Page 78 of Interference
Just seeing it on the screen made my heart race. We did that. Our baby went from a blob on the screen to a fully formed baby with arms and legs. The sound of their whooshing heart rate over the machine permanently etched itself into me.
I can’t wait for the next twenty weeks to pass by. Don’t get me wrong, I want to enjoy this stage of life with Emery. I want towatch her grow round with our baby and all of that shit, but at the same time, I can’t wait for the baby to be born.
To hold them in my arms. To hear them cry and earn their little gummy smiles.
I want it all.
Boy or girl.
Hockey sticks or figure skating.
Obviously, I know girls can play hockey and boys can figure skate, but that’s not the point.
Boy or girl.
Will our place be filled with bows or toy trucks?
“What are you thinking?” she asks softly as I come to a stop at the light.
“Bows or toy trucks. You?”
“Figure skates or hockey skates,” she says, laughing.
I smile at the thought. “Yeah, that’s much more fitting, huh? For the record, that thought did roll through my mind.”
“Sure it did,” she teases.
The light turns green, and I pull forward and then turn into the parking lot of the ice cream place that she loves.
“I’ve been craving ice cream from here for a while.”
“Why haven’t you said anything before now? I would have come over here and gotten it for you or brought you.”
It’s never been a secret that Emery loves this place. It’s been her one guilty pleasure for as long as I’ve known her.
Emery turns to face me. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’ve been a figure skater for almost my entire life. I’m used to ignoring cravings. Especially when they aren’t good for me.”
I want to fight her on it, but I don’t. I don’t like that she’s denying herself of something she wants, but I get it.
“Okay, but you’ll let me know if any of your cravings become too much?”
“I will.”
“Good, then back to our baby…do you want to find out?”
Emery sighs. “Part of me wants to wait. I kind of like the idea of being surprised, but I also know that the not knowing will drive me crazy.”
I’m not surprised by her answer. The idea of not having a name has already freaked her out.
“I get that. It would be cool to find out when the baby is born, but I would also like to plan. If you want to wait, though, I’m cool with it. All I care about is that we have a healthy baby and that chick back at the doctor’s office already confirmed everything looks fine.”
“You really don’t care what we have?” she asks hesitantly.
I shake my head. “No, like I said, I just want a healthy, happy baby. I don’t care if our kid plays hockey or wants to figure skate. I’ll do whatever our baby does, and I’ll be right there with them.” I pause dramatically. “Even if it means I have to learn baseball or basketball. As long as it’s not something weird like…” I trail off when nothing comes to mind.
Emery smiles and laughs lightly. “I never even thought about the fact that we might have to learn a new sport. Then again, knowing our luck, our kid won’t be interested in sports at all.”
“It could very well be in our future.”
