She quickly kisses my lips and begins to leave. “It’s been fun, but I gotta go.”
I grab her arm to stop her. “Then no way am I getting a chaste kiss.”
“Forgive me, Sheriff.”
Then she kisses away her mistake.
* * *
All week Rosiehas been anxious about this appointment, but when she said that she began to feel flutters in her stomach and realized that it may be the baby, then she was all smiles again. I got nothing when I touched her, but they say that’s normal.
“Everything looks great.” Dr. White is still moving the probe around over Rosie’s belly that has a layer of gel.
Rosie and I smile at one another as I hold her hand.
“Did you two want to find out the sex?”
“No. It’s okay. We’ll wait,” Rosie answers calmly.
The doctor’s eyes bounce to me, and she must see that I’m not 100% in agreeance, but it’s Rosie’s choice. Rosie notices too.
Creases appear on Rosie’s glowing face. “You want to know?”
A croaky sound escapes me.
The doctor smiles ear to ear. “You’re not the first parents to find yourself in this situation. Either way, I can write it on a card in an envelope and you or someone can open it when ready, or I can tell one of you and you can keep it to yourself,” she explains the options.
“Who in their right mind would have one parent find out and not the other? Like, how do you not burst with that knowledge?” Rosie thinks it’s a crazy idea. My lips quirk out, and I rub the back of my neck. Rosie then gawks her eyes out at me. “Are you serious? You would do it?”
I shrug. “I mean… obviously it works for some people.”
Her eyes stay wide. “You know you can’t hold it in. Don’t we have complications enough considering you’re my ex-husband and here we are with your baby inside my belly?”
Ooh, sassy.
The doctor attempts to bite back her grin when the information we all already know is said out loud. Plus, she’s witnessing us quarreling, although it’s hilarious.
I kiss Rosie’s hand. “It could be fun.”
Rosie’s sight circles the room because I’m not sure she believes what she’s hearing, and truthfully, I never thought of it as an option. Contrary to Rosie’s beliefs, I am great at keeping secrets.
I give her fingers a little squeeze. “You always said we should follow adventures.”
She studies me for a hot second before a smile begins to crack because I’m winning her over. She smacks her lips together. “Okay. Let’s try this and humor him that he actually believes he can keep it to himself for the next twenty-ish weeks.”
I quickly give her a peck on her lips.
“Love when couples do this.” Dr. White moves the screen slightly so Rosie can’t see. She indicates for me to join her by the machine, and I do.
Rosie is still shaking her head in disbelief as she stays lying down.
The doctor zooms in on the screen. “I’m going to show you, but to clarify, I will input the gender in the computer, but I won’t print this one or put it in the app that we use to share with our patients.”
I rub my hands together. “Okay, let’s do this.”
The doctor uses her finger to show me the area that she squared in on and quickly types into the keyboard.
I keep my best poker face when all I want to do is grin.
