Veronica groans as she turns from her back onto her side. She rubs her now very viable five months pregnant belly.
"What's wrong" Archie chuckles as he turns to face her. He kisses her forehead and places his hand on her stomach.
"My back hurts"
"I'm sorry honey" he smiles. "But can you be mad at a tiny baby?"
"Technically you're responsible for his" she giggles.
"Well can you be mad at me?" he asks. He batts his eyelashes and pushes his bottom lip forward.
"No" she smirks "I cannot. You're way too cute"
"Are you nervous?" he asks as he brushes a strand of her raven hair out of her face and then begins to run his fingers through it.
"Mhm" she nods "what if it's something big. What if our baby can never live a normal life? I'm scared"
"You don't need to be. I'm here. We will make it work, together. I promise you"
"Okay" she mumbles. Archie moves his hand from her hair to her stomach and then to her back so he can pull her closer. His fingers run up and down her spine. It relaxes her and eases the pain a little.
"We will find the best doctors"
"But those are expensive"
"Honey you really don't need to worry about money. I earn enough. This is my child and I will do anything to help it and if I have to spend thousands of dollars on doctor appointments then that's what I will do"
"I'm so glad I have you" she sighs.
"I will always take care of you and the kids"
•••
Like every month Veronica lies on the examination bed with Archie close to her. He holds her hand while both of them stare at the monitor. Every time they hope they get news, good news but they never get an answer to the only question on their minds. 'What's wrong with their baby'
Veronica's heart beats fast, almost as fast as her child's. The sound of its heartbeat echos through the quiet room. Archie runs his thumbs over her knuckles to make her feel better. He loves seeing his baby on the screen but it drives him crazy that there's nothing he can do to help it or Veronica.
Finally the silence is interrupted by the doctor taking a deep breath.
"So I found out what's wrong with your baby and it's nothing to worry about yet—"
"What do you mean yet?" Veronica asks.
The doctor smiles "well from what I can see, your child has something called ventricular septal defect. It basically just means that there is a hole in the wall dividing the left and right ventricles of the heart. The hole is not very big and there is a chance that it closes itself before birth or in the first few years of the child's life. Worst case, it needs surgery. Heart surgery is always risky but this kind of surgery is not really complicated and it's quick. But we don't need to think about all of that. When the child's here we will check if the hole closed and if not you will have to come twice a year so we can just make sure your child is alright. By the time it's 5 or 6 though it should be closed (a/n once again I'm not a doctor)
"Okay" Veronica sighs "that was a lot of information"
"I now Miss Lodge. I have some more information on this topic for you and your boyfriend. I can give you a couple brochures later. To sum up there is a high chance of the problem fixing itself just keep it calm and try not to stress"
"That's great" Veronica smiles. She can't hide how relieved she is. "Can you tell us the gender?" she grins. "I really want to know"
"Sure, Miss Lodge" Dr. Brown chuckles. "You're having a ....... any guesses?"
"Mhhh I'd say either a boy or a girl" Archie says with a super serious look on his face. It makes Veronica laugh. "No" she giggles and shakes her head.
"Okay, you're having a girl"
"A girl!" Veronica squeals. She squeezes Archie's hand tightly and giggles with tears of joy running down her cheeks.
"A mini version of you" he whispers "that's perfect"
"Ella will be so excited"
"She will be" Archie chuckles. "I can't believe my little girl will be a big sissy and l'll have two daughter's"
The doctor interrupts their little conversation with a quiet laugh. He hands them sonogram picture and says goodbye before he leaves. Veronica and Archie stay in the room for a few more minutes and just stare at the little piece of paper in their hands. Veronica is so happy there's a high chance her daughter will be fine. She can't wait to hold the little girl and take her home.
•••
"Yeah so apparently it's called something ventricular septal defect so there's basically a little hole in her heart but the doctor said there's a high chance that hole will close with time" Archie says as he flops down on the couch next to Veronica. He's talking to his mom on the phone.
Veronica smiles when she can hear a loud squeal from the phone. "Her? So it's a girl?"
"Yes mom, it's a girl" Archie chuckles. "I'll have another daughter. Listen, I'll call you back later. Ronnie is here with me"
He hangs up and places his phone on the coffee table before he wraps his arms around Veronica and pulls her between his legs. His hands rest on her stomach. "We'll have a little girl" he grins. "That's so great. I love girls and I don't think we could ever make a baby boy more perfect than my little Benny"
"What about Ella?" Veronica giggles.
"She's perfect too but I think this little girl will be just a perfect as the confident little girl we already have"
Veronica smiles and blushes a little. "I love how you say we and our. Like we're a real family"
"We are Ronnie. You're not just their nanny anymore. You're more. You're my girlfriend and kinda like a mom to the kids. I hope that's not weird"
"No" Veronica shakes her head "I actually really like it. I never had that feeling of family. I'm not close with my parents and I don't have siblings. My father never showed any love. He was more into his business and his own life and my mom tried but she was just like him. I was often alone and when they were home I locked myself in my room or went out with my friends because every evening I spent with them ended with a lot of yelling and a lot of tears"
"I'm sorry babe. You didn't deserve that. No child does. I love you and I promise you I will love you with everything in me for the rest of my life. I will take care of you and try to make you happy. The kids already adore you and I promise we will give you all the love you missed"
"Thanks" she sniffs but suddenly she tilts her head and looks up to him with a little frown on her face. "Did you just say you love me?"
"Uhm I guess I did. I love you Ronnie"
"I love you too "she whispers. Her hand grabs the collar of his shirt and then pulls him closer to meet his lips. She kisses him a few times before she pulls back and just stares at him. Her hand moves from the collar to his cheek. Her thumb softy strokes his skin. "I got lucky"
"You? I'm the lucky one. I have a beautiful girl by my side and I'll have another baby"
"You're so cute" she smiles. She kisses his lips again before she turns her head back and snuggles into his chest. His hands move on her stomach in circles. "I can't wait for her to be here but I'll miss the belly"
"You still have a few months before it's gone"
"We can always make another one" he grins.
Veronica turns her head. "I love how confident you are but let's see what life's like with three kids before we think of a fourth. Maybe I don't want a fourth" she smirks.
"You don't sound like you don't" he chuckles and kisses her cheek a couple of times.
"Well no more than four" she giggles as Archie continues to kiss her cheek.
"Maybe I can convince you otherwise"
"Definitely not" she giggles and pushes his head to the side. "Four are more than enough and like I said, I wanna have this one first and then I need break before we even start talking about having another one"
"Okay fine" he chuckles "whatever makes you happy honey"
___________________________________
Am I the only one who wants KJ and Clara to have a girl cause omg that would be so cute 😩