45. Ultrasound
Ultrasound
Chris Walker had been shot twice.Well shot at thousands of times.Stabbed once.
Worked undercover inside criminal organizations.Been chased.Been hunted.
Had guns pointed at him more times than he cared to count.He’d driven vehicles at speeds that made perfectly reasonable people start praying.He’d walked into Mateo Vargas’s warehouse wearing a wire while surrounded by men who would’ve killed him if they’d known his real name.He’d faced Diego Serrano with a gun pointed at the woman he loved.None of those things had made him as nervous as sitting in an obstetrician’s waiting room at nine-fifteen on a Tuesday morning.Camila watched his knee bounce.Once.Twice.
Three times.She smiled.Chris noticed.“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s not a nothing face.”
“What kind of face is it?”
“The one you make when you’re about to say something annoying.”Camila’s smile widened.Chris narrowed his eyes.“Don’t.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“Yet.”She looked down at his leg.His knee was still bouncing.Chris noticed and immediately stopped it.Camila laughed.“Oh my God.”
“What?”
“You’re nervous.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You’re terrified.”
“I am not terrified.”
“Special Agent Walker.”
“Camila.”
“You are.”Chris leaned closer.“I’m sitting in a doctor’s office.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ve been in doctor’s offices before.”
“Then why have you checked the clock seventeen times?”
“I haven’t.”
“Sixteen?”
“No.”
“Fifteen?”
“Stop.”Camila laughed.Chris folded his arms.That made her laugh harder.“You’re adorable.”
“I’m leaving.”
“No, you’re not.”
“No, I’m not.”He reached for her hand.Camila looked down at their intertwined fingers.
For all his pretending, his grip was tighter than usual.She squeezed.Chris looked at her.
His teasing disappeared.“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“Any nausea this morning?”
“Little.”
“Cramping?”
“No.”
“Bleeding?”
“No.”
“Dizzy?”
“No.”
“Pain?”
“No.”
“Have you eaten?”Camila stared at him.Chris waited.“You realize we’re literally surrounded by medical professionals?”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“Yes, Chris. I ate.”
“What?”
“Toast.”
“That’s it?”
“And half a banana.”
“Half?”
“My stomach rejected negotiations after that.”His expression softened.“Still bad?”
“Getting better.”
“You threw up yesterday.”
“Once.”
“Twice.”Camila stared.“You’re keeping count?”
“Yes.”
“That’s weird.”
“That’s information.”
“That’s FBI.”
“Same thing.”She laughed and rested her head against his shoulder.Chris kissed her hair.
For a moment they sat quietly.Then Chris’s knee started bouncing again.Camila looked down.He stopped.She burst out laughing.“Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I was going to ask whether you wanted me to drive home.”
“Liar.”
“Former liar.”That made him smile.A nurse stepped into the waiting room.“Camila Vargas?”Both of them stood.Immediately.The nurse smiled.“You can come back.”Chris reached for Camila’s bag.“I can carry my purse.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you taking it?”
“Because I can.”Camila rolled her eyes.“It’s a purse, not tactical equipment.”Chris looked down at it.“Considering how much shit you keep in here, I’m not convinced.”
“Give me my bag.”
“No.”The nurse was trying not to laugh.Camila pointed at Chris.“You see what I live with?”The nurse smiled.“He seems attentive.”
“He’s insane.”
“Occupationally alert,” Chris corrected.Camila looked at the nurse.“FBI.”The nurse’s eyebrows lifted.Chris sighed.“You don’t have to tell everybody.”
“You told a paramedic I was pregnant approximately seven seconds after rescuing me.”
“That was medically relevant.”
“So is explaining this.”She gestured at him.The nurse laughed.Chris shook his head.
“I’m surrounded.”Camila slipped her hand into his.
“Come on, FBI.”And together they followed the nurse.The teasing disappeared when they entered the examination room.Suddenly it was real.The bed.The monitor.Medical equipment.The quiet hum of machinery.Chris set Camila’s purse down.She climbed onto the table.Chris stood beside her.Then adjusted the chair.Sat.Stood again.Moved the chair closer.Sat.Camila watched him. “Comfortable?”
