying the photos the tech had kindly printed for us. “And the head is so giant.”
Finn draped an arm over my shoulder. “Thank you,” he said, pulling me close and ruffling Merry’s hair. “This was the most perfect day.”
“And she said the measurements are perfect,” Merry continued, skipping toward the truck. “Our baby is perfect,” she singsonged. “I can’t wait to hold it and dress it and play with it.”
“Of course it’s measuring strong. This is our kid we’re talking about. He or she is gonna be massive.” Finn patted my belly. “This kid could set records.”
“No thank you.” I huffed a laugh. “I’d very much prefer to push out a normal-size baby rather than a watermelon.”
He laughed as he opened the passenger door for me. “You’re cute. We both know this kid will come out the size of a three-year-old.”
I rolled my eyes and climbed in.
“Let’s head home. I’m going to feed you, then I’ll take Merry back to my place so we can pack up a few more boxes.”
Finn was in the process of moving into my house, and we were already working on plans for a small addition to make more room for Merry and the baby. Life was complete chaos, but that wasn’t anything new. All I could do was breathe through it and enjoy the experience of growing our family.
It had all happened so fast. A few short months ago, he’d been my sworn enemy.
But I knew better now. This was destiny.
Falling in love with Finn helped me work through the trauma of the loss of my dad.
I’d miss him forever, especially on days like this.
But he was watching over me and loving every second of my messy, beautiful life.
And I knew he’d approve of Finn. My dad had taught me never to settle. To chase my dreams and never dull my shine. And somehow, I’d found the man that challenged me, celebrated me, and made every day even better than the last.