The Only Direction

Chapter 22

Month 2:

Aria:

The ultrasound technician was a tall, young blonde girl. The nametag on her scrubs read Natasha. She couldn’t have been more then five years my senior. She smiled gracefully at me and held a little tube of gel in her hand.

“Ok, so have you guys done this before?” she asked Niall and I. We both shook our heads no.

“Ok, so I’m going to put this,” she said, pointing to the bottle she held in her hand, “on your stomach. Now it’s going to feel a bit cold, but it will pass. Then, using the attachment over there, I’m going to rub that over the goo on your belly. That will allow me to see the little bundle of joy that’s hidden inside of your uterus,” she said with a smile.

Niall cringed at the word uterus, making me giggle.

Natasha glared at him and placed her hands on her hips, making me realize what I looked like when I do the same: annoyed and angry.

“Do you have a problem with the word uterus?” she asked, clearly disgruntled.

“No, no-“ Niall attempted to say.

“Well you better get used to it. You’re going to be hearing far worse words than ‘uterus’ in these next upcoming months,” she said.

Niall:

“Ok, so this is the baby’s head,” Natasha said, pointing to the little blob on the screen. “These are the little feet. And this tiny thing over hear? That’s the heartbeat. Any questions?” she said, smiling. Aria and I both shook our heads.

She smiled brightly at us. “I’ll give you two a moment alone”.

As soon as she had left the room, Aria burst into tears. I wrapped my arms around her in attempt to comfort her.

“No babe, don’t cry. I know it seems bad. We’re young and just getting started. But if you love me as much as I love you then this baby will be born into one of the best families on the entire planet. I promise to stick with you through thick and thin. It’s all going to be fine,” I said, gently rocking her.

“No Niall-“ she began, her voice muffled by my shoulder.

“I mean it Aria. Everything will be ok. But please, please, please don’t cry”.

She lifted her face out of my shoulder and began to giggle. “Niall, I’m not worried about that”.

“I know, I know- wait, huh? You aren’t? Then why are you crying?”

Aria resumed her waterworks. “I. Can’t. See. It,” she said, sobbing.

“Ermm. I’m sorry, what?”

“I can’t see it Niall! I don’t see a baby in this photograph! All I see is a damn blob!”

“Aria-“

She put her face in her palms and sobbed. “I’m the worst mother in the world. First I’m stupid enough to get myself good and knocked up at eighteen. Then I can’t even see my own child! What’s going to happen when it’s born and I completely forget it exists? Or I remember that it exists but I have absolutely no clue how to take care of it? Oh I really got myself into a ruckus this time!”

“Aria!” I said, gently taking hold of her hands. “You’re going to be a great mom. It’s ok if you can’t see our baby girl. It’s hard to decipher. Do you want me to show you?”