‘I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I know how difficult it can be when you have a full bladder.’
‘I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to wait,’ Liz said.
‘Let’s get this done as quickly as possible and then you can go to the loo. If you’d like to pop onto the bed and pull your top up. Dad, if you’d like to take a seat over here, so you’ll be able to see the screen when little one makes an appearance.’
Liz shared a smile with Alex at him being called Dad.
‘I’m going to put some gel on your tummy. I’ll try to warm it up, but I’m afraid it’s going to feel a bit cold.’
‘That’s fine,’ Liz said. ‘I’m sure there’s a lot worse to come.’
The sonographer spread the gel over her stomach and then picked up the scanner. ‘Now, I might have to press quite hard to get a good image, so I apologise in advance if it pushes on yourbladder. If it’s too much, give me a shout. Let’s see if little one is camera shy.’
Both Liz and Alex pinned their gazes on the screen above, anxious to get a first look at their baby.
‘Ah, here they are,’ the sonographer said after a few moments.
Liz and Alex exclaimed at the same time. ‘They?’
‘No, don’t worry. Just the one so far. I say they to avoid saying he or she. We can’t tell at the moment anyway, if you wanted to know the gender.’
‘No, we’ve decided to wait until the birth,’ Liz said. Alex nodded in agreement. Although it might be nice to know the gender of their baby, they’d decided that they’d prefer a surprise.
‘Well, here we are. There’s the head, body, arms and legs.’
‘And is everything all right?’ Alex said anxiously.
‘Looks fine to me, all present and correct. I’ll just take a few measurements to confirm, but the heartbeat is strong.’
Alex clasped Liz’s hand as a goofy grin spread across his face. ‘Oh, that’s good.’
‘Now, I’ll just clean you up and then you’re done. You can go to the loo and then order your pics to take home with you.’
Liz smiled back at Alex, feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. ‘Fantastic!’
* * *
In the car on the way home, Alex sighed contentedly. ‘I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I know this is only the first step, but it’s good to know that everything’s okay so far.’
‘It certainly is,’ Liz said. ‘And I’ll be so relieved to be able to tell everyone. It’s been really hard keeping it secret, especially at work, and especially because I’ve been feeling so ill.’
‘I can imagine, but at least you seem to be improving.’
‘I am, and I’m looking forward to feeling a bit more like my old self.’
‘Let’s hope so,’ Alex said. Despite everything, Liz thought, he sounded sad.
‘I know this must be hard for you, bringing back all sorts of memories.’
‘It is,’ Alex said. ‘It’s bittersweet in a way. But the good far outweighs the bad, and we have so much to look forward to.’
Liz gave his arm a squeeze. ‘Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it together.’
‘Yes, and, talking of the future, I’ve got something to show you.’ He turned off from their normal route home and headed away from the city.
‘What? Where are we going?’
‘Well,’ he said slowly. ‘I put my ear to the ground and I think I’ve found the perfect house for us.’