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Because there’s another chair approximately three feet away if this one isn’t tactically positioned correctly.”Chris looked at her.“I’m trying to be supportive.”
“You’re rearranging furniture.”
“I wanted to be closer.”That softened her immediately.“Oh.”Chris’s hand found hers.
“Too close?”Camila smiled.“No.”He stayed exactly where he was.The ultrasound technician entered a few minutes later and introduced herself.Chris immediately straightened.Camila noticed.Professional Chris.Focused.Attentive.Like he was receiving a briefing.The technician asked Camila a few questions.Dates.Symptoms.How she’d been feeling.Chris listened to every answer.Then the technician explained what they were going to do.Chris nodded.
“Okay.”Camila glanced at him.“You know you don’t have to authorize it. ”
“I know.”
“You said okay like she’s briefing you before a raid.”
“I said one word.”The technician smiled.“First baby?”
“Yes,” Camila said.At exactly the same time Chris said:“Yeah.”Camila looked at him.
He smiled.“Our first.”Something about the way he said it made her chest ache.
Their first.Not the pregnancy that complicated everything.Not the baby conceived while he was undercover.Not Mateo Vargas’s sister carrying an FBI agent’s child.Just—their first baby.Camila squeezed his hand.The technician dimmed the lights.Chris went quiet.
Very quiet.Camila noticed immediately.The screen illuminated.Chris’s attention locked onto it.The technician began the examination.Camila watched the monitor too, but every few seconds she found herself looking at Chris instead.His entire body was tense.His hand wrapped around hers.Then something appeared on the screen.Small.So small.
Chris leaned forward.His eyebrows drew together.The technician smiled.
“There.”Chris stared.Camila’s heart began pounding.
“That’s…”The technician pointed.“Your baby.”Chris stopped breathing.Camila looked at the screen.Their baby.Their actual baby.Not two pink lines.Not something abstract.Not Chris’s hand resting against her stomach while he whispered about becoming a father.There.On the screen.Real.Camila’s eyes immediately filled.
“Oh my God.”Chris didn’t say anything.She looked over.He was staring at the monitor.
Completely motionless.“Chris?”Nothing.The technician continued.“Everything we’re seeing so far looks appropriate for this stage.”Camila nodded.Chris still hadn’t moved.
Then the technician adjusted something.“We should be able to detect cardiac activity.”
Chris’s grip tightened around Camila’s hand.Camila looked at him.He looked terrified.
Actually terrified.The man who’d driven toward gunfire.The man who’d walked into warehouses filled with armed cartel members.Terrified.Camila rubbed her thumb across his hand.“Hey.”He looked at her.“Everything’s okay.”Chris swallowed.“I know.”
“You don’t look like you know.”
“I know.”Then—the room filled with sound.Fast.Rhythmic.Tiny.Chris froze.Camila’s breath caught.The technician smiled.“There it is.”Camila covered her mouth.The heartbeat continued.Quick and strong.She started crying.“Oh my God.”Chris didn’t move.“Chris.”
Nothing.She turned her head.And saw him.Tears filled his eyes.Camila’s heart shattered in the best possible way.The agent who could drive at 120 miles per hour without blinking—
couldn’t speak.The man who’d been shot twice—couldn’t speak.The man who’d walked into a cartel warehouse knowing one wrong word could get him killed—couldn’t speak.
Chris Walker simply stared at the screen while tears gathered in his eyes.Camila squeezed his hand.“FBI?”His mouth moved.Nothing came out.She laughed through her tears.“Are you speechless?”Chris looked at her.She smiled.“I need to document this.”
“Don’t.”His voice cracked.Camila’s teasing disappeared.Chris looked back at the screen.
“That…”He swallowed.“That’s the heartbeat?”The technician smiled.“Yes.”
“Our baby’s?”
“Yes.”Chris closed his eyes.One tear escaped.Camila had never loved him more.
He looked down at their joined hands.Then back at the monitor.“That’s our baby.”
Camila cried harder.“Yes.”Chris turned toward her.“That’s actually our baby.”
“Yes, Chris.”He lifted her hand.Bent down.Pressed his lips against her knuckles.
Camila ran her free hand through his hair.Chris kept her hand against his mouth for several seconds.When he finally looked up, his eyes were red.Camila smiled.“You’re crying.”
