The new year chimed in swiftly and quietly. Rylee couldn't believe it was January yet again.
Snow was lightly falling outside, still carrying along the Christmas feel, especially since all of their Christmas decorations were still up. They never put up a lot, but it was enough to get that cozy holiday feeling.
Stockings were still strung up along the wall, alongside garland and pinecone bundles. The Christmas tree still shining brightly with its twinkling white lights in the corner.
At first, when Rylee came downstairs, she felt silly for getting a mug of hot chocolate and the softest blanket in the house to camp on the couch with her laptop, but as soon as she sat down, she didn't regret it for a second.
She set her mug down on the coaster in front of her and melted back into the cushions of the couch, opening her laptop.
She felt butterflies stir up in her stomach, but not because of the baby. She had immediately opened her web browser and her event website popped up. It was still in the editing stage but all she had to do was hit the "Launch" button and RAS Events would be live again.
It almost made her want to throw up with nerves.
She made the site exactly how she wanted it. And she was surprised that she did it overall by herself. Sebastian had offered to help hire a web designer but she had passed on it. She had made her last website so she sort of new the ropes, and she did well for herself so she figured she could try again. She figured if worst came to worst she could maybe hire someone later if the site wasn't working out.
But here she was. Her site in front of her. Simple yet elegant. All sorts of tabs leading to examples of her work, the things she could do, her experience and all of her contact information.
The contact information was a bit trickier this time around. Having a celebrity husband made it a bit difficult to put herself out there. She decided to buy a PO Box for her business and have a separate cell phone for it as well. Mainly if something ever happened, she could easily change that information instead of having to uproot her personal information.
She scrolled through her site for the fiftieth time that morning. Or at least it felt like it.
She leaned forward slowly, her baby bump blocking her a bit, to grab her mug and take a long sip of her drink before she leaned back into the couch and stared at her website.
Just do it, Rylee. Click launch. Click it. Click it.
And with some form of mystic unseen courage, she tapped the mouse and hit launch.
She groaned when a pop up came up, expecting something to be wrong. Maybe she messed up a code somewhere. Or there were missing pieces.
But she was surprised to see it was a confirmation.
"You clicked 'LAUNCH'. By doing so, your newly created website will be live and available to those online. Do you wish to proceed?"
Before she could think about it too hard, Rylee clicked yes. And soon another banner appeared.
"Congratulations! Your site is live!"
Sebastian was still in Los Angeles for another day, but Rylee was practically shaking with excitement and nerves over her site launch. She had to call him.
The phone rang...And rang...And rang.
"Hey, this is Sebastian. Please leave your name and number after the beep. Thanks!" *beep*
She quickly pulled her phone away from her face to see the time. 7:35 AM.
"Oh god, hi baby. I'm so sorry. I completely forgot about the time difference. Everything's fine. I just..wanted to say hello. Give me a call when you wake up. I love you."
Rylee tossed her head back into the cushion behind her. She was glad she didn't wake him up. It was 4:35 in California.
She looked back down at her laptop in her lap and went to her email. She clicked through all her old contacts from work, and a few people she had met over the last month and let them know that she was officially up and running.
She felt a rush flow through her as she hit send on the email. This was happening. She was back into the boat.
She flopped down onto the couch, head landing softly on a throw pillow. She cuddled up into the soft blanket she had brought down and scrolled through her phone.
She didn't expect to fall asleep, but alas, five minutes later, she was out.
——————————
Rylee woke up to her phone ringing beside her on the couch cushion. She picked it up still half asleep and hit accept on the call.
"M'ello?"
"Hey mama," Rylee heard the familiar smooth voice through the speaker.
She stretched, letting out a small yawn, "Hey you. How's it going?"
Sebastian chuckled at the obvious tiredness still laced in her voice. But he quickly died down when he thought of how to answer her question.
"Okay til about five minutes ago. There's a big snow storm coming through which of course never happens but decided to now," he hesitated for a moment, but Rylee waited for him to continue, "They cancelled all the flights out of LA because of it."
"Oh no," Rylee said, pout crossing her lips.
