I laugh at her sweet idea. “Let’s do it.”
“This is going to be a little cold,” the tech warns Viola as she spreads the gel on her stomach so the wand will move easily across her skin and there’s no air between. I feel my heart begin to race as the tech places it on her stomach and moves it around until she lands on a pulsing beat. The room fills with a sound that reminds me of a washing machine, but it’s our baby’s heartbeat.
“Any issues since your last appointment?” the tech asks.
“Nope. Everything’s been great.” She glances over at me and smiles genuinely.
“Have you two picked out any names?”
“Not yet,” we both say at the same time. It’s something we haven’t discussed yet.
I’m in awe that I can see our baby’s face in a 3D image. I glance over at Viola, smiling as tears of happiness stream down her face. I stand and grab her hand in amazement. “I can see the baby’s mouth and nose.”
“Everything looks perfect,” the tech says with a satisfied smile. “Now I’m just going to take some measurements for the doctor, and then when I get to the lower half of the baby, I’ll let you know so you can look away.”
I’m half tempted to sneak a glance, but I don’t. I want to share that moment with Viola. It’ll be something just for us.
“I’ll print some images out for you to take home,” she says, clicking some buttons on her machine. Once she’s finished, she sets everything down. “Here are some tissues to wipe the gel off.” Viola takes them and cleans her belly. It suddenly feels so real.
The tech hands us the 3D images, and we’re both in awe.
“I can’t believe we can see so much detail already.”
“I think he or she is going to look a lot like you,” I say, examining the images.
“Yeah?” she asks with hopefulness in her tone.
“Yup. Just add some glasses, a tiny wand in their hand, and voila! Miniature Viola.”
“Very funny!” She wrinkles her nose and pulls her shirt back down. “Well, he or she will clearly have good taste in books.”
“Clearly,” I mock.
She stands up, and I hold her in my arms and kiss her hair and tell her how much I love her. “We’re having a baby,” I whisper. “We’re really having a baby.”
“I have a surprise for you,” Travis says as we head down the highway in the opposite direction of the hospital. The streets and houses are decorated with Christmas lights, and I think about how this will be our first Christmas together as a couple. He interlocks his fingers with mine and squeezes. When we pull up to the mall, I laugh at his choice of location.
“You’re taking me to the mall?”
“Thought you’d want to see Santa.” He chuckles. “Actually, I’d like to spoil the shit out of you and my little prince.”
“Prince? So you think it’s a boy?” I grab the envelope out of my purse and wave it around. Inside on a piece of paper is the sex of our baby, and while I’m so tempted to rip it open, I don’t.
His eyes widen. “New Year’s. It’s not too far away. Just a couple of weeks.”
I lean over and kiss him, and he places his hand on the back of my head and pulls me even closer. We get out of the car and walk into the mall. Twinkling Christmas lights are strung from the trees, and it’s so damn crowded that I almost second-guess this decision. Travis grabs my hand, and we walk through different stores, and he asks me questions about things I like. The next store we walk into is a baby store. He finds a onesie that has a crown on it and buys it immediately.
“But it’s blue,” I state.
“It’s because we’re having a boy. But if we have a little girl, I’ll still dress her in it,” he chuckles.
“If we have a little girl, you’re going to be that scary dad with tattoos that doesn’t let her date, ever.”
“Damn straight. And she’ll have a big strong uncle that carries a gun and handcuffs. No dating until she’s thirty. I’m serious.”
I shrug with a grin. “She’ll just sneak around. Seriously, look who her parents are.”
“We don’t have to worry about it because we’re having a boy.”
“Okay, whatever you say.”
As we walk past Victoria’s Secret, he turns and gives me a smirk.
“Don’t even think about it. I’m a house. The last thing I feel is sexy.”
“Trust me, princess. You’re sexy.” He glances down to his crotch where I see an impressive growth under his jeans.
I’m laughing so hard I can barely catch my breath. The giggles take over, and my stomach is bouncing so much that it makes me laugh to the point that Travis joins in. We look ridiculous, walking through the mall, losing our shit laughing.
He grabs my hand and leads me across the way where Santa is sitting.
“You’re not serious.”
“Come on, it will be our first family photo.”
His smile is convincing, so I follow him down the decorated lane with plastic candy canes. Travis pays the teenager dressed as an elf, and soon, we’re walking up the stairs on the stage. Santa pats his lap, and I laugh and sit.
“Have you been a good girl?” The old guy looks at me. He’s such a great Santa. I don’t even have the urge to pull his beard like I did when I was a kid.
Travis speaks up. “No, Santa. She’s been a very bad girl.”
My mouth falls open with a gasp. “King!”
“And what would you like for Christmas?” I look at Santa for a long while and then look at Travis.
“I have everything I want, actually.” I mean every word. Instinctively, I touch my tummy. Travis is smiling so big. I wish they could take the picture right at this very moment so I can treasure it forever.
“There’s bound to be something,” Travis asks as if he was waiting for me to spill my guts to Santa and his elves.
“I’d like world peace,” I say with a smile.
“A typical princess answer.” Travis laughs.
Santa gives us a big ho, ho, ho, and I turn to look at the camera with a smile and the elf snaps the photo. Once it’s printed and put into one of those cardboard frames with snowflakes along the side, she hands it to me. Immediately, I open it to see. I’m looking at the camera, so happy, with my little baby bump, and Travis is looking at me with so much love and adoration that I can’t help but turn to him and kiss him in the middle of the mall, regardless of all the people trying to walk past us.
From behind, I hear someone scoff, and I turn around to see Mia fucking Montgomery standing there, with a smug-ass look on her face, and some dude next to her. Travis grabs my arm because I’m ready to kill her. She glances down at my stomach and then looks at Travis and bursts into an evil laughter. “I wonder how many other King babies are wandering around.”
“Nowhere near the amount of sex tapes you have floating around the internet. Or the number of random dicks you’ve had in your mouth,” Travis spits back at her.
Mia gasps then turns and looks at the bag of bones standing beside her—unamused—but he doesn’t jump to defend her. Either it’s because Travis could rip him in half or because he knows it’s true.