Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Reid
My palms are slick with sweat, and my chest aches from the rapid thud of my heart.
Today’s the day. We’re mere minutes away from the ultrasound tech walking through the door, and we’ll see our baby on the screen for the very first time—tiny limbs, fluttering heartbeat, the soft curve of life just beginning.
We also hope to be able to find out the gender.
Are we having a little boy or a little girl to love, to raise, to build our world around?
It feels like we’re standing on the edge of something vast and irreversible.
A single moment, quietly enormous, is about to change everything.
Up until today, I’ve seen our baby growing, the proof in Bellamy’s rounding belly.
I know he or she is in there, but seeing them, knowing we’re only halfway there, that we still have months until we get to hold our sweet baby in our arms, is a delicious torture.
“How are you doing, Momma?” I ask Bellamy, pulling myself out of my thoughts.
I wipe my hands on my sweats and offer one to her.
She takes it without hesitation. She sits in a gown on the exam table.
We’ve already seen the doctor, and everything is measuring great.
Now, we wait for the ultrasound tech to come and show us our baby.
“I’m excited.” Bellamy smiles up at me. “You?”
“Same. A little nervous,” I admit.
“Me, too.” She nods. “You sure you want to know the gender?” she asks.
“Yeah, I mean, unless you changed your mind?”
“No. I want to know. We can pick out a name and a nursery.”
“In our new house.” I grin. We’ve looked at several houses, and finally, one close to Knox and Landry came on the market, and it’s everything we both wanted.
We put in an offer for the full asking price and closed a couple of weeks ago.
We get the keys this weekend to start moving in, which works out great, since we have a Thursday night game this week.
It’s away, but I’ll be home Friday, and the guys are coming to help me start moving things over.
Life is moving at a rapid pace, but I wouldn’t change it.
“Yes,” she says, her smile bright, and those big brown eyes of hers, so full of excitement, could bring a man to his knees.
“Knock, knock,” a female voice says as she enters the room. “Hi, I’m Tina. I’m going to be performing your ultrasound today.”
“Thank you,” Bellamy says.
“Is this your first?” Tina asks as she gets busy setting up the machine.
“Baby, and an ultrasound,” Bellamy replies.
“Perfect. Now, we do offer the 3D option, but that’s an additional charge. I can do the regular, and if you want the 3D, we’ll do it after.”
“What’s the 3D?” I ask.
“Oh, it’s amazing.” Tina picks up a book and shows us some sample images.
“Wow,” Bellamy breathes.
“We want that, too,” I tell her.
“It’s not normally covered by insurance,” Tina says.
“That’s fine. We don’t care about the cost. We want that.” I nod to the book still in her hands.
“Great. Let’s get started.” She beams at us.
She gets to work, pulling up Bellamy’s gown and tugging down her pants so that her baby bump is exposed.
She then squirts gel on my dream girl’s belly and starts moving a wand around while clicking on the computer screen that we can’t see.
“I’m just getting some images and measurements for the doctor,” Tina explains, before asking. “Are we going to find out the gender?”
“Yes,” we reply at the same time.
“Today,” Bellamy tells her. “No huge gender reveal, just mom and dad and baby.”
“I love that.” Tina smiles kindly. She clicks a few more times and then turns the screen to face us. “Mom and Dad, meet your little one. This is the heartbeat.” She points to the screen, pointing out limbs and facial features. “And look at that, your baby girl is waving at you.” She grins.
My heart stops.
I knew it. I fucking knew it. I blink hard, fighting against my emotions, but when my eyes find Bellamy’s and I see that she, too, has tears in her eyes, I don’t bother fighting them.
This is us. This is real and raw and life-changing.
I squeeze her hand gently before bending and pressing a kiss to her lips.
“My girls,” I murmur, and she laughs through her tears.
“You were right, Daddy,” she says, smiling, her eyes once again glued to the screen where we watch our daughter.
“Now, let me print some of these, and then we’ll do the 3D,” Tina says.
Throughout the entire experience, I don’t let go of Bellamy’s hand for a single second.
When Tina finally sends us on our way with a video and lots of pictures from both ultrasounds, I feel as if I’m floating down the stairs as we make our way to my truck.
I lift Bellamy into the passenger seat, slide my hand behind her neck, and pull her into a kiss.
I try to tell her everything I’m feeling.
Everything I can’t seem to find the words to say.
You’re everything.
Thank you for this life.
I love you both more than anything.
There are so many things I want to say. There are things I need to say, because above all else, I need her to hear me say the words. I try to show her every day, but I also need to tell her. But not here. Not in the parking lot of the doctor’s office.
