The Fire Station

Chapter 11

On New Year's Eve, even though we were invited to multiple parties we decided to stay home. I was not in the mood to go out and we had other ways of celebrating the start of a new year. It was strange for us to think about. In this new year, we were going to be moving into a home we picked out together, we would be getting married, and we would become parents. So much was about to happen whether we liked it or not.

Sidney and I talked a lot about becoming parents. It had become nearly the only topic of discussion anymore. We were both extremely excited, but overwhelmingly nervous as well. We both had our share of knowledge caring for children since I spent most of my younger years helping with my siblings while Sidney helped with his nieces and nephews quite often. He was also very knowledgeable when it came to delivering a baby. He probably had more experience with that part of pregnancy than I did. I was never allowed to attend one of the births of my younger siblings. I remembered with one of the younger ones I wanted to be there so badly to see what it was like to deliver a baby, but my parents forbid me from coming. Instead, I stayed home watching all the other children until they were able to come home from the hospital.

"Be honest, do you want a girl or a boy?" I asked.

He smirked and leaned across the bed to give me a kiss. "We have plenty of time to have one or two or even more of each. We don't need to worry about what the gender of the baby is now."

"I'm just curious if you have a preference."

"I honestly don't care. You keep asking, but I'll be happy with either. I just want you and the baby to be safe."

"We have our first appointment with the doctor next week. I'm not sure what to expect," I said.

"Let's check the book," Sidney said, laughing. He grabbed the book off his nightstand and thumbed though it until he came to the section about prenatal visits. I was to expect my blood pressure taken, a urine sample taken, a measurement of my growing belly, and of course, the doppler reading of the baby's heartbeat. I was most excited for Sidney to hear the heartbeat. I got to see it for a moment on the screen during the scan when I initially found out about the baby, but this was going to be even more special. This time Sidney would get to hear it too. I knew he was fairly excited about that fact and talked about buying a doppler to have at home quite a bit.

We talked about the theme of the baby's room and what color to paint the walls. We had sort of come to a stalemate about that detail. I wanted to paint the room a neutral, cheery and bright color like yellow or even a pale orange, while Sidney thought we should paint it blue for a boy and pink for a girl. I hated the idea. It was such a cliché thing to do. I was not about to follow the trend of predisposing my child in society determined colors. It was truly mine and Sidney's first argument and thankfully a small one that was easily worked out. We came to an agreement that we would do all three colors; pink, blue, and yellow. We weren't sure exactly how to incorporate all three colors, but we were determined to make it work.

"I can't wait to hear the baby's heartbeat," I said.

"I'm excited to actually feel the baby kick," he said placing his hand against my tummy. I laid back on the pillow and smiled as he rubbed my stomach. "I plan to attend every appointment with you and be part of the entire process."

I bit my lip, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world to have someone so dedicated to me and our child. "I'm so thankful to have you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been so welcoming to the thought of us having a baby."

"Are you kidding?" he laughed, resting on his elbow next to me. "This is all I've ever wanted. A woman who understands me and loves me for me, not my money. A woman who wants to make a family with me and wants us to be just a normal family without all the pretenses having money comes with it. A woman who still has goals and ambitions despite not needing them. I admire your determination to become something more. I have the same ambitions, just in a different line of work."