I made a face at his back and he said, "I saw that. I'm just reminding you because I know how much it stresses you out when you're late."
He was right. I sighed. It was strange how well he seemed to know me even though we hadn't spent much time together since our childhood. I mean, before we had sex and got married.
Okay, so I didn't know what I meant, but it made sense to me.
I finished putting on my clothes and hurried into the bathroom to put a little powder and mascara on my face.
I walked into the kitchen seven minutes later, which made J.J. grin and say, "I knew that would get you moving."
"You're such a huge help," I stated dryly.
"I aim to please."
J.J. tried to drive but I planted my butt in the driver's seat before he could. He tried to argue with me, so I just buckled in, started the car, and revved the engine a couple of times. I knew he wasn't going to try to wrestle me out of the driver's seat.
He sighed and walked around to the passenger side. As I backed out of the driveway, he grumbled, "I don't know why you wouldn't let me drive."
"One, you're nervous. Two, you drive too fast on a normal day. Three, I wanted to."
J.J. chuckled but didn't argue with me anymore.
Twenty minutes later, we were in Dr. Stubens' office and I was lying back on the table with gel smeared on my belly. I knew how big the baby was supposed to be but it was still a surprise to see it on the screen. Well, the parts I could recognize, which was essentially the head in profile. Everything else was a strange mix of light and dark shapes.
Dr. Stubens seemed to know exactly what she was looking at though because after she checked to see that the baby was developing properly, she looked at me. "You still want to know the baby's sex, right?"
I nodded.
"Okay, then. Let's see, shall we?" She moved the device across my belly, shifting it here and there. "All right, little one, cooperate please." After a few seconds, she smiled. "Well, Mommy and Daddy, you're having a little girl!"
I smiled. "A girl? You're sure?"
"Well, I have been known to be wrong occasionally, but my accuracy is usually around ninety percent or so."
I looked up at J.J., who was still holding my hand like a lifeline.
"A girl?" he repeated, staring at the screen in awe. "How can you tell?"
Dr. Stubens pointed at some lines on the monitor. "See those? That's how I know it's a girl."
"I have no idea what I'm looking at," J.J. said.
I giggled.
"You don't have to know," Dr. Stubens said. "Because I do."
I imagined that was the tone she'd used when she babysat him decades ago because J.J. looked chastened.
Dr. Stubens removed the device from my belly. "Well, that's all for today. I'll print out some pictures for you to take home with you and then you can get dressed and go tell everyone you know that you're having a little girl."
J.J. and I laughed together.
Dr. Stubens put a towel on my abdomen so I could wipe myself off and she left the room.
I cleaned the gel off my belly and watched J.J. with a careful eye as he flopped down in the chair next to the table.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm good." He looked at me and smiled. "I'm great. Just...oh my God, we're having a girl!"
I grinned and shook my head at him. "You have something against girls?"
"Absolutely not. I love Brody's girl to pieces. I should probably be grateful since that gives me some experience with girl children. I wouldn't know what to do with a boy." His eyes widened and he stared at me. "If we had a boy, do you think he would act like your brothers?"
I winced. "There's a good chance our daughter is going to act like my brothers, too. Our only hope is to make sure we don't leave her with them unsupervised until she's too old to be indoctrinated."
"How old will that be?" J.J. asked, looking less shell-shocked by the second.
"Forty-five?"
He laughed and leaned his head back against the wall. "Wow. I mean, I knew we had two options in terms of what the doctor would say today but knowing for sure just made it seem more real."
I knew exactly what he meant.
"Just be glad I didn't let your sister talk me into a gender reveal party," I commented. "She's been trying since she found out I was pregnant. Something about making an ice cream cake with pink or blue inside."
J.J. outright laughed. "There's no way she would be able to keep her mouth shut if she was the only one who knew. Everyone at the party would know what the baby was before we did."
"That's exactly why I declined. Politely."
I finished wiping my skin clean with the towel but there was still a residue. I held out my hand to J.J. and asked, "Can you hand me a baby wipe?"
A few minutes later, I was clean and had my shirt pushed down and my pants buttoned up and we were leaving the doctor's office.
"I'm hungry," J.J. said. "Are you hungry?"
I glanced up at him. "It's ten-thirty. We just had breakfast an hour and a half ago."
"I know, but I couldn't eat. I was too nervous."
I had to laugh. "I guess I could eat again."
"Let's go to the cafe."
Dr. Stubens' office was just off the square, a block away from downtown, which was where the cafe and Crave were both located.
J.J. headed toward the car but I stopped and shook my head. "No, I want to walk. It's a beautiful morning and we won't be able to get a parking space at the cafe anyway."
J.J. looked like he wanted to argue with me but he caved and came back up to the sidewalk. Taking my hand, he started off in the direction of the square.
"You need to be taking it easy," he grumbled.
"You were there when I asked the doctor about exercise, right? Because she said walking would be good for me."
"You're on your feet all day and she said that you needed to take frequent breaks," he retorted.
"Yes, when I'm working which I'm not doing today."
"I think this is your first full day off since we got married," J.J. pointed out. "Shouldn't you want to be lazy?"
"I don't know how to be lazy," I admitted. "I've always been active. If I sit still for too long, I go a little stir crazy."
He shook his head. "I think you'll learn the value of doing nothing once the baby comes and you're not getting enough sleep. I'm already contemplating napping in preparation for the coming sleep deprivation."
I laughed at him as we crossed the street. J.J. stopped and used his hold on my hand to pull me closer.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing." Then, he kissed me.
I forgot that we were in the middle of the street. I didn't think twice about the people walking around, shopping or going into businesses. I just wanted him to keep kissing me like this for the next hour. Or year. Maybe the rest of my life.
Someone laid on their car horn and we sprang apart. I looked to my left and saw Cam hanging out of the window of her little silver sedan.
"Get a room!" she cried out, which drew more attention to us.