There was a brief pause between the two of them. Neither speaking, until Sebastian responded, "I don't think I'm going to make it back in time."
Rylee could hear the disappoint in his voice, but didn't say anything. Her silence an obvious sign of disappointment as well.
"I'm so sorry," Sebastian said quietly, almost too quiet to hear.
Rylee sat up now, sitting crisscross on the couch, her hand resting on her bump, rubbing it mindless, "It's okay. This isn't some stellar appointment. It's more of a check up. Our anatomy scan is next month though."
"I hate not being there though...even if it's only five minutes," Sebastian replied, concern still dripping from his words.
"I know, baby," Rylee returned, not knowing what to say. She knew he wouldn't be swayed easily on the subject. He had told her before that he never wanted her to have to go to an appointment and end up hearing bad news alone.
He had realized his stance on that the moment Rylee had told him about the first pregnancy tests she had taken last year, when Alexa went with her to the doctors and found out she had appendicitis.
He always hoped and prayed there'd never be bad news, but he would never in a million years want her to deal with it alone if they got it.
"I'll do whatever I can to get back. I've been refreshing the airlines website, waiting for changes."
"Just be safe. I'd rather have you here late than not at all." Rylee stated, seeming to let the subject die down.
"Always."
"Oh! So there was a reason I accidentally called so early this morning."
"Oh?" Sebastian asked, perplexed.
"It's done." Rylee knew she wouldn't have to explain what "it" was.
"It's done?" Sebastian asked, more out of excitement than a question.
"It's done!" Rylee practically squealed.
"Oh, baby," Sebastian practically cooed, "I'm so fucking proud of you."
Rylee couldn't stop smiling. She put her hand on her cheek, feeling the blush rush in.
"I wish I was there to hug you, I'm so happy for you." Sebastian poured out.
"Soon enough," Rylee smiled into the phone.
"Ry, it looks so good. You did amazing on this." Rylee could hear Sebastian shuffling around. It must've been him opening the website on his phone while they were talking.
"Thank you," Rylee replied, the blush on her cheeks feeling much warmer now.
"Oh, shit, I've gotta go. We're doing interviews over zoom now. Yay," Sebastian said, sarcasm laid on thick, "But I love you so damn much. And I will try to get home as soon as I can. Okay?"
"Alrighty, love."
"And congratulations on your website. It's amazing and I'm so god damn proud of you Rylee." Sebastian responded with so much love and earnest it almost hurt.
"Thank you Seb, I love you."
"Love you too, mama. Bye."
When the line hung up Rylee relaxed back into the couch cushions.
Rylee set her phone in her lap and pouted for a moment, taking in the quiet, loneliness she was now feeling weigh down the living room.
She was sad Sebastian was stuck out there longer than necessary, but she was also a bit bummed knowing he couldn't make it to the appointment at the end of the week.
The appointment on Friday wasn't supposed to be anything major. Their anatomy appointment wasn't until she hit the 20 week mark, February 3rd. And that's when they really dig deep and check to make sure everything is developing on schedule and what the gender will be.
But Rylee will be at 16 weeks on Friday, and the doctor made sure she was coming in every four weeks for the first trimester.
She tried to push down the emotions crawling through her. It was only Wednesday. Give it time. Maybe he can get here. And even if he can't. C'est la vie.
She shook off that feeling, stood up, and walked upstairs. She made a beeline for the bedroom, and to the bed where she sat down.
She pulled open the bedside table drawer and pulled out a Hershey bar, a small smile taking over her lips, thinking of the night she found them.
Taking those few minutes to bask in the glory of her chocolate bar made her feel a bit better.
She took a picture of it in hand and sent it to Sebastian.
Husband 😍
❤️❤️❤️
——————————
Noon Friday came and Sebastian was still 2,800 miles away. But it was fine. Totally fine. Rylee sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office and seemed to lose track of time, until her phone buzzed in her hand.
Husband 😍
Hey baby make it to Williams' okay?
Wife ❤️
Yep, super busy today though. Lots of people in the waiting room
Husband 😍
I'm still sorry I can't be there
Wife ❤️
Honestly it's okay.