When I pull back from this kiss, her eyes are once again misty with tears. She places one hand on my cheek, and the other rests over mine that’s cradling her belly, while my other hand still grips the back of her neck.
“A little girl.” She smiles.
I kiss her one more time, because I need to, like I need air to breathe, then make sure she’s buckled up and race to my side of the truck.
“Who do we call first?” she asks as I start the truck to get the heater going.
“Our parents.”
“Okay, let’s call yours first,” she suggests.
Not needing to be told twice. I hit my mom’s contact, and the phone rings out in the cab of the truck.
“Hello?” Mom answers.
“Mom.” My voice cracks.
“Reid? What’s wrong? Is it Bellamy? The baby?”
I clear my throat. “We’re all fine. We just had our ultrasound,” I tell her.
“Oh!” I can hear the excitement in her voice. “Sam! Come here, Reid and Bellamy are on the phone,” she calls out. “We both just got home,” Mom explains. “Okay, he’s here, and you’re on speaker.”
I glance over at Bellamy and nod. “Hi, Paula. Hi, Sam,” she says.
“Hello, sweetheart,” they say at the same time.
“We wanted to call to let you know that you’re getting a granddaughter,” I tell them, feeling emotion well in the back of my throat. My parents congratulate us, and we talk for a few more minutes. “Thank you,” I tell them. “We’re excited, but we have a few more calls to make.”
“Of course,” Mom says. “I’m so happy for both of you,” she says. “Talk soon. We love you.” She barely has the words out before the line goes silent.
“Your mom next?” I ask.
She smiles and nods as she grabs her phone out of her purse, dials her mom, and places the call on speaker.
“Hello, daughter of mine. How are you?” Candice greets.
“It’s a girl!” Bellamy blurts.
“What?” Candice asks, voice cracking. “A granddaughter,” she says lovingly.
“Yes!” Bellamy exclaims.
“I’m so happy for you. Tell Reid I said congratulations.”
“I’m here, Candice,” I speak up.
“You ready to be a girl dad?” she teases.
“You know I’m gonna rock that,” I tell her, laughing.
“No doubt in my mind,” Candice replies.
“You let me know if you need help with the nursery or anything else,” she tells us.
“We will, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” she says, and ends the call.
“What about your dad?” I ask her.
“I don’t know.” She bites down on her bottom lip.
“We don’t have to tell him.”
“I should, though, right? I mean, that’s the right thing to do?”
“Baby, we can do whatever we want.”
“I guess I’ll call him.” She huffs out a breath of air and dials his number, placing the call on speaker.
“Bellamy? Is everything okay?” Coach Warner answers.
“Yeah. Um, yeah, everything’s fine. I thought you might want to know that we’re having a girl.”
I reach over and place my hand on her thigh, letting her know I’m right here. Supporting her in the only way I know how.
“A girl?” he asks. I can hear the emotion in his voice. “That’s great, Bellamy. You’re feeling okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’m doing great.” She glances over at me. “Reid takes great care of me.”
“Good. That’s good.” He clears his throat.
“So, that’s all I wanted to tell you.”
“Thank you for telling me. Can we—” he starts, but she cuts him off.
“Sorry, bad service, I gotta go,” she says, ending the call. “I’m going to hell, aren’t I?” she asks.
“No, you’re not going to hell. It’s going to take time to build that relationship,” I remind her.
“Yeah,” she agrees. “How are we going to tell everyone else?”
I shrug. “Text message?”
My girl smiles. “Sounds good to me. Do you mind if we add Amanda to that?”
“Of course, we’re adding Amanda. She’s your best friend.” Grabbing my phone, I pull up a new message and add the guys, their wives, plus Sloane, Amanda, and Bellamy to the message.
Me: It’s a GIRL!!
Instantly, the replies start rolling in.
Landry: Uncle Landry will buy her a pony. Congrats, my man.
Baker: Congrats, brother.
Knox: Hell, yeah.
Foster: She’s going to have you wrapped around her tiny finger.
Sloane: Congrats, and we all know she’s going to have ALL OF US wrapped around her finger. Just like Camden does now.
Corie: I’m so happy for both of you.
Amanda: I’m glad I didn’t bet Reid it was a boy. Congrats, I’m so excited for both of you.
Rowan: Our family is growing. Congratulations.
Me: Thank you. We’ve got pictures. We’ll show you soon.
Bellamy: Thank you.
I glance over at my girl. She’s smiling down at her phone, and my heart expands in my chest. I was right. Today, we’re definitely on the edge of something irreversible. It’s my love for my girls. Nothing will ever change that. I open my mouth to say the words, but her phone rings.
“It’s Amanda.”