Spark in the Dark

Chapter 145

The following week, Shawn sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office inside St. Thomas, nervously shaking her foot. Juice had said he'd meet her there, but he wasn't there yet and they could call her to go in at any moment. She heard what sounded like someone jogging down the hall and turned to see Juice appear in the doorway. He sunk into the seat next to her.

"Cutting it a little close, don't you think?"

"I made it," he said, sounding proud of himself. A door opened and a nurse was there.

"Shawn Trager?" she asked.

"Just barely," Shawn told him with a smile as she stood to follow the nurse down the hall.

Juice wrapped his arm around her and walked down the hall with her. "So, next appointment, she'll have to call Shawn Ortiz. Lowen dropped off the marriage license a little bit ago."

"Talk about cutting it close," Shawn said.

The entered a room and the nurse instructed Shawn to sit on the table. She said the ultrasound tech would be in shortly before leaving, again.

"You sure you want to marry me tomorrow?" Juice asked as he leaned on the table she was sitting on.

"Positive."

"You're not worried or nervous or anything?"

"Nope," Shawn said. "Why? Are you?"

"Of course not."

The door opened and the ultrasound tech came in. She told Shawn to lay back and lift her shirt. Juice moved to stand next Shawn and took her hand. The tech began as they watched on a screen. For the first time, Shawn and Juice got to see their baby. Shawn bit her lip as she smiled at the tiny person on the screen.

"Holy shit," Juice said quietly.

"Let me see if I can move it to get a better view of the face," the tech said and moved the wand around Shawn's belly.

"Why does our baby look like it could be on the cover of a death metal album?" Juice asked, making Shawn snicker. Even the tech smiled at his comment.

"The skin and tissues haven't fully formed, yet. It's pretty normal for them to look skeletal this early on," she explained. "Next time we do this, he or she will more like a baby."

"When will we know if it's a boy or girl?" Shawn asked.

"In about 6 weeks at your next scan."

"Rock on," Juice said.

"Oh, my God, Juice," Shawn laughed quietly.

"Everything looks good here. I'll print you a couple of pictures and then the doctor will be in soon."

She handed Shawn one print and then another to Juice before leaving. Shawn pulled her shirt down and sat up as Juice leaned against the table. She looked at the picture for a moment before looking up to see Juice was doing the same thing. He looked like he could cry.

"Are you okay?" Shawn asked gently.

"I think this is the first time it really hit me, you know?" Juice said, his voice sounded thick. "We made this little person."

"Yeah," she said with a smile and rested her chin against his shoulder.

"I mean, you're doing most of the work but-"

"Shh. We made this little person."

Juice nodded. "I promise, you two are never going to want or need anything. I'm going to take care of you both."