How's the weather been, anyway?
Husband 😍
Just like they said it would.
People in LA can't drive in snow. They've almost never seen it.
So it kinda sucks knowing shits basically shut down when New York would just laugh about this.
Wife ❤️
😣
Husband 😍
...sorry.
I'm just...
idk fucking annoyed.
Wife ❤️
🙁 Wanna talk?
Husband 😍
I do actually.
You're going in any minute though.
Wanna call me when you're out?
Wife ❤️
Absolutely love
Speaking of, I just got called.
Love you
Husband 😍
Love you mama
Tell baby I say hello
Rylee smiled at those last two texts. She loved when Sebastian called her mama. It was so endearing. It gave her butterflies every time he said it, especially in casual conversation.
She tucked the phone away right after she read his texts and followed the nurse back to the exam rooms.
She had a different nurse today than she had the past few times. This woman's name was Kristy. She was sweet but seemed new. She took her time doing the simple things, blood pressure, oxygen checks, weight, and the like. But eventually after she finished she excused herself and said Dr. Williams would be in shortly.
Rylee twiddled her thumbs, looking at the random decor in the room. She hated waiting on her phone in doctors offices. Cause then they walk in and you awkwardly have to shove it away.
Rylee liked to just avoid that whole scenario and would keep her phone away.
Soon enough, there was a knock on the door, "Hello there Rylee!" Dr. Williams chirped as she stepped through the door, closing it behind her.
She immediately went to the sink to wash her hands as Rylee said hello in return.
"No Sebastian today?"
Rylee had been expecting her to ask. She never meant any harm, just straight curiosity.
"No, he got stuck in Los Angeles."
"Oh no, did he get caught up in that snow storm happening there?"
Rylee nodded.
"What a bummer. LA practically never sees snow. What a fluke."
"Yeah, he was upset he couldn't be here."
"Well luckily this exam isn't too crazy. We'll just have to send him something to suffice, huh?" Dr. Williams chuckled.
Rylee laughed in return. She loved having Williams as her doctor. She was always so easy going.
"Alrighty, are we ready to see what this peanuts been up to?"
"Absolutely." Rylee smiled, already rolling her shirt up and out of the way so Dr. Williams could spread the jelly out around her belly.
Dr. Williams turned on the ultrasound machine, the slow low rumble dancing quietly through the room. She placed the ultrasound wand onto the jelly she had just spread and roamed over her belly, trying to find a good angle of the baby.
"Oh, wow, they're in a great position today. Look at that...There is their little hand...face...little feet. They're looking so cute already."
Rylee smiled as she looked at the small baby on the screen, "My app said they're about the size of an avocado this week."
"Ah, you know I love those apps. An avocado sounds pretty accurate. From crown to rump they're measuring at about 10.8 cm."
"Baby's heart is still sounding great. 148 bpm. Nice and strong. She flipped a switch on the machine and the sound echoed through the relatively empty room. The quick little heart beat filling Rylee's with joy.
"Can we record it so I can send it to my husband?"
"Absolutely."
Rylee tapped a few times on her phone and recorded about a 13 second clip, excited to send it Sebastian's way.
"Alrighty, well, everything's looking great so far," Dr. Williams said as she started wiping off the gel.
They started discussing different things that Rylee can do to relieve back pain and strain, soreness, and tenderness. They only talked for another five or ten minutes before Rylee asked, "That's all we're doing today?"
"Yep, these in between visits are the easiest ones. Our next one in four weeks will be much, much more in depth, because that's the anatomy scan. We check all the baby's insides...like organ formation, heart chambers, lungs, and of course find out the gender...I'd say plan on spending at least an hour here that day."
"Oh, wow, okay. Good to know." Rylee chimed in as Dr. Williams finished clearing off the gel and washing her hands.
"Yep. Alrighty, so I'll see you on the third?"
"Yep!"
"Great. Have a good day!" Dr. Williams acknowledged before she shook hands with Rylee and dismissed herself.
Rylee hopped up and got her things packed up and headed out the door.