“No.”
“You absolutely are.”
“Lighting.”
“The room is dark.”
“Exactly.”She laughed.The technician politely pretended not to hear them.Chris looked back at the screen.“Is that normal?”Camila laughed.“What?”
“That.”He pointed.The technician looked.“Yes.”
“And that?”
“Also normal.”
“What about the heartbeat? Is it fast?”
“Normal for this stage.”
“Size?”
“Appropriate.”
“Position?”
“Looks good.”Camila stared.The interrogation had begun.“Chris.”
“What?”
“Let her work.”
“I’m asking questions.”
“You’re questioning her like she knows where Diego hid the drugs.”The technician laughed.Chris looked mildly offended.“I’m being thorough.”
“You’re being you.”
“Good.”Camila smiled.“Yeah.”She squeezed his hand.
“Good.”They left with ultrasound images.Chris carried them.Of course.He’d barely let Camila touch them.She waited until they reached the parking lot before saying anything.Chris unlocked the SUV.Then looked at the pictures again.Camila leaned against the passenger door.
“You’ve looked at those approximately forty times. ”
“It’s my kid.”
“Our kid.”
“I know.”
“Then stop hoarding the pictures.”Chris handed her one.
“One.”
“There are four.”
“I need backups.”Camila stared.“Backups?”
“One for my wallet.”
“Okay.”
“One at home.”
“Sure.”
“One for work.”
“Why?”Chris looked at her like she’d asked something ridiculous.“Because.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“And one backup.”Camila burst out laughing.“You’re making an evidence chain for the ultrasound.”
“No.”
“You absolutely are.”Chris smiled.Then looked down at the image again.The humor slowly left his face.Camila watched him.“What?”He shook his head.“Nothing.”
“Chris.”He looked at her.“I didn’t know I could want something this much.
”Her chest tightened.Chris stared at the ultrasound.
“I’ve spent my entire career planning for things to go wrong.
”His thumb moved carefully along the edge of the image.
“Backup plans. Exit routes. Worst-case scenarios.”Camila listened.
“And this…”He laughed quietly.“I don’t know how to prepare for this. ”
“You can’t.”His eyes lifted.“That bothers me.”
“I know.”
“What if something happens?”Camila reached for his face.“Then we’ll handle it.”
“What if—”
“Chris.”He stopped.“You don’t have to protect us from every possible thing that could ever happen.”His jaw tightened.“I can try.”
“I know.”She smiled.“And that’s one of the reasons I love you.”Then she took his hand and placed it against her stomach.“But you don’t have to be Special Agent Walker with us all the time.”His expression softened.“No?”
“No.”
“Who am I supposed to be?”Camila smiled.“Dad.”That hit him.Hard.His eyes filled again.
Camila laughed.“Oh no.”
“Stop.”
“Are you going to cry again?”
“No.”
“FBI.”
“Camila.”
“Dad.”Chris closed his eyes.“That’s low.”She laughed.He pulled her into his arms.
Camila wrapped hers around his waist.Chris kissed her forehead.Then her temple.
Then lowered himself just enough to kiss her stomach through her shirt.Camila’s laughter disappeared.His hand remained there.“Hey,” he whispered.Camila’s eyes filled.
Chris looked slightly embarrassed.“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I love you.”He stood.“I love you too.”
“And apparently…”She looked toward the ultrasound picture in his hand.“…we made that.”
Chris smiled.“Apparently.”
“Terrifying.”
“Little bit.”Camila kissed him.When they separated, Chris opened the passenger door for her.She paused.“Chris?”
“Yeah?”
“You realize you drove eighty-five the entire way here.”
“I did not.”
“You did.”
“I was nervous.”Camila stared at him.“The man who told me there are only two speeds was nervous?”Chris smiled.
“Different situation.”She climbed inside.He closed her door.A minute later, Chris slid behind the wheel.Before starting the engine, he looked at the ultrasound photograph again.Camila watched. “You’re doing it again.”
“I know.”He placed it carefully inside his wallet.Right behind his FBI identification.
Camila noticed.His badge.Then their baby.Chris closed the wallet.Started the SUV.
And for once—he drove home slowly.